Looking for EliteDesk 800 G3 mini (65W) hard-drive caddy

[Wichtc91]

Dear Community,

I am having a real hard-time finding the EliteDesk 800 G3 mini hard-drive caddy for sale (my Product is1HK95EA), do you know where I could find it?
Do you think it's absolutely needed, or could I simply use some screws to attach the 2.5" hard-drive?
Also, is it needed to install the additional HDD fan?

Best wishes,

C.

[NonSequitur777]

@Wichtc91,

Welcome to our HP community forum!

I think what you need is this: HP EliteDesk 800 G3 DM caddy for sale | eBay, but I don't know how you would order this part in your country. You don't need the caddy per se, but what you do need is the SATA connector:

Since I assume you got a 65-watt processor model (including the air-flow mesh on top of your DM panel), air cooling is very important.  Meaning, yes, it is highly recommended to have the HDD/SSD fan installed.  If this fan isn't connected, you'll get an error message, as I recall.

For point of reference, I have upgraded an HP EliteDesk 800 65W G3/G4 DM, thus I am quite familiar with this platform as you can see in this link: Solved: Upgrading an HP EliteDesk 800 65W G4 Desktop Mini (DM) - HP Support Community - 8708671.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Wichtc91]

Dear NonSequitur777,

Many thanks for your reply, indeed the eBay link you sent is what I'd need (though I already bough a SATA cable), but as you said it would be send from China and take weeks to arrive to Switzerland.

Would you happen to know whether this would fit in a G3 (Reference 13L70AA)?

https://www.digitec.ch/fr/s1/product/hp-desktop-mini-25-inch-sata-drive-bay-kit-v2-disque-dur-access...

I understand now how important the HDD/SSD fan is, but does it fit with a nvme 2280 below and a 2.5"" HDD on top? I have some doubts...

Best,

Corentin

[NonSequitur777]

@Wichtc91,

The caddy you referenced appears very similar indeed to the 'official' part, so it may very well fit, especially if you are willing/skilled in 'modifying' the caddy a bit to make it fit.

Yes, I can confirm that a SATA caddy plus cooling fan perched on top of an M.2 NVMe SSD will fit, but definitely 'snugly'.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Wichtc91]

Dear @NonSequitur777,

Many thanks for your reply.

As written here, it seems to be compatible only with the Elite mini G9, any idea whether the screw positions/types remained the same compared to the G3?

Thanks for your help and best regards,

C.

[NonSequitur777]

@Wichtc91,

No idea, but based on my experience, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't line up...

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Wichtc91]

@NonSequitur777,

You were right they don't line up, though it fits nicely still:

Nevertheless, I have another issue now related to the fan connector.
The one I got (black; compatible with the G9) has five pins (with the middle one being empty) while the connector on the G3 motherboard only has 4 pins:

Do you know if there exists some adapters, or if I can simply cut the 5-pins connector and replace it by a 4-pins one (for example)?

Best,

C.

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@Wichtc91,

The link you provided for a "Gehäuse, Buchse, Pole - 4, Reihen - 1" is not the right size to fit in the mini HP 4-pin PWM cooling fan connector.  When I modified my DMs, I had to replace the standard cooling fan connector with the mini cooling fan connector for the System fan as you can see in this pic:

You should be able to wire the 5-pin (there only should be 4 wires) to a mini HP 4-pin connector to make it work.  Btw, this is what the actual G3 65W DM wiring for an "HDD Cooling fan" looks like:

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Wichtc91]

Dear @NonSequitur777,

Thanks for providing information about your own experience with DM connectors.

Any idea where I could find one of these connectors?

I have found two very similar 4-pin PWM cooling fan connectors from Dell laptops but there size differ for <0.5mm and it again doesn't fit in the HP motherboard connector...
From what I understand now, the size of the connector seems to be unique to HP and to only some of the Elitedesk models (e.g., not the G9) which makes it even harder to find.

Best,

C.

[NonSequitur777]

@Wichtc91,

To be honest, I would recommend purchasing an original "HDD" cooling fan with p/n: 914256-001, and given your geographical location, you can do that via eBay-Germany -or so I imagine: HP 914256-001 online kaufen | eBay.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777