Upgrading HP Compaq Elite 8300 USDT

[NonSequitur777]

Two projects underway: the addition of an extra cooling fan (completed), and the addition of two extra copper heat pipes in the CPU heatsink (in progress).

[NonSequitur777]

Dear forum, still patiently waiting for PC parts.  The HP Elite 8300 USDT is gaming just fine: north of 60fps @  full HD 1980 x 1080 for all games (see pic), even with the PCIe 1X to Exp GDC Beast HDMI dock bottleneck, which, as discussed, I hope to upgrade soon with the MXM 3.0 to PCIe 16X interface.

[NonSequitur777]

Installed the modified stock heatsink (4 copper heat pipes, copper cooling strips on top, addition of 30x30x15mm fan).  Even when stressing the i7-3770K, temps on any of the four cores don't exceed 81°C.

[NonSequitur777]

The MXM 3.0 to PCIe X16 interface cable & dock I had ordered through a special AliExpress order request arrived at last.  Installed: had to cut a horizontal slit 4 by ¼ inches in the PC's casing opposite the MXM bay in order to position/install the MXM interface card.

The graphics card to CPU data interface linking increased from 1x to 16x -and improved graphics performance substantially.

See pictures.

[NonSequitur777]

From 1x to 16x bandwidth, the MXM x16 to PCIe x16 interface really made a difference to unleash the AMD RX 570 4GB's graphics performance potential:

[NonSequitur777]

Spray painted the cover in Sparkling Gaming Purple (picture doesn't do it justice) and added a new Intel Core i7 3770K 1"x1" Chrome Effect Domed Case Badge Sticker logo (link: [content removed] )

Now I am going to work on overclocking.

I'll be back.

[NonSequitur777]

As a side project, I just ordered an inexpensively priced Xeon E3 1220 V2 3.10GHz Quad Core Processor (LGA 1155 socket), to see if the Xeon E3-V2 family is compatible with the HP Elite 8300 USDT.  If it is, I will purchase the Xeon E3 1290 V2 3.70GHz.

[NonSequitur777]

Dear Forum, not just HP, but also Intel provides a treasure trove of useful programs, among them this Processor Diagnostic Tool:

Intel Link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html

[NonSequitur777]

Found very affordable (<$60) Kingston HyperX Impact DDR3L (PC3L-14900S) 2x8GB 1866MHz 204 pin RAM, which I ordered.

If my research is correct, it should provide a boost over the Samsung DDR3 (PC3-12800) 2x8GB 1600MHz 204 pin RAM currently installed. Will inform once it shows up.

Potential faster RAM is available -for example: Kingston HyperX Impact DDR3L 2x8GB 2133MHz (p/n: HX321LS11IB2K2/16), but this option is currently insanely overpriced at $180-$200, if it is available at all.

Which brings me to (free) RAM testing software, and from where to download it safely: https://www.softpedia.com/

Yes, there are many capable freeware RAM testing programs to choose from. And yes, many are rather dated. However, they still do what they need to do, and do it very well. My personal favorites are the Roadkil MemTest (link via Softpedia:https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/CPU-ID.shtml ), and NovaBench (link via Softpedia: https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Benchmarks/NovaBench.shtml ).

See pic: this is what the RAM Roadkil & NovaBench test results/scores looks like.  Either one is sufficient for RAM speed baseline testing/performance bench marking.

[itsmyname]

@NonSequitur777  -- If my research is correct, it should provide a boost 

Let's hope that your motherboard will "clock" the faster RAM at its highest-possible speed, and not at one of the lower speeds that the SPD chip on the stick of RAM specifiies as "also supported".