Hi there
This is my first post and am hoping for some advice on upgrading to 4K
I have a small form factor PC with the following
i5 4460 3.2ghz Haswell 1150 LGA
Gigabyte H81M-DS2V (SOCKET 0)
16Gb (2x DDR3)
500Gb SSD
Windows 10
It is currently running a 1920x1080 monitor using the onboard graphics and DVI as I don't do any gaming and use it for office type applications.
The motherboard has a couple of PCIE 1x and one PCIE 16x slots free
I would like to upgrade to 4K, again, not for gaming but simply more screen area and if possible, keep the old monitor as a secondary display to the 4K monitor running off the motherboard HDMI connection as currently.
In addition to running a two monitor setup (one 4k, one 1920x1080) I would like to upgrade to USB 3.1 Gen 2 if possible but am faced with an either/or situation because I can't find any USB 3.1 Gen 2 upgrade boards that use a PICE 1x slot so would have to use the 16x slot.
Not sure if I am thinking this through correctly but I seem to have 3 options
OPTION ONE
Install a low profile 4k card like the Gigabyte Nvidia GT1030 low profile or ASUS GT710-SL-2GD5 GeForce GT 710 2 and use this as the main card in the 16x slot, thus closing off the USB 3.1 upgrade path, but still getting 4K, hey ho
OPTION TWO
Install a USB 3.1 card into the 16x slot and use this with an offboard docking station to get the 4K display and external USB 3.1. Although there seems to be plenty of these about not sure if they would work in a dual monitor setup.
OPTION THREE
This is where I am much less sure, but is it possible to use one of those mining rig PCIE expansion/riser cards. The system is underneath the desk so it really doesn't matter what it would look like. So if I used one of those would I be able to install the graphics card into the 16x slot and then go from the 1x slot via a riser card to a 16x slot that I could fit the 4x USB 3.1 card into
Does anyone have any similar experience with trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, I know the alternative is just to upgrade the whole setup but am trying to avoid the disruption, have my software setup and I like the small form factor. Again, this is not a gaming rig, mostly boring office applications
Am trying to avoid upgrading the motherboard although recognise this might also be a reasonable option
Thanks in advance
This is my first post and am hoping for some advice on upgrading to 4K
I have a small form factor PC with the following
i5 4460 3.2ghz Haswell 1150 LGA
Gigabyte H81M-DS2V (SOCKET 0)
16Gb (2x DDR3)
500Gb SSD
Windows 10
It is currently running a 1920x1080 monitor using the onboard graphics and DVI as I don't do any gaming and use it for office type applications.
The motherboard has a couple of PCIE 1x and one PCIE 16x slots free
I would like to upgrade to 4K, again, not for gaming but simply more screen area and if possible, keep the old monitor as a secondary display to the 4K monitor running off the motherboard HDMI connection as currently.
In addition to running a two monitor setup (one 4k, one 1920x1080) I would like to upgrade to USB 3.1 Gen 2 if possible but am faced with an either/or situation because I can't find any USB 3.1 Gen 2 upgrade boards that use a PICE 1x slot so would have to use the 16x slot.
Not sure if I am thinking this through correctly but I seem to have 3 options
OPTION ONE
Install a low profile 4k card like the Gigabyte Nvidia GT1030 low profile or ASUS GT710-SL-2GD5 GeForce GT 710 2 and use this as the main card in the 16x slot, thus closing off the USB 3.1 upgrade path, but still getting 4K, hey ho
OPTION TWO
Install a USB 3.1 card into the 16x slot and use this with an offboard docking station to get the 4K display and external USB 3.1. Although there seems to be plenty of these about not sure if they would work in a dual monitor setup.
OPTION THREE
This is where I am much less sure, but is it possible to use one of those mining rig PCIE expansion/riser cards. The system is underneath the desk so it really doesn't matter what it would look like. So if I used one of those would I be able to install the graphics card into the 16x slot and then go from the 1x slot via a riser card to a 16x slot that I could fit the 4x USB 3.1 card into
Does anyone have any similar experience with trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, I know the alternative is just to upgrade the whole setup but am trying to avoid the disruption, have my software setup and I like the small form factor. Again, this is not a gaming rig, mostly boring office applications
Am trying to avoid upgrading the motherboard although recognise this might also be a reasonable option
Thanks in advance