So I bought an HP Pavilion Slimline s3120n, and it's a great computer but the graphics card is terrible and I'd like to be able to play better games. The only problem is, is that the computer is so small and so is the motherboard, there is a PCI-E slot available, but I'm told I need a 'special' card to fit into it considering the size of the mother board (pictures below.) I'm having a hard time looking for a card that will fit in here, or if there is even such a thing and I don't know exactly what I'm looking for either. If someone could point me in the right direction I would be very appreciative. Thank you in advance!

(full specifications.)

HP Pavilion Slimline s3120n - Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2 GHz Specs. Desktops Specifications.

(Pictures to the inside of the computer.)

This is the best PCI-E x16 low profile card found on newegg.com

VisionTek 900118 Radeon X1650PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814129076

And this is not a good card for gaming to be honest. My advice would be to return this computer and purchase one with a case big enough to fit a decent graphics card.

According to the specs, you will need a low-profile graphics card with a power requirement of 25w or less, so you're pretty much looking at the same performance, or worse, than the included 6150LE.

that's the problem with a slimline tower.

What if I get a new case and a new power supply?

Yup. Not made for gaming. A good general office machine though.

You would also need a new MB. That one is custom.

Crap. Well thanks for the help.

Got a friend who stupidly purchased one of these tiny computers. For a birthday present I gave him a real computer with a case big enough to fit a real graphics card in trade for his. I was thinking I'd be able to re-case the guts of the little HP but that custom MB is killing me. The Power Supply connector is smaller than a standard ATX connector. It looks like I'm going to need a MB or at least an adapter cable. Can't find an adapter however.

If anybody knows how to adapt this lil HP to a real PS please provide that info here or PM me...

TIA

Hey how about one of those supplemental graphics card only power supplies? ....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153037

How exactly do these works and would they improve gaming performance?

It would work if you could mount one externally somehow. You would not have room inside the case. You would then have to get the power cord back inside somehow.

Well by itself the linked PS would do nothing. You might want one if you can figure out how to shoehorn a good graphics card into your HP. Most current mid or high end graphics cards need more power than they can draw from the PCIx16 slot. They need extra power from somewhere. The normal way to supply this power would be to hook em up to a PCIe Power Supply via a 6 pin connector (see pic below). Most all power supplies have such a connector these days. If your PS has the power but lacks the 6 pin connection you can get an adapter like this one: http://www.directron.com/6pinpcie.html

If your PS does not have enough power to run a high end graphics card you can add a second PS like the one this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153037

So yes if you got a new graphics card and powered it with the linked PS your gaming would improve (perhaps a lot, depending on which graphics card you get).

Slap an 8800GT in that HP and you will be smiling for sure! Of course it doesn't fit so you would also need a new case as well ..... and the new case would be designed for a normal square PS not that long skinny thing the HP has. It is kinda more trouble than it is worth but I might do it anyways.

Note that you only need the second PS if you also get a new graphics card and a new case.

But what about the mother board? It's custom and would require a special card from which everyone is saying I'd need a lower grade card and would be pointless if it doesn't improve anything, so I wouldn't I need a new mother board? and in that case it would be pointless to do what you've suggested if I am just going to need a new case to fit the new mother board and a new power supply to power the new graphics card. right?

They are saying you need a smaller graphics card because of your small case not your MB.

They are saying you need a new MB because the HP MB uses that non-standard power supply and non-standard mother board power supply connection.

If you wanted to buy a new case including a new PS (with more power and including the 6 pin PCIe connector for a better video card) then you would also need a new MB because the HP MB will not work with a regular ATX PS.

If you got that supplemental PS instead, you would not need a new MB. In this case you would keep your old MB and your old PS. The MB would get power from the HP PS and the new video card would get extra power from the new supplemental PS.

All the options are a little confusing. Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to leave the HP as is and sell it to a girl or someone who does not need upgraded video and get a new system with standard parts and a larger case with the room and power for a better video card.

I still have not decided what to do with my adopted slimline HP. It is a fine system and that PCIx16 slot is just begging for a good GPU. Maybe I'll give it to my mom or sister......

Or keep it and make a franken-puter......

Your only option is to sell it and buy a real computer. Those slimline HP's are great machines for office work and internet browsing that is all. They were and never will be made for gaming.

Yeah I know, but the way I got this computer was extremely cheap, so it was either I get this right away, or wait 6 months before I could afford a better computer. And I'm not about to just leave this alone and save up for a new computer, it'd be a lot cheaper to just get a new motherboard, new power supply, and a new graphics card and then just take out my processor and my ram from this computer.

Not to further rain on your parade, but if you have a HP preinstalled copy of Windows, and plan on moving the hard drive over to the new system, it will not work. I cannot remember the exact error message, but you will get something like "incorrect hardware". If preinstalled, your HP has a "HP OEM" copy of Windows which cannot be transferred to another machine. Dell's work the same way.

If you have the retail disks, and installed it yourself, you will be fine. Otherwise, you can add a new copy of Windows to the shopping list.

My advise would be to save up and build a new mid range gaming rig for around $500-$600 or so. You can keep the HP as a backup web surfing machine should anything go wrong with the new one. For their designed purpose, the HPs are really neat little machines.

When I noticed that it didn't come with a disk, I bought one. So I've got that covered.