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

[MrNeedSomeHelp]

Thanks for the advice, the Dell is more costly here in the UK so I have purchased the HP 8300 i5 MT.

I'm going to upgrade it with an i7 processor that I already own.
32Gb RAM
Twin SSD.
install Catalina and windows 10.
It will have a GT710 but I will update to RX570 8GB at some point soon.

 

[d360000]

Thanks for the advice, the Dell is more costly here in the UK so I have purchased the HP 8300 i5 MT.

I'm going to upgrade it with an i7 processor that I already own.
32Gb RAM
Twin SSD.
install Catalina and windows 10.
It will have a GT710 but I will update to RX570 8GB at some point soon.

Cool.

I have a GT7102GBLP but the 570 absolutely blows it away. In fact, I think the RX570 at 4GB or above is an absolute bargain, when you look at the capabilities and how close it is to a 580 its a great buy. OOB 570/580 works on Mojave, I do dual boot also (in fact triple with Ubuntu) and have tested cards out on the usual GPU tests and the 570 rocks all tests. I may experiment with a dual card setup if my PSU holds up.

In the UK, Dell7020's are decent prices. I don't think the 9020 is worth the extra spend. However, stock on Dells is nothing like it is in the USA so yes prices on average are higher and spares less easy to come by. I have replace fans, added extra cooling, refurbed all components on my Dell and found it easier than the HP for expansion purposes once you get used to it. However, the HP is problem free and simple - no question that It gets you up and running faster in my opinion.

RAM on the HP is cheaper. So I guess maxing it out at 32Gb is easier to do. RAM does make a difference on video edits I found but I guess thats nothing new.

Enjoy!

 

[phrozenpenguin]

Interesting. A i7 Dell 9020 is double the price of an i7 HP 8300 for me - hence why I haven't looked further. Also it appears a RX560 or 580 will be double slot so will block the wifi / bluetooth card that I would be wanting to use.

 

[trs96]

Interesting. A i7 Dell 9020 is double the price of an i7 HP 8300 for me - hence why I haven't looked further.

If the Dell 9020 is 2x the cost it's not worth the upgrade.

Also it appears a RX560 or 580 will be double slot so will block the wifi / bluetooth card that I would be wanting to use.

There are workarounds for that you can read about in the Dell Optiplex thread. The other x16 slot is actually wired x4 and can be used too.

 

[MrNeedSomeHelp]

8300 MT has arrived, I've already upgraded the CPU from i5 to i7. Is there any advice on selecting a replacement PSU and adaptor cables (for use with the RX 570 8Gb that I'm yet to purchase).

I'm in no rush, so to save some money, I'm thinking about sourcing all the parts (graphics, PSU, cable) from Aliexpress.

Lastly, I'm also concerned about how much room is available in the MT, it's not as roomy for a GPU as I was expecting. The attached photo is with the 710 LP installed

 

[jeppe cohrt]

Hi guys
For your information I've successfully installed a NvMe Disk in the HP 8300 SFF in the slot PCI 3 x4 using this type of adapter
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07SQ12MV5/?tag=tonymacx8603-21



View attachment 451715View attachment 451725

As disk instead of a samsung 970 EVO I have a WD Blue SN550 250 Go Haute Performance M.2 PCIe NVME SSD less expensive

In my case the thermal pad or even the heatsink is not mandatory

By default the disk is not visible under the BIOS but visible under CLOVER and can be selected to start an OS like Windows for example so kind of "bootable" if you have a CLOVER install on a MacOS SSD

Don't forget to install the required NvMe driver with CLOVER

Hello I’m interested in your NvMe solution.. my question is I sent the performance of such fast drive bottelnecked by the hp8300 motherboard ? How fast read and write speed can the System handle ?

 

[jeppe cohrt]

Hello guys might need some advise , I’m now running 2 computers 8300 sff. Sierra 10.12.6 with nvidia 1050ti. Running great. But wanted to update, my setup to support more monitors/Projectors . with 1050ti its max is 4 monitors/projectors .

i have an Asus matrix Radeon 7970 card that runs Well in Sierra 10.12.6. ( using external powersupply and extension cable) But then run Mojave or Catalina . Using sniki guide I couldn’t get it to work with VirtualSmc kext. So tryed with fake SMC and that booted and I got it to recognise the card and it worked somehow , but unstable could work for 20 minutes do all kinds of geek bench and so.. but sometimes it just make small squares 2x2 millimetres pixel on some parts off the screen, fan speed go high and computer freezes .. that happens when it’s not doing and workload.. totally random ? Any ideas ?

Does anyone have a EFIfolder to share , for a I5 3470 cpu sff 8300 ? Catalina or Mojave ?

last question is it a must to have trimforce enabled in Mojave/Catalina on a Wd 240 ssd the green one ?

bonus info I’m using computers for theatre video artwork.. and they play very well pro res with 4x 1920x1080 screens at 56 procent cpu. With 1050ti
On the 7970 card I tryed playing 7 x 1920x1080 in Hap codec and that’s gpu accelerated and played smooth at 15 procent cpu load very amazing performance such low cost computer.

 

[trs96]

I'm also concerned about how much room is available in the MT, it's not as roomy for a GPU as I was expecting.

That's not an 8300 MT Case you've got there. It looks like it's a 6300 Pro MT case and motherboard. Where did you buy it and how did they list it ? The 6300 Pro MT is really the size of an mATX computer not a mini-tower. It's misleading.

Here's how the 8300 MT board should look. It's more like an ATX form factor, not BTX like the picture you show.

You can see all the PCIe slots are to the right of the rear panel I/O ports for video/usb etc.

The Picture below is similar to the board that you have. PCIe slots on the opposite side, to the left of the I/O.

 

[MrNeedSomeHelp]

thanks and bugger! I got it on ebay, it was listed as 8300 MT, it says 8300 on the case twice (see images).

Is there a disadvantage to the 6300 over the 8300?

Is there a definitive way to prove to the seller and eBay that this is not the 8300 MT as listed?

Update: I've done a bit more digging and found the "Illustrated Parts & Service Map HP Compaq 8300 Elite Business PC Microtower". Page 4 features an image of the motherboard that, to my novice eye, appears to match what I have.

What do you think? Seems unlikely, but is this a version of the motherboard you've not encountered before?

 

[trs96]

it was listed as 8300 MT, it says 8300 on the case twice

What country are you in ? HP may have done things differently in some countries. I think in this case it may be the HP 8300 SFF motherboard installed into the HP 6300 Pro MT case. So technically it is an 8300, just not in the HP 8300 MT case. You can also look in your BIOS under system informantion and see what it says there. Post a picture of it.

I know that in the USA, only the 6300 Pro motherboards were installed into the case you've got. All HP 8300 ATX size boards went into the larger Mini-Tower case.

Here's the 8300 MT case. It's much bigger and holds more hard drives and 5.25" drives.