Li'l HP

[Cwazywazy]

Ok, so I have my HP Elite 8000 low profile. Specs:

 

2.9GHz E7500 Core 2 - Overclockable in SetFSB

Radeon X1300 modified to be passive

HP whatever motherboard

240w 80+ stock weird form factor PSU

dual 160GB drives

DVDRW

1x 4GB PNY 1333MHz DDR3 (All the extra desktop DDR3 I had.)

ONE fan to cool the whole thing. Never had a CPU fan, took out PSU fan, replaced GPU fan with bigger heatsink, etc. And it works perfectly fine even being under load for days. Dead quiet.

 

It's just a bit of a project of mine. Might be throwing in my cheapo 64GB Corsair SSD if I can get it to play nice with Win 7 on it. So, yea, just the front intake to cool down the whole system. It runs fairly hot, but it doesn't overheat and it stays very quiet. I haven't experimented much with CPU overclocking yet, but I have hit 3.3GHz+ so far. Anyway, I bought an XFX 6790 with issues that I'm hoping I can fix for $15. If I can't fix it I will resell the card and try another. If I can I'll be hacking it into this HP. (I also bought a PCIE riser to stick it in sideways.) I'll have to figure out power delivery.

 

Shit. Just saw it takes two 6 pins, not one. I guess using the stock PSU is out of the question now. Damn. I bet an SFX PSU would fit nicely.. The mobo alone requires a 6 pin and a 4 pin, although I doubt the 6 pin is actually necessary since I think it's just a passthrough to the drive power connectors which plug into a mobo 6 pin instead of the PSU. Whaddya think?

 

EDIT: There's no way the card will fit with the CPU heatsink. I did not think this through. I'll be needing a stubby card. GTX 750/650TI HERE I COME. EDIT: Damn, that's right. There's a low profile 750 ti...

 

[arnavvr]

Ok, so I have my HP Elite 8000 low profile. Specs:

 

2.9GHz E7500 Core 2 - Overclockable in SetFSB

Radeon X1300 modified to be passive

HP whatever motherboard

240w 80+ stock weird form factor PSU

dual 160GB drives

DVDRW

1x 4GB PNY 1333MHz DDR3 (All the extra desktop DDR3 I had.)

ONE fan to cool the whole thing. Never had a CPU fan, took out PSU fan, replaced GPU fan with bigger heatsink, etc. And it works perfectly fine even being under load for days. Dead quiet.

 

It's just a bit of a project of mine. Might be throwing in my cheapo 64GB Corsair SSD if I can get it to play nice with Win 7 on it. So, yea, just the front intake to cool down the whole system. It runs fairly hot, but it doesn't overheat and it stays very quiet. I haven't experimented much with CPU overclocking yet, but I have hit 3.3GHz+ so far. Anyway, I bought an XFX 6790 with issues that I'm hoping I can fix for $15. If I can't fix it I will resell the card and try another. If I can I'll be hacking it into this HP. (I also bought a PCIE riser to stick it in sideways.) I'll have to figure out power delivery.

 

Shit. Just saw it takes two 6 pins, not one. I guess using the stock PSU is out of the question now. Damn. I bet an SFX PSU would fit nicely.. The mobo alone requires a 6 pin and a 4 pin, although I doubt the 6 pin is actually necessary since I think it's just a passthrough to the drive power connectors which plug into a mobo 6 pin instead of the PSU. Whaddya think?

 

EDIT: There's no way the card will fit with the CPU heatsink. I did not think this through. I'll be needing a stubby card. GTX 750/650TI HERE I COME. EDIT: Damn, that's right. There's a low profile 75

 

Get a Core 2 Quad.

[Cwazywazy]

Get a Core 2 Quad.

Also on the list. If I can get a cheap one.

[dragoon20005]

before you grab a Core 2 Quad

 

check the mobo exact specs and see if the BIOS supports a Quad core out of the box

[Cwazywazy]

before you grab a Core 2 Quad

 

check the mobo exact specs and see if the BIOS supports a Quad core out of the box

Supports up to an E8600 and a Q9650. I think I'm good for CPU support.

[dragoon20005]

Supports up to an E8600 and a Q9650. I think I'm good for CPU support.

ok good but you def need a good cooler for the Quad core

 

slim coolers which can cool high power quads like the Q6600 are hard to find

[Cwazywazy]

ok good but you def need a good cooler for the Quad core

 

slim coolers which can cool high power quads like the Q6600 are hard to find

I mean, if it's supported as stock, how bad can it be?

[dragoon20005]

I mean, if it's supported as stock, how bad can it be?

oh yea really bad

 

the highest temps i got on my Q6600 on a crap cooler is 85 degrees

[Cwazywazy]

oh yea really bad

 

the highest temps i got on my Q6600 on a crap cooler is 85 degrees

Eh, can't be as bad as stock Intel cooler. Can it?

[linuxfan66]

Eh, can't be as bad as stock Intel cooler. Can it?

wouldnt externally mounting a radiator cooler be an option?

[Cwazywazy]

wouldnt externally mounting a radiator cooler be an option?

I forgot to mention, spending very little money is a requirement. I'm trying to save most of it. If I do even get a Core 2 Quad it'll be a slower one.

[Cwazywazy]

All right, so for CPU I'm probably going to get a Q8400 as it's the cheapest quad it supports. (2.66GHz and I could probably overclock it to an extent.)

 

Then for GPU I have the choice between buying a 6450 for ~$10 or a brand new 650ti shorty 1GB for $60 and modding it in and figuring out how to get power to it. What do.

[iHardware Shelden]

I had a 650 ti and q6600 together for a while. Both ran great together and played GTA V no problem at 1080p between 40-70 fps. So good little HP for sure

[Cwazywazy]

Turns out it'd cost something like $135 just to get the cheap used Radeon out of Germany, so 650ti it is.

[Cwazywazy]

650ti is on it's way along with a 6 pin adapter. Just praying it won't blow the PSU up. TDP of the current CPU is 65w and the 650ti is 110w..

 

In the meantime I threw in my extra SSD, put the PSU fan back in since it already gets hot as it is and probably would blow up with a 650ti, and cable managed the whole thing. For now I'll stick with the E7500, might get a Q8400 in the future. (The cheapest quad core the board actually supports.)

 

[Cwazywazy]

Found a Q8400 for $25 in good cosmetic condition (No scratches in IHS) and ordered it. It's like 40 miles away, should be here by Friday.

[Cwazywazy]

Got my CPU and all the cables I need to (hopefully) power my 650ti. I seem to be having some issues with the Radeon X1300 right now. But whatever.

 

EDIT: I must find the plastic shroud to direct front fan airflow through the heatsink because goddamn the CPU runs hot. Even after undervolting it hit nearly 75c on the hottest core. (Core #2 runs a fair bit cooler than the rest for whatever reason. Core #1 is the hottest.)

[Cwazywazy]

Got my 650ti a couple days ago. I did a complete hack job getting it in only to realize it's too high up for the latch on the top panel to fit. I'll have to move it down tomorrow, leaving a big open space. D:

 

 

BTW, it does work with the CPU and GPU under full load. Really pushing the limits of the PSU though.

 

Also in the background you can see my duct tape duct. (I lost the original plastic one, there weren't any on eBay, and since it's summer I can't steal one from school.)

[Cwazywazy]

So.. Last week I went to turn it on for the first time in awhile.. 650ti sparked and let out the magic smoke. Sent it to EVGA for RMA and they're sending me back a 750ti 2GB Superclocked. Hell yeah. Doesn't take a 6 pin either so it shouldn't blow up. I also popped in the 8GB kit that was in my desktop after I put 16 in that.

[charlezprice]

Oh man this brought back so many memories. This was my first computer like 4/5(?) years ago. I thought it was a micro atx board inside.. boy was I surprised when I found out it was BTX and didn't fit in any cases. I still salvaged the old Intel Core i5 650 inside it though. It lasted me many years!

[Cwazywazy]

Oh man this brought back so many memories. This was my first computer like 4/5(?) years ago. I thought it was a micro atx board inside.. boy was I surprised when I found out it was BTX and didn't fit in any cases. I still salvaged the old Intel Core i5 650 inside it though. It lasted me many years!

Sounds newer than mine. It's an Elite 8000, pretty much the last of the Core 2/Quad machines made. When I was younger I was given a DCsomething with a P4. I used it as my main machine for years. (Well, if upgrading it to the point that the CPU and heatsink are the only original component counts as many years.)

[charlezprice]

Sounds newer than mine. It's an Elite 8000, pretty much the last of the Core 2/Quad machines made. When I was younger I was given a DCsomething with a P4. I used it as my main machine for years. (Well, if upgrading it to the point that the CPU and heatsink are the only original component counts as many years.)

I believe mine was an HP Elite 8100 Desktop. It was the same small form-factor BTX type machine though. I did the same thing, upgraded it to the point where the CPU was the only original component of the build. That old i5 lasted me about 4 years though without overclocking!

[Cwazywazy]

I believe mine was an HP Elite 8100 Desktop. It was the same small form-factor BTX type machine though. I did the same thing, upgraded it to the point where the CPU was the only original component of the build. That old i5 lasted me about 4 years though without overclocking!

Shoulda tried overclocking it, eh. I can only get bus overclocking through SetFSB, but I can overclock it. About 300 whole MHz!!!!11

[charlezprice]

Shoulda tried overclocking it, eh. I can only get bus overclocking through SetFSB, but I can overclock it. About 300 whole MHz!!!!11

I did actually try a couple times but never kept it there. I got it to around 3.8 GHz stable but I had a rather low end power supply so I only ran it there for about a week before I start getting scared my computer would blow up! lol