EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT - 2+ additional internal Hard Drives possible?

[EpicRelic]

I wonder how many (if any) internal additional Hard Drives are possible in a EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT?

I'd like to use this powerful PC as a Home Server/central Storage, with several big drives inside, additionally to the existing SSD with the OS.

Of course there is the option to connect drives externally via USB, but is there an internal way? In my case the optical drive is obsolete, maybe I can use this SATA connector?

This is an (external) pic of the motherboard showing the connectors (I didnt find any on HP to link to)

hardware-corner.net/wp-content/uploads/compare/HP_EliteDesk_800_G1_USDT_motherboard.jpg

Many Thanks for any ideas

[BeemerBiker]

Your slimline uses a slimline (laptop type) optical drive.  You will have room for a 2.5 inch hard drive but a 3.5 drive will have problems.  Even if it fits physically there will be an airflow problem.

HP sells excellent enterprise network attached storage systems.

My opinion, worth 0.02c,  is to invest in Synology DS918+  or equivalent consumer / residential NAS.  You can access your storage from anywhere on the internet.  Get empty, buy one drive and a second drive later if needed.  Your slimline will run cool. 

If not interested in N AS then replace the C drive with SSD like the  2.5" WD Blue 500 or equivalent and the DVD writer with a Blu-Ray and just add a bigger SATA like 12tb size for the "D" drive.

see also https://www.dvdfab.cn/blu-ray-ripper.htm

[EpicRelic]

Thanks BeemerBiker; I am after (hopefully) finding a good use for this USDT, won't invest in new NAS etc (especially no Synologly)

I now see there is a mSATA  (Mini Sata) on the board. That could connect to either directly to a 1.8" drive or via mSATA to SATA adaptor to a 2.5"

So now if I am correct in total there are connectors for 3 hard Drives?

• 1 x mSATA slot
• 1 x SATA port (from the old obsolete optical drive)
• 1 x SATA port exclusively for 2.5" HDD

So I could have any of these host the OS, and have two Drives for storage, right?

[BeemerBiker]

Difference between msata and pcie-mini

https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/memory/article/21800840/whats-the-difference-between-m...

This should be your motherboard

One slot is msata for "C" booting and the other is for the equivalent of a PCIe card such as that Intel Centrino listed here

I would boot from that msata but after reading the spec it seems there is no place for 3.5inch SATA such as 12tb like I suggested

The motherboard shows only a single SATA connector

I suggest upgrade to Blu-Ray and use a USB3 external drive. You can get 5tb drive anything bigger needs it dedicated power supply AFAICT

[NonSequitur777]

@EpicRelic,

Respectfully adding to @BeemerBiker's suggestions, here's my penny's worth:

Firstly, I would install an mSATA SSD in your mSATA slot and make that your primary (boot) drive as this EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT User did: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/54831965, who fitted the USDT with a 500 GB Samsung 850 EVO mSATA SSD.  This particular mSATA SSD happens to be very expensive, I would buy a far less expensive 512 GB mSATA SSD (30 x 50 mm) for your mSATA slot, such as this $38 example: https://www.amazon.com/ROGOB-Internal-Ultrabook-Desktop-Laptop/dp/B0B1WY6WG2/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1V....  The advantages of utilizing the mSATA slot are: amazingly faster boot times and hugely improved read/write speeds.  You would have to clone your existing boot drive to this mSATA SSD using freeware cloning software such as Macrium Reflect Free.

Secondly, if your existing 2.5 inch 7mm SATA drive is an HDD, you could replace it with an SSD for faster read/write access.  However, if you implement the previous option, it really doesn't matter.

Thirdly, yes, I would get rid of your optical drive (nobody uses this anymore anyway) and replace it with a 9.5mm SATA SSD Caddy Adapter, such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adapter-Enclosure-DVD-ROM-Optical/dp/B07ZHWZ4GD/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?cr..., and use this adapter to fit a SATA 2.5-inch 7mm SSD for additional storage.

Btw, I have experience upgrading an HP Compaq Elite 8300 USDT, not unlike your own 800 G1 USDT: Solved: Upgrading HP Compaq Elite 8300 USDT - HP Support Community - 8118827, and which to this day has beat the competition, so to speak: HP Compaq Elite 8300 USDT Performance Results - UserBenchmark.

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Prométhée]

Hi

"I wonder how many (if any) internal additional Hard Drives are possible in a EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT?"

you can simply consult the manual, in order to know all the possibilities with your computer
and in any case, the best thing is to open to check

so if this one

Illustrated Parts & Service Map - HP EliteDesk 800 G1 - Ultra Slim Desktop

Bays and Slots • (1) Slimline optical drive bay
• (1) internal 2.5-inch drive bay
• (1) internal mSATA connector
• (2) internal PCIe mini-card connector
• (1) internal MXM graphics connector

HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Tower HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Small Form Factor HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Ultra-Slim Deskt...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-elitedesk-800-g1-ultra-slim-pc/5387483/manuals

[EpicRelic]

@beemerbiker  Thank you for the thoughts and link

"This should be your motherboard" Yes, correct.

Yes, I am aware of the difference between mSata and miniPCIE. (no idea yet what to use the mPCIe slot yet, as I do not need Wireless)

"One slot is msata for "C" booting and the other is for the equivalent of a PCIe card..." No, the visible mSata slot you point out (next to the mPCIe slot) was empty, not used for booting:

the original 2.5" OS(boot)HD is/was connected to the black horizontal slot above is the standard OS Boot disk slot, which is (strangely) not marked/mentioned in the pic I linked, but visible (same as in the ebay listing you linked)

"I would boot from that msata"  So you recon it is possible, good. I am thinking of getting a mSata to Staa adaptor cable to make use of the mSata port.

"but after reading the spec it seems there is no place for 3.5inch SATA "  space is not an issue as with extender cables I dont need to house all drives inside the box. But I prefer 2.5" drives, as this will be a low power unit, and I dont need the TB size you mention.

"The motherboard shows only a single SATA connector"  Well I would say it shows 2 more,  3 in total:  to the blue one add the black (original) horizontal SATA, and the mSata

"I suggest upgrade to Blu-Ray and use a USB3 external drive"  ...I have no use for an optical drive. This will be used as network storage.

[EpicRelic]

@ NonSequitur777    Thanks for the hints and the pics, also the link to your upgrade project.

"I would install an mSATA SSD in your mSATA slot and make that your primary (boot) drive"

Yes, thanks for pointing out - that was what came into my mind as well _ have an obsolete 12GB SSD flopping about. (No image needed, will be a new install.)

"advantages of utilizing the mSATA slot are: amazingly faster boot times and hugely improved read/write speeds"

great to hear it could be even faster (but I assume you mean the SSD advantage, not the mSATA vs SATA

"SATA SSD Caddy Adapter" Yes that would be the elegant way to do it, I used the caddies in HP laptops, but in this USDT case the Caddy is to bulky, I would prefer 1.8 Inch Micro SATA HDD SSD to 2.5 Inch sata 22PIN SATA 3 Adapter, either as a Riser card or Cable to the HDD

[Prométhée]

hi

so this ?

SATA0 Hard drive connector

mSATA Mini-SATA

SATA3 Optical drive

here

[EpicRelic]

@Prométhée    I did simply consult the manual(s) before I went on to ask in here, but found these a bit confusing (regarding upgrades)  Always good to have real peoples' opinions on something.

Thanks for the link to "Illustrated Parts & Service Map"  ...I looked solely on the more lengthy HP manual and HW reference (the 2nd you linked, 295 pages)