EliteDesk 800 G3 Mini 65W Adventures (mis-adventures?)

Adventures and mis-adventures with the G3 65W. Trying out a "T" processor, running benchmarks, and adding a wifi card.

[@bsommer1717]

got 2 hp elitedesk 800 g1s last month for $30 each...4th gen i5s, 16gb RAM, 256gb SSD...super snappy these things are workhorses! gave one to my parents for their living room.

[@handmedowntech]

It is amazing after all this time that they hold their own. One of the reasons it's great to get a corporate level computer for pennies on the dollar. My G1 is my backup NAS.

[@andygardiner6526]

A length of self-adhesive, neoprene sealing foam used for windows and doors (available from the local diy store) should be a good replacement for that strip. I have the feeling it's just to prevent air recycling back into the fan rather than flow through the heatsink.

[@handmedowntech]

Thank you, I will look for that since I have several units missing the foam.

[@jb31842]

For connecting those Wifi antennas to the card, I do exactly what you ultimately figured out, but with longnose pliers. I have two favorite pairs, one of them with the tip bent, and I'll use one or the other depending on what's easier to reach the connector.

[@handmedowntech]

Never thought to use the needle nose pliers. I'm going to give that a try, thanks.

[@slightlyevolved]

Whomever took out the CPU but left the paste on the bottom of the heatsink, needs to have some very bad things happen to them in a dark alleyway. I gotta wonder how many of these machines failed because of paste dropping into the socket pins?

[@handmedowntech]

Hadn't thought about that. Yes, those bare bones units aren't always cleaned up 😕

[@Xedhadeaus]

I have one of these, and I never put the screw under the fan back in... it's just inconvenient. Ironically the only reason why I bought one was because I was going to swap parts out with my 35 watt system... Turns out practically everything is different so everything I was looking to swap around couldn't be swapped. Face plate has different moldings, top cage has something on the front so the other faceplate won't snap in, different fan cables, different cpu fan frames, cpu cooler is different... Sheesh. I thought systems that looked so much alike would have enough in common to swap things around.

[@handmedowntech]

Those G3 units are the odd ones of the bunch but at the same time they have some great features. I find it funny that it is the only generation that specifically supports the 2230 Nvme with a normal screw. Like they thought perhaps that was the future for NVME

[@dogdooish]

Medical forceps are a real boon!! OK so they are metallic, but you can easily overcome that with a coat of epoxy!

[@handmedowntech]

@@dogdooish how would they be used with this G3?

[@dogdooish]

@@handmedowntech They are great for grabbing the small plugs :) they are very good for pushing wires under the clips, also get a bent pair for putting smaller cards in place. I started using them with my RC aircraft and now since I've been messing with Electronics I still use them quite a lot. They also go by different types and names (also called a hemostatic clamp; arterial forceps; and pean, after Jules-Émile Péan)

[@handmedowntech]

@@dogdooish I will have to check those out. Amazon or medical supply house 😉

[@RemnantsOfBeauty]

Interesting video. I know you're focusing on hp elite desks but I'd like to see you analyse the dell optiplex minis, if you can find any. A comparison video would be great. I've been trying to find a good deal on one of these to build a batocera pc.

[@handmedowntech]

I've been debating that very same thing. Do I focus and specialize or branch into other machines. As I ponder you may also want to look at the Dell and Lenovo units talked about on STH, servethehome.

[@stevenbell9589]

I think lenovo mini PC's are cheaper than hp right now and 1 generation newer for the money

[@RemnantsOfBeauty]

@@handmedowntech I can't seem to think of any reason not to. Surely there's only so many videos you can make using the elite desks? I'd love to see very in depth comparison videos.

[@handmedowntech]

I've started doing some mappings of EliteDesks to Dell Optiplex. Let's see where that goes. Thank you for the suggestion and your interest in the channel.

[@eduardoalmontemieses4842]

Replaced a fried motherboard on my EliteDesk 800 G3 Mini 65W; it boots just fine but now noticing bios and system info states the computer is a 35W... The boards look identical, the model numbers on both are the same, and the bios files on HP support files seem to be identical. Should I attempt to flash 65W bios? Wondering what exactly the 65w does differently or if the computer will behave the same.

[@handmedowntech]

I'm thinking the BIOS has those feature codes embedded in it and that probably says it is a 35w system. There should be a way to update or change those.

[@Fferrerp]

Hi boss. What would be the maximum processor that this CPU would accept? I have the elitedesk 800 G3 mini 65w and I would like to know how to do a "mini update"

[@handmedowntech]

I7 7700

[@Fferrerp]

@@handmedowntech Thanks for the quick reply! I would also like to add 16GB of ram from a slot since I currently have 16GB in total (2x8GB). On eBay could I get the 16GB single slot one?

[@handmedowntech]

@@Fferrerp for best performance you'd want to have two sticks of ram of the same size since it supports dual channel. If you had 1 8gb and 1 16gb you would have a total of 24gb but only 16gb would be dual channel. 16gb is good for most things.

[@Fferrerp]

@@handmedowntech thanks boss!

[@Xedhadeaus]

I'm sorry for bothering you again. But do you know if these support sata nvme m.2 drives. I've been at this all day and like I said before, my old steam deck emcc drives work, but these m.2 sata drives just refuse to be seen if put in internally. I'm just perplexed at how it has been ignoring it. Are there settings I'm just getting wrong? Or is it just not something these things care to do? They're 128gb skhynix m2 sata drives. I have 4 of them and yeah, none of them care to be seen.

[@handmedowntech]

Just to confirm. These are the drives with two slots/keys. B and M vs the NVME with just one? I have one of these in my laptop but have not tried them in the EliteDesks.

[@Xedhadeaus]

@@handmedowntech Both the steam deck emcc and the m2 sata drive have the two keys on the bottom.

[@handmedowntech]

I'm not very confident that the system will work with the SATA M.2 - were these some drives you got from another machine?

[@Xedhadeaus]

@@handmedowntech Nah I bought them off ebay. The system only cares to see them if they're connected via an enclosure. So it's probably a no. I genuinely wonder what the difference is where they just don't work internally.

[@handmedowntech]

I did see other people on forums saying they were having issues with SATA m.2. Also I didn't see those as options you could get with the G3. Have you tried changing the secureboot to enable legacy mode? Not sure if that would help. Might be more for non secureboot apps.

[@paulwalker427]

fantastic video

[@handmedowntech]

Too kind, thank you.

[@hzoltan90]

Does the bios allows to boot without cpu fan connected?

[@handmedowntech]

@@hzoltan90 I believe it gives an error but you can continue although it will heat up quick.

[@PineCoffee]

How is the fan noise on these? I'm worried it might be too loud in a quiet room.

[@handmedowntech]

@@PineCoffee at idle they are pretty quiet but if you start doing intensive work you definitely hear it since as you slow down the noise dissipates. But I also have two units running 247 and they are not distracting also though they mostly sit there.

[@PineCoffee]

@@handmedowntech Thanks for your reply. I was hoping to get one of these to replace my ITX machine, which is near silent. These fans are equivalent to laptop fans isn't it? The fans from my laptops can drive me nuts!

[@handmedowntech]

I was just comparing. Very similar, a bit taller. You do get the rev up sound when it has to do something more intense. My main unit is about 4 ft away. I would say it is not quite as annoying as a laptop.

[@PineCoffee]

@@handmedowntech Really appreciate the info, planning to get one soon to try it out.

[@johnc4929]

Do you know if the cpu fan for G3 is the same for G4, G2 and G1?

[@handmedowntech]

I hadn't thought about that. They sure look alike. I know the heatsinks are not interchangeable and the fans of course hang off of them. Let me do some experimenting and see the fit.

[@johnc4929]

Thank you! And please let us know how it went.

[@handmedowntech]

Just posted a video all about the fans and if you can swap them around. Thanks for the idea!

[@johnc4929]

Thanks for the video, I saw it and it’s interesting to see the differences between each model! I really appreciate your effort for making the video! 🙏🙏🙏

[@handmedowntech]

@@johnc4929 my pleasure, thanks for the idea.

[@wonkmisteriuz]

what is better cooling in hp mini, aluminium or copper?

[@handmedowntech]

@@wonkmisteriuz my gut says copper but I maybe have to do a video in which I run a 35w unit using aluminum and then copper to see the temperature difference.

[@wonkmisteriuz]

@@handmedowntech make test please, i want know at same full load cpu temp

[@joecrawford9709]

I don't use the third screw. Too much of a pain.

[@handmedowntech]

With the 35w or with the 65w?

[@dailylife8901]

Can you feel heat across the whole unit with very mild usage?

[@handmedowntech]

I'm actually going back and doing some different tests with it. I ran a heavy load with %100 CPU for 5 minutes and the max temp was 58C - you definitely can feel the heat coming out the back and the case was pretty warm over the CPU but I wouldn't call it hot. Rest of the case was pretty cool to the touch. Once I stopped the heavy load the temps started dropping at hovered in the high 30s, low 40s. The case at that point was a bit more uniform to the touch.

[@dailylife8901]

@handmedowntech 58C seems awesome under heavy load, what's your room temperature? It's 30c where I am and mine gets like 50c under normal usage and up to 70 with playing games, the whole case gets so hot, I'm thinking of drilling holes on the top case and putting a fan facing towards it lol

[@handmedowntech]

Probably more like 20c for me. Do you have the 65w case?

[@dailylife8901]

Actually, mine has the 35w with a 65w charger , but it's a 705 G4 with a Rizen 3 2200ge.

[@handmedowntech]

@@dailylife8901 hmm, I wonder if they did a 65w version with the top with all of the holes. Like they did with the 800s. Just thinking of you had one of those chassis and heatsinks it might bring the temps down. Much like in the video

[@stevenbell9589]

Did you know they do small pads for the CPU to save yiu using paste and they are reusable so you xan take them out abd reuse them on another cpu if your testing things

[@handmedowntech]

I think I've seen those. What would I search for on Amazon?

[@stevenbell9589]

Thermal Grizzly - Carbon Thermal Pad they do others to it depends on what you want

[@handmedowntech]

I looked those up - have you used them yourself?

[@stevenbell9589]

@@handmedowntech no I have not yet I'm waiting to upgrade the CPU before using it

[@stevenbell9589]

@@handmedowntech in work they have the Lenovo m720q mini pc some are 8th gen some 9th gen that would tie in with G3 or G4 you did that video for with the 7th gen CPU model numbers having 2 separate gen CPU in them

[@martinkellner3061]

I wonder if a g3 can use a 9th gen CPU?

[@handmedowntech]

In the interest of science :) - I gave it a try. I pulled the i5-9500T from my G5 and tried it in the G3 - no dice. Got the dreaded "this CPU is not supported" beeps right away. I didn't hold out much hope since we're bringing a 6 core CPU into one accustomed to 4 core (my theory at least).

[@wonkmisteriuz]

bro, can i use m2 sata in this hp mini pc?

[@handmedowntech]

@@wonkmisteriuz if you're referring to the m.2 that have the two slots (b & m) then yes. I have not used them extensively since I went down the NVME path but the whole idea of this channel is to use stuff that still works so give it a try.

[@wonkmisteriuz]

@@handmedowntech i try on 400 g3 mini didn't work

[@handmedowntech]

@@wonkmisteriuz were you booting from it or as a second drive?

[@wonkmisteriuz]

@@handmedowntech i only use m2 nvme slot.. m2 sata led turned on but not detect in bios