Purchased WIN 7 desktop- Please suggest upgrades.

[Rod222]

Want the best (ALL) upgrades possible for my $20 Lenovo just purchased
Cost is irrelevent.
Need best graphics card with HDMI port.
Thank you very much.
Type SFF I think. small form factor 30cm x 35cm

 

[SIW2]

I will just get my crystal ball.....Is it a thinkcentre m90? Somebody else can make a guess

 

[Rod222]

Sorry. This help?
Motherboard
Manufacturer LENOVO
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Havendale/Clarkdale Host Bridge
Chipset Revision 02
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model Q57
Southbridge Revision 06

or,

System Model
LENOVO 5536J6M ThinkCentre M90p
System Serial Number: R85M5WA
Chassis Serial Number: R85M5WA
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a
3.20 gigahertz Intel Core i5 650
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
4096 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Hyper-threaded (4 total)
Main Circuit Board b
Board: LENOVO
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: LENOVO 5JKT45AUS 06/03/2010

 

[townsbg]

Your CPU is good for most uses. You ram is maxed out and that's what I would have suggested. You can get faster memory (1333 mhz ddr3) but I'm not sure if you'll notice a difference with that.

 

[SIW2]

Detailed specifications - ThinkCentre M90 - Lenovo Support GB

Lenovo ThinkCentre M90p Specs - CNET

Lenovo ThinkCentre M90p review | IT PRO

 

[file3456]

You could update your CPU to an Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield. This is a quad core as opposed to the dual core you have now. Also, the i7 has a turbo boost of 3.5 GHz. This CPU also sports 8 threads over what you have now of 4 threads and two cores. More cores and threads the better so long as your programs can take advantage of them.

The CPU dictates what kind of RAM you can use and its speed. In this case you have 665 MHz RAM which is the fastest you can use for this CPU and the possible upgrade to an i7-860. Remember, DDR stands for Double Data Rate. So the speed is 665 * 2 for 1330 or 1333 to be specific. If you want to know your RAM speed, fire up a command prompt and enter the following:

wmic memorychip get speed

I use the following five tools for Computer Info:

CPUz

GPUz

SSDz

CoreTemp

Crystal Disk Info.


And the grand daddy of them all, HWiNFO64. In this program don't use the driver finding option. That link alerted my uBlock Origin add-on in my browser as possible malware. It was proabbly placed there to help pay for this software. Other than not clicking that driver link, the software is a tell all worthy of having. As always, scan ALL downloads at Virus Total.

The current CPU you have now is ranked at 2,200 and the possible i7 upgrade CPU is ranked at 2,887 at Passmark.

PassMark - Intel Core i5-650 @ 3.20GHz - Price performance comparison

PassMark - Intel Core i7-860 @ 2.80GHz - Price performance comparison

You might be able to get a dedicated GPU (Graphics Processor Unit), but it looks like your PSU (Power Supply Unit) is only 240 watts. Ideally, a 1050ti would work well for most games at medium to low settings. This topic seems to suggest a 750ti will work, but it looks like that GPU needs a 400 watt power supply. I can hardly believe that though. If you wanna upgrade the GPU, I'd chime in there at that Lenovo forum and ask. Trying to find low profile GPUs that will work with the PSU is a pain.


Your SATA interface for the hard drive is only SATA II, not III. So to help saturate that full speed ability a good, reputable SSD would work out. Check out Crucial or Samsung. The Truth about Memory Manufacturers | Crucial.com

You could also get a PCI-e card with USB 3.1 ports to have USB 3.1 ability. Though, USB 2 or 3 may be what you should use since the SATA II interface will be a bottleneck for USB 3.1 Gen I or Gen II.

Edit-

That possible i7 upgrade would also double your CPU cache from 4 MB to 8 MB.

 

[Rod222]

Thanks so much, everyone whom replied.
Very much appreciated.

 

[townsbg]

His computer is listed as an ultra slim form factor. It might be a tight fit for a graphics card. Also it doesn't list any pcl-e slots, although I can't imagine that there aren't any. If he goes with a USB card there will have to be Windows 7 drivers.

 

[Rod222]

Thanks.........
Lenovo says................

Re:ThinkCentre M90p SFF: Graphics Upgrade Suggestions
2020-09-29, 22:14 PM
The M90p Type 5536 only shipped with a 240W power supply, so you are kind of stuck with that size.



Many of those came with an Nvidia Quadro 380 graphics cards, or the Nvidia GeForce 310, and Nvidia recommended a 350W powers supply for both of them, so you should be able to install a newer Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 without any Power Supply issues. The GT 1030 is about 1,300 times faster than either of the original graphics cards, so performance will definitely improve.



Below are examples of two 1030 models (one has DVI & HDMI, and the other Display Port & HDMI outputs). The top one has a fan to help it stay cool, and has both HDMI & Display Port, so it gives you more options if choosing newer monitors.



MSI Graphic Cards GT 1030 2G LP OC (Low Profile - HDMI and Display Port)

Robot Check



Asus GeForce GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 (Low Profile - HDMI and DVI ) (Fanless heatsink)

Robot Check



If you are a big gamer, you might also be able to install a Low profile GTX 1050 TI, but although Nvidia recommends a 300W PSU for both the 1030 and 1050, the 1050 draws around 75W vs 35W for the GT 1030, so you would have to know what power other devices in your system use (motherboard, CPU and, fans, HDD etc.) to ensure they do not exceed the remaining 165W.

Cheers,

 

[townsbg]

Yeah ultra slim form factors don't leave a lot of room (unlike a typical full sized tower) for upgrades. It would be almost as difficult as upgrading a laptop. Also certain parts can be in the way. They are designed to be placed beneath a monitor so they make them as slim as possible. They really can be a pain to work on.