Upgrading HP Compaq Pro 6300 SFF

[NonSequitur777]

Dear Forum, changed the HP Pro 6300 SFF's 400 watts OEM PSU (p/n: 796446-001) back to the HP OEM 320 watts unit (p/n: 702306-001) because even though the 400 watts unit worked fine to power this rig, after shutdown the PSU's cooling fan would immediately speed up and not stop until physically disconnected from power.  This uncontrolled revving up stops immediately as soon as the PC starts back up.  The reason why this is happening, or so I surmised, is because the proprietary "P2" 6-pin is missing the black wire (see picture) compared with the original HP OEM 240 watts PSU (p/n: 611482-001) and the HP OEM 320 watts PSU.

The question was: can the 320 watts PSU handle the power needs for this upgraded rig, including the Xeon E3-1290 v2 (TDP: 87 watts) and the HP OEM AMD Radeon RX 5500 (TDP: 140 watts)?

Theoretically on paper, yes: 60 watts (observed nominal power needs desktop at idle) + 87 watts (CPU) + 140 watts (GPU) = 287 watts.

And what do you know, theory appears to be accurate: I observed a maximum system power draw of 284.6 watts when stressing the CPU & GPU to the max. That is less than the 320 watts rated PSU -however, I hasten to add, 284.6 watts translates into 89% of this PSU's power capacity.  Not so good.  It is recommended to aim for a 50~60% PSU power draw at capacity.

It is likely that I or one of my admittedly more electronics nitty-gritty savvy friends can figure out how to add the doggone black wire, but perhaps I should switch over to a quality standard ATX 500 watts PSU I have laying around anyway: a 500 watts PSU would be at 57% power capacity for this rig -much better.

And so, I ordered an ATX to HP power conversion cable claimed to work for the HP Pro 6300 platforms. We'll see, I am skeptical -the wiring on this conversion P2 connector looks quite different than HP's, but what the heck, I'm willing to try this experiment since it costs less than $10 including tax and shipping.

[EDIT:] Ordered a second ATX to HP power conversion cable also claimed to work for the HP Pro 6300 SFF -see last picture. My hope is that one of the two conversion cables will work.

Once again: stay tuned.

[NonSequitur777]

Dear Forum, whilst waiting for the ATX to HP power conversion cable, I tried to fix the speeding HP 400 watts PSU cooling fan issue (p/n: 796346-001), by adding the black wire (labeled "GND" on the 240 & 320 watts PSUs circuit boards) to the 400 watts P2 connector.  I did this by splicing/soldering a wire from the PSU's "GND1" to pin-6 of the P2 connector (see picture).

Unfortunately, this mod did not fix the issue.  PSU cooling fan still spinning out of control -plugged in to the HP Pro 6300 SFF when off, or not connected to the PC at all.

Likely cause in my opinion is that this PSU is faulty.

[NonSequitur777]

Dear Forum, outstanding news to report: the "24 Pin to 6 Pin ATX Power Adapter Cable for HP 6300" came in, and IT WORKS! -In other words, said adapter cable allows the HP Pro 6300 SFF and an ATX's 8-pin to GPU 8-pin to be powered and integrated through an industry standard ATX power supply smoothly and seamlessly.

Connected an AVG 500 watts AresGame PSU [NOTE: this is what I had available, any other ATX PSU would work of course], and NO "CPU Fan Speed Error Detected: Press F1 to run setup" error, and no heated adapter cable parts either, by the way -the converter is supposed to handle up to a 1,000 watts PSU.

Very simple to install: this currently priced $13.99 24-pin adapter connector fits in the 24-pin ATX connector, its 6-pin "P1" and 6-pin "P2" equivalents fits onto the HP motherboard, and you use one of the ATX power supply's 4-pin "CPU" power connectors as the HP "P3" equivalent motherboard plug ins. Done. Easy-peasy.

So, lackluster OEM PSU power issues resolved once and for all.  And not just for this PC, but for all Pro 6300 platforms, and it is claimed to be compatible for all of these HP devices: Z200/Z210/Z220/Z230/Z240 SFF server workstation, HP ProDesk 600 G1 SFF/600 G2 SFF/690 G1 SFF, HP EliteDesk 800 G1/800 G2/600 G1/880 G1 SFF/TWR, HP Compaq SFF/MT/CMT Series 4000 4300 6000 6005 6060 6080 6200 6280 6300 6305 6380 8000 8080 8100 8180 8200 8280 and 8380.

I honestly hope this information will be useful for other Gamers and folks who want to upgrade their legacy HP desktops with more power demanding computer components and peripherals.

[NonSequitur777]

More available PSU power = better PC performance.  It appears that both the Xeon E3-1290 v2 CPU with its TDP of 87 watts and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB GPU with its TBP (Typical Board Power) of 160 watts benefitted from the 500 watts PSU: HP Compaq Pro 6300 SFF Performance Results - UserBenchmark

[Apache23]

So the pin on the P1 connector that the "stepped up" 12v goes to....has to be stepped up or can I just run 12v to it from a yellow 12v wire on my EVGA 600w PSU? I'm pretty sure I have all the other wires/voltages correct (6300 pro sff) so I can use the 600w PSU.

[NonSequitur777]

@Apache23,

As explained/illustrated earlier in this Upgrade Thread: trust me on this my friend: the power converter you want to make any standard ATX PSU work flawlessly* and reliably* on HP Pro 6300 platforms sans annoying HP alarms/errors/second guessing is this: "24 Pin to 6 Pin ATX Power Adapter Cable for HP 6300", most easily and (as far as I can tell) exclusively obtainable "In Stock" in the US through Amazon [EDIT:] or Newegg for a mere $13.99 / $13.39 [as of 01/17/2022].

[EDIT:] I have checked this ATX power adapter using a cheapo thermal imager to check for hotspots of concern.  None that I could detect even while increasing the ATX PSU's power demand.

Worth-every-single-penny. 

[DISCLAIMER:] * HP does not endorse, approve let alone suggest installing non-HP engineered/approved computer parts. If you apply these off the reservation workarounds, it voids HP computer warranties and you do so at your own risk and you assume personal responsibility for any and all damages that may occur.

[Apache23]

I totally understand. I'm just wondering if the voltage literally needs to be stepped up or if a straight 12v was ok on that pin. Reason being, I read somewhere that the mobo is supposed to receive a low voltage (3.3 or 5 or whatever voltage the purple wire is coming out of the PSU) while the PC is turned off and then tht voltage is supposed to kick up to 12v when turned on. They said that low voltage was needed while turned off, to make things work correctly when turned on. Also, I was trying to figure out the original wire order on the P2 connector for my 6300 pro sff with the original PSU instlled. I found one PSU on eBay for the 6300 pro sff and it looks like it doesn't have the black wire. It looks like white-w-red/white/green/grey/empty/empty. How did you post the pic? I was going to post the pic of that P2 connector, but don't see anything except video. Thanks for your time!

[NonSequitur777]

Yea, I also noticed that the insert-picture icon was removed from the Forum Toolbar recently.

To get around that, use the "print screen" (PrtScn) option on your keyboard, which you can then Paste in Windows Paint, for example, and then use "Select" ('Rectangular section'), select/draw the desired image, then "Cut", go to "File" and "New", "Do you want to save change to untitled?", "Don't Save", "Paste" again, "Select" ('Select all'), "Copy", and then right click on your message and "Paste".  It takes a few seconds ("Updating media"), but then your image(s) show in your message.

[Apache23]

 I ended up opening it in photos, right click, copy, then pasted it here. See the P2 connector...it looks like it has  black wire, but that's actually the wire behind it. So it only has 4 wires. Mine has these plus a black and I don't know the original config. I've tried a few different ways and the biggest chip next to the P2 connector (NUVOTON) I think is what it says is getting VERY hot and is starting to turn brown in the middle. Much hotter than it is supposed to get.

[NonSequitur777]

Given your troubling description of (over) heating computer parts,  my strong recommendation is to replace the HP OEM 240 watt PSU (p/n: HP 611481-001). Your PSU may be malfunctioning, and replacing it is what I would do.  You can get them dirt cheap pre-owned starting at $16 via eBay.