The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

Hi guys,
Does anyone know where I can buy the original blu-ray drive for this machine?
I want to buy one on ubid, but they don't have any with blu-ray/appropriate video card
I figure video card won't be a problem (though any suggestions are welcome, I only want to watch HD, that's the only use for the card, so I want to pay as low a price as I can for that. Oh, and it'd be nice if it's fanless/quiet)
But what do I do with the drive? If I have to, I'll buy external, but that is last resort. I was hoping I can buy the original one.
Thanks!
 
3450's do full HD iirc

And they're $20 after rebate... :D

And, have HDMI and DVI onboard in a single slot/low-profile design.
 
So the only problem is aesthetics, as the original drive looks much better than the standart looking drives you can buy... :)
 
churban said:
Perfect, thanks!

So. I'm all set for 450$
Was planning on like 700-800.
And the only drawback, is that the oprical drive might not be as pretty as the original... don't really care. :)
Can't see where's the catch. :)

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

See my modified post above. You will probably have to buy Blu-ray compatible playback software so add anaother 20 to 50 bucks. Also, I'm a little concerned that based on what you were thinking you were going to spend, that you are getting a blu-ray burner. You do realize that its only a blu-ray reader/player, it only burns to standard DVDs and CDs. You might also be able to find a slightly cheaper optical drive if you get a drive without HD DVD compatibility (i.e., just Blu ray not Blu ray/HD DVD compatibility). FWIW...

Based on that outlay and the issues you may encounter integrating the drive/graphics card into the slimline, I would just wait it out with uBID and wait for a bluray slimline to show up.

Also, I have a barely touched ubid 3200T Bluray slimline with 4500 C2D, 8500GT, 2GB, 500GB and tuner that I am considering putting up for auction. PM me if anyone is interested...(upgraded to the 3300T with more mem, wifi, and bigger HDD and find I don't really need two HTPCs).
 
vferrari said:
See my modified post above. You will probably have to buy Blu-ray compatible playback software so add anaother 20 to 50 bucks. Also, I'm a little concerned that based on what you were thinking you were going to spend, that you are getting a blu-ray burner. You do realize that its only a blu-ray reader/player, it only burns to standard DVDs and CDs. You might also be able to find a slightly cheaper optical drive if you get a drive without HD DVD compatibility (i.e., just Blu ray not Blu ray/HD DVD compatibility). FWIW...

Based on that outlay and the issues you may encounter integrating the drive/graphics card into the slimline, I would just wait it out with uBID and wait for a bluray slimline to show up.

Also, I have a barely touched ubid 3200T Bluray slimline with 4500 C2D, 8500GT, 2GB, 500GB and tuner that I am considering putting up for auction. PM me if anyone is interested...(upgraded to the 3300T with more mem, wifi, and bigger HDD and find I don't really need two HTPCs).
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info on s/w. I currently have a non-OEM purchased WinDVD. Hope they have some kind of an upgrade, that'll be less. If not, another 50 bucks still leave me well under budget.
I don't need neither HDDVD as they're afaik dead, nor any burning capabilities, as I've never needed to burn anything since the invention of usb flash drives :)
The budget prediction was just overly pessimistic. I never play any games, and only use my PC to browse the Internet and watch movies. So I don't need any extraordinary power.
My old PC is too weak to watch HD in any form, so I decided to upgrade, and while I'm at it - save some space on my desk.
The thing is, I was sure small form factor will actually cost more than the normal sized PCs, and the opposite is true, figures.
Anyway, many thanks to everybody here for being so helpful!
 
Hi there guys. I'm from Malaysia and I have just bought my Slimline s3481d a couple of days ago. Found this thread while looking for more information and I am very happy with all the wealth of information found here. Perhaps I will compile a list containing important information so that it could be updated into the first post (took me almost 1 week to finish reading this thread!).

Seems like the concern here is the PSU which is either 160/180 watts. I've found something online while surfing a local tech forum and I've found this.

http://www.zippy.com.tw/P_product_d...name=1U Single&pcpw_rfnbr=2&pp_code=P1G-6250P

spec.jpg


I'm no techie as I've been out of the game far too long to see whether this will fit physically (or even electrically-wise. I wouldn't dare open up my case until the warranty is over).

Perhaps anyone which has any experience in this (who was that guy with 12 Slimlines again?) can check?

Thanks once again for all your wonderful inputs.

hiragizawa
 
Welcome to the forums hiragizawa. That PSU you linked is too large to fit inside the slimline case.

Also, opening the case to your computer won't void your warranty.
 
omjeremy said:
Also, opening the case to your computer won't void your warranty.
Click to expand...

It does in Malaysia. lol. It has a warranty void sticker plastered at the side of the case.

What if I just transfer just the internals of the new PSU to the old PSU "casing". Someone did it right? I just wonder if the motherboard could accept a PSU with such high wattage...
 
Well, my Radeon 3650 finally arrived. Everything seems to be working great.
The video playback is excellent. It took a bit of tweaking to compensate for the overscan, but it looks great on the TV via HDMI.
I haven't had any lock ups or other hardware weirdness yet, but I don't push the card that hard either for what I do with it.
The card is exceptionally quiet. It added no perceptible noise to the unit.
My gaming performance tripled. I tested WoW on the integrated and got around 20fps. Now I am getting a relatively steady 60 fps in most places, but around 45-50 in the more crowded places, such as Shattrah. I didn't do a windows experience test before i upgraded (forgot), but if anyone is interested I can do one post the upgrade and list the scores here.

This machine is now going to be perfect for what I was wanting it for, a home digital media server. It can share the movies/music to the other rooms of my home. It can playback my ripped movies beautifully on my HDTV. I have Windows Media Center now working seemlessly with iTunes, including having its H.264/MPEG4 files being listed in WMC as supported formats (this took awhile :) ). Everything is just great.
Thanks for all the help and advice.
 
hiragizawa said:
I just wonder if the motherboard could accept a PSU with such high wattage...
Click to expand...

The motherboard will only draw what it needs, you could hook up a 1000 watt PSU if you had on available and it wouldn't hurt the motherboard.
 
macsatin said:
Well, my Radeon 3650 finally arrived. ---- if anyone is interested I can do WEI scores, post upgrade, and list the scores here.
Click to expand...

Do.

Congrats on testing the 3650 successfully, I understand your PC isn't pushed very hard from your post - but for the sake of the others on this board, would you please put the PC in full performance mode for a bit and tool around with the machine(accessible through the screensaver and power options in vista) and see if the machine locks up. I know my original s3020n slimline could not take a 8400GS with a 65 watt processor in full performance mode on the 160 watt PSU. It would lock up in full performance mode quick, but could run indefinately in the balanced mode power savings mode.

I think a full disclosure is in order here so that people know if the slimline PSU is capable of supporting the 3650 at full power draw. Worst it will do is lock up your machine, it will not (99.9% chance) damage your components, and it gives others a chance to make a sound decision before ordering that card.
 
Hey guys, is anyone here successfully using a 8500GT on their AMD-based slimline? I'd just like to hear from 1-2 people that say it works without crashing the machine, and I'd feel comfortable ordering the card.

I'm hoping I can play around with the power settings, and if necessary, order the BE-2400 CPU, but I'd like to get the video card working first, before committing to a CPU upgrade.
 
You may need a 45 watt cpu for a video card to work. what cpu do you have now? I've seen the BE-2400 for only $40 on newegg.

I would like to get a 9600gt, but may need help with funds. Any chance that some of you want some old hardware I have laying the house?
 
I have the 5000+ CPU now. I don't plan to game a whole lot.....I really just want to be able to watch movies on my TV from the slimline and My Movies.

Is the BE-2400 the most powerful 45W CPU around?

I'd really just like to get the video working first before doing a CPU upgrade. I don't mind spending the $40 for a new CPU, but I have a 3450 video card now, and can only get either an all blue or all grey screen from the component adapter. Needless to say, its been frustrating and I'm a little gun-shy about getting this video working.
 
Hi all. Thanks to everyone for all of the helpful info in this thread. I recently tuned in here and then purchased the following 2 slimlines on uBid:

s3400t, E4700, 2GB, 750GB, Blu-Ray, 8500GT - ($505, yikes)

s3200z, Athlon 64 3800+ (upgraded to BE-2400), 1GB (upped to 2GB), 160GB, Blu-Ray, HD-3450 (added) - ($205 uBid price before upgrades)

The 3400t system was nice in that there is no upgrade work to get Blu-ray playback. It is a nice zippy system, but I have noticed it gets VERY hot (power supply area) and at first was very loud. Updating to the latest nvidia 8500GT driver fixed the loud video card fan problem. I am considering downgrading the video card to fanless 3450 (7-10 watts max) and swapping with a E7200 processor (15 watts less under load compared to E4700) to reduce heat (a little nervous of trying the BIOS update needed for this processor). After a few hours of even light system use, the back of the power supply is almost too hot to touch. Are others seeing this?

The s3200z system is virtually silent and runs much cooler than the intel system. After several hours of use it is only slightly warm. I do notice it is somewhat slower than the intel system, but is still plenty fast. I do have the issue that this refurbed system obviously is some sort of frankenstein of mixed slimline parts in that it cam with a Blu-ray drive, but was severely underpowered for blu-ray playback, with single core proc and onboard video. It did not come with the HP DVD Play BD / HD-DVD software, only DVD Play, and I was unable to update to the newer version that supports the high-def disks, due to a "your system does not meet the requirements for this update (9995)" error. I am working with HP support to hopefully get a working HD version of the software on this machine, since it shipped with the HD drive.

amheck, when I get a chance I will try swapping the 8500GT into my 3200z and see if the power supply can handle the extra power draw. It is doing fine with the HD-3450 right now. Anyone know how much power the 8500GT draws?
 
cornballis, I'd appreciate any info you can come up with.

Per this post
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032968912&postcount=1500

I guess the 8400 series takes around 40watts, give or take. I originaly tried the 3450 because of the less power draw, but since I've had bad luck (can't get the component TV out working), and I came across a thread on AVS about a bunch of 3450 users's who were complaining about real bad de-interlacing, I thought I'd give the 8400gs or 8500GT a try.
 
My brother has a S3323 and his power supply gets really hot too. At idle this thing gets hot. He runs a household fan pointed at his open slimline case. He bought it new at best buy (sucker). I will be upgrading his power supply as well. Somehow, he has installed bf2 and plays at lowest settings with on board video.

My slimline stays nice and cool at load.
 
cornballis said:
s3200z, Athlon 64 3800+ (upgraded to BE-2400), 1GB (upped to 2GB), 160GB, Blu-Ray, HD-3450 (added) - ($205 uBid price before upgrades)

^ System specs

amheck, when I get a chance I will try swapping the 8500GT into my 3200z and see if the power supply can handle the extra power draw. It is doing fine with the HD-3450 right now. Anyone know how much power the 8500GT draws?
Click to expand...

Won't help - a BE-2400 and 8500GT works just fine - tested and true - in fact that's the configuration I'm using in my HTPC slimline.

Amheck is wanting to know if a 8500GT and a 65 watt AMD process can be used. You'd have to throw your 3800+ back in there to test that configuration and even if it does work for you --- it's still borderline maxing out the PSU which isn't a great long term running solution. My personal advice --- if you want longevity out of your slimline --- is for the AMD based system owners to buy a 45 watt CPU if you want to upgrade your video card.

There is a faster 45 watt CPU, but the 40$ BE-2400 is probably the best bang for the buck and guarenteed to work. Check out AMD's site for a list of the 45 watt procs.

http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUFilter.aspx

example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255

The 4850e is a 45 watt x2 at 2.5Ghz rather than the 2.3Ghz that the BE-2400 runs at.

But initially it ran into compatibility problems with the slimlines --- BIOS didn't support the 4850e. Has anyone tested it lately?

http://www.hardforum.com/search.php?searchid=10242867
 
I'm going to go ahead and order the 9600GT and the FSP Group BoosterX 3 300W Supplementary Power Supply. Should things not work and the PSU gets overloaded the worst that could happen is simply the system locking up right? (Or just not even booting.) I doubt it will because the description even says it takes power off the PSU so hopefully it'll be fine. I'll be sure to takes pics when I get it!:D

Also is there a program that will monitor voltage's of components inside the computer? Thanks!
 
I just tonight upgraded my s3020n from a 65w 3800+ X2 to the BE-2400 that i picked up for $35 on newegg. A few months back I tried to put a 4850e in there but it was not supported by the BIOS. The motherboard is M2NC51-AR, 2gb ram, Galaxy 8600GT. My windows scores went from:

4.8
5.5
5.9
5.5
5.4

to

5.0
5.7
5.9
5.5
5.4

A modest increase. However I made the change because with the 3800+ the power supply would get mad hot while i was playing games. Hopefully the significantly lower power draw of the BE-2400 will alleviate this .
 
My scores are as follows:

Windows Experience 5.2

Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 5.2
Memory (RAM) 2.00 GB 5.9
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series 5.7
Gaming graphics 1279 MB Total available graphics memory 5.2
Primary hard disk 242GB Free (456GB Total) 5.8

I also checked with the system settings. It was already running at the maximum performance mode. The system seems completely stable so far. The above test was performed in this mode. I ran it again just to make sure and achieved the same score.
 
Archaea said:
I got my $40 rebate back on a 8800GT galaxy card I ordered from NCIX.com in early spring. I await my 8600GT rebate purchased only in the last couple weeks, but have confidence it will come since my first did.
Click to expand...

Well the "good news" was I got the $40 check, the very bad news that the check was not any good. I deposited it and it came back marked unpaid "REFER TO MAKER" and I was charged a $5.00 fee in addition to have the $40 taken back out of my account.
 
Oh my goodness, amd is making a 2.0 Ghz quad at 65 watts!!!! If only HP makes some bios support sooner rather than later.
 
:confused:
luddite said:
Well the "good news" was I got the $40 check, the very bad news that the check was not any good. I deposited it and it came back marked unpaid "REFER TO MAKER" and I was charged a $5.00 fee in addition to have the $40 taken back out of my account.
Click to expand...

I've cashed two NCIX rebates for the 8800GT and the 8600GT. Both worked fine...



Sorry about your trouble. Contact NCIX and I'm sure they'll work it out.
 
FYI, regarding my previous post about the s3200z that I got on uBid that came with a Blu-ray drive, but was very underpowered for playing Blu-ray movies, HP support has refused to supply me with a copy of HP DVD Play BD / HD for this machine, with the reasoning that the computer was not originally assembled with the Blu-ray drive included. I was told to take up the issue with uBid :( ... so be aware that some machines being sold on uBid with BD / HD drives will require the purchase of HD player software if your intention is to upgrade them to be capable for playing HD movies. I assume this open auction is a similar situation:

http://www.ubid.com/Auctions/Product.aspx?AuctionId=11288566

This is a significant issue for me as I can't find a Blu-ray player software for under $60. Knowing this, I would not have bid as much for this system on uBid. Anyone know of an inexpensive HD player software option?
 
is there someone who has upgraded their video card from an 8500 that wants to sell my their fan?

Since I got my 9500 from a friend who had a s3500z, they wont sell me a new fan which died. Its been a major pain to find a replacement fan for this video card. I have a s3400z and the fans look identical

anyone.... please :(
 
Does anyone have their slimline connected to their avr by hdmi? Can someone confirm that movies from the DVD player and the hard drive will play over hdmi alone with 5.1 audio? Also, can someone confirm that they are able to play mp3 and other audio files on their avr over hdmi?

Thanks for any assistance!
 
^ I use COAX (orange RCA type connector) when connected to my Onkyo SR-805. I get 5.1 audio on 5.1 audio sources and stereo on mp3's etc. I've not really tried the HDMI setting, but would assume it would work too.
 
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