The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

Thanks for the reply. Now you've got me wondering if this RAM will go dual channel :confused:
 
Todd said:
Thanks for the reply. Now you've got me wondering if this RAM will go dual channel :confused:
Click to expand...

RAM that is the same speed, regardless of vendor will go dual channel.

PC6400 from A-Data and PC6400 from GEIL will still go dual channel because the 800Mhz rating is what matters. You can even mix ram on more 'tunable' motherboards....like PC5200, and PC6400. Even mix manufactorers, it will just default to the highest compatible mhz rating and cas latency settings. So if you combine a 667mhz stick with an 800mhz stick it can run dual channel at 667.
 
I've been lurking on this forum for some while. Thanks for all of the helpful knowledge. I ended up purchasing one of the s3100n on sale was getting frustrated with the shutdowns at full load once I popped in my 8600gt . I'd mistakenly thought the 4000+ was 45W which would have given me some breathing room for the 8600gt. I'm happy to report that the bios update on hp's site (5.06 09/2007) has allowed my BE-2350 to work. No more loud fan at 100%, it used to blare maybe 90% of the time (even just opening a browser window would cause the fan to blow at 100%). this thing runs much cooler now. the old 4000+ used to run about 45-65 deg celcius...the new chip runs about 10-15 deg cooler. Now the only loud fan is the one coming off the 8600 but so far the machine hasn't shut down no matter what I throw at it...
 
picopico said:
I've been lurking on this forum for some while. Thanks for all of the helpful knowledge. I ended up purchasing one of the s3100n on sale was getting frustrated with the shutdowns at full load once I popped in my 8600gt . I'd mistakenly thought the 4000+ was 45W which would have given me some breathing room for the 8600gt. I'm happy to report that the bios update on hp's site (5.06 09/2007) has allowed my BE-2350 to work. No more loud fan at 100%, it used to blare maybe 90% of the time (even just opening a browser window would cause the fan to blow at 100%). this thing runs much cooler now. the old 4000+ used to run about 45-65 deg celcius...the new chip runs about 10-15 deg cooler. Now the only loud fan is the one coming off the 8600 but so far the machine hasn't shut down no matter what I throw at it...
Click to expand...

Darn...

that's good news, that the BE chips now work...but too late for me...I sold mine...

I wish HP would have gotten their head out of there rears and told me the NEXT bios update was going to fix the BE-2400 compatibility rather than telling me they NEVER plan to support the AMD BE chips like 3 weeks before you said it is now supported.

Pitiful.

Now it doesn't seem that they are sold on ubid any longer.

I also just ordered a 8800GT for my full tower rig.... bah.....

Thanks for the heads up though.
 
After reading most of the posts in this thread (but probably not the one reply containing the answer to my issue) I decided to go ahead and purchase the galaxy 8600 GT (low profile), 2 GIG RAM and a new processor.

1. Installed RAM (just to get Vista to run smoothly)
2. Installed 8600GT (low profile with a noicy fan)

After these two steps things were running ok. I game and CSS runs between 50-100 fps which is sufficient for me. I can always runf fps configs I need be.

My issue started with step 3.

3. Installed Processor.

The pc won't even show me the bios. I had to revert back to the 4000+.

I'm not very knowledgable when it comes to hardware and this is my first time upgrading a machine. I'm not sure why the 5000+ isn't recognized as it has the same architecture, wattage, well, it seems everyting except the clock speed. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
speleman said:
After reading most of the posts in this thread (but probably not the one reply containing the answer to my issue) I decided to go ahead and purchase the galaxy 8600 GT (low profile), 2 GIG RAM and a new processor.

1. Installed RAM (just to get Vista to run smoothly)
2. Installed 8600GT (low profile with a noicy fan)

After these two steps things were running ok. I game and CSS runs between 50-100 fps which is sufficient for me. I can always runf fps configs I need be.

My issue started with step 3.

3. Installed Processor.

The pc won't even show me the bios. I had to revert back to the 4000+.

I'm not very knowledgable when it comes to hardware and this is my first time upgrading a machine. I'm not sure why the 5000+ isn't recognized as it has the same architecture, wattage, well, it seems everyting except the clock speed. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...


The highest wattage support on that hematite motherboard is 65 watts, but it looks like that is the rating on the Black CPU...The problem you may find is that your PSU can't handle a 65 watt process or as well as a 8600GT at "full performance" mode. Which is the non crippling power managment setting accessible in the screensaver options.

There is a new bios out on HP's site you might try to download the newest bios which adds support for the newer AMD AM2 CPUs (still within the 65 watt limitation) I know this BIOS update is reputed to allow the BE-2400 to run (45 watt x2 4600+ or 4800+ equivalent)

Try this BIOS update on for size

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3440586&os=2093&lang=en

After you've got everything running with the Black edition CPU, try switching to Full Performance mode...If the computer doesn't crash then you've got it made. If so, then you'll probably want to sell that Black edition CPU and go for a BE-2400. They cost about $110.
 
It's been a little while since I've had the time to post here. Since my last post when I upgraded my Slimline s3020n to GB of RAM, I've added an external USB LG DVD burner, that opens when I press the #2 eject button on my keyboard, an external 1 TB drive and the ever-capable nVidia 8500GT PCIe, 512MB with DVI output to my new 22" Envision LCD - my reward for standing in line at CompUSA on Thanksgiving night with a stuffed belly and a heady red-wine buzz, and two more beers in each of my coat pockets that I drank right there in the line with my brother-in-law.

I bought the 8500GT from TigerDirect for $59 after rebate, still available through 12/31 BTW. What a nice improvement over the on-board video that has crippled this fine computer's graphics capabilities for far too long IMHO. I play CS 1.6 on payday and I used to run with medium detail and resolution to keep a decent FPS with the stock on-board video. Now I am able to turn everything up to MAX and maintain any frame rate that I want (I prefer 60 BTW), at MAX resolution without a single glitch. I downloaded Cascades from Nvidia's website and it runs very well considering they specify the 8600GT as a minimum system requirement for the demo.

I had only one problem with the card, which is a Galaxy brand BTW, and that was with it's tiny heatsink and the very speedy fan that made a very distracting sound. This card made much more noise than the rest of the stuff on my desk.

I used nVidia's n-tune software to monitor the video CPU core temperature and used a 100 ohm, 2.5W pot to slow the fan down to what I have found to be the most reasonable compromise between cooling capacity and noise to be at about 7 volts, or about 42 ohms series resistance. I also dropped in a parallel 100 uF capacitor to suck up the 3+ volts ripple and the sharp snaps on the fan side caused by the commutation circuit - just as a precaution. This provides me with near stock cooling performance with near the silence that I had before.

I wish I could disable the on-board 6150 video CPU since it is no longer needed with the PCIe board in place. It just sits there and runs hotter-than-a -firecracker and sucks up precious watts for no reason, apparently. Anybody know of a solution for this? It is already disabled in the device manager, so it should be idle. Right? Oh well. It seems that even with both the PCIe and on-board video running, the case temp doesn't seem to be any higher during normal use.

My WEI scores, before and after the 8500GT:

Processor.............4.9 - 4.9 stock 3800+
Memory................5.9 - 5.9 2GB, PC2-4300 5,5,5,12
Desktop Graphics..3.1 - 4.5 <lowest, and therefore overall score
Gaming Graphics..3.0 - 5.2 Huge improvement!
Disk Performance.5.5 - 5.5 stock 250GB SATA 150

The external drive is a Eaglebit dual SATA enclosure. At full throttle, I can read and write the drive at over 280 mb/sec! That's about twice as fast as my Lacie 500GB USB and every bit as fast as my friend's firewire 400 external for large transfers. I'm talking 20 seconds for each "non-descript 700MB" file transfer to and from my desktop! It came loaded with two WD 500GB SATA drives that are dead silent. The built-in fan has some simple variable speed logic that operates by temperature feedback, so the whole thing is very quiet when idle.
 
I have been lurking here for weeks. When I first saw this thread I jumped right on the bandwagon and ordered the computer, 2 gb ram, a Vista View tv tuner card and the galaxy tech 8600 gt. Man was I excited and then I read further.... I still went ahead with everything though.

First I put the ram in. That was a nice little upgrade and then I went for the 8600gt. Nothing I did would make it work. Uninstall drivers, uninstall software and device, enable the pci-e in the bios and my monitor was blank. As far as I knew I couldn't even make it into windows. The onboard video worked fine, so I tried the tuner. It was detected and the installation went fine. Soon I was watching tv! Then I rebooted, and it never made it into windows. I turned it off and rebooted and had to do a recovery. Vista re-detected the tuner card and installed the drivers but now Media Center didn't see anything. Reboot and the same problem, so the tuner card came out. I then tried the 8600gt again and it worked....for 2 days and then suddenly, my monitor was blank, but like another poster I could tell the computer successfuly booted, because I could hit the window key, the up arrow, enter, down arrow and enter and it would shut down.

I argued with a mindless tech at NCIX who said I needed more power and to put the tuner card into a different pci slot. I guess he never checked out the system specs for the number of slots.

I discovered that a guy at CNET's forum and had replaced his psu for his slimline, so I ordered everything he did. http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102-0.html?forumID=68&threadID=242304&start=15 I wired everything up last night and held my breath went I hit the power button. It worked so I shut it down and put the 8600gt back in. Once again it didn't work plugged into the vga, but we could tell it booted into windows, so we plugged into the svideo and we had Windows! I guess I should mention I am running this on an Envision 32" lcd. I am not sure if it is 100% yet. It is really flaky about the vga. The svideo flickered, shimmied and could only do 1024x768. We then tried a dvi into vga adapter and had no cable signal so I dug around and found a different vga cable and that seems to be working. I haven't ran it enough to see if this solves my problem or not. I also have a dvi to hdmi cable coming.

The sound through my Onkyo receiver took some tweaking to work, but it is solid now.

I see that some of you are reporting cpu temps. Sisoft says that there are no monitoring devices on my mobo, so I can't get temps or voltage reporting. Is something wrong or do I need to enable anything?

I guess I wanted to let you guys know that you can put a new psu in if you want. It definitely is not the most elegant solution, but it works. Of course if you guys have any thoughts on any of the mentioned problems I had I would love to hear them. BTW my WEI is a 4.8 with the cpu being the low mark. It ran an 8,800 (that isn't exact, I don't remember the last two digits) score in 3dMark2005.
 
mrcosmos said:
I have been lurking here for weeks. When I first saw this thread I jumped right on the bandwagon and ordered the computer, 2 gb ram, a Vista View tv tuner card and the galaxy tech 8600 gt. Man was I excited and then I read further.... I still went ahead with everything though.

First I put the ram in. That was a nice little upgrade and then I went for the 8600gt. Nothing I did would make it work. Uninstall drivers, uninstall software and device, enable the pci-e in the bios and my monitor was blank. As far as I knew I couldn't even make it into windows. The onboard video worked fine, so I tried the tuner. It was detected and the installation went fine. Soon I was watching tv! Then I rebooted, and it never made it into windows. I turned it off and rebooted and had to do a recovery. Vista re-detected the tuner card and installed the drivers but now Media Center didn't see anything. Reboot and the same problem, so the tuner card came out. I then tried the 8600gt again and it worked....for 2 days and then suddenly, my monitor was blank, but like another poster I could tell the computer successfuly booted, because I could hit the window key, the up arrow, enter, down arrow and enter and it would shut down.

I argued with a mindless tech at NCIX who said I needed more power and to put the tuner card into a different pci slot. I guess he never checked out the system specs for the number of slots.

I discovered that a guy at CNET's forum and had replaced his psu for his slimline, so I ordered everything he did. http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102-0.html?forumID=68&threadID=242304&start=15 I wired everything up last night and held my breath went I hit the power button. It worked so I shut it down and put the 8600gt back in. Once again it didn't work plugged into the vga, but we could tell it booted into windows, so we plugged into the svideo and we had Windows! I guess I should mention I am running this on an Envision 32" lcd. I am not sure if it is 100% yet. It is really flaky about the vga. The svideo flickered, shimmied and could only due 1024x768. We then tired a dvi into vga adapter and had no cable signal so I dug around and found a different vga cable and that seems to be working. I haven't ran it enough to see if this solves my problem or not. I also have a dvi to hdmi cable coming.

The sound through my Onkyo receiver took some tweaking to work, but it is solid now.

I see that some of you are reporting cpu temps. Sisoft says that there are no monitoring devices on my mobo, so I can't get temps or voltage reporting. Is something wrong or do I need to enable anything?

I guess I wanted to let you guys know that you can put a new psu in if you want. It definitely is not the most elegant solution, but it works. Of course if you guys have any thoughts on any of the mentioned problems I had I would love to hear them. BTW my WEI is a 4.8 with the gaming graphics being the low mark. It ran an 8,800 (that isn't exact, I don't remember the last two digits) score in 3dMark2005.
Click to expand...


Can you try another PCI-E video card for testing purposes?

Typically you boot to the BIOS BEFORE you put the PCI-E card in. Then change the setting to PCI-E - save/shutdown. Put your PCI-E card in and then (hate to be obvious here) but ensure you move your VGA connection off the attached onboard connector to the actual add-in PCI-E cards connection. That should work.

If not, I suspect a bad card.

S-VIDEO shimmers and shakes at 1024x768 because it's max resolution is supposed to be 800x600 :) I"m actually surprised you even got 1024x768 out of it.

S-video does not carry the detail required for text based/fine dpi based display information. No wonder it looks horrible.

I think your original powersupply should have had enough juice to start the 8600GT up, not run at full performance mode like is mentioned otherplaces in this thread, but to get the computer booted yes.

I'd test another PCI-E card (8400gs can be had for about 30 bucks for testing purposes)
 
I don't have access to another pci-e card and at this point in time, I am not willing to buy one. If things go south, I will consider it to test things out. I see that I failed to detail that my last step in the installation of the new video card after removing everything else and changing the bios was to then install the new video card.

What about the voltage and temperature monitoring Archaea? Some of your earlier posts mentioned temperatures, etc. Does something need to be enabled in the bios for monitoring to work? I didn't see anything in there. It is a pretty barebones bios.
 
Archaea said:
The highest wattage support on that hematite motherboard is 65 watts, but it looks like that is the rating on the Black CPU...The problem you may find is that your PSU can't handle a 65 watt process or as well as a 8600GT at "full performance" mode. Which is the non crippling power managment setting accessible in the screensaver options.

There is a new bios out on HP's site you might try to download the newest bios which adds support for the newer AMD AM2 CPUs (still within the 65 watt limitation) I know this BIOS update is reputed to allow the BE-2400 to run (45 watt x2 4600+ or 4800+ equivalent)

Try this BIOS update on for size

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3440586&os=2093&lang=en

After you've got everything running with the Black edition CPU, try switching to Full Performance mode...If the computer doesn't crash then you've got it made. If so, then you'll probably want to sell that Black edition CPU and go for a BE-2400. They cost about $110.
Click to expand...

The machine would not start up to BIOS with the 5000+ even with the new BIOS update (which I installed before inserting the 5000+) and power setting have always been at 100%. I got a BE-2400 instead.


I just got the BE-2400 and installed it without any hickups. My windows score went from 4.8 to 5.0 - no big improvement there.

The video stress test in Counter-Stroke Source showed a remarkable improvement, almost doubled the frame rate (which validated my suspision that the 8600GT can handle the load if the processor allows it).

The core temp has dropped 15 degrees celcius.

Can i overclock the BE-2400?
 
speleman said:
The machine would not start up to BIOS with the 5000+ even with the new BIOS update (which I installed before inserting the 5000+) and power setting have always been at 100%. I got a BE-2400 instead.


I just got the BE-2400 and installed it without any hickups. My windows score went from 4.8 to 5.0 - no big improvement there.

The video stress test in Counter-Stroke Source showed a remarkable improvement, almost doubled the frame rate (which validated my suspision that the 8600GT can handle the load if the processor allows it).

The core temp has dropped 15 degrees celcius.

Can i overclock the BE-2400?
Click to expand...


YOU COULD overclock the snot out of it if HP didn't lock down the BIOS - as those hematite boards are locked you can't do any overclocking. The BE-2400, I have one, overclocks well. Mine gets to 2.8Ghz from 2.3Ghz on stock/default voltage on a crappy ECS board.

Just sell your 5000 "black" on ebay. I think the 45 watt be-2400 is a remarkably good chip. It runs unbelievably cool and will give you plenty of headroom for that extra power draw of the 8600gt on the measily 160 watt PSU.
 
mrcosmos said:
I don't have access to another pci-e card and at this point in time, I am not willing to buy one. If things go south, I will consider it to test things out. I see that I failed to detail that my last step in the installation of the new video card after removing everything else and changing the bios was to then install the new video card.

What about the voltage and temperature monitoring Archaea? Some of your earlier posts mentioned temperatures, etc. Does something need to be enabled in the bios for monitoring to work? I didn't see anything in there. It is a pretty barebones bios.
Click to expand...


Nothing has to be enabled. It works out of the box supposedly. You might try downloading a program called core temp, or sisoft sandra, or everest. Those three apps should give you an idea.
 
I have sandra and everest. Sandra says there are no environment monitors detected. That sounds kind of ominous.
 
Greetings (again),

I have two questions:

1. Can anyone explain why there is a 8-10 degree difference between the two cores (using core temp). Example:

Core #0 = 25
Core #1 = 17

2. After 16 hours of constant gaming (css @ 1280x1024 75Hz high settings and COD4 1024x768 75Hz low settings) the screen would go black for a millisecond and then the picture would come back, sort of when you turn the tv off but in reverse. This would happen every 4-5 minutes or so. I checked the temp (had the cover off) of the video card and it was cool to the touch.
 
speleman said:
Greetings (again),

I have two questions:

1. Can anyone explain why there is a 8-10 degree difference between the two cores (using core temp). Example:

Core #0 = 25
Core #1 = 17

2. After 16 hours of constant gaming (css @ 1280x1024 75Hz high settings and COD4 1024x768 75Hz low settings) the screen would go black for a millisecond and then the picture would come back, sort of when you turn the tv off but in reverse. This would happen every 4-5 minutes or so. I checked the temp (had the cover off) of the video card and it was cool to the touch.
Click to expand...


Is your power regulated? Do you have an APC/UPS? It might be that your psu is putting out about all it can put out and so a slight changes in output voltage at the socket are effecting it????

I actually don't have much info for you on that?!!!
 
MrCosmos:

I am thinking of trying my hand at this power supply upgrade also.

If I understand it correctly, I would cut one end off the 12 inch extension, then crimp the pins to the wire ends and insert them into the microfit molex adapter? Do you need to get a crimping tool of some sort for this?
 
No crimping tool required! You will have to cut the wires down to fit the pins. The wires are multi strand and there are just too many strands to fit so we cut off about half of the strands. I did have to move one sata power plug in to make things work, but that was pretty straight forward. The process requires patience, which I am in short supply of, but I have a cousin who has all the patience in the world and he took care of the extension.
 
Great Thread, I've been lurking for a while and am ready to add some upgrades to my s3020n.

What I gather is that I can add :

1. CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory ($47 after rebate at Newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034#spec

Brand CORSAIR
Series XMS2
Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4
Type 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
Tech Spec
Capacity 2GB (2 x 1GB)
Speed DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Cas Latency 4
Timing 4-4-4-12
Voltage 2.1V
Heat Spreader Yes
Features EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles) and also SLI certified
Recommend Use High Performance or Gaming Memory

and

2.Galaxy GeForce 8600GT 540MHZ 256MB 1.4GHZ DDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI TV Out Low Profile Video Card ($105 @ NCIXUS,
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=26441

* NVIDIA® unified architecture with GigaThread™ technology
* Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Shader Model 4.0 support
* 16x full-screen anti-aliasing
* True 128-bit floating point high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting
* NVIDIA® Quantum Effects™ physics processing technology
* One dual-link DVI outputs support two 2560x1600 resolution displays
* NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD technology
* HDCP Capable (Optional)
* PCI Express® support
* OpenGL® 2.0 support
* NVIDIA® ForceWare® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)

Without exceeding the limits of the power supply. I understand upgrading the processor maybe a "a bridge too far" so I'm not planning any changes there.

My first question is will this upgrade allow me to do some pc gaming (new titles i.e. Bioshock) on this computer? I currently do no pc gaming but since I have the s3020n hooked up to the home theater for music (Rhapsody) and light web browsing I thought it might be fun it.

It's currently hooked up to my home theater, sound runs through an Outlaw 990 Preamp Processor using a USB cable (I think the Outlaw 990 acts as a big sound card) and the computer video runs into a Panasonic 50' Plasma using the VGA input on the plasma.

My next question is should I change the way the s3020n hooks up to the plasma? I can run the video through the Outlaw 990 via s-video, component. The 990 has only 2 DVI inputs and these are taken up by my cable DVR and Oppo DVD, so I'd have to unplug one of these to hook up the computer.

I do love the looks of this little computer. Thanks for all the how to posts.
 
oiames said:
Great Thread, I've been lurking for a while and am ready to add some upgrades to my s3020n.

What I gather is that I can add :

1. CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory ($47 after rebate at Newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034#spec

Brand CORSAIR
Series XMS2
Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4
Type 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
Tech Spec
Capacity 2GB (2 x 1GB)
Speed DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Cas Latency 4
Timing 4-4-4-12
Voltage 2.1V
Heat Spreader Yes
Features EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles) and also SLI certified
Recommend Use High Performance or Gaming Memory

and

2.Galaxy GeForce 8600GT 540MHZ 256MB 1.4GHZ DDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI TV Out Low Profile Video Card ($105 @ NCIXUS,
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=26441

* NVIDIA® unified architecture with GigaThread™ technology
* Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Shader Model 4.0 support
* 16x full-screen anti-aliasing
* True 128-bit floating point high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting
* NVIDIA® Quantum Effects™ physics processing technology
* One dual-link DVI outputs support two 2560x1600 resolution displays
* NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD technology
* HDCP Capable (Optional)
* PCI Express® support
* OpenGL® 2.0 support
* NVIDIA® ForceWare® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)

Without exceeding the limits of the power supply. I understand upgrading the processor maybe a "a bridge too far" so I'm not planning any changes there.

My first question is will this upgrade allow me to do some pc gaming (new titles i.e. Bioshock) on this computer? I currently do no pc gaming but since I have the s3020n hooked up to the home theater for music (Rhapsody) and light web browsing I thought it might be fun it.

It's currently hooked up to my home theater, sound runs through an Outlaw 990 Preamp Processor using a USB cable (I think the Outlaw 990 acts as a big sound card) and the computer video runs into a Panasonic 50' Plasma using the VGA input on the plasma.

My next question is should I change the way the s3020n hooks up to the plasma? I can run the video through the Outlaw 990 via s-video, component. The 990 has only 2 DVI inputs and these are taken up by my cable DVR and Oppo DVD, so I'd have to unplug one of these to hook up the computer.

I do love the looks of this little computer. Thanks for all the how to posts.
Click to expand...

I think you could get EVERYTHING working if you buy a 45 watt processor like the AMD BE-2400 and upgrade the BIOS to support it.

2GB RAM
8600GT
BE-2400

and hook the computer up through ANYTHING but svideo please...Svideo max resolution is 800x600. That's lame, Get a DVI switch for 15 bucks on www.monoprice.com so you can actually get to the native resolution of your display.
 
I think you could get EVERYTHING working if you buy a 45 watt processor like the AMD BE-2400 and upgrade the BIOS to support it.

2GB RAM
8600GT
BE-2400

and hook the computer up through ANYTHING but svideo please...Svideo max resolution is 800x600. That's lame, Get a DVI switch for 15 bucks on www.monoprice.com so you can actually get to the native resolution of your display.
Click to expand...

Got it! No s-video...EVER

Let me ask a basic memory upgrade question for the n3020s.

Is there any benefit to getting faster RAM (e.g. PC2 6400 versus the stock PC2 4200) if I don't plan to up grade the processor? After rebates, both cost the same, although the PC2 6400 seems to use more power than the PC2 4600 (2.1v vs. 1.8v.) When you (Archaea) added the PC2 6400 memory, you reported,

HTML: 
This is faster memory, unfortunately you cannot address overclocking
 of CPU nor RAM timing settings in BIOS, 
so your stuck with whatever the motherboard can detect. In this case,
 the 800Mhz DDR2 memory I purchased is reconized correctly in both
 Banks and runs using all default motherboard options.

Does this means it runs at 533MHz (the original memory speed) or the faster 800MHz? Dumb question, but does faster equall better here? I read the FAQ sticky on memory (below) where it talks about memory speeds and frequencies, which seems to say these should be matched. I am trying not to make changes to the BIOS when I make upgrades because I'm not really sure what I'm doing in there.

HTML: 
Dealing with Memory Speeds / Frequencies

When the memory frequency runs at the same speed as the FSB, 
it is said to be running in synchronous operation. When memory 
and FSB are clocked differently (lower or higher than), it is known 
to be in asynchronous mode. On both AMD and Intel platforms,
 the most performance benefits are seen when the FSB of the 
processor is run synchronously with the memory – Although
 Intel based systems have a slight exception, this is completely
 true of all AMD-supporting chipsets. When looking at the 
AMD-supporting chipsets async modes are to be avoided like
 a plague. AMD-supporting chipsets offer less flexibility in 
this regard due to poorly implemented async modes.
 Even if it means running our memory clock speed well
 below the maximum feasible for a given memory, 
an Athlon XP system will ALWAYS exhibit best 
performance running the memory in sync with the FSB.
 Therefore, a 166FSB Athlon XP would run synchronously
 with DDR333/PC2700 (2*166) and give better 
performance than running with DDR400/PC3200,
 despite its numbers being bigger.

Only Intel chipsets have implemented async modes
 that have any merit. If you are talking about the 
older i845 series of chipsets, running an async 
mode that runs the memory faster than the FSB is
 crucial to top system performance. And with the
 newer dual channel Intel chipset (i865/875 series)
 in an overclocked configuration, often you must
 run an async mode that runs the memory slower
 than the FSB for optimal results. The async 
modes in SiS P4 chipsets also work correctly.
To achieve synchronous operation, there is usually
 a Memory Frequency or DRAM ratio setting in
 the bios of your system that will allow you to
 manipulate the memory speed to a either a
 percentage of the FSB (i.e. 100%) or a fraction
 (or ratio) i.e. N/N where N is any integer 
available to you. If you want to run memory at
 non 1:1 ratio speeds, motherboards use dividers
 that create a ratio of CPU FSB: memory
 frequency. However, intrinsically, it is possible
 to see the problem with this and why synchronous
 operation is preferable on all PC platforms.
 If there is divider, then there is going to be a
 gap between the time that data is available
 for the memory, and when the memory is
 available to accept the data (or vica versa)
. There will also be a mismatch between
 the amount of data the CPU can send to
 the memory and how much the memory
 can accept from the CPU. This will cause 
slowdowns as you will be limited by the
 slowest component.
Here are three examples illustrating the
 three possible states of memory operation:

    200MHz FSB speed with 100% or 1:1
 (FSB:Memory ratio) results in 200MHz
 memory speed (DDR400)


Such a configuration is wholly acceptable
 for any AMD system, memory should be
 set this way at all times for best performance.
 Asynchronous FSB/Memory Speeds are
 horridly inefficient on AMD systems, but
 may well be the optimal configuration for P4 systems.

    200MHz FSB speed with 120% or 5:6
 (FSB:Memory ratio) results in 240MHz memory speed (DDR480)


This example shows running the memory
 at higher asynchronous speeds. Assume
 we have a Barton 2500+ which by default
 is running at a FSB of 333 MHz (166 MHz X 2)
 and we also have PC3200 memory which by
 default is running at 400 MHz. This is a typical
 scenario because many people think that faster
 memory running at 400 MHz, will speed up their
 system. Or they fail to disable the SPD or Auto
 setting in their bios. There is NO benefit at all
 derived from running your memory at a higher
 frequency (MHz) than your FSB on
 Athlon XP/Duron sytems. In actuality, doing 
so has a negative effect.

Why does this happen? It happens because
 the memory and FSB can't "talk" at the same
 speeds, even though the memory is running
 at higher speeds than the FSB. The memory
 would have to "wait for the FSB to catch up",
 because higher async speeds forces
 de-synchronization of the memory and FSB
 frequencies and therefore increases the initial 
access latency on the memory path -- causing
 as much as a 5% degradation in performance.

This is another ramification of the limiting effect
 of the AMD dual-pumped FSB. A P4's quad
 pumped FSB (along with the superior optimization
 of the async modes) allows P4's to benefit in some
 cases from async modes that run the memory faster
 than the FSB. This is especially true of single channel 
P4 systems. There still are synchronization losses
 inherent in an async mode on any system, but the
 adequate FSB bandwidth of the P4 allows the 
additional memory bandwidth produced by async 
operation to overcome these losses and produce a net gain.
__________________

Thanks!
 
oiames said:
Got it! No s-video...EVER

Let me ask a basic memory upgrade question for the n3020s.

Is there any benefit to getting faster RAM (e.g. PC2 6400 versus the stock PC2 4200) if I don't plan to up grade the processor? After rebates, both cost the same, although the PC2 6400 seems to use more power than the PC2 4600 (2.1v vs. 1.8v.) When you (Archaea) added the PC2 6400 memory, you reported,
Thanks!
Click to expand...

It does actually run at the 800MHZ speed rating as verified with cpu-z utitliy and sisoft sandra benchmarks. What that gains you is VERY minimal if anything at all on an AMD system. The memory benchmarks are faster, but as a whole for the system it doesn't seem to matter at all.

See these posts for further info

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1254446

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1249653



In your case I'd just go for the cheaper RAM at whatever speed (it's not going to hurt you to get faster, but it isn't going to help you either. ---and get the 1.8 volt RAM. It doesn't matter to the computer if you get the 2.1 cause you can't change the settings on the motherboard to supply the 2.1 volts. it will default to 1.8 and that's what it's going to supply no matter what the RAM needs...The problem you might run into is that the 2.1 voltage rated RAM won't even run at 1.8 volts. Since you can't change it and your are limited on power anyway in those slimlines, just get 1.8volt RAM. My PC6400 RAM I purchased was 1.8 and so there are 1.8 volt sticks out there that are faster --- but again, doens't really matter in the whole scheme of things.


Note: You also can't change timings in the BIOS on the RAM settings and it will always default to the lowest/slowest timings (5-5-5-18 if I remember correctly) so don't worry about buying RAM with enhanced CAS latency --- it won't help you a bit on a slimline because the BIOS is locked down -- Only the actual MHZ rating is recognized and set correctly.
 
I left my s3220n on overnight to sell things in a game and now it won't turn on. When I plug it in a green light flashes on the back, but the mouse and keyboard aren't lit and it doesn't turn on
 
Archaea said:
Can you try another PCI-E video card for testing purposes?

Typically you boot to the BIOS BEFORE you put the PCI-E card in. Then change the setting to PCI-E - save/shutdown. Put your PCI-E card in and then (hate to be obvious here) but ensure you move your VGA connection off the attached onboard connector to the actual add-in PCI-E cards connection. That should work.

If not, I suspect a bad card.

S-VIDEO shimmers and shakes at 1024x768 because it's max resolution is supposed to be 800x600 :) I"m actually surprised you even got 1024x768 out of it.

S-video does not carry the detail required for text based/fine dpi based display information. No wonder it looks horrible.

I think your original powersupply should have had enough juice to start the 8600GT up, not run at full performance mode like is mentioned otherplaces in this thread, but to get the computer booted yes.

I'd test another PCI-E card (8400gs can be had for about 30 bucks for testing purposes)
Click to expand...

I was having the problem with the monitor not displaying anything however the computer was booted up. Here is my story of my s3020n

I purchased a GeForce 7300GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video Card from Newegg and put it in the computer and had no problems for 3-4 months, everything worked just fine. Then one day I tried rebooting and nothing showed up on the monitor (32" LCD TV). I checked the DVI-HDMI cable from the video card to the TV and there was no problem. After turning it off and on a couple times it then started working, but it went downhill from there. Eventually it would not show anything on the display after a month. So I thought it was the video card and RMA'd it newegg. They no longer carry that card and so I was able to get MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 with HDMI instead. I just put it in and tried it again and the same problem, the computer boots but nothing shows up on the display. I am going to try looking at the cable, maybe that is the problem. The card has HDMI port and so I will try a HDMI cable into the TV and see what happens. If that does not work I will try a VGA cord with adapter and possibly try the SVideo component adapter. Any other suggestions?
 
Newest Slimline HP Slimline s3330f PC:

As taken from Engadget.com
"A slim PC destined to handle both of the major high-definition movie formats? Say it ain't so! Turns out, HP is indeed doling out such a machine, and it's so eloquently dubbed the Pavilion Slimline s3330f PC. Here's a look at what this mighty mini-tower will be packin':

2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor
2GB of DDR2 RAM
500GB 7,200 RPM SATA drive
HP Pocket Media Drive Bay
Single LightScribe-enabled optical drive that reads Blu-ray / HD DVD and writes to dual-layer DVDs

NVIDIA's 256MB GeForce 8500 GT
802.11b/g WiFi
Built-in NTSC / ATSC TV tuners
Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader
Furthermore, you'll find 6 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, audio in / out, DVI / HDMI ports and a wireless keyboard / mouse bundled in along with a whole suite of software. Intrigued? Be on the lookout for this one to land later this month starting at $949."

No word on the size of the power supply yet though.
 
jawa,
I am having similar problems. I am starting to think it is the computer, or more accurately the mobo. At first I thought it was the video card, and then toyed with the idea it could be the cable. I also thought perhaps it was the vga port, as when I started using the dvi with a dvi to vga adapter it worked perfectly until Wednesday so it can't be that. I cannot get temperature readings on my cpu or mobo. Can you? I have downloaded 3 different applications that can measure temperature readings and none of them do. In fact Sisoft reports there are no environmental monitors available.
 
mrcosmos said:
jawa,
I am having similar problems. I am starting to think it is the computer, or more accurately the mobo. At first I thought it was the video card, and then toyed with the idea it could be the cable. I also thought perhaps it was the vga port, as when I started using the dvi with a dvi to vga adapter it worked perfectly until Wednesday so it can't be that. I cannot get temperature readings on my cpu or mobo. Can you? I have downloaded 3 different applications that can measure temperature readings and none of them do. In fact Sisoft reports there are no environmental monitors available.
Click to expand...

I agree. I do not think that it is the videocard or the cables also. I can't get temperature readings on my motherboard as well. I have talked to HP techs and they insisted that it the videocard or the lack of the power supply. I am starting to think I may try to warranty the computer, so what they would do. I am really running out of patience and options with this issue.
 
It definitely is not the power supply as I have upgraded mine. I haven't found the time to try to get with HP tech support yet. It has to be the mobo. There seems to be a problem with our pci-e slots and with the onboard environment monitoring. How can HP tech support say it is the power supply when they offer the 8500gt as an upgrade on the Slimline series? :confused: Also, if you have been through two video cards and had the same problem, then it can't be the video cards or you are really unlucky. I am just venting, good luck with HP.
 
I just won an auction on ebay for a HP s3023w slimline pc. It is a retail version w/ tiny 160w PS and AMD 3800+ @2.4 Ghz SINGLE CORE processor. I have a Blu Ray drive that I want to use on that little monster, but from what I read I had to pimp it up before I can turn it into full fledged HTPC. My upgrade decision was based on HP upcoming s3330f model that has full HD movie playback capability right out of the box. It has AMD X2 5400+ 65nm 65W clocked @ 2.8 Ghz as well as the low profile 8500GT Nvidia card to match the HD/Blu Ray Combo drive.

I ordered:

MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH GeForce 8500GT silent card
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz 45w processor.

I decided to skip the 5400+ 2.8 GHz 65w processor in favor of slower clocked BE-2400 2.3 GHz 45w processor, due to my power supply limitations as well as I hoped (I still do) that 8500GT will handle the Hardware decoding of HD content.

But now I start to have doubts about my decision. 8500GT only handles the h.264 or MPEG 2 encoded movies but not the VC 1 content or at least that what everyone keeps saying. So does it mean that I will not be able to get flawless playback of VC-1 HD movie on 8500GT hardware alone. By the way, the 2.8 Ghz is not just random number from HP - this is the lowest clocked AMD processor that can produce flawless playback of VC-1 encoded content. That is why HP only allows 2.8Ghz processors (5400+ or 5600+) or more when HD /BluRay drive is selected for the web orders.

Do you guy have any problems playing the VC-1 based HD DVD or Blu Ray disks w/ 8500GT card on your machine? 300 Movie (both Blu Ray & HD DVD editions) is good example of VC1. How fast is your CPU?
 
Hi Folks,

I'm posting here in the hope of tapping your vast knowledge on the Slimline machines (and maybe SFF machines in general). I've pieced together a s3xxx series Slimline from parts I've picked up randomly (motherboard from one ebay auction, s3000e case from another auction, etc).

However, I'm missing one critical piece: a good CPU cooler. I have been unable to find the stock HP cooler anywhere. HP doesn't have it (yet they somehow continue to build new machines with it). Its not on ebay. I've also been unable to determine who makes the cooler for HP (...most big venders make few, if any, items themselves). Does anyone know where I can get one of the stock coolers?

As you all know, space is VERY limited inside. I can't just go out and buy any good cooler since nearly all of them won't fit (...they're either too tall, or too wide in one or more directions). It seems like HP had some cooler OEM to make them the offset heat pipe + fan cooler for them. Has anyone had any luck changing out the stock cooler for a retail model?

I've installed a AMD X2 4600+ (65W) and rigged up a heatsink...but it doesn't work very well. I found a small heatsink + 60mm fan designed for older CPUs. Since the motherboard lacks any mounting brackets, I just used cable ties to hold it in place. The fan is LOUD, but this ugly setup does seem to keep the chip reasonability cool. I then removed the loud 60mm fan and cable tied a larger fan (from the stock AMD cooler than came with the CPU). This fan is very quiet, but the CPU is getting WAY warmer than it should. Under load, CoreTemp reports 74C!! Clearly, this ugly attempt at making my own cooler isn't going to work.

As much discussion as you folks have had regarding heat, video cards, etc...surely someone here has experimented with a different cooler. Purhaps you folks have been inside the case enough times to have noticed the stock heat pipe cooler...and due to your experience, identified it as a brand "xyz" cooler model number "abc" OEM'ed to HP.

If you know of where I can get the stock HP heat pipe cooler found in all the s3xxx Slimline machines or a retail cooler (that you know for certain will fit), please let me know.

Thanks!
 
Been following this thread for a while now. I picked up a s3120n refurb from J&R for $350.

Dropped in a PNY VCG8400SXPB GeForce 8400GS
Added AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz fro $100 (Udated the BIOS per the thread)
Bought a XBOX HD DVD player with 6 movies (supposedly in the mail) for $150 via Amazon

Core temps are a ridiculously low 24 and 30 after the chip replacement. I don’t use it for gaming, but getting 1080i via the DVI to HDMI cable. Running PowerDVD Ultra with Nvidia Purevideo playing all HD DVDs I have thrown at it at 1080p. No hicups. Smooth as silk.

This project began when wife wanted a Tivo and I was too cheap to pay the monthly fee. For $660 I got a DVR, HD DVD player and am able to stream music and pics to the living room. Would I do it again? Not sure...

The 8400gs has a loud fan that runs all the time at 100% and can't be controlled via Riva Tuner or Speedfan. It is noticible when watching TV and movies. I guess I need to get a Fusion USB tuner and replace the current card with a passive cooled one. (more money into the project, probably around $300) I can’t replace the fan card now because there is not enough space with the heatsink card and tv tuner. The small box is what sold me on the system and is also what handicaps it. I am thinking I should have waited for this HP Slimline s3330f PC or sucked it up with a bigger case in the living room.
 
I've been lurking on this thread for a while, and I'm not too sure if I've seen a general consensus on what the "best" video card for this system is.

Now, in terms of performance, it appears that that the "best" card right now appears to be the Galaxy GeForce 8600gt. Some folks have apparently had some minor problems with it in terms of Power Supply load, and others in terms of overall added system noise. Both of which, I'd rather avoid.

Of course, with the added load on the PS, several of the folks around here have also added various low-power CPUs (45W and 65W variations), so that may be affecting the PS load.

So, in terms of no added effect on the PS, and NO added noise, does anyone have any recommendations?
 
mcnallm said:
Been following this thread for a while now. I picked up a s3120n refurb from J&R for $350.

Dropped in a PNY VCG8400SXPB GeForce 8400GS
Added AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz fro $100 (Udated the BIOS per the thread)
Bought a XBOX HD DVD player with 6 movies (supposedly in the mail) for $150 via Amazon

Core temps are a ridiculously low 24 and 30 after the chip replacement. I don’t use it for gaming, but getting 1080i via the DVI to HDMI cable. Running PowerDVD Ultra with Nvidia Purevideo playing all HD DVDs I have thrown at it at 1080p. No hicups. Smooth as silk.

This project began when wife wanted a Tivo and I was too cheap to pay the monthly fee. For $660 I got a DVR, HD DVD player and am able to stream music and pics to the living room. Would I do it again? Not sure...

The 8400gs has a loud fan that runs all the time at 100% and can't be controlled via Riva Tuner or Speedfan. It is noticible when watching TV and movies. I guess I need to get a Fusion USB tuner and replace the current card with a passive cooled one. (more money into the project, probably around $300) I can’t replace the fan card now because there is not enough space with the heatsink card and tv tuner. The small box is what sold me on the system and is also what handicaps it. I am thinking I should have waited for this HP Slimline s3330f PC or sucked it up with a bigger case in the living room.
Click to expand...


you can buy an 8400GS that has a passive heat-sink with no fan.

XFX makes one.
 
Fulgore said:
I've been lurking on this thread for a while, and I'm not too sure if I've seen a general consensus on what the "best" video card for this system is.

Now, in terms of performance, it appears that that the "best" card right now appears to be the Galaxy GeForce 8600gt. Some folks have apparently had some minor problems with it in terms of Power Supply load, and others in terms of overall added system noise. Both of which, I'd rather avoid.

Of course, with the added load on the PS, several of the folks around here have also added various low-power CPUs (45W and 65W variations), so that may be affecting the PS load.

So, in terms of no added effect on the PS, and NO added noise, does anyone have any recommendations?
Click to expand...

The power supply for the AMD slimline won't handle a 65watt processor and an 8600GT reliably. You'll need a 45 watt CPU (like the be-2400)
 
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