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pastrychef's testing machine - HP Elite 8300 SFF - i7-3770 - GT 630

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Hi @dorincalugaru thanks for the input. However I'm looking for something to replace the entire heatsink / fan assembley on an 8300 tower version. It looks like your model numbers are "just" fans? I did the measurements and a 92mm fan won't fit on the existing heatsink.
 
For anyone that has upgraded to a RX560, did you have to change your profile from iMac 13,2? If so, what did you change it to?

Thanks!
 
Is anyone having a problem with FaceTime receiving calls from an iPhone on 10.14.4 Mojave?
 
Pastrychef, thank you very much for your installation information. I too was blown away when I found this computer (8300 SFF) - I originally purchased it to get the processor and put it onto a DH67CL board. When the Intel board bricked during bios update, I was forced to use the 8300 as a stop gap - it has now become my main computer, with dual boot ability, for all of my main audio recording and other intensive projects. Using the HD4000 via displayport for one 27" display, driving another 27" display from a displayLink USB3 dock from Targus that I found at a London Drugs (Canada) for $80... appears they didn't know it needed a driver for MacOS. I've added a firewire card for connection to my audio interface. Similar to you, I don't really need more computers, but I feel drawn to buying the mini tower version just to have more drive bays. :)
 
Pastrychef, thank you very much for your installation information. I too was blown away when I found this computer (8300 SFF) - I originally purchased it to get the processor and put it onto a DH67CL board. When the Intel board bricked during bios update, I was forced to use the 8300 as a stop gap - it has now become my main computer, with dual boot ability, for all of my main audio recording and other intensive projects. Using the HD4000 via displayport for one 27" display, driving another 27" display from a displayLink USB3 dock from Targus that I found at a London Drugs (Canada) for $80... appears they didn't know it needed a driver for MacOS. I've added a firewire card for connection to my audio interface. Similar to you, I don't really need more computers, but I feel drawn to buying the mini tower version just to have more drive bays. :)

Are you using an old style PCI or newer PCI-e Firewire card? If you implement the DSDT, the PCI slot can be used.

At this point, I would not recommend purchasing an 8300. I feel it's getting too old and you can find used HP or Dell Skylake and/or Kaby Lake systems easily in the neighborhood of about $200. This will give you a much more "modern" and updated system. Please see my "Clunker" build. Link is below in my signature.
 
Are you using an old style PCI or newer PCI-e Firewire card? If you implement the DSDT, the PCI slot can be used.

At this point, I would not recommend purchasing an 8300. I feel it's getting too old and you can find used HP or Dell Skylake and/or Kaby Lake systems easily in the neighborhood of about $200. This will give you a much more "modern" and updated system. Please see my "Clunker" build. Link is below in my signature.

Thank you for that!

Amazon.ca is where I've been sourcing the 8300 for installations, usually priced between $290 and $490 depending on RAM, SSD/HDD, Windows 10 or no Windows 10. The Dell Optiplex 3050 and 3060 family seems to be about double to triple that amount. I'll have to do more sourcing research, perhaps there are refurbs at Newegg or TigerDirect.
 
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I've also had a look and found there is a significant price increase (and limited availability) on newer machines. I would still recommend (and am still) using 8300s. My main 8300 CMT feels significantly faster in use than my genuine MBP, cost a fraction of it and I am confident I can double the RAM (16gb to 32gb) and increase SSD (512gb to ??) and mechanical storage (3tb to ???) and upgrade the graphics (HD4000 to RX560) relatively cheaply and easily if and when required.
 
I've also had a look and found there is a significant price increase (and limited availability) on newer machines. I would still recommend (and am still) using 8300s. My main 8300 CMT feels significantly faster in use than my genuine MBP, cost a fraction of it and I am confident I can double the RAM (16gb to 32gb) and increase SSD (512gb to ??) and mechanical storage (3tb to ???) and upgrade the graphics (HD4000 to RX560) relatively cheaply and easily if and when required.

Here are a few pretty good deals. Remember, these are using 6th gen Intel CPUs.
Screen Shot 2019-05-02 at 12.50.17 AM.png
 
Major point I forgot to mention, I'm not in the US. Geography plays a big part in availability!
 
Major point I forgot to mention, I'm not in the US. Geography plays a big part in availability!

Ah! That makes a big difference. Lol

But, at the current prices in the US, it makes much more sense to go with Skylake or Kaby Lake systems now. I had spare SSD, RAM, and CPU sitting around and bought a bare bones system for $63 and was up and running with a Dell Sky Lake system within an hour or two. These are going for less than what I originally paid for my 8300.

I fully expect Apple to drop support for Ivy Bridge in the very near future.
 
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