The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

I have an additional question - I am replacing the graphics card because my computer no longer talks to the monitor. It sounds like I need to reset the BIOS to PCI-E . How would I do that if it is going to automatically choose the onboard card at power up so I can't see the output?
 
Let me be perfectly clear: I know nothing about the HP Irvine Intel motherboard. My experience was with the Hp HematiteXL AMD motherboard and its failing Nvidia 6150le graphics chips. The board would come and go until it would finally not work at all. One thing I tried was to install a Sapphire Radeon HD4550 hoping that it would substute for the onboard chips. Wishful thinking. Apparently the onboard chips have other tunctions that cannot be replaced by a graphics card. The final solution was to replace the motherboard. I ordered an Acacia motherboard from China for $85 shipped. Unfortunately these boards on eBay are no longer as cheap as they were as recently as last October. Given the time spent and aggravation especially on unforseen details, HP's $200 fee may be an attractive option.
 
The $200 was for a graphics card not a motherboard.
Specifically the card they recommended: NVIDIA 256MB GeForce 8500GT Sikorski - Supports 2D and 3D, DVI, S-video, and VGA I/O ports - Low-profile bracket

So, from what you are saying, if I had spent the $200 it could still be the motherboard that would need replaced. I guess if I get a graphics card and it has issues I'll have to replace the mobo or cut my losses.
 
Does anyone know a powerful PSU we can get that will fit into the Slimline 5000 series? By powerful I mean around 350w~400w. The most I can find right now are at 300w. :(. I wanna to install Sparkle GTS 2500 into my slimline, and thus I probably need a greater PSU.

Thank you. :)


Edit: I found this one, Antec MT350 350W online. Does anyone know if this one will fit? http://www.directron.com/mt350.html
Also, it seems to be ATX based as opposed to TFX. Does that make a huge deal?
 
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I am glad to find nice mITX AM3 Mobo is finally here:

319_20100211_7251.jpg

from sapphiretech.com: an AMD-based m-ITX board with a PCI-E x16 slot.

Slimline rig is long live king!
 
Thanks for everyone who has contributed to this thread over the years, it has come in handy with my slimline. But I need a little help on an issue I am having. My model is the s3020n, running the stock cpu (3800+) and 2 gb of Memory. I have had the PC for several years and haven't had any issues until Saturday. It was stuck in some kind of deep hibernation, so I powered cycled it, it powers up I can hear the hard drive make some spins and I can hear the cpu fan kick on, but then nothing. No video, monitor just goes to sleep mode. I have taken everything off of the MB (minus the cpu) removed the cmos battery, even tried resetting the cmos. Nothing seems to work, from what I found on the web my MB may be bad. Does anyone have any ideas.

thanks
 
has anyone tried out bad company 2 on their 9800 gt lp or gts 250 lp? im thinking about getting it but idk how well it will perform on max settings. i have it for xbox 360 and i am wondering if there is really any big difference in image quality between them, if not there is not really any point in getting it on pc. i heard that the pc version is having bad connection problems and is alot more buggy compared to the xbox 360 version.
 
atlpats said:
Thanks for everyone who has contributed to this thread over the years, it has come in handy with my slimline. But I need a little help on an issue I am having. My model is the s3020n, running the stock cpu (3800+) and 2 gb of Memory. I have had the PC for several years and haven't had any issues until Saturday. It was stuck in some kind of deep hibernation, so I powered cycled it, it powers up I can hear the hard drive make some spins and I can hear the cpu fan kick on, but then nothing. No video, monitor just goes to sleep mode. I have taken everything off of the MB (minus the cpu) removed the cmos battery, even tried resetting the cmos. Nothing seems to work, from what I found on the web my MB may be bad. Does anyone have any ideas.

thanks
Click to expand...

your motherboard is bad - I had the same thing happen with my dads s3020n recently about the same age. You'll need to get on ebay and replace the motherboard because HP wanted $200 to replace it and you can buy a new one for $80 on ebay.
 
How much would are slimline go for now a days? I am in the middle of upgrading, and i am debating bout selling mine. I have the s32xx model. :p
 
clay17dog said:
has anyone tried out bad company 2 on their 9800 gt lp or gts 250 lp? im thinking about getting it but idk how well it will perform on max settings. i have it for xbox 360 and i am wondering if there is really any big difference in image quality between them, if not there is not really any point in getting it on pc. i heard that the pc version is having bad connection problems and is alot more buggy compared to the xbox 360 version.
Click to expand...

Doesn't look promising...I've not tried it, but you should meet minimum specs and find a playable setting in the low to mid settings category. I have a friend who plays who had a core 2 duo 1.6Ghz and a 8800GTS and said the game was absolutely unplayable at 1680x150 with everything at the absolute lowest settings (like 5-15 fps). He upgraded to a core I7-920 and 5770 and says he now gets 40FPS with everything at the higest setttings.

I've heard your gaming exp. is REALLY improved with a quad core on this game.


System Requirements
Minimum:

OS: Windows XP
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
Memory: 2GB
Graphics: 256 MB Video Card (GeForce 7800 GT / ATI X1900)
DirectX®: DirectX 9, 10, and 11 support
Hard Drive: 15 GB
Recommended:

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad or higher
Memory: 2GB
Graphics: 512 MB Video Card (GeForce GTX 260/ ATI Radeon 4870)
Controller Support: Support for Logitech G15 and G19 keyboard LCDs in multiplayer
 
Archaea said:
Doesn't look promising...I've not tried it, but you should meet minimum specs and find a playable setting in the low to mid settings category. I have a friend who plays who had a core 2 duo 1.6Ghz and a 8800GTS and said the game was absolutely unplayable at 1680x150 with everything at the absolute lowest settings (like 5-15 fps). He upgraded to a core I7-920 and 5770 and says he now gets 40FPS with everything at the higest setttings.

I've heard your gaming exp. is REALLY improved with a quad core on this game.


System Requirements
Minimum:

OS: Windows XP
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
Memory: 2GB
Graphics: 256 MB Video Card (GeForce 7800 GT / ATI X1900)
DirectX®: DirectX 9, 10, and 11 support
Hard Drive: 15 GB
Recommended:

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad or higher
Memory: 2GB
Graphics: 512 MB Video Card (GeForce GTX 260/ ATI Radeon 4870)
Controller Support: Support for Logitech G15 and G19 keyboard LCDs in multiplayer
Click to expand...

thanks for the info, it wouldn't matter to me as long as it looks better than the console version.

i really hate how they write the system requirements for games, they should have it more in depth so you know what settings you can play at.
 
clay17dog said:
has anyone tried out bad company 2 on their 9800 gt lp or gts 250 lp? im thinking about getting it but idk how well it will perform on max settings. i have it for xbox 360 and i am wondering if there is really any big difference in image quality between them, if not there is not really any point in getting it on pc. i heard that the pc version is having bad connection problems and is alot more buggy compared to the xbox 360 version.
Click to expand...

Those are both dual slot cards does the Slimline have enough room for a dual slot card? They may be too much for the stock power supply anways, you might want to consider the Galaxy low profile low power 9600gt instead.
 
Harry1969 said:
Those are both dual slot cards does the Slimline have enough room for a dual slot card? They may be too much for the stock power supply anways, you might want to consider the Galaxy low profile low power 9600gt instead.
Click to expand...

9600GT is too much for a stock slimline s3xxx series PSU.

The 9800GT and GTS250 low profile cards both fit in the slimline just fine. I've got the 9800GT low profile card from sparkle in mine, someone else in here has the GTS 250 lp.

You'll need to upgrade your power supply with any of the cards you mentioned to be safe.

If you have a newer taller/wider slimline then you'd be borderline for the 9600GT low profile green edition card with your stock PSU.
 
most analysers out there will be faulty...

I'm using my HTPC slimline right now - it's more of a browsing configuration
AMD Be-2400 (2.3Ghz)
4GB RAM
1.5TB HD
9500GS

I know for a fact that it won't run Company of Heroes Tales of Valor well with all settings maxed (because my power rigg slimline doesn't with a q9300, 9800GT, etc), though I meet the minimum and recommended requirements easily. Playability is so subjective. To me I don't want to play the game unless I'm getting at least 25FPS and all graphical settings are maxed. Some people want 60FPS to be happy. Some people don't mind playing at 15FPS with all settings on low.

Here's a novelty system requirements for gaming guide - but take it's recommendations with a grain of salt.

http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/CYRI/intro.aspx
 
Archaea said:
most analysers out there will be faulty...

I'm using my HTPC slimline right now - it's more of a browsing configuration
AMD Be-2400 (2.3Ghz)
4GB RAM
1.5TB HD
9500GS

I know for a fact that it won't run Company of Heroes Tales of Valor well with all settings maxed (because my power rigg slimline doesn't with a q9300, 9800GT, etc), though I meet the minimum and recommended requirements easily. Playability is so subjective. To me I don't want to play the game unless I'm getting at least 25FPS and all graphical settings are maxed. Some people want 60FPS to be happy. Some people don't mind playing at 15FPS with all settings on low.

Here's a novelty system requirements for gaming guide - but take it's recommendations with a grain of salt.

http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/CYRI/intro.aspx
Click to expand...

that site has been wrong for me several times
 
Archaea said:
9600GT is too much for a stock slimline s3xxx series PSU.

The 9800GT and GTS250 low profile cards both fit in the slimline just fine. I've got the 9800GT low profile card from sparkle in mine, someone else in here has the GTS 250 lp.

You'll need to upgrade your power supply with any of the cards you mentioned to be safe.

If you have a newer taller/wider slimline then you'd be borderline for the 9600GT low profile green edition card with your stock PSU.
Click to expand...

I'm jealous, my little Acer doesn't have room for a dual slot card. The Galaxy 9600GT LP wouldn't fit, the heatsink on the memmory gets in the way. An ATI 5570 is best card that fits.
 
Man, this is an amazing resource.

I've had my Slimline s3120n for two and a half years now and it has worked great for my multimedia purposes, but now I'm looking to upgrade for gaming and dual screen usage. I've done a lot of looking around, and I've been planning on getting this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156062
and this video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162022
plus whatever PSU converters necessary (I know at least the 20 to 24 small one for sure; don't know PSUs very well).

This is my first upgrade though, so I don't know if my plan is very coherent. Thoughts from more experienced users would be appreciated.

Here are the s3120n specs and MB specs:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ry&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3440605&lang=en
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00910076&dlc=en
(The PCI1 has the TV tuner, the PCIEx16 should be empty though.)

I wish it had more SATA ports though, I wanted to add a second HD too. Maybe I'll invest in a HP Pocket Media Drive eventually.
 
Desiderata03 said:
Man, this is an amazing resource.

I've had my Slimline s3120n for two and a half years now and it has worked great for my multimedia purposes, but now I'm looking to upgrade for gaming and dual screen usage. I've done a lot of looking around, and I've been planning on getting this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156062
and this video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162022
plus whatever PSU converters necessary (I know at least the 20 to 24 small one for sure; don't know PSUs very well).

This is my first upgrade though, so I don't know if my plan is very coherent. Thoughts from more experienced users would be appreciated.

Here are the s3120n specs and MB specs:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ry&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3440605&lang=en
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00910076&dlc=en
(The PCI1 has the TV tuner, the PCIEx16 should be empty though.)

I wish it had more SATA ports though, I wanted to add a second HD too. Maybe I'll invest in a HP Pocket Media Drive eventually.
Click to expand...

IMO, if you going to upgrade to a new case for gaming and dual screen, you're probably going to want a more powerful graphics card than that - something along the lines of the GTX 260 maybe, or even better? I don't know about the quality that case's PSU, or if it's enough for those higher end cards though.

On the flip side, if all you need/want is the 9500GT, there's several models available in a low profile form factor (see here for example) that don't require you to buy a new case - however you will still need to buy a new PSU for it.

Finally, alternatively, if you want to stick with the slimline (case) yet make it into a (semi-)powerful gaming computer, you can install the Sparkle 270W PSU, additional cooling fan(s), and a low profile sparkle 9800GT - all of which is detailed in the first post. Anyway, those are just some ideas.
 
I used the forum search function on this thread, but I cannot seem to find what I am looking for.

Basically, I came into an HP Slimline, an s5000. It needs a power supply. It seems most everything out there are for the earlier versions.

Is there an "off the self" unit that can be used?
 
sc0tty8 said:
I used the forum search function on this thread, but I cannot seem to find what I am looking for.

Basically, I came into an HP Slimline, an s5000. It needs a power supply. It seems most everything out there are for the earlier versions.

Is there an "off the self" unit that can be used?
Click to expand...

I figured like most OEM's, they are using someone else's case, so I went to newegg and checked out all the small cases, paying the most attention to power supplies. Then, I did some measurements, and, it looks like I found one that should be able to fit, it might take some slight modding...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817154027

This is the one I will prob. give a whirl.
 
Halsey said:
IMO, if you going to upgrade to a new case for gaming and dual screen, you're probably going to want a more powerful graphics card than that - something along the lines of the GTX 260 maybe, or even better? I don't know about the quality that case's PSU, or if it's enough for those higher end cards though.

On the flip side, if all you need/want is the 9500GT, there's several models available in a low profile form factor (see here for example) that don't require you to buy a new case - however you will still need to buy a new PSU for it.

Finally, alternatively, if you want to stick with the slimline (case) yet make it into a (semi-)powerful gaming computer, you can install the Sparkle 270W PSU, additional cooling fan(s), and a low profile sparkle 9800GT - all of which is detailed in the first post. Anyway, those are just some ideas.
Click to expand...

Well the case upgrade is pretty much essential if I want dual screen usage. Low profile cards simply don't have the space for two outputs. My issue with the video card stems from the fact that the s3120n motherboard only has a PCIEx16 slot. There aren't many cards on the market and based on my meager knowledge of the video card hierarchy, that looks like the best card I can find.

Slimlines are awesome multimedia machines, but I'm quickly coming to realize they're a massive headache when it comes to upgradability.
 
Desiderata03 said:
Well the case upgrade is pretty much essential if I want dual screen usage. Low profile cards simply don't have the space for two outputs. My issue with the video card stems from the fact that the s3120n motherboard only has a PCIEx16 slot. There aren't many cards on the market and based on my meager knowledge of the video card hierarchy, that looks like the best card I can find.

Slimlines are awesome multimedia machines, but I'm quickly coming to realize they're a massive headache when it comes to upgradability.
Click to expand...

hehehe...

My quad core, 9800GT, 1.5TB drive s3600t only partially agrees with you!

You can have two monitors easily with most high end low profile cards. They typically have a HDMI and a DVI output. Both are easily used for a DVI in on a monitor.

Like Halsey mentioned - it's probably easier to just upgrade the PSU and the video card over swapping out the case, PSU, and video card --- IF you are still happy with your slimline. I've just about decided to retire my s3600t to ebay because I can't sit still on one machine for much longer than a year and I've surpassed that on the slimline. I buy and sell things all the time, at the current time I have six I7-920 and I7-950 machines at my house that I'm parting out and selling on the forum here in the FS/FT threads. All that high end machinery is making my upgrade itch become almost unbearable!!! I'm considering pulling the Q9300 out of my slimline and replacing it with an E5200, and then pulling the 9800GT out of the slimline and selling it either here or on ebay and putting in one of those generic 9500GS cards and then dropping the slimline on ebay. I hate to do it because I have a passion for these little machines, but I'd still retain my low power draw S3200N with a BE-2400 AMD 45 watt CPU for my home theatre purposes. I could either then build up the Q9300 chip to be an overclocked setup with 8GB of RAM and a GTS 250 I have laying around, or I could put together one of those I7-920 or 950 systems with a Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 case.

All I know is it need be silent. The slimline was the first silent machine I've probably ever owned, and I really fall in love with the lack of fan noise. SILENCE TRULY IS GOLDEN!

Stay far far away from the 9500GT if you want to do some serious gaming.
 
Desiderata03 said:
My issue with the video card stems from the fact that the s3120n motherboard only has a PCIEx16 slot. There aren't many cards on the market and based on my meager knowledge of the video card hierarchy, that looks like the best card I can find.
Click to expand...

PCI Express v2.0 x16 (and v2.1 x16) video cards are backward compatible with the PCI Express x16 slot available on your motherboard. As long as the video card has a "PCI Express x16" interface, it will physically fit in that slot, regardless of whether its v1.0, v2.0, or even v2.1 (you still will need enough power and cooling for it to work but that's true for any video card).

A PCIE 2.0 x16 card in a PCIE x16 slot won't run as fast as it could if it were in a PCIE 2.0 x16 slot but from my understanding that really only comes into play with super-ultra-mega high-end video cards, such as ones that have 2 separate dies on them (for example the GTX 295 or the HD 4870x2).
 
all HP components move from HP slimline to SG05, Because I can find a cheap high ended mATX power supply and able upgradeable high ended GPU card instead of low profile crappy card, and expensive PSU..

This SG cube come with 300w PSU which can running the powerful standard GPU as GeForce 9600 GSO/ GT 9800/ GTS 250

img3828x720c.jpg


img3836x720.jpg


img3881x720.jpg


img3895x720.jpg


img3904x720.jpg


I will update the post when I done with build SG05. :D
 
Hey guys - I bought a P3 Kill A Watt today and hooked up my slimlines. Results are interesting.
http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.html
the 4460 model is on sale at HomeDepot for $25.

My s3600t now has the q9300 removed and I put in a e5200 because I'm considering selling my slimlines and wanted to keep my trusty q9300.

It's specs are
Intel Pentium Dual Core e5200 (2.5 Ghz, 2MB cache)
4gb PC6400
DVD-RW
1.5TB Drive
Active WiFi connection
USB Keyboard and Mouse
9500GS
Sparkle 270 watt 80% efficient PSU

Uses 55 watts at idle from the wall ---





My s3200n with these specs

It's specs are
AMD Be-2400 (2.3 Ghz - 1MB cache)
2gb PC6400
DVD-RW
1.5TB Drive
Active WiFi connection
USB Keyboard and Mouse
9500GS
HP 180 watt PSU (yes it is a HP stock 180 watt - I swapped out the 160 watt for a spare 180 watt from the S3600T when I upgrade to the sparkle 270 watt PSU)

Uses 58 watts at idle from the wall ---



Now what's cool about that is these systems are QUITE powerful compared to an Atom based system and I'm not using much more power!!!


You want to know something else interesting! The sparkle 9800GT in the s3600t as configured above only used 65 watts at idle. It used 140ish when doing something in 3d. So at Idle the 9800GT only uses about 10 watts more than the 9500gs! All this being said I did try the 180watt stock HP PSU just for kicks with the 9800GT. They system would not boot. The max power draw of the system at boot must exceed the 180 watt PSU's even short term capability. (never would you want to load a PSU for long term with near max voltage)

The TV tuner card in the s3200n (HP's stock tuner card), used about 15 watts. That's a precious amount for that stock 160 watt PSU at load!

Any rate I thought these numbers are pretty interesting. Now we all should note as I did on Page 56, that the P3 kill a watt is sometimes very inaccurate when measuring DC to AC power. I don't know why and the results aren't always horribly skeweed, but we should take these numbers with a grain of salt. My power draw may be quite a bit higher if my tool is not measuring this correctly.

I would imagine the s3200n setup with the 45 watt AMD BE-2400 should be acutally less watts than the s3600t with the e5200 IF they both used the same 270 watt Sparkle Power supply which is rated at 80% efficient. The HP powersupply I'm guessing is mid/low 70% efficient which of course affects the total wattage draw. All this being said I'm very impressed with the e5200 setup --- it's quite a notch faster in my opinion than the BE-2400 for about the same wattage. The s3200n was my htpc for the last nearly two years. I'll probably sell it and keep the s3600t system with the e5200 now.

Both systems are perfectly capable of ANYTHING home theatre related - 1080p or otherwise! Very nice little systems!!!!!!
 
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i hop it will support my new vediocard on mu s3302f.

ECS NR9800GTE-1GMU-F GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card.

i wanted this card becuse it requires low watts and has 1gb memory. i ran it last night and it ran great. i will mod the case side to get the cover to fit around it. i'm a union sheetmetal worker i fab this stuff all the time it will look great. when i'm done in about a week i get some pics on hear

by the way i cant find any of those 4x processors that re am2 and are 65watts. where can i get one. and can you use the old amd 2.6 heat sink and more fans around.
 
jordan 97 said:
i hop it will support my new vediocard on mu s3302f.

ECS NR9800GTE-1GMU-F GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card.

i wanted this card becuse it requires low watts and has 1gb memory. i ran it last night and it ran great. i will mod the case side to get the cover to fit around it. i'm a union sheetmetal worker i fab this stuff all the time it will look great. when i'm done in about a week i get some pics on hear

by the way i cant find any of those 4x processors that re am2 and are 65watts. where can i get one. and can you use the old amd 2.6 heat sink and more fans around.
Click to expand...

I hope you upgraded your power supply - if you haven't you need consider that or you'll likely at least burn that up and perhaps other components in your PC as well. Where did you get the idea that 9800GT is low power? It's packaging on newegg mentions no such thing, it isn't low profile or half height.

If you buy this one you won't even need mod your case outside of adding some fans -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1&cm_re=sparkle_9800gt-_-14-187-061-_-Product

Here is a review on the processors you want - the BE Phenoms.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2008/07/24/amd-phenom-x4-9350e/1

They aren't terribly exciting though due to the lack luster clock speeds. The two models you need are the 9350e or it's slower brother the 9150e.

Both could probably be picked up in a a google search for a vendor or ebay.
 
i spoke with ecs directly. the power supply i have is a 400watt psu. they stated it would work fine. i have ran it with its fan and 2 120mm fans. along with two other fans. i think it is doing great. like i said i'm a sheetmetal worker i'm custom making a side (factory looking) piece that will fit the non low profile card is about 1.5 inch. i will get the pic on hear i think you guys will like it. i bought the slimline for 175.00 paid 85.00 card and 65.00 psu. the 400 watt psu is the one mentioned in the original post that was "loud". i will say i'm hard of hearing but i cant hear that psu at all. i had to mod the case alot to get it to fit. I enjoyed it alot it took me about an hou anf a half.
 
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Hello. I'm new to this forum, and need some help. So before I became a member, I stumbled on this website and saw great upgrade advice. So I have an HP Slimline s3400f. My problem started after I installed the new PSU. I switched out the stock PSU with a Sparkle 270W. After I installed it, my PC would freeze up very often, and still does. Thinking it was because of the outdated video card that came along with it (nVidia 6150), I bought the Sparkle 9800GT 512 MB. That didn't solve the freezing problem. I know that it isn't a heat issue, because I have more than enough air blowing into the inside to keep it cool.

Also, my PSU seems to still suck power after I turn off the PC. I have it plugged in to a surge protector, and the surge protector stays on, until I unplug the PC power cord. I'm thinking that I have a defective PSU, but am not really sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I get those ghost horizontal lines on my screen, I never had that with the old PSU.

Thank You in advance,
k1dkash
 
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easy way to tell - plug in your old PSU and see if the problem continues with your onboard video. You'll have to no use the 9800GT for your test.

At the risk of sounding obvious - -- you did plug the video vga/dvi or hdmi connection into the 9800GT right and not to original vga of the onboard 6150 right?

if you leave your case open and laying on its side so the heat can rise unobstructed do you have the same problem?
 
Well, the reason why I changed the PSU in the first place was because it was shutting off on me randomly. So when I changed it, it stopped shutting off, but started freezing up. Lol. And I do have the cover off, have a strong fan blowing into it, which keeps it pretty cool. (Doesn't go over 44C). So it hasn't helped when I put it on its side either.

And yes, I plugged the dvi connection to the 9800GT.
 
your old PSU may have damaged your motherboard. That would be my guess before pinning it on the power supply. You wouldn't be the first slimline owner to have a motherboard die. Here as of late your in good company with a half dozen of us. (none of mine yet but my father's did.)
 
Ok. What motherboard would you recommmend? I've never dealt with buying motherboards. Would any motherboard fit?

Also, would a dead motherboard explain why the PC drains power after being shut off?
 
k1dkash said:
Ok. What motherboard would you recommmend? I've never dealt with buying motherboards. Would any motherboard fit?

Also, would a dead motherboard explain why the PC drains power after being shut off?
Click to expand...

I mini-itx is the size of motherboard you need. Any at newegg should work fine, or you can buy the same model you had if you watch ebay.

How much power after you turn the unit off are you seeing drain?
 
I don't know how much power is being drained. But as I stated in my first post, I have the pc connected to a surge protector, and it keeps the protector on, even when the pc is shut off. The protector will not turn off, even when it's set to 'off', until I unplug the pc from it. That's why I thought it was a faulty PSU.

Also, if the pc powers up, passes BIOS, and actually functions (except for the freezing part), then how is it dead? I thought that being dead meant it wouldn't boot at all?
 
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not true, my dad's s3020n slimline motherboard would boot up 10% of the time and work fine for a couple hours, until it locked up. 90% of the time it would not even boot or turn on. When capacitors and voltage regulator fail on something as complicated as a motherboard it isn't always a simple complete fail.
 
I believe you are right. I removed the heatsink, removed the thermal glue and put some Arctic silver 5 on th exposed core of the gpu and to my surprise it cleared up a hang on boot problem. A bad capacitor would explain the sleep problem. One day it would absolutely not work. Let it sit a day or so unplugged then plug it back in and it would start as if nothing was wrong. Just keep it from going to sleep and it would work indefinitely. There also seems to be a more general heat problem inasmuch as leaving the cover on the case would lock it up. Seems like I read somewhere that nVidia knows the cause of the problems with these chips but their "partners" (HP and Dell) muzzle all discussion of the causes. In any case, "all of the above" seems a likely answer.
 
Hi everyone, i've been reading this thread as im looking to upgrade the gpu in my new style slimline (220w psu) however no-one here seems to have really considered much undervolting to save power thus allowing an upgrade without a new psu. It was very hard to find working software on win 7 x64 but i managed to get k10stat working (though cpu-z wont work so the only way im sure its working was to force a crash with very low voltages ) anyway i managed a 0.15v reduction in cpu voltage and a 0.1 reduction in northbridge voltage. This translates into 22w savings of power (extreme psu calculator) and on this basis i assume that I can upgrade to a 9600gt low profile low power while still remaining below the tdp of the hp configured system with the gt 220 .

However as this card is impossible to find in the uk i may need to by the gt 240 lp which would probably be pushing it so may try to increace the undervolt.

Does this sound resonable anyway? I think the undervolt should be sufficient to allow me to run these graphics cards but would appreciate any feedback. Obviously the undervolt is software so the power up phase might be abit of a push but from what ive heard it should boot ok.

(Iif this method works it would allow many people to avoid upgrading psu's and get a better graphics card )
 
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