philo wrote:
"g" wrote in message ...
Would the Allied Telesis 100BFX ST Fiber PCI Express Adapter
Card(http://www.alliedtelesis.com/media/d.../2711fx_ds.pdf)
be compatible with a HP Compaq 6200 Pro Microtower Business PC model
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/q.../13880_na.html
which is running Windows 7(64 bit) on a 100Mb fiber network.

From the link at
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/q.../13880_na.html it is
not clear if there are any empty slots
for accommodating the adapter card.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.


The specs say slots are available
if you want to know for sure, just open it up and have a look



Agreed. There is no substitute for a quick look. Even looking at
the back of the computer, where the add-in cards go, may show
where add-in card faceplates are visible. Even a card with no
connectors on the faceplate (like a Promise Ultra133), would have
a different color metal than the empty slot covers.

If the third slot down, appears to have a video card, *then*
you have to take the side off. Some video cards are double slot
width, and they cover up adjacent slots. In extreme cases, they
might even prevent the top-most available slot from being used.
It depends on the heatsink design. Since the computer lacks a
monster power supply though, there are limits as to what video
card may already be in it. Chances are, the video in coming from
the chipset, and not that slot.

A person could attempt to run a hardware inventory, remotely,
from their IT desk. But the results would require interpretation,
and that is tricky. Whereas, looking at it, is virtually foolproof
(for detecting an open slot).

*******

"HP Compaq 6200 Pro Microtower PC (XY099EA) - specifications and warranty"

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/za/en...9-5096730.html

1 full-height PCI
2 full-height PCIe x1 --- candidates for network card with x1 connector
1 full-height PCIe x16 --- could have video card

It's interesting that the description there, doesn't match the actual picture
in this sheet.

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c02700234.pdf

There are two x16 slots showing, the lower of the two has a "heel guard"
so is the *real* x16 slot, suitable for a video card. The upper one, is
a "faux x16". Normally, I'd "count coupling capacitors" to determine
the slot wiring (whether it is x1, x4, x8, x16 wiring), but it's not
that clear in this case. It could be an x4 but I'm not sure. In any
case, if you had to, you could put an x1 network card in the upper x16
faux slot. It should work. So the upper two slots would be *good* candidates,
the third slot with the "heel guard" could be saved for video. There have
been cases (related to BIOS), where sticking a data card in place of
a video card, doesn't work out. You can try the network card in the
third slot (with "heel guard") but the outcome is less assured.

The computer is an interesting design, in that it lacks a conventional
ATX main power connector. Very clever. It looks like the power supply
would be hard to upgrade - finding one with the same connector
config would be a chore. In a business setting, this would only
be an issue, if the owner insisted on putting a big ass OpenGL
video card in it, and attempting to run it as a CAD station. HP
probably did this, so you'd have to buy replacement supplies
from them.

Paul