Renewed i5 Mini PC: HP EliteDesk 800 G2

[@ExplainingComputers]

As some have spotted, whilst the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 I purchased was specified with a 6500T i5 CPU (the Amazon listing appears at 1:35), the unit I received has a 6500 CPU, which has a 65W rather than 35W TDP (thermal design power). So the machine is a bit more powerful than its claimed specs, but uses more energy. I should have looked more carefully at what Windows reported at 12:18. My apologies. Things were rather hectic when I was making this video.

[@philharris9631]

You can tell the 65w versions from the 35w versions because the 65w ones *SHOULD* have a vented lid…

[@JohnStopman]

No problem man, the lack of that *'T'* is an easy one to miss 🤭😉

[@JohnStopman]

PS: is it possible to under-volt the CPU? Maybe you can get the energy usage down to 35W that way 🙂 The fans would be less noisier too 🙃

[@philharris9631]

@@JohnStopman - not from the standard BIOS. These things are business oriented.

[@JohnStopman]

@@philharris9631 Yeah, I thought so...

[@thaphreak]

The i7 version of this has been my step dad's daily drive for the past 3 years, he does audio editing at a professional level with it too. These are very underappreciated PC's.

[@ragingbombast]

I wish they were under appreciated. Used to get these things cheap for small company phone SBCs and other similar functions when Pis and single board computers went bananas. Now everyone uses them and the prices have gone up.

[@thaphreak]

@@ragingbombast Facts! They used to be cheap AF, I know my old boss loved me when I showed him the 2 year old refurbs saved like 800usd a PC, most of these are old lease machines tbh.

[@fram1111]

Oh great, tell everyone.😂🤣

[@Commiehunter12]

CPUS are CPUs. If you can feed enough power, than CPU based tasks are no problem. GPU tasks will take some doing

[@thaphreak]

@@Commiehunter12 not true, we keep developing technology that gets faster and faster using less power. For example the 486 DX4 100mhz used 2.6 watts, so let's use this as a metric, if you scaled that 2.6watts per 100mhz to the current 3.2ghz you get nearly 84 watts(forget that level of tech CAN'T got that fast) for what is done currently at 35 watts

[@eidgenossenarkebuse]

Mr. Bosch what a distinguished Gentleman.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

You'd think so, but he's good friends with Bobby Box-cutter.

[@terryashley4674]

​@@FatNorthernBigot Oh no. The box cutter is Mr. Stanley. 😅

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@terryashley4674 it's Stanley's American cousin.

[@jackphillips3512]

That’s Herr Bosch to us plebeians

[@lasgio_]

I'm in my 20s and that's the biggest reason I subscribe to him lol

[@jb31842]

In case you haven't been flooded with comments already, those HP hard drive mounts were widely used in different HP models and can be procured second hand from Amazon and the like. I did so myself years ago for an HP mini tower I was using as my media PC.

[@ernestgalvan9037]

Yeah, those HD mounts are all over eBay… from a single mount, up to lots of 100’s…

[@NewAgeDIY]

I’m glad the they are being repackaged and cleaned up ready for resale. A lot of companies don’t bother and just send them off to a recycling facility. Thanks for today’s video Chris, as always be safe and healthy.

[@sarkybugger5009]

A _recycling / refurbishment facility_ is probably where these are from. They will have standard disk images ready to install onto these machines, because they probably bought hundreds of them. All my computers, except for the Raspberries, are ex-business machines. Unless you are a die-hard gamer that really needs power , even ten year old but high spec machines can be had for pennies on the pound, and are more than capable. Buying new computers is a mug's game.

[@JMcMillen]

@@sarkybugger5009 Although, if you can find an ex-business low profile computer with a good processor, there are some pretty decent low profile graphics cards that can handle gaming. Sure, you might have to turn the settings down, but it can make for a low cost gaming solution.

[@Jonteponte71]

My company was acquired a few years back. We had just had a tech refresh and the workstations we had where maybe a year old. Hexacore Intel i7 with NVME SSD's at them time. We got new machines (also Dell btw) and the old ones got recycled. It was just their process. Apparently cheaper than actually wiping them and re-installing. Meanwhile, politicians all over the world is trying to tax us to death because of the climate.

[@RoySATX]

They are leases, leased from HP, etc. to large companies/educational institutions. Once the lease is up they are mass exchanged for a newer model and these go off en mass to (possibly) be cleaned/refurbished and sold off. I've got several and I'm pleased.

[@KameraShy]

BEWARE when buying these machines! VERY carefully read the listings. The manufacturers' and sellers' terminology varies, inconsistently and often erroneously regarding 'SFF' and 'USFF'. Ordering an 'SFF' machine without looking closely, may result in a larger form factor than you are expecting. Happened to me.

[@arvaneret_329]

Does S.F.F. mean small form factor? U.S.F.F. meaning ultra-small form factor?

[@henntendo]

@@arvaneret_329Yes

[@cncwizard]

​@@arvaneret_329 it's supposed to, but a lot of eBay listers don't get that

[@finhas8865]

​@@arvaneret_329it does

[@senior_ranger]

Nice to see you recognizing that we are awash in affordable processing power!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

What a great way to put it! :)

[@volvo09]

These are a great deal because they are light, small, and easy to ship. The older SFF desktop pc's still weighed like 10lbs and took a big box to ship, so you couldn't find such great deals. All my pc's are old office lease office hardware. I have a few mini Dell PC's like this, they are nice for what I need, and they even have socketed cpu's... I believe this HP should also.

[@sarkybugger5009]

@@volvo09 Same here, although I also love me some ThinkPads, and I also drive an old Volvo. (She'll be 25 this year, and still runs like a dream.) 😁

[@mharris5047]

@@volvo09 I have several HP SFF (not the USFF like in this video) computers. They tend to last at least ten years and I have one that has a Pentium 4 HT CPU from 2005 that still booted up when I played with it last year (2022). At $100 I would say they are an excellent deal even if they only run Windows for 2 1/2 years. I usually pay about $150 when I buy one but my main computer was actually $50 in 2020, it has an i3 4th generation in it. I put $100 or so into it upgrading it to 16GB RAM and a large hard drive, though (I won't count the second large HDD used for backup purposes only).

[@Sunlight91]

One year ago I bought an HP ProDesk G5 for £150 with an i5 9500,8GB RAM and 256Gb SSD. I love the 6.5W idle power consumption because it runs 24/7 as a webserver.

[@FR4M3Sharma]

A dell optilex with same config except 9600k cost me 100$.

[@pavelperina7629]

Good. Now I have ZimaBoard 216 which is not powerful enough when needed, three days ago I ordered used/refurbished Fujitsu Q956 with i5-6500t, 128gb ssd (very likely nvme) and 8gb ram for 130EUR. Because SSDs, RAMs and euros are cheap right now I'm almost considering to upgrade it to 512gb or 1tb ssd and 32gb ram and it will be just slightly worse than i5-4590 computer I used year and half ago and was quite happy with it. Larger PCs usually have better specs for the same price, I hope I won't regret it, because any upgrade can complicated (such as adding sata ssd or 2.5" drive, because it has proprietary power connectors)

[@hcjkruse]

Nice deal for a G5 I5.

[@mharris5047]

It is interesting how low of a power draw simple computers have now. I just bought a cheap new laptop with a Celeron N4100 in it, it almost never draws more than 13 watts and that includes a 14 inch monitor. If I have it connected to my large office monitor it draws less than ten watts. It isn't the most powerful CPU in the world but it plays 1080P streaming video and is decent enough for simple internet use. It likely won't be my daily driver but it is light, compact and useful enough if I need to take a computer somewhere.

[@hcjkruse]

@@mharris5047 Until you are looking for a 4K gaming machine for flight simulator. Getting something power efficient is just not there yet. Probably I have to wait two hardware generations for that. I don't want a noisy +300Watt system for gaming. I own a Prodesk 400 G4 I5 32 Watt and an Elitedesk 800 G4 I5 65 Watt. Affordable from auctions. Building a comparable Mini ITX system from second hand parts will be more expensive because of shipping costs. I also built a Haswell I7 T series machine myself in 2014. Still a useful NAS because of PCIE with NVme adapters and the sata connectors. Not economically viable to replace that one yet.

[@daveamies5031]

I watched this from a HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Micro, that I bought as a second hand machine from a PC recycler, I upgraded the ram and am running Ubuntu 22.04, it's a great little machine, and with 3 monitors it's great for programming and desktop stuff, when I need compute power I have proxmox servers for that, and I don't game, so this was a good low cost way to power a few monitors

[@mxikxi]

We are using about 15 of these kind of small PCs HP/Lenovo/Dell in our business. Cheap and fast enough to run our warehouse program and other things on them. Saved us a lot of money

[@SandsOfArrakis]

Similar here. All the computers in our factory are very similar to this type of computer. They're all from HP. Recently the attached printers were from HP as well, but they have been replaced by Canon's.

[@kaede15]

ServerHome talked about this little PC awhile ago. Back then I got 4 of these babies and now I plan to add 2 more to my clusters. Here are some of my takes who actually own a bunch of these sub 1L PCs. 1- Most of the G2 comes with Windows VL, some even comes with Win10 PRO which doesn's required you to pay extra $$ to get a genuine OS. 2- Be aware of the m2 for wireless connectivity. Not all card works with G2, only those wireless that are whitelisted by HP. Alternatively you can get a mod BIOS for walkaround. 3- Be careful of the blue screws for the 2.5" hdd tray, from what I understand, there are 2 kinds of threads, one for 3.5" and one for 2.5" but the exterior is the same blue rubber shock absorvant washer. So be careful when you buy those screws or you are gonna ended up like me with a crap load of screws that looks exactly the same but doesn't screwed onto the 2.5" disks. 4- vPro, this is one those hidden gems, it's basically an IPMI which is really cool if you plan to use it as a server. 5- Power hack, the i5 6500T is low power enough to ditch the gigantic brick that passes for power supply. You can go to Aliexpress and find a USB type c to barrel connector for HP and then purchase a 65W type C GaN power charger. I used it on 6500T and it has no problem booting it up. 6- Second ethernet hack, this one is the best, it is great to have an additional ethernet port if you want to transform G2 into a server, like using it as Pfsesne or OpenSense, you'll get more performance comparing to an USB 3 gigabit ethernet. This works by pulling the second display port module, and install a daugther board with a RJ45 socket which is connected via JTAG to an m2 module connected under the HDD tray, there are 2 options to choose from one by realtek and one by intel, I recomend the intel chipset. Be aware that doing this mod you need to take out the second small fan to fit the m2 module, and you will be sacrificing the nvme for a second eth. I'm running a small cluster of 4 G2 with HA Proxmox and so far I have zero complains. Also tried with an i7 6700k which is rated for 91W, strangely the original power brick can actually run it, although the temps are a little bit high. It's just crazy that all SBC prices are so jacked up, you can litterally get on of this for roughly the same price, the perfomance difference is astronomical.

[@brett20000000009]

Where can I find out more about the second ethernet hack? tried googling couldn't find anything thanks!

[@YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit]

This is an heroic post. THANKS A TON for all of this additional info! I figured I'd just "go crazy" and get 4 G4's for like a proxmox cluster & HA, but obviously the G2's are quite a bit cheaper, esp in volume. I'm also interested in the 2nd eth port..

[@5i13n7]

It's nice to see these machines finding homes where they can continue to be useful and reduce e-waste. I really enjoy these sorts of videos showcasing the great value here. Thanks!

[@BharatMohanty]

Greetings sir...so we got all three cameos Mr. Scissors, Stanley the Knife and Mr. Bosch in one video.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, lots of cameos today! :) Greetings.

[@howardwilliams2587]

As always, great content. For basic computing needs this is a great way to go. Performance per dollar spent can't be equaled. I'm somewhat biased here as I love to take older hardware (10 years or less) and use those machines as my daily driver for both Windows and Linux (also a Zorin user). I currently have the HP Z series workstations ranging from the Z230 to the Z440 with a Z420 sandwiched in between. And let's not forget Dell Optiplex and Lenovo Thinkcentre. Both companies have great products in their business class portfolio that can't be beat in performance per dollar. Thanks again for sharing!

[@giuliobuccini208]

Question: do you think it is easy to install Linux on such HP mini-PCs? I had bad experiences on Laptop equipped natively with Windows...

[@howardwilliams2587]

@@giuliobuccini208 Any time you install Linux on any PC there is the possibility for incompatibilities. Some Linux distro's have better chances for success, such as Zorin. There are two versions of Zorin, a paid version and a free version. Of all the distro's I've personally installed, Zorin seems to give the most consistent result. Normally you'll probably have some difficulty with graphics and/or audio. And typically somewhere on the web there will be a resolution described that works. Even with the few hiccups I've had, I still prefer Linux as my daily driver. If I need windows I have VM's that can solve the problems. Now, the laptop can be a real issue due to the proprietary nature of the drivers. Desktops, on the other hand, seem much easier to get everything working. Good Luck!

[@kyqg2606]

I remember getting a box 3 times that size at work, there was another box inside with the gray foam padding as well, and all it had in it was a sheet of paper. I believe it was from HP and was just a list of terms and/or licensing agreement.

[@user-hq2fy5cs1k]

Can you show us the worse value mini PC

[@MichelMorinMontreal]

These small devices are very interesting, and their prices make them very attractive in many situations: from small workstations at home (especially under Linux) to Nextcloud servers... And as they are quite easy to find, they represent a very relevant acquisition option. And digital recycling is a great initiative... Thanks for the presentation!

[@jomitoh5111]

Hopefully they don't increase in price anytime soon

[@bookvee]

Yup, thats it. If I'm reading this right, that thing is more powerful than the desktop I use for drawing and art packages and with the exception of the graphics card, matches my very old gaming setup. Hey, why get a brand new pc for gaming when most of the greatest games ever all run on a potato? (Note to self, 3d print pi case thatlooks like a potato.)

[@McRocket]

Thank you for this video. This gets me thinking about used equipment, more than I otherwise might. And I REALLY look forward to your upcoming 'Windows 11 on older hardware' video. Once again, you really come through for the 'little guy/gal'. ☮

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

Why you need older hardware, and why you run Windows 11 on it ? Once again ? why you need that ?

[@McRocket]

@@lucasRem-ku6eb Because that is what I have.

[@dorin.dumitru]

I'm using an Elitebook 800 G2 mini with an i7-6700T, 32gb ram (2x16Gb for 2133MHz) , 2Tb Samsung 980 pro nvme for system, 2Tb Samsung 870 Evo SSD for storage, intel WIFI 6 AX200 160mhz on the second m2 slot and 2 external antennas sma mounted on the back of the case. I think it's the most I can get from this tinny thing called computer that gets the job done flawlessly :)

[@neurobioboy]

I was using a little lenovo i5 based mini pc at my previous work for a while. Those mini PC are totally underrated. They are so convenient, cheap, and totally capable of the most common tasks.

[@Commiehunter12]

Intel came out with the mini PC motherboard and T series CPU to combat the Mac Mini on the PC side, and almost all of these "1 liter" PC uses the exact same internals.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

People hate them as a PC, too minimal, meant for Warehouse and offices app only ! What you run on them ?

[@k.b.tidwell]

"Lots of bubblewrap...we can pop that later." A man after my own heart.

[@parrotraiser6541]

It's always encouraging to discover that you have twice as many fans as you thought, isn't it? When the original board dies, the box might be recyclable to a container for another SBC.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Ah, a Pi in this case. I had not considered that . . .

[@matsu1994]

You can most likely fit a normal mini-ITX motherboard into this case.

[@massimo79mmm]

@@matsu1994 i don’t know this specifical case, but for example dell pc (i have one) have non standard parts

[@OverTallman]

@@matsu1994 Nope, the motherboards of these 1L desktops are proprietary and slightly smaller than mini-ITX. It's quite easy to find replacement motherboards for them though.

[@gaptastic]

The majority of my pc's are not win11 compatible (so says microsoft). Look forward to your win11 install on older pc's. I hope the installs still get security updates, if not, I'm gonna have a lot more Linux computers. Ha!

[@tbrowniscool]

I have personally imaged and cared for thousands of these machines in a healthcare setting. These things still run when caked in dust. Great machines

[@benjaminshtark5977]

what type of O/S they are running in your environment? specs of hardware? thanx

[@tbrowniscool]

@@benjaminshtark5977 Running windows 10 (4gb ram, 128gb ssds or hdds) 21-25 degrees wall mounted in wards. Full of nasty dust and hospital crap

[@benjaminshtark5977]

​@@tbrowniscool nice!!! did you do anything special to them to make them work in hospital environment? things like disabling USB to prevent people hacking the devices by using some usb flashdrives, wifi using certificate authentication ? (or wifi disabled at all?) lock bios? disk encryption? what about CPU fan? had any issues fans failing? i am asking this because i am looking for similar device for schools on budget for a lot of children while budget is around 200$ per device (excluding monitor/keyb/mouse). and main purpose is to have it running basicly 24/7 in classes while keeping maintenance and hacking (preventing kids breaking or hacking O/S) as low as possible..

[@tbrowniscool]

@@benjaminshtark5977 Yes we use a custom windows image that disables USB use etc. All machines use bit locker and locked bios of course. All machines use wifi and if they are wired up that's a bonus. We do no physical changes to the machines. Edit: we are spending about £400-600 per desktop and about £700-1200 per laptop btw. Yeah make sure you order the right machine and have the knowledge for a custom windows image. Ideally flashed from a usb stick or network point. How many machines are you thinking of. Kids can't break what we have but out budget is over a million pounds a year on windows licenses!

[@benjaminshtark5977]

​@@tbrowniscool well, its a voluntary project, licenses for ms windows are provided for free basically. we only need to get the proper hardware. i was thinking about either this device or similar from Lenovo or Dell.. The main usage will be for kids to learn programming and school projects. currently the requirement is for a pilot run for 80 machines... (2 full classes + some spare machines.)

[@suzisaintjames]

Looking forward to your upcoming video on installing Win11 on older machines. I have a minimal income and plan on using my Win10 as long as I can. I try not to use cloud services, so I can use most of my programs offline. My only need for my new computer would be good reliable internet service, so I can watch you on KZbin and maybe a few video games like Sudoku or Solitaire or Jigsaw. 💖🌞🌵😷

[@absurdbird3556]

Crazy we seem to be totally in sync! I am at my mum's and I just refurbished an HP Compaq 6000 small-form factor from about 2007. I got rid of Windows, (and the HDD it was sitting on) upgraded the 2GB DDR3 Ram for 8GB (for pennies) and installed Lubuntu on a 512GB SSD. Works like a charm now, very responsive, even plays HD KZbin without problems. I'm tempted to upgade the processor for the highest spec one it will take, a Core 2 Quad 9500, for £11. It also has a Display Port which surprised me, I didn't know it was so old!

[@ExplainingComputers]

We are in sync indeed! And I get the impression -- both from the comments here, and more generally, that we are far from alone. Refurbished SFF business hardware is I think a rising maker/enthusiast trend.

[@absurdbird3556]

@@ExplainingComputers Perhaps because it's so easy to get hold of compared to the Raspberry Pi, and also outperforms it with many tasks, especially with desktop internet browsing.

[@oneeyedphotographer]

That's mini, not SFF. SFF is an official designation, certainly by HP. There's only a handful of those on eBay Australia, we have heaps of Dells, mostly micro. I got a Dell Micro of about that vintage, it seems to be buyer's choice whether they come windows Ten or Eleven. Mine cam with 32 Gb RAM, a 2.5" SDD similar yours, but allegedly new and M.2 WiFi. And, mercifully, no keyboard/mouse. Before retirement I bought a lot of this stuff at auction, we were assumed to check the computers out before commencement, and then worked through the catalogue over several hours. One auction hose in particular did a pretty good job of inspecting the computers, and buyers were alerted of discovered faults. I don't remember ever finding one that unexpectedly didn't run, I did sometimes find undescribed additional hardware, a disk here, a graphics card there. Some kind of satellite card one time. Sometimes during the auction, sometimes at the end, we went to collect our purchases. At that time, we got the box(s) we purchased plus random keyboards and mice as described on the receipt. I discovered it best to watch the first hour, while the amateurs met their requirements. I had no concerns about outbidding dealers, but the deeper into the auction the cheaper the computers became. The business computers were generally SFF, mini/micro hadn't been invented yet.

[@davidgomez79]

Very nice PC. I have the G1 version. Modded the bios to boot from NVME and upgraded the cpu to an i7-4790T couldn't be happier with it

[@libertine5606]

I bought 6 of them! They are cheaper than a Raspberry Pi! 1 is my regular computer and the other I have Proxmox vm running Home Assistant. I paid $109 each.

[@bigdude101ohyeah]

Honestly an underrated form factor. Some Lenovo Tinys have the option to replace the HDD bay with a PCIe 8x slot, if you need expandability

[@Priyodarsono]

Ok, as a cargo aircrew personnel, that's cardboard box spend lots of space in the aircraft ULD crate

[@RudolfSzecsi]

We can say your keyboard and mouse was Cherry picked.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Nice. :)

[@cbrunnkvist]

I picked up a similar secondhand EliteDesk model a year ago or so for use as HomeAssistant server, and in the wake of the global RPi-shortage it turned out to be a solid choice. They are of "enterprise HP" build quality, and definitely value for money. Plus being x86, you don't need to cross-compile any custom software. Fun detail: mine was lacking precisely those two drive bracket knobs as well! 😆

[@thomaswilliams]

I've got one of these as my TV pc / media center. I picked up 16GB ram for £20 from cex along with a 512GB nvme SSD for £40. The last upgrade I've gotten is a i7 6700T as a processor upgrade again from cex. The pc itself I purchased from Cash Generators for £50.

[@Chris.Brisson]

Is the CPU actually socketed for upgradeability? I've assumed they are soldered onto the board.

[@thomaswilliams]

@Chris Brisson It's a normal socketed desktop processor. I purchased the exact same system as Chris is using from cash generator for £50. I re pasted the processor when I upgraded it to the i7 6700t. The I5 that I had in the system I traded in for 16gb ram.

[@SyDiko]

For the longest time I had one of these, but later switched to the newer G2 design with the Ryzen 5 as a server. Absolute beast 4C/8T with 32GBs of DDR4 ram. Powerful micro server. :)

[@plamendimitrov5762]

Worked for a bit in a place where each worker had the Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 Tiny with i7 6700 and 16 gigs of ram - they actually do fairly well for the programing/designing that company does. The power rusage and snappy performance are the only real + sides tho. Even at 20-30% CPU usage the fan ramp up to max rpm and they not only produce serious heat (old hdd sitting next to it on the table was warm and that wasnt directly behind the fan) but the noise can be heard across a big room. The expansion or upgrade options are non-existent - u cant replace anything inside of them beside adding storage or ram...

[@volvo09]

Yeah, they are basically like laptops. If you do any major work the fan will crank up. Fine for general use, but if you like silence, or do heavy computing a full size desktop will be a better option.

[@plamendimitrov5762]

@@volvo09 Not exactly. In terms of expansion/thermals/power they are the same as laptops but even tho physically these tiny towers are smaller, you still need full peripherals to use them - aka input device/s, monitors etc. The main reason I was given why they bought them there was cuz of the pandemic and working from home (it was hard to carry the big desktop and monitors to ur home and room was an issue in smaller living spaces) + electricity bills (before they had older xeon systems which indeed hog more power). For this company, the workload requires 2 monitors with decent resolution (2k is minimum) and big screens - anything less or a single monitor just doesn't work when you need easily 4,5,6+ things opened at the same time. When you need to put 2 biga** monitors in your home, I don't see how the form factor of the PC would solve any space problems you might have..... Meanwhile, as annoying as a track pad can be, laptop can easily operate anywhere on their own. Just bring portable 2nd monitor and , imo, you have better version of that PC...

[@EgoChip]

I was half expecting some dog food to be in the box, after hearing the Amazon customer stories. Be careful when you buy from Amazon and make sure you video record yourself receiving and opening the package to cover yourself in case you do get scamazoned.

[@mikiethebikie]

Hi Chris, I have bought refurbished corporate pcs twice now. They are built well and perform well too. This is a good way to go.

[@davemason2290]

Thanks for this video. I needed a PC for myself and my son. I now have the same model as you in this video and my son has the Lenovo equivalent. What a good PCs they are and I got them for around £80 each. Both have i56600t CPU. I found the fan noise annoying until I turned the computer upside down. Now I have a upside down computer with a quiet fan.

[@KIPeR97eS]

just randomly watched one of your older videos about veracrypt, and now I see new upload. It keeps happening to me :)

[@thaphreak]

You've lucked upon the best single board/small form factor educator on KZbin! Christopher is a hidden treasure!

[@HillPhantom]

They have one much better in an AMD Ryzen version in same form factor for about 150 bucks!

[@chromerims]

Another jolly superb video 👍 Many (non-Windows) uses for this class of PC, and longevity is better than what MSFT would have one believe. Kindest regards, neighbours and friends.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

I have no uses for any kind of Windows PC these days unless it's Windows 98, 2000 or XP inside a VM to play a few classic old games with. I rid myself of my Microsoft abuser fully when support for Windows 7 ended - only Linux these days.

[@sbc_tinkerer]

I have a few of these little workhorses running various OSes which I purchased from Microcenter and packaged in considerably smaller boxes. 😁Blessed Easter to all who celebrate. Stay well!

[@HKey_Root]

Interesting as always. Nice to be introduced to Mr Bosch. Thank you.

[@Chris.Wiley.]

My comment seems to have been lost, so I'll post it again. It's worth noting that many of these business class PCs have an embedded license for Windows 10 Pro so if you buy one without a drive or without an OS you can still download a Windows ISO from Microsoft and it will activate using the embedded license.

[@ExplainingComputers]

The comment has survived this time!

[@eherlitz]

These are such gems. I have a whole array of these with i7 att home for proxmox lab usage with 32 gb ram in each, + ssd, nvme AND 2,5 gbit networking for ceph. The i7 versions often comes with vPro for remote management. So much awesomeness in a little box!

[@MnemonicCarrier]

How did you get 2.5Gbit networking on these?

[@stuartaparker]

@@MnemonicCarrier I’m guessing vis USB3/C dongles. I use them for ESXi with such dongles.

[@ReFreshRC]

​@@MnemonicCarrier some have PCIe capability, like Lenovo m920q

[@yourpcmd]

They are cheap because they will soon be obsolete and many are unusable because of Windows 10 being EOL on October 14, 2025.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Simply not true. These machines run Windows 11 perfectly -- as you will see here in a video two weeks today, and as several others have noted in these comments. And they also run Linux, Chrome OS and FreeBSD. So how are they going to become "unusable?"

[@dj_paultuk7052]

As with all HP corporate hardware, you can also update the BIOS from within the BIOS. Just hit F10 to go into the BIOS. Make sure an ethernet cable is connected to your network, and hit Update Bios. Given these were £600 to £700 when new they are now amazing value.

[@arch1107]

those things are 7 years old now, so the value is in doubt, those fans and the mobo are on the limit of needing replacement, these kind of machines were used 24/7 where they were used first

[@adrienv3523]

Can you instal Linux Mint on this, or it is made compatible only for Windows ? ( Obviously Zorin OS Works for you, but what about Linux Mint ?)

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, Linux Mint will install and work just fine. :)

[@MnemonicCarrier]

Great review! These mini PCs are awesome! Since Raspberry Pi 4 SBCs dried up, I started buying these instead to use as headless home servers. It's really worth getting the i7 version if you can, as you get twice as many CPU cores than the i5 version (and probably a slightly better iGPU too). The CPU is user upgradeable, but I think it's cheaper to buy one with an i7. Was surprised that the fans can get quite loud on these. I have two, and they run silently, although I don't run a desktop environment on mine. You can also perform a hack to attach a desktop GPU to these small computers via the M.2 connector - you just need the right adapter (m.2 to pcie riser).

[@warbirdnut9269]

Maybe I haven't pushed my mini's enough, but I haven't had an issue with fan noise. But I use these for tinkering so that may be why.

[@MnemonicCarrier]

@@warbirdnut9269 I think the reason why Christopher mentioned fan noise is because he has the model with the 65W CPU (I have the 35W model), so his unit probably generates a lot more heat (but it will be around 25% faster too).

[@cdl0]

Good stuff. The box should really have been strapped to a wooden pallet. Presumably it was delivered in a gigantic truck. Respectfully, I believe the proper way to address your tuning tool is Herr Robert Bosch. 🙂

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@cowantom]

These are great wee devices. I run a Dell 1L for my Plex and its fantastic. Costs next to nothing to run.

[@therandomdot2563]

Word to the wise getting wifi installed... I got a G3 mini pc. Mine, like this G2, did not come with built-in wifi. IE: no built-in antennas. They have a WLAN card slot, but without the antenas installed, you're dead in the water. I thought all the cases were made the same with the same slots, so figured if I just bought a EliteDesk mini pc wifi antenna kit, I could run the antennas, put in a WLAN card and be good to go. NOPE! These "no built-in wifi" versions do not have the correct slots cut in the housing to mount the low-profile wifi antennas. So, that was a waste of $20. BUT They do have the two small holes in the back that you can use a screw driver to pop-out the bit of metal to mount RF Coaxial wifi antennas + cables. So, for another $20-30, I bought a kit to do that. I was hoping the other low-profile antennae kit would work, b/c I didn't want long antenna stalks sticking out of my G3 making it look like a router box. But, I popped out the metal circles, bolted on the coax mounts, routed the antennas inside, hooked to a AX210 intel WLAN card, screwed on the antenna stalks.. went from a ~50 Mbps wifi dongle to ~450 Mbps. And I don't have a USB port tied up now. It's definitely an upgrade worth doing if you plan on using it as a daily driver, or will hand it off to someone else as their daily driver. And it was a fun little experiment.

[@WildkatPhoto]

In the next year we should see a ton of perfectly capable 6th and 7th gen Intel hardware hit the referb market at rock bottom prices as businesses standardize on Windows 11. Microsoft's artificial cutoff of 8th gen to run Win11 will be a boon to the used market but will also create a price cliff between 7th gen and 8th gen.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Very much so.

[@clamshell99]

Windows 10 end-of-life is October 14, 2025 from what I see online. By that time hopefully the 7/8 gen price differential will narrow significantly.

[@piman2boek364]

You also need to make sure the one you order has a power brick with it or you will have to order one at additional costs.

[@howardsimpson489]

We live off grid with 24v dc batteries. Our two second hand small footprint HP 800s have run for years without problems. A 24v to 19v converter from Ali runs them without even getting warm so low drain and we leave them on a lot. One is Linux and the other Win 10.

[@sezerurun3647]

3:10 It is totally meaningless and stupid to make the adapter external and say this is a small computer. The adapter must be included within the size and weight calculation, because the computer can not be used without it. So then, what is the meaning of taking it out?

[@ExplainingComputers]

Mini PCs like this are often hung on the back of monitors. So the size and weight excluding the PSU is very relevant.

[@kurnma3776]

Nice to see you recognizing the great value renewed systems can have

[@pavan13]

The I/O in this Mini Pc is quite amazing

[@trikki69]

HOW MUCH!!!! £135 is crazy expensive for this level of mini-pc... in my opinion, if anyone is paying more than £50 delivered for these then they're being ripped off. You can get a Beelink mini S12 Intel Alderlake (12th Gen) 4C4T 16GB RAM & 500GB SSD that will consume an average of about 10w of power for £185 from Amazon. The 6500T is not an efficient CPU these days and it's much less performant than anything from the past 2 or 3 years.

[@waynebickell1793]

An Amazon refurbished Lenovo Super Mini PC ThinkCentre M73 Tiny/Core i5-4570T/ 8GB memory /SSD: 256GB can be had for about 20,000 yen. I've been looking at getting one and slapping Linux on it! It's plenty of PC for use as a media player and a nice form factor too!

[@jtd_443]

What about 4K KZbin playback ?

[@alexlandherr]

Interesting; I’m personally looking for an Asus ExpertCenter PN64-E1 with an i7-13700H for a beefy media server that’s also physically compact.

[@ffieditor]

This was well worth the time and trouble. I can't wait for the follow videos. i know im well inside the top 100!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Always good to be in the top 100! :)

[@damightyshabba439]

For the money... Great. Thats a decent PC for most people and well worth £120+ ish... Would I personally buy one, no - but I game and change components like water... so... these are not for me. BUT... The deluge of people that ask me "What should I buy?!??" Yep, I'll be sending them links to these kind of things...

[@ourkid2000]

Yes, these things are great. Honestly, they're a great option to the stupid things going on in the SBC market these days and they're easy to find second hand or wherever. Yeah, they use a little more power but not much.

[@efei33]

just got a mini pc, weight 398g, i7 12650h, 16g ddr4 3200, 1t, wifi6, type c gen 4, hdmi 2.0, dp 1.4, four usb gen 3.2, two 2.5g net, cost rmb 2729 about 380usd

[@bobuilt10]

Hi Chris, great to see Mr Scissors making a welcome return. I have been using these particular units at home for a few years. We have 3 in the house, one running a laser cutter and the other two performing basic internet and office tasks. They are i5's fitted with M.2 drives and the performance is superb. Even though they have fan cooling they are virtually silent. I'd recommend these to anyone for running basic computing tasks.

[@TimPerfetto]

Hi Chris, I have been Mr. Scissors for a few years.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

@@TimPerfetto we are all Mr Scissors !

[@TimPerfetto]

@@lucasRem-ku6eb Who is scissors? Yes. Twelve people have to go now? o

[@ChefEarthenware]

I have the Elitedesk 700 series with the low-wattage AMD processor (approx 12 watts). The fan only activates during boot. I did look at the 800 series, but I don't like the look of the 35w TDP. When you review this stuff, could you please include some indication of the noise level? I don't necessarily mean use a DB meter but at least tell us if the fan is audible during normal operation. Thanks.

[@jonathanleach3914]

Really good Chris. Huge amount of computer for a very reasonable price. Certainly good enough for the majority of users. Thanks

[@lok2974]

great little machines; I use a much older model as a media box, slots under my TV. Not officially compatible with Windows11. Windows 10 support is due to end by late 2025. Linux is a viable alternative, and I've used it on these skylake CPU's

[@JoseLopez-oz1xm]

Great video Chris, I have been using one of these computers for the last 4 years as my daily triple booted with no issues. Although I have and array of other sbc and towers. I really like the size and performance of these units Thanks for your work

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

You don't trust the cloud ? Stuck in 1978, Personal systems need ! What you run on them ?

[@johnwelander]

Some people (me ) just like computer hardware for the sake of it. I have a large collection of machines of different ages and types; just fun to use a different one now and again with various operating systems. They would have been thrown out so it's a good thing!@@lucasRem-ku6eb

[@kevinshumaker3753]

I am a fan of refurbished PCs, I have a pair of Lenovo M73 SFFs with i5, one has 8 GB, the other has 16 GB. One is running Win10, the other is running Debian 11. Both are little workhorses...

[@spencerallen323]

I love it when we go and take a closer look.

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@devnull256]

iMac mid2011 bought for £140, Pass mark 3377 (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, i5-2400S 2.5GHz with great 21.5 HD Screen)

[@tedcalouri2694]

The price for performance and connectivity on systems like this is hard to beat. The Windows 10 deadline may be a concern for some, but x86 means a variety of robust Linux distributions are available. These compact systems are available form many OEMs as well.

[@mharris5047]

Xubuntu 22.04 installed without incident on my 64 bit HP SFF computers. Xubuntu boots too slow now for my ancient laptop with the Celeron 900 CPU on it. Once booted (taking five minutes to do so) it works well enough for 480p video and simple web use although much slower than my new laptop.

[@klaxoncow]

"Power On Count: 1337" Your SATA drive is "leet", apparently. What an appropriately nerdy number to coincidentally show up on video.

[@IvyMike.]

Oh no! Not again Chris, manufacturer not including an NVME screw, such a small detail could really trip up a first time buyer.

[@lpj55]

On the plus side, some of these drives come with a screw included. I'm assuming that these particular screws are standard...

[@michaeldemers2716]

I love VGA but I like to have HDMI as well. I just got an i7 from Ali-Express. I am very happy. It keeps up with Pinball FX 3 and does Dolphin Emulation well.

[@ronkemperful]

Enjoy your video. Looks a great value. As the demise of support for Windows 10 looms, I think the prices might even get more attractive for these computers. I will certainly be looking forward to your video on Windows 11 on non-supported PCs as I have a couple that will lose support in a couple of years, including a barely used tablet that I bought from Microsoft directly.

[@ExplainingComputers]

I am sure you are right that a lot of hardware will become available as machines that are not able to officially run Windows 11 are taken out of service.

[@warbirdnut9269]

@@ExplainingComputers As I've mentioned in my previous comment, they run Linux just fine.

[@wingmantx]

If you are using a 2.4Ghz USB kb/mouse receiver and having problems, move it from the back to the front. My mouse cursor was stuttering and I didn't understand why.

[@Michael-tg7ev]

Thanks for the hard work Chris. Your videos are well researched and hit the key details spot on.

[@milescarter7803]

800 G3 is very cheap, I got one ready for 65w with vented lid for $30. Can use any 6th or 7th gen processor and m.2 drive with some old laptop ram. If it has a vented lid it is either the GPU or the 65w model. For the price you paid I would expect 16GB ram or a newer processor like Ryzen+

[@johnphilippatos]

i5s are small power stations in almost every configuration you can come across. I love the power/cost/life ratio. Great video Chris. Keep up.

[@Omega_Mark]

13:26 I've noticed over the years that OEM drives provide less info about drive usage (hence here no info about TB written). Company software (such as Samsung Magician) do not support OEM drives, even if they are branded by the company (Samsung). That software will not detect the name and model of the OEM drive. Also, you will not be able to update the firmware. As a result I prefer to spend extra few bucks and get retail versions of the SSDs and NVMEs (if I need a cheap, used one). They are easier to manage, especially if I have installed more than one of them.

[@joeg3950]

My son and I messed around with renewed SFFs and laptops for years. Plus, I repaired or rebuilt used systems for years due to affordability. What I valued about that experience was my experimentation with over 20 OSs to determine usability and preference. Many people do not need the powerful systems that they purchased due to desire not need. Which channel was the most influential and informative over the years - Yours! Thanks, Christopher!

[@egbront1506]

I saw one of these (i5, SATA HHD and 4GB RAM) in a Cash Generator for £50 last year and passed up on it as I already had a couple of Lenovo Tiny computers. Regretting it now.

[@BoDiddly]

I have two 800 G3's and two 600 G2's and they are Fantastic! When I started my quest to downsize and to make a quieter, less heat producing room, I discovered these on ebay and now I can't stop ordering them to use for various things!

[@BoDiddly]

My new plan is to buy a few more of these to set up a Proxmox cluster!

[@Jonteponte71]

I've just received one and I am already itching to buy even more of them. The homelab bug is hitting hard. I'm not even sure exactly what I am going to run on the Proxmox cluster I am planning to use these for. I just know I need to do it :)

[@snikenfixen]

Are they almost silent these small machines?

[@mrh829]

I switched to one of these EliteDesk G2 units 2 years ago as a home theater PC, replacing an older Lenovo Ideacentre Q190. I *NEVER* hear the fans on the HP from the couch, but the Lenovo got quite loud.

[@alanthornton3530]

Happy Easter Chris & thank you for an excellent video most enlightening. A large unboxing with Stanley, Mr Scissors & finally Mr Bosch, happy days! Upgrading the memory, adding an NVMe drive & fans will probably make it last longer.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Hi Alan, and thanks for your support.

[@JeriDro]

If you don't play heavy games or do video editing, this looks like the type of computer you should own. I think the average email checker would appreciate a computer this size opposed to the monolithic towers...

[@ExplainingComputers]

Agreed.

[@ajaykoemar3979]

I’ve been running one of these as a Hyper-V homelab server running WS 2019 24/7! I’m amazed how much compute power you get from such a small machine :)

[@NathanKirgis]

This beats RasberryPi's all day long in price/performance. I wont be buying RPI's anytime in the near future with these NUC's being available in bucket loads.

[@x0rZ15t]

The one you've got is a 65 watt version that can be easily recognized by the vents on top, there are also 35 watt versions without those venting holes and can be easily stackable. Also, 35 watt version use lot less energy while performing slightly less (assuming both have i5). Still, 35 watt version is my preferred model (got 5 of those). P.S. Fans on the HDD caddy seem to only be present on 65W versions. P.P.S G3 version of 800 series mostly don't have HDD caddies so be careful if/when ordering one of those newer models.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Very interesting. I assumed this was the 6500T version, and the power use was consistent with this. But Windows reported 6500 as you note.

[@g-r-a-e-m-e-]

Of course if you run 5 of of them, more shillings in the meter 😉

[@XPRTTT]

I have the G3 version which is practically the same thing, just different looking case, put in a 480GB 2.5" SSD & a 500GB M.2 and it has Linux mint running on it and working as a bit of home server (my first one) currently, specs are i5-6600T, 8GB 2400MHz DDR4

[@curtispavlovec]

I’ve got a G2 of same config but went to max 32GB of RAM with a fast 1TB NVME. It runs very nice and I didn’t spend much on it - around 200 total with everything.

[@SaveTheHero210]

Are there any left for around that price?

[@stefanh13]

Looks to me that like the 8GB memory was not snapped down well... These machines schould also be great in running ChromeOS Flex!

[@A0111.]

We've tested hundreds of used HP Minis (G1, 2, and 3) for resale, and they proved to be very reliable.

[@DarkGhostHacker]

Meaning you refurbished and sell them? I'm constantly trying to find sellers other than the huge greedy corporations like Amazon or best buy but google usually pimply shows search results for the giant corporations and no one else.

[@A0111.]

@@DarkGhostHackerSorry, we don't buy/sell/own these assets, we only provide services like deployment/decommission/data sanitisation and testing.

[@iammadfx]

After working on hardware for many years in a datacenter I would always pick a Dell over HP for reliability! Great little computers though!