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HP Recommended
HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

Esteemed Forum, upgrading an HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF to where few have gone before is going to be my next project in 2022.

Just bought one of these desktops for an amazing bargain via eBay. Just for kicks, I happened to bid ("Best Offer") on one of these units, not really expecting to get it for what I offered.  However, the Seller agreed, and the rest is history.

 

So, here is my blueprint where I intend to go (in bold) :

 

HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF


1a.) CPU (Kaby Lake, Skylake, Socket LGA 1151) :


Intel i7-7700 (3.6 - 4.2 GHz) TDP = 61 watts or (preferably) :
Intel Core i7-7700K (4.2 - 4.5 GHz) TDP = 91 watts [ EDIT: 01/12/22 purchased ] [EDIT: 03/23/22 installed on 01/20/22 and working great to this day especially after installing an external 'booster' cooling fan directly over the primary CPU cooling fan to bring down stress temps significantly -see thread.]

 

[EDIT: Xeon E3-1280 v6 (3.9 - 4.2 GHz, TDP =  72 watts)]  [ EDIT: purchased ]  [ EDIT: 01/12/22 tried: not compatible - am keeping for future Legacy HP Desktop Upgrade project]


1b.) Upgrade CPU heatsink cooling fan:


Iceberg Thermal IceGALE Xtra PWM (80mm, 1.4 watt, 37 CFM, 800 - 3,000 RPM)  EDIT: purchased ] [ EDIT: installed ]

 

[EDIT:] 02/14/2022: Because the Iceberg CPU heatsink fan performance was lacking, to be replaced with a 5.0 watt 65 CFM "GDSTIME 80mm PWM Fan, High Speed 12V 4PIN 80mm x 25mm CPU Cooler Fan". [EDIT: 03/23/22 installed external 'booster' cooling fan directly over primary CPU cooling fan -works like a charm.  See thread.]


2.) GPU -wish list:


AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB or:  EDIT: pending ] [EDIT: [02/04/22] for the time being will stick with an RX 6600 XT 8GB eGPU as its gaming performance is quite satisfactory so far at ultra-high HD 1080P resolution.]
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3080 10 GB

 

[Yes, you read that correctly: will likely have to raid my Roth IRA, but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, why not.]

 

[EDIT: 02/09/2022] Purchased an "ASUS TUF Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 OC Edition Graphics Card (PCIe 4.0, 12GB GDDR6X, LHR, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a, Dual Ball Fan Bearings, Military-grade Certification, GPU Tweak)" via Newegg Shuffle.

[EDIT: 02/11/2022 - Installed]


3.) DDR4-2400 DIMM (4 slots 64 GB maximum)


Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 [4] X 16 GB) DDR4 DRAM 2400 (PC4-19200) C14 1.20V Desktop RAM Memory CMK32GX4M2A2400C14 - Black EDIT: purchased this RAM instead: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Intel XMP 2.0 Desktop Gaming Memory RED ] [ EDIT: installed 4 x 8GB of G.SKILL Gaming RAM ]


4.) Only has a HP OEM standard 180 watts PSU.  Replace with:


HP 913290-001 / HP 901759-003 500 Watts or:
HP L04618-800 / HP 942332-001 400 Watts or (preferably) :
ATX to HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF power converter cable [researching hard: approached a number of Vendors]

 

[EDIT: Found another option which I considered solving the power solution: see the next message in this Upgrade thread.]

 

EDIT: purchased the "ATX PSU ADAPTER ATX 24Pin to SATA Power Supply Adapter Cable Card" ] [EDIT: added an Aresgame 80+ Gold AGK850 fully modular PSU as a secondary dedicated 'daisy-chained' power supply to power the RTX 3080 12GB OC Edition GPU.


5.) Has a PCIe X16 v3.0 slot -see 2.).


6a.) Has an M.2 PCIe x4-2280 slot for Primary Drive:


SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB, M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Hard Drive with V-NAND Technology for Gaming, Graphic Design, MZ-V7S1T0B/AM or: EDIT: purchased ] [ EDIT: installed ]
Samsung 980 PRO SSD 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe Gen 4 Gaming M.2 Internal Solid State Hard Drive Memory Card, Maximum Speed, Thermal Control, MZ-V8P1T0B or:

Hynix/Kingston equivalents.

 

6b.) For Secondary Drive:

 

Samsung 870 EVO SATA III SSD 1TB or: EDIT: pending ]  [ EDIT: ordered a Samsung 870 QVO SATA III 1TB ] [EDIT: 01/15/2022: installed as dynamic drive]

Samsung 860 PRO SATA III SSD 1TB or:

Hynix/Kingston equivalents.


7.) Has six USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports: two front (including 1 fast charging) and four in the rear


8.) BIOS Date Versions: 20180717 / 20191225 / 20200428 / 20201018 / latest: 20210419 / latest: 20211217 (Version: 00.02.39 Rev.A) EDIT: pending: waiting for HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF delivery ] [ EDIT: BIOS fully updated ]

 

Link: HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Small Form Factor PC Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support


9.) Chipset: Q270 (limits support to 7th-generation Intel LGA 1151 CPU's - see "1a.)" )


10.) Motherboard: HP 8299

 

11.) Install: Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit EDIT: pending: waiting for HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF delivery ] [ EDIT: W10 Pro 64-bit installed ]

 

 


1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Succeeded in further optimizing this rig's performance.

 

Dear Forum,

 

At this point, I accomplished what I endeavored to create: upgrading this HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF to earn the highest UserBenchMark scoring PC of its kind globally.  This rig's performance scoring could be further improved to probably "UFO" performance status if I were to fit it, say, with an AMD RX 6900 XT, but unless someone beats my 800 G3 SFF UserBenchMark score, I am satisfied with what I have.

 

It was a lot of fun Upgrading this PC to Serious Gaming Quality Grade!

 

Even though I will continue to add/post additional modifications and upgrade steps, I am 'closing' this thread with "Accept as Solution".

 

Thank you for your interest in this journey.

 

Live Long and Prosper!  🖖

 

Kind Regards,

 

NonSequitur777

 

UserBenchMark [dot] Com Performance Results:

 

Gaming Score: 94% - Nuclear submarine

Desktop Score: 96% - Nuclear submarine

Workstation Score: 80% - Battleship

 

Other system performance scores:

 

1.) PC Performing above expectations (84th percentile - Above Expectations)

2.) Processor: Intel Core i7-7700K (89.2% - Excellent)

3.) eGPU: AMD RX 6600-XT (103% - Outstanding)

4.) Primary Drive: Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TB (390% - Outstanding)

5.) Secondary Drive: Samsung 870 QVO 1TB (122% - Outstanding)

6.) RAM: G.SKILL DDR4 F4-2400C15-8GVR 4x8GB (75.6% - Very Good)

7.) Background CPU (2%)

 

Link: HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF Performance Results - UserBenchmark

 

NonSequitur777_0-1643350853765.png

 

NonSequitur777_1-1643350889531.png

 

NonSequitur777_2-1643350912143.png

 

NonSequitur777_0-1643352610404.png

 

NonSequitur777_1-1643352634221.png

 


View solution in original post

92 REPLIES 92
HP Recommended

Dear Forum: found another option to address higher power supply demand issue:

 

-Referring to #4.) from my previous post:

 

"Only has a HP OEM standard 180 watts PSU.  Replace with:


HP 913290-001 / HP 901759-003 500 Watts or:
HP L04618-800 / HP 942332-001 400 Watts or (preferably) :
ATX to HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF power converter cable [researching hard: approached a number of Vendors] "

 

Added option: Using an ATX PSU ADAPTER ATX 24-Pin to SATA Power Supply Adapter

 

With this adapter (see picture), you can ADD one or more discrete ATX power supplies to your PC.  All you have to do is connect a standard ATX PSU's 24-pin power cable to the adapter and connect the adapter's SATA connection to one of your primary PSU's SATA connectors.  Done. Once connected, the secondary PSU is synced with your PC -meaning, that when you start up or power down your PC, the secondary power supply switches on and off at the same time.  Nice!

 

Summarizing:

 

1.) - Your existing PSU stays.
2.) - Connect one of the Primary PSU SATA connectors into the corresponding adapter plug.
3.) - Connect the Secondary PSU's 24-pin connector into the adapter's 24-pin plug.

4.) - Connect your eGPU with the secondary PSU's 6/8-pin(s) PCIe power connector cable(s).
5.) - Whenever you turn on your computer (and thus power on your Primary PSU) this adapter will automatically turn on your secondary PSU, powering whatever is plugged into it. And when you power your computer off, it will automatically power off your secondary PSU.

6.) - It is SAFE: the ATX to SATA adapter has power isolation technology built in to prevent any power issues.

 

ATX 24-Pin to SATA Power Supply Adapter.jpg

[EDIT: This solution came to me after I reviewed an earlier message that I happened to post on 11-18-2021 on my "Upgrading HP Compaq Pro 6300 SFF" discussion (page 3, about the "RY5W-K" 5V-DC power switch relay, which is basically the same concept as this ATX to SATA adapter).]


HP Recommended

Dear Forum, starting to preorder upgrade parts, such as a: "PCIe 3.0 X16 Graphics Card Vertical Base Board Kit PCIe X16 Extension Flexible SATA Powered Connector Cable Riser for GPU" (see picture) -because a higher end GPU will have to be parked outside the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF chassis.

 

This is going to be accomplished by cutting a vertical slit onto the LEFT side of the top cover (front view) to allow the ribbon cable to exit the case.   Make sure that if you were to order this or similar PCIe X16 Extension Kit for an HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF to order it with at least a 35 CM (14 inches) long PCIe X16 connector ribbon cable.

 

[EDIT: For further clarification, the SATA power connector to the ADT-Link SATA powered PCIe X16 cable pictured below can be connected either to the primary or secondary PSU.]

 

[DISCLAIMER: HP Inc. generally has an exceedingly dim view applying ANY modifications that includes cutting, welding or otherwise violating doing anything that would invalidate HP product warranty status.  Since there is no warranty left on this PC, that doesn't matter to me.  Please note that HP does NOT endorse any of these modifications.  And if you were to choose to apply any of these modifications, including installing non-HP-endorsed computer parts, you do so at your own risk and you will assume the risk of any and all injury and/or damage(s) you may suffer.]

 

PCIe 3.0 X16 Graphics Card Vertical Base Board Kit PCIe X16 Extension Flexible SATA Powered Connector Cable Riser for GPU.jpg

[EDIT: Please Note that the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF PCIe X16 adapter's "notch" must be located to the right, whereas compared, for example, with the HP Pro 6300 SFF PCIe X16 "notch" orientation, which must be located to the left.]


HP Recommended

Dear Forum, I could not find any HP or web documentation to date to confirm -or deny for that matter, that the Intel i7-7700K (TDP: 91 watt) is compatible with the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF.

 

HP EliteDesk 800 SFF i7-7700.jpg

 

However, that doesn't mean much per se.  The Intel i7-3770K and the Xeon E3-12xx v2 family of CPU's weren't mentioned either as being compatible with the HP Elite 8300 USDT or the HP Pro 6300 SFF for example, even though they really are.  The i7-7700K is compatible with its bigger brother/sister, the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Tower (TWR), and I'm willing to consider purchasing the "K" version to try it out on the SFF.  If it doesn't work, oh well, there's relatively little pain involved in returning the CPU to sender for a refund.

 

Incidentally, the pricing for used Intel i7-7700s or Intel i7-7700Ks is about the same, around $220 ~ $250.  Not cheap.

 

[EDIT: Also researched Intel Xeon processor options, just like I did for the HP Elite 8300 USDT and the HP Pro 6300 SFF.  And lo and behold: it appears that there are Xeon LGA 1151 compatible CPU options available for the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF based on a number of matching product parameters!  Ta-da: it's my pleasure to introduce to make your acquaintance with the Intel Xeon E3-12xx v6 family -even though these processors are as a matter of course not mentioned or endorsed by HP for use in consumer (i.e non-server) HP EliteDesk 800 G3 platforms.

 

They are cheaper too compared with the Intel i7-7700 or i7-7700K.

 

The least expensive used Intel Xeon E3-1280 v6 (3.9 - 4.2 GHz, TDP: 72 watt), for example, costs about $182.  Still not cheap, but considerably less than the previous Intel i7 options. ]

 

[EDIT: please be advised that the Xeon E3-1280 v6 does NOT have integrated graphics.]

 

[ EDIT: 01/12/22: the Xeon E3-1280 v6 is not compatible with the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF ]


HP Recommended

RAM Update: After thoroughly looking at all the RAM options, I decided not to go with the Corsair Vengeance option.

Instead, out of a number of great options, I believe aka in my opinion that I will get the best value & performance for money with this RAM order I just placed: "G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Intel XMP 2.0 Desktop Memory Model F4-2400C15D-16GVR".

That's right: I decided to go initially with "just" 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) total. To be increased later to 32 GB (4 x 8 GB).  I found no evidence that any of the games and applications that are going to be played/run on this rig will measurably benefit from having 64 GB of installed RAM on board.

 

[EDIT: Please note that you can choose from a great many different and high-quality RAM options.  I have priorly purchased Samsung, Kingston (HyperX) and other RAM brands based on pricing, customer feedback, and availability.]

 

G.SKILL RipJaws V Series 16GB.jpg

 

[EDIT: Because of the added height of the G.SKILL RAM cooling fins, I had to remove the DVD/Optical drive or else this RAM wouldn't allow the SFF's Drives Cage to close all the way. A minor inconvenience, since a DVD/optical drive is all but obsolete these days.]

 


HP Recommended

CPU Update: Bit the proverbial bullet and ordered an Intel Xeon E3-1280 v6.

 

Prior shipping experience suggests I'll get it around January 12th.

 

NonSequitur777_0-1642699552160.png

 

Intel Xeon E3-1280 v6 specifications: Intel Xeon E3-1280 v6 - CM8067702870647 (cpu-world.com)


HP Recommended

CPU Cooling Fan Update:

 

Ordered a quality upgraded CPU cooling fan (PLEASE NOTE: there are many options, choose as per personal preference):

 

Iceberg Thermal IceGALE Xtra 80mm PWM High Performance Cooling Fan.jpg


HP Recommended

PSU Update:

 

[PLEASE NOTE: there are a great many standard ATX PSU options to choose from. Just check customer's feedback.  I happened to pick this particular PSU because it is currently sold at a discounted price.]

 

Power Supply 500W 80 Plus Bronze ARESGAME AGV500.jpg


HP Recommended

Intermediate CPU Upgrade:

 

In order to upgrade BIOS easier, etc., I ordered the cheapest [as in bidding aka "Best Offer"] HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF compatible Intel LGA 1151 CPU I could find:

[EDIT: and with "easier", I meant that because the i3-6100 has integrated graphics (Intel HD Graphics 530), I don't have to deal with eGPU installation just yet.]

 

Intel Core i3-6100.jpg

 

[EDIT:] This CPU did not work on the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF for reason(s) unclear to me.  Returned to Seller.


HP Recommended

Primary Drive M.2 SSD Upgrade:

 

Gathering steam, I imagine: just purchased a quality M.2 1TB SSD for my primary drive.

 

[PLEASE NOTE: As with my previous posts, there are beaucoup outstanding alternative SSD choices available: my pick was purely based on customer reviews, prior experience with this brand (Samsung) and pricing.]

 

Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD 1TB.jpg


† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.