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

[trs96]

Is there any way to upgrade the power supply on these computers.

Not really as they are proprietary. You could put in a second smaller ATX or SFX PSU in your MT (just below the HDD cages) to power a graphics card. Just run the power cable out through a back PCI opening in the case. A 350 or 450 watt is enough for a 570 or 580.

 

[lapslide2010]

I have a "stock" refurbished HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF with i7-3770 processor. Video has not been a problem driven from the onboard Displayport using a DP to HDMI cable - until I try to run a display with more than 1920 pixel width. Using an LG 29wk500 21:9 the display image is broken into repeating, overlapping "screens", complete with a pointer for each - very confusing to try to navigate while searching for a solution.

I have the computer set up as dual boot with Windows 10. When booted from Windows 10 the display works perfectly at its native resolution without intervention in Windows settings.

To see if the problem was just with the Mac OS, I installed a PCI graphics card recommended for this computer as a hack. With that card installed I was able to achieve full native resolution on the display using SwitchResX, as Mojave doesn't support the ultrawide display in its default selections. I applied a "safe" setting for the display's native resolution and it worked on a reboot, finding the proper resolution without intervention.

I shut down, disconnected the video and took the video card out, plugging back into the display using the displayport and the display ignores the settings for SwitchResX and defaults to the repeating, overlapping "screens".

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, were you able to fix it? It seems logical that if Windows 10 can easily use the proper resolution using the onboard video from displayport, and SwitchResX makes it work on OS Mojave using a PCI video card, that there should be a way to have Mac OS Mojave work with the onboard video.

 

[andwhy81]

Is there any way to upgrade the power supply on these computers.

i built (installed a HD and OSX) a 8300 CMT for a friend and he used a spare PSU just to run a NV 1060 GFX card, i have also read about someone that makes a wiring harness that allows you to run after market PSU in the full size CMT 8300, i think he sells them on ebay.

 

[trs96]

i have also read about someone that makes a wiring harness that allows you to run after market PSU in the full size CMT 8300, i think he sells them on ebay.

It's best to avoid cables sold on Ebay. The quality is generally sub par. Some people have reported frying their motherboards with low cost adapter cables. The only ones I would attempt to use are from Moddiy. These are the only ones HP recommends (in their forums) if anyone wants to upgrade the PSU.

HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT PSU Main Power 24 Pin to 6 Pin Adapter Cable

Buy HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT PSU Main Power 24 Pin to 6 Pin Adapter Cable for $14.99 with Free Shipping Worldwide (In Stock)

www.moddiy.com

 

[phrozenpenguin]

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, were you able to fix it? It seems logical that if Windows 10 can easily use the proper resolution using the onboard video from displayport, and SwitchResX makes it work on OS Mojave using a PCI video card, that there should be a way to have Mac OS Mojave work with the onboard video.

I've run 1440p with no issues from HD4000 displayport and have driven ultrawide displays with no issues as well. I'm not sure what you are experiencing - sorry!

 

[phrozenpenguin]

Is there any way to upgrade the power supply on these computers.

When I tried to physically put an ATX PSU in the CMT none of the bolt holes lined up - it was like the ATX PSU was a different size.

 

[trs96]

When I tried to physically put an ATX PSU in the CMT none of the bolt holes lined up - it was like the ATX PSU was a different size.

That's one reason I don't suggest replacing those. HP doesn't want the end user to upgrade to higher wattage PSUs at all. Hence they make it rather difficult to do that.

The 24 to 6 pin adapters are also questionable in my opinion. Many of them are low quality products and can even damage your system when used with a replacement PSU. If anyone wants a higher wattage PSU I usually say, build a new custom PC or get the Optiplex 7010/9010 MT instead.

 

[trs96]

I've run 1440p with no issues from HD4000 displayport and have driven ultrawide displays with no issues as well.

Does your ultrawide have DP input or is it HDMI only ? I think that could be part of the problem for lapslide2010. The DP to HDMI adapter could be at issue here. Most CustoMac's I've seen require an active adapter when used with DP on Macs. Even higher end GPUs like an RX580 need the active Club3D adapter when going from DP to HDMI on a TV monitor with HDMI 2.0.

 

[phrozenpenguin]

Does your ultrawide have DP input or is it HDMI only ? I think that could be part of the problem for lapslide2010. The DP to HDMI adapter could be at issue here. Many of them I've seen only do up to 1200p and not 1440p.

All my monitors are running displayport with proper cables.

 

[trs96]

All my monitors are running displayport with proper cables.

The LG ultrawide in question doesn't have DP input only HDMI inputs.