Hi everyone!
I’m a total newbie here, but I’ve been lurking for a while and I’m finally ready to start my first project. I just came across a deal in the used market for an HP ProDesk 2 Tower G1a Desktop AI PC for about $212 and I'm wondering if this has the potential to be a solid sleeper build.
The specs seem pretty modern for the price:-
an AMD Ryzen 5 8500G with 8GB of DDR5 RAM. Since it’s on the AM5 platform, I figured it might have a decent upgrade path, but I’m hitting some "HP-specific" walls and could use some guidance.
A couple of things I’m stuck on:
- The GPU Situation: The motherboard info is super scarce (it’s an AMD Pro 665 chipset), and the stock power supply is only 180W. I know that limits me to cards that don’t need external power (like an RTX 3050 6GB or an RX 6400). Has anyone worked with this specific chassis? Any clearance issues I should know about?
- PSU Swap: Can I actually change the power supply in this thing? I’m assuming HP is using their proprietary 6-pin/8-pin power connectors on the board. Is there a reliable adapter for this newer G1a model, or am I stuck with the 180W unit?
I’d love to hear if you guys think this is a good foundation to build on or if the proprietary parts make it too much of a headache for a first-timer.
Thanks in advance for being patient with my beginner questions!
edit: Since ddr5 is so expensive right now I plan to add more ram after the Ramageddon ends. I figured I am just paying for the Ryzen 5 8500G and the 8gig ddr5, still seems worth it? idk.