# Out of luck with HP



## Genesis (Aug 22, 2009)

I recently purchased an HP pavilion elite e9180t computer
Intel i7 920 processor(2.67Ghz)
Nvidea Ge Force 250 1Gb
8GB Ram DDR3
1 Terabyte SATA III
5.1 channel sound card
I think the motherboards an AMI Truckee vers. 1.04

So basically my dad offered to help pay for a computer for college, but since he was going to help pay he didnt trust me to try to learn and make my own, and he wanted me to buy an hp because of the large student discoun they offered(he got himself discounts on a printer, wireless n router, and a wireless mouse and keyboard because of me).

It wasn't until after I bought the HP that I realized that they intentionally limited the bios making overclocking near to impossible. I read in the stickied thread that using software to overclock wasnt very stable, do you guys agree with this? would it work for me? or could u atleast instruct me on how to turn on the i7's so called "turbo mode" which supposedly boosts me up to 2.97Ghz... idunno maybe ill just replace the motherboard, what do you guys think?


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

Overclocking through software is always more unstable than hand overclocking...

Really, with an i7 920 you won't need to overclock for a long time. Also, OEM machines like HPs and Dells usually have kind of iffy power supplies that are just good enough for the hardware in them, they usually won't take much of an overclock with keeling over anyway. I'd say you're fine as you are. You can get a new motherboard later on.


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## T_T (Aug 13, 2009)

I have had less than zero luck with HP"s in most cases and i would leave as is my friend and just hope the Taliban finds them. IMHO i cant see how they stay in buisness with such crap they put out into the public. i know this is off topic but i just had too


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

Used HPs are a goldmine for parts, HP usually overspeccs its CPUs (big number before the GHz means more people buy it :wink, so those are good for salvage, and the ones I've opened up used Western Digital Caviar drives. Their optical drives are adequate, and if you can find the OEM model number of the motherboard you can replace the proprietary BIOS with the OEM BIOS and use it in a low-end budget computer. Their memory if often an off-brand, so it isn't much use unless you keep it paired with the motherboard. If they have a separate graphics card it's usually an adequate brand, they can be recycled into mid-range system usually. The power supplies are only good as book ends or doorstops, but if you ever need ferrite coils, capacitors, transistors, bits of copper, any electrical component, you can rip apart the PSU. Cases are garbage, though you could probably find a use for the fans if you got creative.

HPs have their uses, alright. Oh yes... :wink:


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## T_T (Aug 13, 2009)

I have to add to this as one of my family members works at the shipyaurds in canada. they ship containers of HP computers to china and once they get there they have people take the small gold color parts off the mobo"s and anything else they can find. overhead its all just one big smoke cloud of pure poisson that is inhailed from young kids that they have doing this over there. i have no clue how this is allowed in canada "the shipping of scum to other parts of the world" but i can tell you this from knowledge, it will never end  

Phædrus2401 your comment : Cases are garbage, though you could probably find a use for the fans if you got creative. 

is what made me think of this no pun intended of course but i think HP is about the worst company for computers going of all times. and Genesis i wish you the best of luck my friend


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

There's a lot of bad **** happening in China.

I wouldn't say HP is the worst. From my experience, the experience of some friends, and some research, Packard Bell is probably they worst I've hard of, at least from a consumer point of view. Outdated tech, severely underpowered PSUs (an 8800GT on a 350w POS unit... insane! unacceptable for a consumer product!), low-quality parts, bad customer service, and inflated prices.


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## roast (Nov 2, 2006)

I dont think overclocking that machine is really required...
If you're an enthusiast, and want to do some overclocking, grab a cheap motherboard and a E5200.

Otherwise, you're ***** out of luck with Overclocking that HP. As you said yourself, the BIOS is limited.
Software is indeed very risky to OC with - not something I tend to like doing. Far too unstable.
And as Phædrus2401 mentioned, the PSU probably would not be able to cope.

Sorry.

-Mick.


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## ThumperSD (Feb 14, 2010)

I also have the HP e9180t. If I upgrade the mobo and PSU (maybe case in the future), can the system be overclocked and run stable? Also may someone tell me what is a E5200 and what the difference it is from the one I have in my e9180t?

What would be everything I have to replace to make it overclockable and safe?


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## ThumperSD (Feb 14, 2010)

Roast, why did you recommend an E5200 if the i7 920 is clearly better?


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