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

[trs96]

Still researching for parts for my 8300

If you need an older version of OS X / iTunes you can go as far back as Mt. Lion since the 8300 is Q77/Ivy Bridge based. If that version of El Capitan works best, install that if you'd like. Sierra or High Sierra are not mandatory.

 

[MrNeedSomeHelp]

Try changing the boot order in the bios make sure the drive with MacOS is the first then save and hopefully it should work

Also it happened to me also after i finished my installation of Mojave on my SSD MacOS drive i wanted to check on my win10 on my other drive at first it booted normally via clover then when i restarted to boot to my mac it went directly to windows boot so i went to my bios and changed the boot order and made my mac SSD first then windows hard disk drive second and it worked as it should i hope it works for you too my friend

This worked great thanks.

 

[trs96]

How to Mod your HP 8300 SFF to make it look Awesome !

This video showcases a Star Trek theme applied to an older HP SFF model.
If you are into modding and have a lot of free time this could be fun and rewarding.

Just so you know. If you attempt to take a dremel to the top/side cover of your 8300, the steel in that is much thicker than what HP used in the older DC7800 computers. If you want to practice first, you can simply buy a barebones HP for a small amount of money and try modding that.



HP DC 7800 that is modded in the video above

It's easy to find an HP 8200 or even 6200 barebones on Ebay for about 30 dollars or less. Remember that most of the parts are interchangeable between the HP 8200 series and the HP 8300s. I've even put a 6300 motherboard into a 6200 Pro MT case and it worked perfectly. So if you buy a barebones you can use any of the parts in it as backups.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Compaq-...am:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!53590!US!-1:rk:2:pf:0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Compaq-...4:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!53590!US!-1:rk:13:pf:0

 

[MrNeedSomeHelp]

any known issues with midi keyboards?

I got an M-Audio Keystation for Christmas, even the M-audio techs can't get it to work after a screen share

 

[Toyo72]

I really need to upgrade my old EP45 El Capitan machine. Thinking about jumping in with either an 8300 tower i7 or a Dell 7010/9010 tower. 8300 seems to be at a lower price, however I'll need to add a cheap graphics card as I'm using dual 1080p monitors which closes the gap a bit, as I could get by with the onboard dual DP HD4000 with the Dell. Pluses and minuses to each, but I like the ability to use aftermarket fans (and cooler?) on the HP, and it seems to be maybe more reliably 100% working with Mojave?
Question: how many SATA ports are in the 8300 MT vs the 6300 Pro? I need 4 ports for my existing drives.

 

[trs96]

Question: how many SATA ports are in the 8300 MT vs the 6300 Pro? I need 4 ports for my existing drives.

The 8300 MT has 5 and the 6300 Pros have 4. The 8300 has two Sata 6Gb/s speed ports whereas the 6300 only has one of the Sata 6Gb/s connectors. The Sata 3 - 6 Gb/s ports are always some color of blue. Below in the pic it's Sata 0 on the topmost one on the 6300. On the Dell 7010 and 9010 they both have two 6Gb/s Sata ports. You can download the technical manuals for any of these PCs on their respective websites to get all the specs of each one.

HP 8300 MT Motherboard Sata Ports

 

[Toyo72]

Thanks @trs96 that is helpful. I found the Dell technical manuals (I think you had posted links in the 7010/9010 guide somewhere) but couldn't find the info at HP in their tech specs. The 8300 looks more appropriate than the 6300 for my use.

 

[curiou5]

Thank you Guys for help TR96, jzheng & Jasdoc
Now done x3 8300, I use all 3 on wired network, with AsusBT400 bluetooth. All working gud, except poor sound thru inbuilt speaker, but HDMI works great. imessages work too.
Last riddle: is it possible to activate continuity ?, CAT does not identify asusBT400, but bluetooth working well
Looked at wificards as suggested but out of budget at present. will TPlink T1u or 725n help
Cheers

How did you get bluetooth working? I'm on an HP 8300 sff I can't connect to magic keyboard and trackpad after reboot

 

[Toyo72]

Thanks for all the great info here @trs96

I was able to find a great deal on an 8300 MT i5 16GB, will probably take 10-15 days to arrive. In the meantime, need to find the best budget graphics card, as I use dual monitors, nothing fancy they are old Dell IPS 22" model, decent for photo editing and office work. Looking at the various GT 710 models. It needs to be DDR3, correct?

Also, if I'm planning on using High Sierra, is it best to start with that for the initial install, or is it easier to install Sierra and then upgrade?
I'll have to migrate my current customac from El Capitan to the new install.

 

[trs96]

Looking at the various GT 710 models. It needs to be DDR3, correct?

Also, if I'm planning on using High Sierra, is it best to start with that for the initial install, or is it easier to install Sierra and then upgrade?

Yes, you'd want the DDR3 version of the GT 710. High Sierra is just as easy to install, start with that.