The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

[SpaceCowboyMA]

The fan looks very similar, but the mount seems different. This one has a symmetrical triangle to the screw holes, whereas if you look closely at the picture of the existing one it is more of a Y shape. Still definitely one to keep in mind if I can find a small enough tap to drill new mount holes in the heat sink. Thanks!

 

[Sudhakar2k]

I'm trying to build a computer out of a Slimline case i bought from ebay. I need to by a DVD Burner and put it in this machine, so I have a question about the optical drives on the new 5000 series HP Slimlines. So the new Slimlines use what HP calls a "Eject Button connector" to connect the eject button on the slimline case to the back of the optical drive. When i look at pictures on Newegg, i dont see the optical drivings having this 2 pin eject button connector port on the back. I would like to know if all SATA drives come with a port for this 2 pin connector, or does HP use their own proprietary 2 pin connector and drives. I dont have any SATA optical drives so I cant check in person. See below for HPs site on changing the optical drive on these machines. Thanks.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ry&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=4231351

EDIT: BTW I am building the Ultimate (stable) Slimline =). Quad Core i5 750, with MSI Radeon HD 5670 low profile video card. Goal is to also keep idle power consumption low.

 

[guspasho]

First, thanks everyone who maintains this thread and answers all our questions. I appreciate seeing Archea and jeremyshaw still here and answering questions after helping me months ago.

Second, I read the last ten pages and noticed some people were excited about some new low profile video cards coming out. Does anyone have any experience using them yet or are the 9800 and 9600 still the best cards available?

Third, I have an s3600t with a Sparkle 270W PSU and I want to play Civ 5 on it. The onboard Geforce 7100 graphics served me really well with Civ 4, it ran great with high detail settings, so I never bothered to buy a video card. But the system chokes with Civ 5, so I'm forced to look in to buying a video card or a new system.

I want to play Civ 5 with decent graphics (doesn't have to be great) and possibly Diablo III later on and avoid doing any casemods or installing external fans to do it. I also want to keep my Slimline cool and quiet. Is there a good card for me or am I asking too much of this Slimline? Should I look in to a new system instead, or bite the bullet and get a Dremel to install a 120mm fan for a 9800GT like Archea has done?

Simultaneously I'm checking on Civfanatics about whether my E5500 Pentium Dual Core is too little but I'm hoping I don't have to buy a new system.

Thanks in advance!

Civ 5 system requirements:

Minimum
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.0 GHz
2GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better integrated graphics

Recommended
2.4 GHz Quad Core CPU
4 GB RAM
512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better

 

[Sudhakar2k]

First, thanks everyone who maintains this thread and answers all our questions. I appreciate seeing Archea and jeremyshaw still here and answering questions after helping me months ago.

Second, I read the last ten pages and noticed some people were excited about some new low profile video cards coming out. Does anyone have any experience using them yet or are the 9800 and 9600 still the best cards available?

Third, I have an s3600t with a Sparkle 270W PSU and I want to play Civ 5 on it. The onboard Geforce 7100 graphics served me really well with Civ 4, it ran great with high detail settings, so I never bothered to buy a video card. But the system chokes with Civ 5, so I'm forced to look in to buying a video card or a new system.

I want to play Civ 5 with decent graphics (doesn't have to be great) and possibly Diablo III later on and avoid doing any casemods or installing external fans to do it. I also want to keep my Slimline cool and quiet. Is there a good card for me or am I asking too much of this Slimline? Should I look in to a new system instead, or bite the bullet and get a Dremel to install a 120mm fan for a 9800GT like Archea has done?

Simultaneously I'm checking on Civfanatics about whether my E5500 Pentium Dual Core is too little but I'm hoping I don't have to buy a new system.

Thanks in advance!

Civ 5 system requirements:

Minimum
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.0 GHz
2GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better integrated graphics

Recommended
2.4 GHz Quad Core CPU
4 GB RAM
512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better

This is not a recommendation, however take a look at MSI's low profile 5670. It doesn't require an additional PCI-E connection for power, and has directX 11 support, and uses considerably less idle power than the cards you mentioned. The only possible problem is that the card will take up two slots, so you need some space. Its just starting to become available from a few online retailers and will probably become easier to find over the next month or two.

I'm still looking for answer to my optical drive eject connector button if anyone has one. Thanks.

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Hey folks thanks for the ton of info, and I thought that I got it sorted out but all 3 of my upgrades do not seem to be working out for me.

I "had" a S3020n that ended up with a fried Mobo like many have talked about here. I still love the little machine so I went and bought the M2N61-AR mobo replacement. It works great and I upgraded to windows 7 to boot.

1. I wanted to upgrade the memory, currently 2 x 512 mb pc5300. According to hp it says the mobo will support 2 x 2gb pc6400 (800mhz). I popped them in and the machine will not even boot. Why not ??

2. Also from what I have read the video card I upgraded to:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130428746046

is supposed to work, at least my limited knowledge tells me so, but also, I plug it in and nothing other than the computer beeping at me. How come????

3. Lastly I got the 2.9GHZ AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL-CORE 5600+, to upgrade from my 3800+, but when booting it says "CPU Not supported" shutting down.


So I figure if I am 0 for 3 that it must be me doing something wrong, any thoughts, help or instructions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

 

[khaivq]

Dear jeremyshaw,

You have requested a mod-bios from http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-HP-Slimline-s3120n-CPU-Support-Upgrade

Have you tried to flash it to your Slimline? Did you success?

Also, I would like to ask whether the 65W limitation of AMD CPU is because of the PSU capacity or the mainboard BIOS? In other words, if I remove the discrete GPU, could I use a 95W CPU with a modded BIOS

Thank you

 

[TangoSaqaat]

I'm trying to build a computer out of a Slimline case i bought from ebay. I need to by a DVD Burner and put it in this machine, so I have a question about the optical drives on the new 5000 series HP Slimlines. So the new Slimlines use what HP calls a "Eject Button connector" to connect the eject button on the slimline case to the back of the optical drive. When i look at pictures on Newegg, i dont see the optical drivings having this 2 pin eject button connector port on the back. I would like to know if all SATA drives come with a port for this 2 pin connector, or does HP use their own proprietary 2 pin connector and drives. I dont have any SATA optical drives so I cant check in person. See below for HPs site on changing the optical drive on these machines. Thanks.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ry&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=4231351

EDIT: BTW I am building the Ultimate (stable) Slimline =). Quad Core i5 750, with MSI Radeon HD 5670 low profile video card. Goal is to also keep idle power consumption low.

Do you have the motherboard for that case?

If not then i belive that connector is only needed with that motherboard that came with the whole slimline package.

 

[Sudhakar2k]

Do you have the motherboard for that case?

If not then i belive that connector is only needed with that motherboard that came with the whole slimline package.

Nope, only got the case. I bought a Gigabyte GA P55-UD2 Micro ATX board from newegg. I don't understand how i would go ahead and eject discs from the optical drive without the connector being plugged in somewhere. Thanks.

 

[dsteinschneider]

Follow up on 3200t not working with Sapphire Radeon HD5570. Someone gave me a bunch of PCIe video cards that had bad fans. I found that all of them work (they are full height so can only test them with motherboard pulled out of chassis). All of them are pre-PCIe 2.0 so I'm conjecturing that the motherboard doesn't support PCIe 2.0 cards or perhaps something about this particular card is incompatible.

Can anyone recommend the most powerful HDMI half height card I can put in the 3200t that will work?

Thanks

 

[dsteinschneider]

I tried the Sapphire Radeon HD5570 and it definitely doesn't work with this IPILP-AR motherboard. This surprises me - I thought the PCIe 2.0 cards were backward compatible. Now I'm not clear on what PCI express 16 means. The specs on HP's site say its a PCIeX16 slot. In some verbiage it says it takes X16 cards.

Now I'm ready to backtrack and just throw in whatever card people here tell me will work well for connecting via HDMI to a 42 in Sharp Aquos TV as that is our intention. We hope to use the DivX player, Windows 7 Media Center, Slingbox player with the unit.We're streaming from a Windows Home Server also. Probably run netflix also. I was trying to make sure it was a good card for light game use but that's not high on the priority list.

The machine came with a nvidia 8500GS that had a bad fan. I would like to put something better than that in. I love the HD4670 that I put in a Gateway Profile 6. It plays movies really nicely.

 

[Halsey]

I "had" a S3020n that ended up with a fried Mobo like many have talked about here. I still love the little machine so I went and bought the M2N61-AR mobo replacement. It works great and I upgraded to windows 7 to boot.

1. I wanted to upgrade the memory, currently 2 x 512 mb pc5300. According to hp it says the mobo will support 2 x 2gb pc6400 (800mhz). I popped them in and the machine will not even boot. Why not ??

Have you tried to boot your computer with just one of the pc6400 RAM sticks installed in either DIMM slot, and then repeating that with the other pc6400 RAM stick? Doing this will help pinpoint the source of your problems - for example: a bad stick of RAM. Also, make sure the voltage on the RAM is correct - I believe the M2N61-AR requires 1.8v, but you might want to double check that.

3. Lastly I got the 2.9GHZ AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL-CORE 5600+, to upgrade from my 3800+, but when booting it says "CPU Not supported" shutting down.

The only thing I can think of here is making sure your BIOS is completely up to date. For the M2N61-AR motherboard, the most current BIOS revision is 5.18 and was released on 9-30-2008.

EDIT: M2N61-AR Motherboard BIOS Version 5.18 Update Note: It says its compatible with Vista, however, I have not encountered problems with it and I am running 64 bit Windows 7, so you should be ok.

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Thanks very much Halsey,

I checked my bios version and I currently have 5.16 (05/07/08) so that will be my first job, I cannot tell on the Ram itself what the voltage is, but the guy I bought it from said it is 1.8 volt. I will try what you suggested about installing the Ram.


I will post my results......

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Alright then, 1 stick of RAM is dead, the other works fine and is installed humming along. Now to return the dead one and get another. Thanks for the tip Halsey.

I downloaded the 5.18 Bios version, went to install it, and it stopped saying:

"Your system does not meet the minimum requirements for this update. Your update has been canceled. (9998)"

What is that about??? Because I have Windows 7???

Any further thoughts??

Thanks

 

[Halsey]

Alright then, 1 stick of RAM is dead, the other works fine and is installed humming along. Now to return the dead one and get another. Thanks for the tip Halsey.

I downloaded the 5.18 Bios version, went to install it, and it stopped saying:

"Your system does not meet the minimum requirements for this update. Your update has been canceled. (9998)"

What is that about??? Because I have Windows 7???

Any further thoughts??

Thanks

I'm not sure, but yeah, it sounds like they require you to be running Windows Vista in order to install the update. I'm stumped at this point - it seems like you won't be able to install the update it unless you can first install a valid copy of Vista, either that or HP starts offering support for Windows 7.

Link for more info on your error message: HP Update Error (its on the bottom half of the page - look for error code 9998)

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Thanks Halsey,

I will try and contact HP and see what they suggest about the BIOS update.

Also about the RAM, I contacted the guy I bought it from, and he is saying that I need "Low Density" Ram, and what I bought was "High Density" Ram. He is saying that I am lucky that one even works, any thoughts about this??


Thanks

 

[jeremyshaw]

Dear jeremyshaw,

You have requested a mod-bios from http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-HP-Slimline-s3120n-CPU-Support-Upgrade

Have you tried to flash it to your Slimline? Did you success?

Also, I would like to ask whether the 65W limitation of AMD CPU is because of the PSU capacity or the mainboard BIOS? In other words, if I remove the discrete GPU, could I use a 95W CPU with a modded BIOS

Thank you

I'm sorry for not being on, lately.

That limitation is due to:

Motherboard power circuitry
HSF cooling capacity
PSU power capacity


in that order of magnitude (first being the worst).

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Anybody else have any thoughts on my issues. I have been offered to upgrade (at my cost of course) to "branded" RAM. And that will solve my issues. Also thoughts on the video card issue??

Thanks

 

[Dakar_Marc]

So HP wasn't much help. It appears I will have to go through the process of downgrading to Vista, update the Bios, and then reinstall Windows 7. Anything else that I should do if I have to downgrade??


Thanks

 

[Archaea]

Hey folks thanks for the ton of info, and I thought that I got it sorted out but all 3 of my upgrades do not seem to be working out for me.

I "had" a S3020n that ended up with a fried Mobo like many have talked about here. I still love the little machine so I went and bought the M2N61-AR mobo replacement. It works great and I upgraded to windows 7 to boot.

1. I wanted to upgrade the memory, currently 2 x 512 mb pc5300. According to hp it says the mobo will support 2 x 2gb pc6400 (800mhz). I popped them in and the machine will not even boot. Why not ??

2. Also from what I have read the video card I upgraded to:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130428746046

is supposed to work, at least my limited knowledge tells me so, but also, I plug it in and nothing other than the computer beeping at me. How come????

3. Lastly I got the 2.9GHZ AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL-CORE 5600+, to upgrade from my 3800+, but when booting it says "CPU Not supported" shutting down.


So I figure if I am 0 for 3 that it must be me doing something wrong, any thoughts, help or instructions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

1)The memory should have worked - PC6400 works in the AMD slimines - I'm using two 2GB sticks of PC6400 RAM in my s3200n with no problem. I suspect you actually got a bad stick if one stick works and it works in either slot and the other stick doesn't work in either slot.
2)The Graphics card should work. Have you for sure isolated that it is the graphics card that is not disaplaying? --- and not still dealing with the RAM problem? The graphics card bought off ebay may be a suspect bad card...Can you try it in another machine? Did you ensure to plug the monitor up to the graphics card and NOT leave it plugged into the onboard motherboard vga out? (sorry, but the question must be asked)
3) If that CPU is a 95 watt CPU like you mentioned it is a no go. I to tried to get a 95 watt CPU (a x2 5600+ IIRC) to work in my original s3020n with an upgraed power supply and the processor won't work - the bios is written to not support the processor code -so you get the message unworkable CPU. The Slimline case is not really capable of removing all that heat without some modification.

Your best bet is finding a friends PC to test BOTH sticks of RAM and your ebayed video card. If they don't work in a second machine you got bad parts - which sucks. If they do work, then you'll know you may have some board or power supply issues. The CPU for sure needs to be resold and you need to pick up a known compatible 65 watt or preferably 45 watt CPU. Sorry I've not frequented this thread in a long while, but I'm glad to offer more information if I can help. PM me if you don't see me in the thread -- like you just did. There are some very knowledgeable guys in this thread - Halsey and Jeremyshaw among others - I'd been busy with school and just left the thread in their capable hands. I still have a couple slimlines around, but they haven't been giving me any trouble at all. I credit the powersupply upgrade and 45 watt CPU. I expect a VERY long life out of that machine!

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Hey Archaea,

Thanks for the input.

1. That is my thought about the Ram, but the vendor is suggesting that I am lucky to have one stick work as the slimline requires high density ram, and the stuff I ordered is low density. It is a "different chip configuration". What does that mean?? He is off course suggesting a Ram upgrade to a "Branded" Ram, that will cost more. The sticker on it just shows 2G 800mhz 256x4, but on the chips themselves it has Samsung printed on them. Should I do the Ram upgrade and pay more, or just get the 1 apparently dead stick replaced??

2. I am pretty sure that I tried the graphics card with the old ram installed, but will do so again. and if that fails I will put it in another machine to test it out. It was only $25 so if it is toast, not big deal, other than being annoying. Thanks for the tip. I assume that it should just fire up and doing the driver updates and what not after??

3. I do not think it is a 95 watt cpu, I do not recall saying that, but how would I find that out. This is what I got, 2.9GHZ AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL-CORE 5600+ ADO5600IAA5DO, and on the cpu itself, it shows the following numbers: AD0560BIAA5DO, NAAIG 0948GPAW, W080431L91037. I will ask the vendor what wattage it is, and hopefully he knows. If not, and/or to confirm is there somewhere that I can go and punch in those numbers to find out what the wattage is??


Thanks very much, I will let you know what happens.

 

[Halsey]

3. I do not think it is a 95 watt cpu, I do not recall saying that, but how would I find that out. This is what I got, 2.9GHZ AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL-CORE 5600+ ADO5600IAA5DO, and on the cpu itself, it shows the following numbers: AD0560BIAA5DO, NAAIG 0948GPAW, W080431L91037. I will ask the vendor what wattage it is, and hopefully he knows. If not, and/or to confirm is there somewhere that I can go and punch in those numbers to find out what the wattage is??

If you do a search for "ADO5600IAA5DO" here, you should see a page that displays all the important information for that CPU - including the wattage (spoiler warning!) which, as it turns out, is 65W. Do note, however, that it will be pushing on the upper limits of the thermal design power (TDP) - which basically means it's going to be hot (and by extension, slightly more power hungry than, say, a 5000+).

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Thanks Halsey, I just got an email back from AMD saying the same thing. So it appears that I will have to downgrade back to vista, update the bios, then reinstall windows 7. A bit of a pain, but whatever, it is just time. I guess the real question is : How much of a difference will it really make. I know that it depends on what you really do, graphics, gaming, multiple applications etc. And I guess in reality I do little of that, just waste time surfing and emailing. Is it worth the effort, or just return the cpu??

Thanks

 

[Halsey]

Thanks Halsey, I just got an email back from AMD saying the same thing. So it appears that I will have to downgrade back to vista, update the bios, then reinstall windows 7. A bit of a pain, but whatever, it is just time. I guess the real question is : How much of a difference will it really make. I know that it depends on what you really do, graphics, gaming, multiple applications etc. And I guess in reality I do little of that, just waste time surfing and emailing. Is it worth the effort, or just return the cpu??

Thanks

Well, like you said, it all depends on how you plan on using your computer. I can't tell you what to do - that's a decision only you can make. I can tell you what I would do, though. Honestly, if it were me, based on my usage and current setup, I would just return the CPU - HOWEVER, that's just because I don't do much gaming or other overly intense serial(-ish) applications AND I already have a fairly fast CPU so the .2GHz boost in speed isn't really necessary. And again, I can't stress this enough - that is simply what I would do given my situation. Your situation is/may be mucho different - if your CPU is already reasonably fast for all your applications, then the slight boost in speed may not be worth the hassle. On the other hand, if you continually notice serious lag in your computer's primary usage, and there is a reasonably large difference between the speed of your CPU and the 2.9GHz upgrade, then you might want to consider performing the upgrade. It's your call.
Hope that helps.

 

[Dakar_Marc]

Yeah, I figured it is up to personal preference. My current CPU is the 3800+ which is a 2.0 Ghz, so going up to the 2.9Ghz, would theoretically boost it by 50%?!?! I am thinking I should see a difference. And for the hassel of returning it, I will probably just find a few hours to do the downgrade. Main problem is I no longer have Vista. The whole problem with installing the new motherboard, because it was different than the original, was that I need a fresh install of windows, and went for 7 as a result. The

Anyone know where I can download a copy of Vista and burn the .isp so I can reinstall???
I still have the key on the side of the computer.

Thanks

 

[khaivq]

I'm sorry for not being on, lately.

That limitation is due to:

Motherboard power circuitry
HSF cooling capacity
PSU power capacity


in that order of magnitude (first being the worst).

Thank for the information. The 65w ceiling has limit our choice for upgrading significantly. At this moment, Newegg only sell Regor based AMD CPU for this thermal level.

Anyway, have you success at flashing the modded BIOS to support AM3 processor? My Slimline is s3223w, using M2n61-ar mainboard. I am also looking at modding my BIOS. Do you have any good source of information on how to do it?

 

[guspasho]

I think I'm the first one to try a low profile Radeon HD 5670 in a Slimline so I thought I'd come back and report my findings. It runs quietly and the graphics for Civ 5 look fantastic. In order to make it fit you need to remove the insert for the portable HDD, bend in that aluminum tab on the hard drive bracket that you pull it out with, and rearrange the SATA cables so that the bent ends are attached to the motherboard (because the straight ends get in the way of the card, they have to bend out of the way of the video card.)

This is my first time upgrading the video card in a Slimline case so I can't tell you how it compares to the 9600 or the 9800. Maybe someone can point me to some benchmarking programs if they are interested. But it supports DX11, which I think is the first low profile card to do so, and I understand it has a low TDP so it might even work with a stock power supply, maybe.

However, I simultaneously installed the Sparkle PSU and it screams, it is so loud. I bought a Sparkle about a year ago and it died after about 3 months. The RMA process was ridiculously difficult so I gave up and used a full size ATX PSU sticking out of the back for several months. But I don't remember it being this loud. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do, if I'm going to tolerate it or try the RMA process again. I'm deliberating trying the Shuttle PSU. I don't think I need a lot of wattage, I could probably do with less for a quieter PSU.

I have not tried the card with the stock PSU, that thing died a while back too. I lived in an old house with very dirty power that I blame for taking down the stock PSU and my first Sparkle, both after less than 6 months of use, though I can't be certain if it was the cause.

Because of the loud Sparkle I haven't put the case back together yet so I can't tell you anything about the heat generation but it's low at idle anyway. I'll post an update after I've put the case back together and studied the heat issue. However the HD 5670 is looking to be a real good card for this system so far.

 

[SpaceCowboyMA]

So... on the subject of PSUs-- mine seems to have died this morning. The PC started making some odd sounds and my first concern was my new HDD, but then the whole PC just suddenly died on me. I could smell some burnt electronic smell and when I pushed the power button it would not light blue and I get no video signal. I unplugged the PC and let it cool down. The PSU and top of the case were hot to the touch. Once cool I plugged the power back in and could see the green light lit behind the fan grill on the PSU. Pushing the power button however, it goes out while the power switch still does not light blue; I get no video signal, and it doesn't even sound like the HD is spinning up at all. Meanwhile the PSU makes a crackling, buzzing sound and the CPU fan is spinning.

With all my recent issues I am so hating HP these days. Bought new at Christmas 2008, my Slimline is not even two years old yet! I would probably just go for a new PC, but I just put a new HDD into this thing and bought the HP Recovery CDs to do so a few weeks ago. Purchased new, I also bought the then top-of-the-line Q9300, a Blu-Ray RW optical drive, and 4GB RAM, which should still have plenty of life to them. Pricing PSUs it still seems that replacing it is the cheapest option now to get this PC going again, but arghhh-- HP Slimline longevity and warranty duration sucks! My old PCs were home built in 2000 and still run fine (they just won't play nice with most new games and OS being PIIIs)

So reading this thread I see that the Sparkle 270 Watt SPI270LE is a very popular PSU replacement option, but since then it seems that there are other newer options. I googled for a s3600t power supply and came up with a NEW 80+ 300W Hp slimline s3600t REPLACE Power Supply that seems to be the correct fit and include the mini-atx connector. Using that p/n (MFX9300) I found an even cheaper option at OutletPC through Amazon (though it doesn't specifically mention fitting a s3600t or the 1-year warranty there). [EDIT: I did call OutletPC and found that a 1-year manufacturer warranty is standard.]

Does anyone have any experience with KDM Power units or better yet specifically the MFX9300?

 

[petrus66]

I shall soon upgrade my slim 3633 with a Sparkle 270 W PSU.
I got tempted to uprade my rig up to the full potential by the new power supply.

I was hoping to find some more modern graphic card to my build, but I was discouraged from the experience that dsteinschneider had with his Radeon HD5570.
Compared to dsteinschneider, my system comes with M2N61-AR (Acacia) motherboard if that is going to make some difference with succes.

Top of the class low profile graphic cards can easily require a minimum system power of 300 W, but its hard to estimate where the power requirements cuts with only 65 W CPU...

And what comes to CPU, I havent found any Phenom 9350e or Athlon 5600+ 65W out there on the second hand market yet. ( 80 euros for a new 5600+ is not reasonable)

It would be nice to grab a new socket am3 65W processor but that is out of the question, isnt it?

 

[sgreenbank]

Computer crashed and USB keyboard could no longer select F10 for setup.

Connected PS2 keyboard and mouse and can operate computer fine but all USB devices are "unknown devices". New optical USB mouse lights momentarily on insertion but then goes out (even immediately after turning on so it is not a Vista driver problem).

I have checked the ports and disconnected the USB connectors on the motherboard hoping to get at least the rear USB ports working but they are all dead.

PSU voltages are fine so I believe the onboard USB is dead. Currently I have USB mouse, keyboard, printer & Webcam.

Possible fixes are new motherboard or replace TV Card with USB PCI-E card and add a hub and lose the use of the front card reader. I assume I will be unable to access bios/alternate boot via the new USB card so will need a PS2 keyboard.

Does anyone have any other suggestions.

Thanks

 

[antonR21]

Hi everybody

i currently have an s3000 series and i was thinking to change the motherboard either to asus at3ion-i deluxe, zotac h55 mini itx or zotac mini ion motherboards. im not really into making it a gaming monster but i would like to know whether these motherboards can fit in the case making it a decent htpc.

thanks fr looking at my post.

 

[Halsey]

Does anyone have any experience with KDM Power units or better yet specifically the MFX9300?

Sorry to hear about your PSU dying. Unfortunately, I have never heard of KDM Power Supplies so I have no idea how good their PSU's are. One note of caution, however: It appears that the rated current output for the 12V rail on the MFX9300 is only 9A. I may be misreading it because the way they list the information is rather haphazard, but if that's truly the max current on the 12V rail, then you don't want this PSU - you'd be getting less amperage than the your HP stock PSU (12A on the HP PSU vs. 9A on the KDM PSU)!

Interestingly enough, while doing a generic search for the MFX9300, I noticed that apparently KDM is selling Micro-Fit Adapters for US$8.99 through Directron. Doing a google search for CBL-HP-24MINI (the part number listed on Directron) reveals other places are selling them too, most notably CensusPC (although the CensusPC version is US$9.45). This isn't a whole lot better than ATXPowerSupplies, but still - I can hardly believe my eyes.
Link for Directron version.
Link for CensusPC version.

It would be nice to grab a new socket am3 65W processor but that is out of the question, isnt it?

That is correct, unfortunately. To the best of my knowledge, without BIOS support, the M2N61-AR motherboard will not work with a socket AM3 CPU.

 

[cephusjed]

Hi everybody

i currently have an s3000 series and i was thinking to change the motherboard either to asus at3ion-i deluxe, zotac h55 mini itx or zotac mini ion motherboards. im not really into making it a gaming monster but i would like to know whether these motherboards can fit in the case making it a decent htpc.

thanks fr looking at my post.

Mini ITX boards fit the standoffs of the s3000 series. However they require standard 20/24-pin ATX power supply connectors and often 4-pin CPU power connectors. Cables from a non-stock power supply can create crowding problems in an already crowded case. There are also ventilation problems to be solved if your stock heat sink fan cannot be used. Stock hard and optical drives will probably transfer. Unless you can modify the stock PSU and use the stock HSF and possibly also use stock CPU and memory, as AirCool pointed out earlier, it may cost more than its worth.

 

[SpaceCowboyMA]

Sorry to hear about your PSU dying. Unfortunately, I have never heard of KDM Power Supplies so I have no idea how good their PSU's are. One note of caution, however: It appears that the rated current output for the 12V rail on the MFX9300 is only 9A. I may be misreading it because the way they list the information is rather haphazard, but if that's truly the max current on the 12V rail, then you don't want this PSU - you'd be getting less amperage than the your HP stock PSU (12A on the HP PSU vs. 9A on the KDM PSU)!

Interestingly enough, while doing a generic search for the MFX9300, I noticed that apparently KDM is selling Micro-Fit Adapters for US$8.99 through Directron. Doing a google search for CBL-HP-24MINI (the part number listed on Directron) reveals other places are selling them too, most notably CensusPC (although the CensusPC version is US$9.45). This isn't a whole lot better than ATXPowerSupplies, but still - I can hardly believe my eyes.
Link for Directron version.
Link for CensusPC version.

At the moment it's actually a moot issue for me now as the MFX9300 I had ordered from OutletPC did not arrive. Instead I received an Athena Power AP-MFATX25 from them today. According to the Athena data sheet the 12V line is rated 14A, though Newegg states it's only 8A. I am not sure what I will do. I don't know if the KDM and Newegg listing on the Athena are not simply stating the normal amperage load as opposed to the maximum load. It seems a possibility as looking at the specs on the Sparkle 270W I've read about here, 8A is also listed as the normal load on its 12V1 line and 16A as the maximum. Confusing me further Sparkle makes a similar 300W but its 12V1 line is rated 15A max and 7.5 normal load. The difference seems to lie in the 12V2 line on both with the 300W duplicating its 12V1 line, while the 270W drops to 10A max and 5A normal load. I'm not really sure what that means...

 

[Halsey]

At the moment it's actually a moot issue for me now as the MFX9300 I had ordered from OutletPC did not arrive. Instead I received an Athena Power AP-MFATX25 from them today.

Something about that is just downright unsettlin'. You ordered one PSU and received a different PSU? If that happened to me, I probably wouldn't order from them again.

It seems a possibility as looking at the specs on the Sparkle 270W I've read about here, 8A is also listed as the normal load on its 12V1 line and 16A as the maximum. Confusing me further Sparkle makes a similar 300W but its 12V1 line is rated 15A max and 7.5 normal load. The difference seems to lie in the 12V2 line on both with the 300W duplicating its 12V1 line, while the 270W drops to 10A max and 5A normal load. I'm not really sure what that means...

I've had my eye on that Sparkle 300W (SPI300F4BB) PSU for awhile as a possible replacement for the Sparkle 270W. It's roughly the same size, it's more efficient, and has higher amperage on both 12V lines. The biggest difference I can find is the fan and cable outputs on 300W Sparkle are flip-flopped with respect to the 270W version. On paper, it sounds like a decent PSU for the s3xxx slimlines. I'd recommend it, but I can't seem to find any place that has it in stock.

As far as the amps go - this has been the source of a great deal of confusion around here (at least for me). It turns out there is no standard for rating the amperage (aka the "ampacity") on voltage rails. Since the current/amps that a wire can carry are dependent on many factors (ex: wire's ability to dissipate heat, ambient temp inside the computer case, electrical properties of the conductor, etc) , those max values only reflect the estimated amperage threshold at which the cable begins to experience deterioration. What it all comes down to is that when you start pushing the PSU beyond what it was designed for, the faster it will die.

 

[ChinHoFive0]

Just received the KDM 300w MFX9300 psu via Amazon. I opened the box and realized immediately the dimensions were wrong. This measured 2.5 x 3.6 x 6.0. KDM says 1.7 x 3.2 x 6.0. My OE 160w Hitachi is 1.7 x 3.2 x 9. Too wide that it'll hit the cpu fan and too tall that it'll hit the lip of the pc case. Awaiting to see if they sent me the wrong model or if KDM stated the wrong dimensions. The box says MT-350, the psu says Antec MT-352 350w max.

I put everything back together, plug in, turn on switch, no response, unplug, wait a few seconds, plug in, turn on switch....... Finally, after taking a 15 minute break, I unplugged, waited a few seconds, plugged it in, pushed the power button and it turned on. Thank goodness! Sent Amazon the email and will leave the pc ON!

 

[SlimKiwi]

CHF0

Please post the outcome of your situation. It would really be nice to find a 300W PSU that actually fits - and works! (just in case it's ever needed)

 

[Fire Wind55]

I have a Hp s3220n, I am looking to upgrade it to play games like sc2 and other in the future on it. For the Graphics card I was looking at requires 400w Psu. Will this even fit into the computer:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gts-450-us.html

And from what I read on this forum, the most watts of something that fits in this computer is 270w.

is it possible to remove the power source form this computer and buy a 500w one and just plug it in to everything and leave it on the outside of the computer?

I was looking at this power source:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

can you even do this? has anyone done this before? or it better to buy new case and move everything in to it?

 

[milicz]

Haven't posted here for a while, I never got around to posting some pics of my cooling setup in my very, very small desk that closes up. I drilled two holes for fans into the back of the desk right behind where the slimline exhausts, works like a charm! Although my 8600 GT idles at 82 Celsius 2 1/2 years on (used to be low 70's when I first installed the fans)

 

[beowulf7]

^ LOL on your monitor sitting on an antenna box.

 

[Fire Wind55]

what power supply do you use? the geforce 8600 requires 450w.