Hp Compaq Elite 8300 SFF psu + graphics upgrade

[FredrikN]

In my work I have been asked to provide five computers capable of editing video on Adobe Premiere PRO 5.x. What I have available are 8300's, with an i5 650 and 4 gb ram.  I'm looking into upgrading these to handle the task a bit better, however as an NGO we work with a very small budget, hence the recycled office computers. 

What I was looking at was putting in a new graphics card and some more ram, it seems however that the supplied 240W PSU won't handle that. 

So my options are:

Run a very low power, low profile GPU on the original PSU, such as 

http://www.palit.com/palit/vgapro.php?id=2392&lang=en&pn=NEAT7200HD46-2080H&tab=sp

or

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/N730K-2GD5LPOCV1.html#hero-specification

It might also be possible to run an energy-efficient full-size card and simply cut a hole in the lid of the computer, altough I have not yet found a good alternative.

Another option I'm hoping for opinions on is upgrading the PSU itself. In the partsurfer I find that the 8200 SFF has a 320W PSU, PARTNO 613765-001

Altough I don't care about it fitting IN the case, I need to verify that it works with the MB. Perhaps it's possible to run this (or another more powerful psu) along with a better graphics card. 

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas! 

F

[wb2001 · Accepted solution]

The most serious problem is the limited wattage on the grpahics slot. It's 25W on the SSF.

[FredrikN]

Well that's that then! Gotta source some other computers instead.. Thanks for the help! 

[kentmh]

To owners of the SFF (Small Form Factor) model of the HP Compaq Elite 8300 computer:

These machines (and I believe the other SFF models of the 8000 series, i.e. 8100, 8200, etc.) utilize a rare PSU (Power Supply Unit) form factor of CFX. The only CFX power supplies I have found are all 240W and are light weight for most graphics cards. The number of low profile graphics cards that will fit into the SFF machine have increased considerably in the past few years. In addition to half height profile, you must check the card length against the space from the rear of your machine to the taller components towards the front. If the card is half height and not too long to interfere with other machine components, you can install it.

However, power is another matter. While some lower power graphics cards will work with the stock 240W power supply, if the card has a separate power connector or draws too much power, it is not an option for the stock PSU. Fortunately, a PSU upgrade is possible, but requires a non-standard installation of a higher power PSU that will physically fit in the computer case even though not designed to do so. Two other PSU form factors may fit into the space taken by your existing PSU. The narrow portion of the PSU case location, which is deep and tall enough to accommodate a non-standard PSU, is approximately 100mm wide and 85mm tall. Common ATX and SFX PSUs will not fit in this space. The Flex-ATX form factor power supply is 81.5mm wide and only 40.5mm tall, so it will easily fit in the space, even if there is a secondary hard drive immediately in front of it. These PSUs are available with up to at least 350W. The other possible form factor is TFX. These PSUs are 85mm wide and 65mm tall, so they also will fit in your machine, but not if you have a 3.5” secondary hard drive immediately in front of it in the secondary hard drive location (the problem is that the TFX PSU will need to sit on top of the secondary hard drive, causing the top of the PSU to interfere with the top cover of the computer case). TFX PSUs are available in capacity of up to at least 500W. Depending on the height of its mounting hardware, a 2.5” secondary hard drive may be short enough to permit a TFX PSU to sit above it and not interfere with the top cover.

However, neither of these form factor PSUs have the ability to physically mount into your case like your existing unusually shaped CFX PSU. The simple solution is to mount the new PSU with double faced tape to secure it in place.

The next issue is connecting the new PSU to the motherboard and peripherals. Most Flex-ATX and TFX PSUs come with a 24pin or 20/4pin connector, a 4pin CPU power connector and some array of 4pin Molex, SATA and floppy drive power connectors. None I have seen have the KF2510-6P female plug found on your PSU. Also, these PSUs provide the now standard +5vsb (standby), not the +12vsb required by your motherboard. Fortunately, many sources provide an adapter cable that plugs into the new PSU's 24pin or 20/4pin connector and provides the 6pin main power plug and the KF2510-6P plug required by your motherboard. An eBay search for "ATX 6pin 2port supply cable" will bring up a host of sources for this adapter, which includes a DC voltage converter that converts the new PSU's +5vsb to the +12vsb you need. The new PSU's 4pin CPU (Central Processing Unit) power connector is connected to the motherboard at the same location as was the identical plug from your original PSU.

However, the flat 6 pin in-line KF2510-6P female connector on many of these adapters is not wired correctly for the HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF machine. Looking at the wire end of the connector with the raised guides pointing up and the rectangular holes facing down, the right most wire position is Pin 1 and the left most wire position is Pin 6. The adapter has 4 wires going to this connector of various colors. Because they are not standard, the wire colors are not important, just the Pin numbers of the 24 Pin receptacle and the KF2510-6P connector they run between. One wire connects to Pin 16 of the 24 Pin receptacle, the PS_ON or Power Supply On pin. The other end of this wire should go to Pin 3 of the KF2510-6P connector (the same location as the green wire on the original power supply connector). The wire that connects to Pin 8 of the 24 Pin receptacle (the PS_OK or Power Supply OK or Power supply Good pin) should connect to Pin 4 of the KF2510-6P connector (the same location as the grey wire on the original power supply connector). The other two wires connected to Pins 17 and 18 of the 24 Pin receptacle (or any other ground pins) should go to Pins 5 and 6 of the KF2510-6P connector. These locations have no wires connected on the original power supply connector. If the wires on your adapter are not connected correctly to the KF2510-6P plug, move the wires to the correct locations described above. To remove a wire from the plug, place a needle or other small pointed object like a toothpick gently into the small rectangular hole on the plug at the location of the wire you wish to remove. Press the needle gently inward and upward to release the metal wire connector and pull the wire and connector out of the plug. If the tiny tab on the metal connector is no longer bent away from the body of the connector, use the needle to push it out slightly so it will snap into the rectangular hole at the new wire location into which it will be placed.

With just this adapter, correctly wired, your computer will work with your new PSU. The drive power connectors from the new PSU can be connected directly to your drives, replacing the cable currently connecting your motherboard to the drives' power connectors. Not only does this reduce the current flowing through the motherboard, it also eliminates much of the +12v to +5v conversion currently performed by your motherboard with the original PSU.

One minor disadvantage of this PSU upgrade is that your computer will seek a "PSU fan on" signal when it boots. Since Flex-ATX and TFX PSUs do not provide this signal, you will get a 515 error message (Power Supply fan not detected) during the boot. Just follow the screen instruction to ignore this false warning by pressing F1 and the boot will continue.

This error can be avoided by connecting your CPU cooling fan to Pin 2 of the KF2510-6P PSU adapter connector (the same location as the white wire on the original CPU plug). This requires adding a 5th wire to the KF2510--6P connector on the adapter. Snap-in crimp connectors for this additional wire come with any KF2510 female connector, so you can buy a KF2510-2P plug and use one of its 2 crimp connectors for the new wire on the PSU adapter plug, leaving the Pin 1 location empty (the same location as the white with red stripe wire on the original PSU connector). The other end of the new wire is connected to the TAC or SENSE lead of your CPU cooling fan by spicing it to the appropriate fan power plug lead. This lead is usually a green wire but in any event it is the wire that connects to the #3 pin of the fan power connector which is the second closest to the side of the cabinet. With this arrangement, upon booting your motherboard sees the TAC or SENSE signal from your CPU cooling fan and reads it as coming from your always on new PSU fan, thus avoiding the false boot error entirely.

While this upgrade may appear intimidating, it really is not very difficult. Due to engineering changes by HP, I cannot guarantee this will work with your machine and like always, you proceed at your own risk. I did it with a 500W TFX PSU in my HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF machine to support a new graphics card and future peripherals and it works very well. My hard drive is a single 2.5" Solid State mounted in the main hard drive location below the DVD drive, so there is no drive immediately in front of the new power supply in the secondary hard drive location, allowing me to install the TFX profile PSU without interference. Good luck!!!

[Moddernate]

Looking for some help, with this. Ive done this upgrade using a Corsair 750 psu. And the adapter made by Aya. I have power to my video card, and the the board light is on but beyond that, it shows no other sign of life when powered up.  I repinned the 6 pin correctly and as far as I can tell it's making good contact. Please if anyone has any idea what the issue could be id really appreciate some feedback.