upgrade Help upgrading prebuilt HP PC

[Edwardk326]

Hey guys sorry I have been away from the forums for so long I apologise for that but I have an issue with a friends pc it is an HP M9764ch desktop pc. This is a prebuilt PC (I think)

I just want to know if it is possible to upgrade it, that means:

change the case. 

the heatsink (CPU cooler). 

the power supply. 

and the graphics card.

I asked the guy at a shop he said: "nothing can be done (because the mounting of the case is different?) and that it's useless" however I read on the forums that upgrading a prebuilt pc is pretty easy and guys do it all the time. I included some pictures to give you guys an idea of the PC. I booted into the BIOS and found out that the pc is running:

Core i7 920 processor

LGA1366 motherboard

4Gigs of DDR3 ram

and an unknown graphics card (I say unknown because I have no idea what model it is) 

 

I should also note: that the guy at the shop was pushing to buy a completely new system for $1400.

if you guys need any further details please let me know I'll be happy to provide them. Please help me out, thank you and God bless you all.       

   

[Blebekblebek]

First thing you should clean it

add more ram

upgrade GPU, GTX 1050/Ti, 750Ti without Power pin would be ideal.

[Votivee]

Before you do anything, please get a duster and clean that poor thing.

 

You can change out everything that you listed, however, I wouldn't really focus on changing the heatsink and case just yet. I'd say your top priority's should be ram, an ssd, and then the graphics card.

 

Not really worth the money IMO, I mean that CPU is 10 years old.

[RoyalGamer1]

just get a whole new rig. nothing worth saving in this, only thing you can really do is slap a low power GPU in it while you save up some money. 

[Jihakuz]

19 minutes ago, Edwardk326 said:

change the case. 

the heatsink (CPU cooler). 

the power supply. 

and the graphics card.

Because it is a prebuilt system it may have mainstream parts, i.e i7 920, but the motherboard could be a different form factor. This also means that your PSU's connetors will also be most likley differnet. So if this is true then:

You can not change the case, because there will be no third party ones that support the same sized board as the one you have.

The heatsink could be changed, as your i7 920 could have normal mounting screws etc. but this could be wrong.

Your powersupply is also probably a no if you have propritry headers on the cables.

You should be able to change the graphics card for something a bit more beefy. You probably want to get a low power one without any extra power connectors as your PSU may not be able to power it otherwise.

 

If you upgrade your GPU now to like a 1050 or something, then get a whole new system, with up to date parts, you could bring the GPU over and that could be a solid upgrade path for you.

[Edwardk326]

8 minutes ago, Blebekblebek said:

First thing you should clean it

add more ram

upgrade GPU, GTX 1050/Ti, 750Ti without Power pin would be ideal.

Agreed, a 1050ti would fit nicely but I assume transferring the motherboard to a new case is a no-go right? because I think heard Linus say something about manufacturers using OEM parts that are proprietary.

If that is the case then I'm screwed I told my friend that it wouldn't be a problem and that I can upgrade it without any issues. 

[Herman Mcpootis]

looks like its just a regular 1366 mounting mechanism so a cooler should work just fine, get a 6-core Xeon, better GPU and PSU and it should be good to go.

[Jihakuz]

Just now, Herman Mcpootis said:

looks like its just a regular 1366 mounting mechanism so a cooler should work just fine, get a 6-core Xeon, better GPU and PSU and it should be good to go.

only if his PSU isnt all proprietary connectors

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, Edwardk326 said:

Agreed, a 1050ti would fit nicely but I assume transferring the motherboard to a new case is a no-go right? because I think heard Linus say something about manufacturers using OEM parts that are proprietary.

If that is the case then I'm screwed I told my friend that it wouldn't be a problem and that I can upgrade it without any issues. 

not every prebuilt will use proprietary everything, some will be more upgradable than others.

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 minutes ago, Jihakuz said:

only if his PSU isnt all proprietary connectors

a quick google search says the board uses standard connectors so a PSU upgrade is fine

[Jihakuz]

Just now, Herman Mcpootis said:

a quick google search says the board uses standard connectors so a PSU upgrade is fine

alrighty

[Edwardk326]

8 minutes ago, Jihakuz said:

Because it is a prebuilt system it may have mainstream parts, i.e i7 920, but the motherboard could be a different form factor. This also means that your PSU's connetors will also be most likley differnet. So if this is true then:

You can not change the case, because there will be no third party ones that support the same sized board as the one you have.

The heatsink could be changed, as your i7 920 could have normal mounting screws etc. but this could be wrong.

Your powersupply is also probably a no if you have propritry headers on the cables.

You should be able to change the graphics card for something a bit more beefy. You probably want to get a low power one without any extra power connectors as your PSU may not be able to power it otherwise.

 

If you upgrade your GPU now to like a 1050 or something, then get a whole new system, with up to date parts, you could bring the GPU over and that could be a solid upgrade path for you.

7

Thank you so much man, God bless you all a million times. I think it's safe to say forget about it (since I might run into a lot of issues with compatibility and might end up spending money needlessly) I'll just clean it, maybe put in a 750ti or 1050ti graphics card (as suggested by you and Blebekblebek), put in an SSD (as suggested by Votivee), and give it back to him. If my friend wants I'll build him a new system from scratch because I think at this point even a $600 or $500 gaming PC build will outperform this PC.

 

I'd like to thank you all for contributions you guys are the real MVPs and what make this forum golden:

Jihakuz

Herman

Votivee

Blebekblebek

RoyalGamer1

 

God bless you all.