The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

Fulgore said:
Any thoughts or experiences with the new Phenom X3's on this system? It doesn't seem as if AMD has released any information on anything less than 95W variants. Also, how about the Phenom X4, namely the 9100e which is apparently 65W. Any thoughts?

In addition, any recent consensus on the "best" compatible video card (with either a 65W or 45W CPU)? Are we looking at the GeForce 8500/8600gt or ATI Radeon 3450? Has anyone tried anything else? How's the noise with the additional fans?
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as for the 9100e, the only pc using that is the hp s3430F, which is a slimline model. So it seems to be quiet usage, since it is running a 8500gt, a TV tuner, and 4gb of ram. so that would be a max system. most likely that PC is also running a 180w PSU while most of us are using a 160w psu.
As for comment on the CPU, i been looking online for the past 2-3 weeks, and have yet to find someone selling the CPU, OEM or Retail. The few place that have it listed, have it back order and have it for 2xx. I was under the understanding that this would be a 100~150 price range CPU...

I am using the Radeon 3450 from Diamond. Great fit, just need to find a bracket, i ordered one from MSI, it was $7 dollars ship. :p the bracket was free, i just had to pay for shipping. the 8500 and 8600 both work, if your going to go for gaming, the 8600 are nice, and there is a 512mb ddr2 and a 256 ddr3 version. The Radeon from Diamond, is quiet, i NEVER HEAR IT. I hear my HD rev up on my NAS that sit next to the PC more then i hear any sounds from the PC.
 
Just a quick heads up, the Galaxy 8600gt cards are back in stock at ncix and ncixus with a $40.00 rebate. The height of this card is listed as 80mm at galaxy's website. Does this measurement include the pins of the card? Any details would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
jschatz said:
Which barcode did you all submit as your upc for the rebate. My box doesnt have one that says proof of purchase.
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So has anyone actually received their rebate from the Galaxy 8600GT from worldrebates.com? From what I've read online in forums it seems like they go out of their way to deny rebates rather than pay them..
 
nickdanger25 said:
Just a quick heads up, the Galaxy 8600gt cards are back in stock at ncix and ncixus with a $40.00 rebate. The height of this card is listed as 80mm at galaxy's website. Does this measurement include the pins of the card? Any details would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Sorry, I believe you are referring to the wrong card. As far as I can tell the low profile 8600GT is neither in stock nor has a rebate at NCIX. The rebate card you are referring to is not low profile and will not fit in the slimline.
 
vferrari said:
Sorry, I believe you are referring to the wrong card. As far as I can tell the low profile 8600GT is neither in stock nor has a rebate at NCIX. The rebate card you are referring to is not low profile and will not fit in the slimline.
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This isn't it?

http://www.ncixus.com/products/26441/86GEF8HDFCXX/Galaxy Techology/

It says low profile. I ordered one on Thursday. Guess they sold out already...crap, they took down the rebate too.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
luddite said:
So has anyone actually received their rebate from the Galaxy 8600GT from worldrebates.com? From what I've read online in forums it seems like they go out of their way to deny rebates rather than pay them..
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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.
 
Yeah it looks just the same as the Chaintech and you don't need to pay extra for the LP brackets. Where the heck was that about a month ago? :p
 
Guys, can you recommend a good HDTV tuner card?

Since my external HD seemd to be streaming fine to the Xbox OTA via USB 2.0, I think I will return the eSata PCI adapter and replace that with a tuner card. For now, I plan to use the card with an OTA HD antenna and record TV shows with it.

[edit]

Here is one I found that seemed pretty good w/ low profile brackets ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100015
 
the.ronin said:
Guys, can you recommend a good HDTV tuner card?

Since my external HD seemd to be streaming fine to the Xbox OTA via USB 2.0, I think I will return the eSata PCI adapter and replace that with a tuner card. For now, I plan to use the card with an OTA HD antenna and record TV shows with it.

[edit]

Here is one I found that seemed pretty good w/ low profile brackets ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100015
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Looks like that is for a pci express slot. I have a Vista View TV tuner and I love the image quality. The only thing that seems a little odd is that if I plug my antenna into my tv I get the local pbs station but it is real dodgy plugged into the tuner card. I am not sure why.
 
Instant gratification-itis kicked in, again, and I ended up popping by the local Micro Center and picking up the Vista View tuner as well. It's really tight in there with the Chaintech 8600GT ...

visatviewux8.jpg


Right now I've got it hooked up to a Philipps HD antenna and the signal is a lot weaker than what is being picked up by my Samsung HDTV. What concerns me more though is the power drain on my PSU ...

[edit]

Ok the poor signal quality is really bugging me. Do you guys think this Motorola signal booster might help?
 
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I'll flash the new M2NC51-AR bios tonight, won't be able to try the 4850e again til Wednesday, I don't have it with me right now. I'm not hopeful it will work, the file description merely says "Motherboard BIOS update improves resume time from hibernate".
 
zauber said:
I'll flash the new M2NC51-AR bios tonight, won't be able to try the 4850e again til Wednesday, I don't have it with me right now. I'm not hopeful it will work, the file description merely says "Motherboard BIOS update improves resume time from hibernate".
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Yeah, I read that too, but I am still hoping! :)
 
omjeremy said:
Check it out! Looks like Galaxy will be making a Low Profile 9600GT. http://en.expreview.com/2008/05/17/galaxy-make-the-first-low-profile-geforce-9600gt-blade/

Thanks to baryluk.
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I just got my low profile 8600gt a few weeks ago.. SON OF A.. actually Im fine, it plays games really well and Im a half PC/half PS3 gamer so no need to upgrade any time soon...plus I bet this one will require more than the 160w power supply I have and Im not upgrading that so its all good :D
 
hp3300f said:
I just got my low profile 8600gt a few weeks ago.. SON OF A.. actually Im fine, it plays games really well and Im a half PC/half PS3 gamer so no need to upgrade any time soon...plus I bet this one will require more than the 160w power supply I have and Im not upgrading that so its all good :D
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haha ya, just from looking at that picture from the article, it looks like the 9600 will require a new PSU since our slimline doesnt have an extra molex.

sigh good thing i didn't go and buy a 8600gt, i can wait a few month and use my hd3450 till this one come out. :p
 
Ok I think it's bye bye TV tuner card ... after playing an hour of COH last night, the box just got way too hot. HWMonitor had my GPU at well over 200F. Even my wife asked what that burning plastic smell was!! I turned off the slimline to give it a rest for today. I'm probably going to return the TV tuner tomorrow. I'll probably just leave that slot open and leave off the plating for circulation. Oh well.
 
Guys I have a s3200n with 2gb of ram ddr2 667mhz running vista 32bit, do guys think I will see a difference if I get 4gb of ram ddr2 667mhz I know vista only recognizes 3.5gb do you think it's worth the upgrade
 
re the RAM ... I say go for it. I zip around Adobe CS3 apps with my setup. Although I've read that SP1 allows Vista to map all 4 GB, that seems to be up for debate.
 
The patch/fix/correction in 32 bit that allows windows 32 bit to show 4GB of RAM in my understanding is cosmetic only. The operating system can only use 3.5GB of the RAM or slightly less due to a physical limitation in the memory addressing with 32 bit addresses.

In my opinion 4GB of RAM is well worth the low cost at this point. 2GB should be the minimum with Vista for realistic usability. My aunt and dad have a slimline with 1GB...it's much slower than it should be with the same processor as mine had with 2GB. I've had them both order 2GB. I have 4GB on my main system and actually had 4GB in a slimline just to see how it worked. Well worth it!

Make sure you get 1.8volt rated RAM to eliminate potential issues. I can run 2.0volt ram in my slimline, but I've read that some have had problems.
 
Archaea, I think we may have come across the same article where the "My Computers" screen was showing the full 4GB but a resource monitor would still only show the 3.5GB ... I was hoping that was unsubstantiated.

Total weak sauce.
 
I wouldn't let the 3.5 vs. 4 GB stop you from buying 4GB.


I don't think you'll much notice the difference between 3.5GB and 4GB...But I'm quite sure you'll notice the difference between 2GB and 3.5GB. Go for it.

Personally,
I think 1GB was the real world minimum with a fully patched SP2 Windows XP and 2GB was the sweet spot.
Likewise 2GB is the real world usage minimum with Vista and 4GB the sweet spot.
 
You can install Vista x64 to make full use of the 4GB. The compatibility issues are practically nonexistent nowadays.
 
omjeremy said:
You can install Vista x64 to make full use of the 4GB. The compatibility issues are practically nonexistent nowadays.
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You can also install XP Pro x64 (which is based on Windows Server 2003), where compatibility issues are also practically nonexistant. I've been running it for a year and a half as the OS on main gaming rig.
 
want the 9600GT in a slimline?

ghetto rig it ;)


Sata power splitter
http://www.cooldrives.com/sapoyca15sap.html

Now you have an extra sata power connection.

Now you convert the Sata connector to Molex connector.
http://www.cooldrives.com/sa15poto4moa.html

Now you have a free molex power connection.

Now you convert the molex connection to the PCI-E power connection that will power the 9600GT card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201004




Then you stand back with a smile and watch your power supply catch fire, burn down the house, and afterwards stand among the glowing embers wondering why you ever tried to push her that hard...

The whole reason they typically add the extra 6 pin PCI-E power suppliment connection is because the card draws more than 75 watts at peak load which is the limit of the PCI-E version 1 standard. :)

But it's a nice try guys ;)

...unless this card is unique, which maybe the case --- so I won't say it's impossible....but don't get your hopes too high. Make sure and read some power draw figures before you purchase that 9600GT when it hits shelves!

:)
 
So was that Sata connector to Molex connector, then? hahaha

Seriously though, does anyone know what the power draw is typically on a TV Tuner? Or specifically, the VistaView Saber DA-1N1-I PCI card?
 
Hrm... what about doing away with your optical drive and using the aforementioned converters? It seems that a 256MB 9600GT draws somewhere between 26-59W. Think it would work? muhaha... Once it comes out I wonder who will be willing to try!

There might not be room to plug in the power cable though.
 
Hey guys...Exciting news. The standard video tuner card that ships with the s3200t IS in fact HDTV ready. I hooked it all up tonight and played with and calibrated it through windows media center. It gets HDTV over the air (720P) and looks as good as my stand alone OTA receiver. It also pushes true dolby digital sound to my Denon AVR 5700 receiver. Fantastic! I can record TV shows in Hi-Def on my slimline. It doesn't even tax the system. When recording in 720p and watching TV at the sametime my processor is maxing out at 1.8Ghz. There is no stuttering or catchup. VERY COOL!
 
Has anybody replaced the heatsink with another one?
Since I dont like the noise it's making on full load
it might be the PSU not sure yet

I my slimline to be silent
 
No need to ghetto rig a 9600GT into this, Galaxy is releasing a low profile version apparently.
 
lixuelai said:
No need to ghetto rig a 9600GT into this, Galaxy is releasing a low profile version apparently.
Click to expand...

that what we are talking about.

]http://www.tcmagazine.com/images/news/Hardware/Galaxy_Geforce_9600_GT_LP_01.jpg[/IMG]

this is the images of the galaxy card, notice the 6 pin power source on the rightside of the picture? :p

Note from FLECOM: Do not hotlink images, host them yourself
 
Archaea said:
want the 9600GT in a slimline?

Then you stand back with a smile and watch your power supply catch fire, burn down the house, and afterwards stand among the glowing embers wondering why you ever tried to push her that hard...
Click to expand...

Lol
 
I've been lurking here more a week or so. Thanks for the great info! I am going to order an 8600gt for my 3100n thanks to this forum. My question is, I've been trying to figure out if the AMD 4850e processor will work with the 3100n Slimline. Has anyone gotten it to work. I'm looking at that or a be-2400. I would like to get the 4850e but I want to make sure it is compatible. Thanks for your help!

bref
 
Hey, BTW. Does anybody else think its weird that the CPU fan faces the back of the CD Rom Drive. My Kanes Wrath disc comes out quite toasty afet a couple of hours of gameplay I can tell ya!

P.S. On subject I would'nt be surprised if they bring out a 9500 GT soon and that might not need extra power. THAT would be the one to go for me thinks... clocks and speeds are rumoured to be the same as the current 8600 GTS! So that would be a good upgrade for me.
 
PS PS
Plus ATI might bring out descent Low Pro cards yet. You never know! They have in the past..
 
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