[Guide] HP 6300 Pro / HP 8300 Elite - A 100 percent Working and Easily Affordable CustoMac

[pastrychef]

First, I have to start by thanking trs96 for writing such a thorough guide and providing a place for 6300/8300 owners to come with questions.

About 4 years ago, I successfully hackintoshed a Samsung laptop and was able to get almost all the features working. Not long after, however, I came across a great deal on a new MacBook Air and that has been my primary machine. I mostly use it for web browsing, Microsoft Office work, and occasional photo editing in Adobe Lightroom. To this day it still runs great for those purposes, but with only 4GB of RAM installed, it's definitely not up to every task I've thrown at it.

For Christmas, my wife bought me a new drone and I've had a great time with it. My only problem is that editing video footage using Final Cut Pro on the MacBook Air is just so slow. The mobile i5 processor and 4GB of RAM make 4k editing impossible and even 1080 a chore.

So I decided that it was time to purchase a new desktop (something I haven't owned in 10 years), but I didn't want to spend a lot. We are set for an international move soon and are planning to buy a house. So, for now, the $1500+ i7-8700k dream build I had in mind is going to have to wait. I decided it was time to look at cheaper options, both to get my feet wet with a Hackintosh build and to have a machine capable of light video editing at 1080p (and maybe 4k using proxies).

This week I found an 8300 Elite SFF with an i7-3770, 16GB RAM, and 1.0TB HD for $180 plus shipping. I think that's a pretty good deal, just based upon the parts alone. A friend of mine was nice enough to give me an MSI GT710 2GB LP graphics card. I know that it is not ideal for video editing, but it will allow me to get started until I can buy a GTX 1050 TI (which seems to be the best card that this MB will support). I also have a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD that I will be using as my boot/install drive. This should hopefully speed things along. This weekend I will be checking out some of the local shops that sell computer parts to see if I can snag a monitor for a decent price.

As far as Bluetooth/wifi, I am considering this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Broadcom-B...985234?hash=item1a3a3953d2:g:qbAAAOSwlzRaVuPX - This chipset should work natively, right? It's a little more expensive than the Chinese options, but the vendor is located in USA, so I won't have to wait a month to receive it.

Any other things I am overlooking or things to consider? I appreciate all of the work that has gone in to this post!

4GB, in my opinion, makes macOS unusable now. I feel that 16GB should be a bare minimum by today's standard.

Yes, that Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card should work fine.

Do some research before investing in to a GTX 1050. Lots of people are reporting severe lag with the last few versions of the Nvidia web drivers. Currently, it appears that the lag primarily affects Skylake and newer systems, but the fact that Nvidia still hasn't fixed it is disconcerting.

Meanwhile, Apple has been hard at work bringing native support for a number of AMD GPUs to macOS. If you will be editing in FCPX, AMD will perform much, much better.

I forgot I did have one question before beginning. Is it better to install Sierra first (as it is better documented on these machines) and then upgrade to High Sierra, or can I go direct with a High Sierra install?

Go straight to High Sierra. I see no point in bothering with Sierra. Installation method is the same for either version of macOS.

 

[emericuh]

I've got the same bluetooth/wifi (I think..) which I got out of Asia and it works great, natively OOB.

I'm waiting for 10.13.4 to install a Radeon RX560, which should be natively supported and great improvement in FCP performance.

Good luck and enjoy

That's promising to hear. Does it work with the continuity features, etc?

I'll check out the RX560. I've mainly been looking at NVidia cards.

I've done both.
My first 8300 was Sierra, then months later upgrade to High Sierra. Worked fine.
My subsequent 8300 was direct to High Sierra, with no issues. Suggest this way, as then no need to upgrade

Perfect. Thanks!

 

[emericuh]

Do some research before investing in to a GTX 1050. Lots of people are reporting severe lag with the last few versions of the Nvidia web drivers. Currently, it appears that the lag primarily Skylake and newer systems, but the fact that Nvidia still hasn't fixed it is disconcerting.

Meanwhile, Apple has been hard at work bringing native support for a number of AMD GPUs to macOS. If you will be editing in FCPX, AMD will perform much, much better.

Thanks, pastrychef! I'll look at my AMD options. I wasn't aware of the performance issues with NVidia cards.

 

[trs96]

Thanks, pastrychef! I'll look at my AMD options. I wasn't aware of the performance issues with NVidia cards.

The one roadblock you'll run into is a lack of many low profile AMD RX560s. The ones available will only fit in the CMT case.
EDIT: Looks like only MSI has come out with a LP RX560 4GB recently. That would be one AMD option in the SFF case.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137308
looks like the crypto miners haven't bought all these up yet. $169 is above MSRP but still reasonable for a 4GB model.

​

There may have been one LP RX460 that was available, I'm not sure if there still is one for sale. I haven't really investigated that. My GTX 1050 is working with Sierra and HS. I've not done any FCP editing with it so I'm not able to offer any advice there.

 

[pastrychef]

The one roadblock you'll run into is a lack of any low profile AMD RX560s. The ones available will only fit in the CMT case. Not in the low profile only SFF case. There may have been one LP RX460 that was available, I'm not sure if there still is one for sale. I haven't really investigated that. My GTX 1050 is working with Sierra and HS. I've not done any FCP editing with it so I'm not able to offer any advice there.

Here's a low profile RX 560.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137308

I think there are also some low profile RX 550s, but I don't know how compatible they are with macOS.

 

[MrNeedSomeHelp]

Hi TRS

Wondered if you could spare a moment as I have an issue that I need guidance on.

For months I was able to watch videos with 5.1 audio track downmixed on the TV.

But now, for no apparent reason, I'm only getting the L R channels and not centre, I can't hear anyone talk.

I have tried everything I can think of with regards to settings in mac os x and on the TV, so I beginning to suspect i have a Hackintosh bug

NVIDIA driver is up to date and I have tried different HDMI cables

Your ideas would be most appreciated, thanks.
HP8300>Sierra>VLC>NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti 4095 MB>hdmi>SAMSUNG TV

 

[trs96]

I think there are also some low profile RX 550s, but I don't know how compatible they are with macOS.

Just saw that too. Looks good for SFF owners that want to edit in iMovie or FCP X. The RX550s have proven to not be a viable solution with macOS. Not worth all the work it would take to get it working if that is even possible.

So the latest HP 8300 general graphics recommendation is:

If gaming is more important to you (Windows) then get the GTX 1050 Ti 4GB version.
If video editing is most important (macOS) and FCP X, then get the new AMD RX560. MSI LP version if you have the SFF case.

If you are outside the USA and can't order from Newegg, try looking for a LP RX560 at Amazon. Here's one example.
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07B7YMBFC/

The MSI RX560 LP gives you a DP 1.2 output if you've got a 4K monitor to use for editing. Dual fans are also helpful to cool it.

 

[trs96]

Hi TRS

Wondered if you could spare a moment as I have an issue that I need guidance on.

For months I was able to watch videos with 5.1 audio track downmixed on the TV.

But now, for no apparent reason, I'm only getting the L R channels and not centre, I can't hear anyone talk.

I have tried everything I can think of with regards to settings in mac os x and on the TV, so I beginning to suspect i have a Hackintosh bug

NVIDIA driver is up to date and I have tried different HDMI cables

Your ideas would be most appreciated, thanks.

I'm not much of an audio expert or audiophile and haven't invested in a 5.1 surround system. You could try using a USB audio adapter that offers 5.1 output. If not that, you'll probably need to consult with Toleda on how to fix that issue.

 

[pastrychef]

Just saw that too. Looks good for SFF owners that want to edit in iMovie or FCP X. The RX550s have proven to not be a viable solution with macOS. Not worth all the work it would take to get it working.

So the latest HP 8300 general graphics recommendation is:

If gaming is more important to you (Windows) then get the GTX 1050 Ti 4GB version.
If video editing is most important (macOS) and FCP X, then get the new AMD RX560. MSI LP version if you have the SFF case.

If you are outside the USA and can't order from Newegg, try looking for a LP RX560 at Amazon. Here's one example.
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07B7YMBFC/
The MSI RX560 LP gives you a DP 1.2 output if you've got a 4K monitor to use for editing. Dual fans are also helpful to cool it.

View attachment 319279

For those looking for low profile and single slot, options are FirePro W4100, FirePro W4300, and Radeon Pro WX 4100. But I have no idea how these perform...

As for gaming in Windows between an RX 560 and a GTX 1050, I think it's pretty much a wash. Each beats out the other in some games. They are comparable enough that I would just recommend an RX 560 over a GTX 1050 in general.
https://www.techspot.com/review/1430-radeon-rx-560-vs-geforce-gtx-1050/page1.html

 

[pastrychef]

Hi TRS

Wondered if you could spare a moment as I have an issue that I need guidance on.

For months I was able to watch videos with 5.1 audio track downmixed on the TV.

But now, for no apparent reason, I'm only getting the L R channels and not centre, I can't hear anyone talk.

I have tried everything I can think of with regards to settings in mac os x and on the TV, so I beginning to suspect i have a Hackintosh bug

NVIDIA driver is up to date and I have tried different HDMI cables

Your ideas would be most appreciated, thanks.
HP8300>Sierra>VLC>NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti 4095 MB>hdmi>SAMSUNG TV

If you are able to follow illustrated instructions, you can get the ACL221 work properly. I posted instructions here.