The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

Our little s3200t has been running 24/7 as a Windows Media Center for 7 years. The original power supply died. When searching for a replacement I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews of the ones that show up.

Are any of the under $50 units good enough? I'm not too interested in putting much money into this Core Duo 2.2 machine that has more than served its purpose but if a PSU priced between $25 - $50 works and isn't too noisy I will buy it.

Here are some I'm looking at:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Supply-for-HP-Pavilion-Slimline-492674-001-5188-7602-s3120n-s3321p-s7310n-/290904370543

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Supply-for-HP-Pavilion-Slimline-s3500f-S3530F-s3700y-s7500y-s7510n-s3200n/290947279797?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20131231084308%26meid%3D01e7bdcc56534f2c8814712264b9fb56%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D24%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D290904370543

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0097KU6NU/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687562&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B005WEYB0Y&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1PRYWMDB7YPCVYNSGYQ7

http://www.replacepowersupply.com/rpsu-200-hp-s3200t.html
 
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Hello,
I finally decided to become a member because I read almost all of these 260 pages(might have missed few) and not found a perfect answer to my question.
I have an s3200n, 4gb(2x2gb) ram, 200w PSU(aftermarket), 4800+ processor.
i want to buy a GT730 GDDR5. Iam not sure if i want the 1gb/1006MHz model or the 2GB/902MHz. I found out that this card uses little less than 40w, around 34-38.
Do you guys think it would fit into this slimline s3200n case? And would it have enough juice?
Thank you in advance!!
 
Also, after installing a graphic card, is it ok for me to take out the little cooler which is sitting on top of the onboard graphic chip to have some extra space? That chip is not even going to be working so i feel like it doesnt deserve a cooler haha This case is so little and i am trying to figure out a way for the best cooling performance so I need every bit extra air circulating thru the case.
 
So I went ahead and bought a Sapphire HD5570 for $20! Plugged it in, and what a difference! My windows score on graphics was about 3.1, not it is almost 6 if i am not mistaken. I am able to play gta4 on low settings. It lags once in a while on medium.
now i am searching for a quadcore cpu for better gaming. Only one i found is 9150e which is 1.8 x4 so i am not sure if its going to be any better than the 2.4 x2 i have right now
 
I picked up an s3000n today that seems to have a failed PSU. I've had my hands on three of these things over the years, and each and every time I am secretly hoping that I can talk the customer into buying a newer PC from me so that I can have their Slimline and go to town on it ! Unfortunately in most cases they are easily fixed :(

I was hoping to make a Slimline semi-gamer build out of one using an ITX board and integrated AMD graphics. Reading over yousucktoo's posts has me thinking big, but my budget is not going to allow that level of extravagance. Just looking to get playable framerates in Skyrim and TF2, and I am good.

Of course, I will probably have to return this latest Slimline to grace my workbench to the customer, and ditch all plans ONCE AGAIN of building this tiny budget gamer rig that has no business being both fast and cute as hell. I envy you guys who have poured blood, sweat, tears and a LOT of money into your builds ... maybe someday I can finally get one that is actually mine to keep !
 
Well, I spent 3 hours working on the box last night. I picked up the Sparkle 270w PSU with adapter from Amazon, and while I had it torn down I replaced the OEM 2x1GB RAM with a pair of Crucial 2x2GB DDR2 sticks. After that, I couldn't get the thing to POST, getting a short beep followed by a longer beep. Most of the documentation pointed to a memory error, so I swapped out the Crucial for the OEM sticks. Still no POST !! Only other thing I could think of was the CPU, so I swapped out the X2 3800+ for an X2 5000+ I had. Still no luck, and still the same beep pattern !

So I removed one of the original sticks of RAM and FINALLY got it to POST ... for 10 seconds, just long enough for the screen to flash 'Unsupported CPU' and shut down. Arghh, need a BIOS update. So it was back to the X2 3800+, and I finally got it to boot, but it looks like the second RAM slot is now dead, and the remaining working slot won't work with ANY of my 2GB sticks, including G.Skill, Buffalo, Super Talent and Kingston. It runs with the X2 3800+ and one stick of 1GB RAM, but I was hoping for more, or at the very least the ability to pop a 2GB stick into my working slot. Will try the BIOS update tonight and see what happens.
 
Walkintarget said:
Well, I spent 3 hours working on the box last night. I picked up the Sparkle 270w PSU with adapter from Amazon, and while I had it torn down I replaced the OEM 2x1GB RAM with a pair of Crucial 2x2GB DDR2 sticks. After that, I couldn't get the thing to POST, getting a short beep followed by a longer beep. Most of the documentation pointed to a memory error, so I swapped out the Crucial for the OEM sticks. Still no POST !! Only other thing I could think of was the CPU, so I swapped out the X2 3800+ for an X2 5000+ I had. Still no luck, and still the same beep pattern !

So I removed one of the original sticks of RAM and FINALLY got it to POST ... for 10 seconds, just long enough for the screen to flash 'Unsupported CPU' and shut down. Arghh, need a BIOS update. So it was back to the X2 3800+, and I finally got it to boot, but it looks like the second RAM slot is now dead, and the remaining working slot won't work with ANY of my 2GB sticks, including G.Skill, Buffalo, Super Talent and Kingston. It runs with the X2 3800+ and one stick of 1GB RAM, but I was hoping for more, or at the very least the ability to pop a 2GB stick into my working slot. Will try the BIOS update tonight and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a struggle, hope you had luck !
 
Chry said:
Sounds like a struggle, hope you had luck !
Click to expand...
It's been set aside as I struggled last weekend with a failing wifi router (only 6 months old !!). After 20+ years of fixing PCs, I am finding that I can only stomach so many issues at one time. Same day my wifi died, my MSI 970 Gaming board got flakey on me. To add to my misery, my WHS server is now out of commission, so I am in hardware hell right now. The ONLY way it could get worse is for me to return to the Slimline and fight it tooth and nail until one of us gives up. I prefer to regain my stamina and mental health slowly before adding to my woes, so I'm moving it to the back of the hardware shelf.
Worst case scenario - I make a long drive to MicroCenter and pick up an AMD mITX combo, maybe an A6-7400k with a Gigabyte F2A88XN and replace the whole thing. At $115, it should give the little Slimline a nice performance boost and eliminates my search for a faster LP video card.
 
hokkabaz said:
Hello,
I finally decided to become a member because I read almost all of these 260 pages(might have missed few) and not found a perfect answer to my question.
I have an s3200n, 4gb(2x2gb) ram, 200w PSU(aftermarket), 4800+ processor.
i want to buy a GT730 GDDR5. Iam not sure if i want the 1gb/1006MHz model or the 2GB/902MHz. I found out that this card uses little less than 40w, around 34-38.
Do you guys think it would fit into this slimline s3200n case? And would it have enough juice?


I have the MSI GT 630 2gb card. The 700 series cards supposedly do not work because of the UEFI bios. This bios isn't upgradeable on these mobos.
Click to expand...
 
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dsteinschneider said:
Our little s3200t has been running 24/7 as a Windows Media Center for 7 years. The original power supply died. When searching for a replacement I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews of the ones that show up.

Are any of the under $50 units good enough? I'm not too interested in putting much money into this Core Duo 2.2 machine that has more than served its purpose but if a PSU priced between $25 - $50 works and isn't too noisy I will buy it.

Here are some I'm looking at:
Replace Power Supply for HP Slimline 492674-001 5188-7602 s3120n s3321p s7310n

Replace Power Supply for HP Slimline s3500f S3530F s3700y s7500y s7510n s3200n

Amazon.com: 250 Watt 250W Flex ATX Power Supply Replacement for HP Pavilion Slimline 5188-7520, 5188-7521, 5188-2755, 5188-7602, s3200n, s3000, s3100n, s3400f, s3500f, s3521, s7700n, s3707c, AC BEL PC6012,PC6034 Delta DPS-160QB,DPS-108DB-1 A with free HP24pin Mini ada: Computers & Accessories

Replace Power HP Pavilion Slimline s3200t 200 Watt Power Supply
Click to expand...
I bought a 430 watt PSU from eBay and it works fine. I think i paid like $30. Its not loud at all at least i don't think it is. Sounds like a xbox or ps3 fan blowing.
 
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Hey peeps, I bought a s3600f with a dual core E21xx and recently bought another used s3600t with a quad core q9300, Just for shiats and giggles I switch the dual core with the quad core and VOILA! I have a quad core processor in it even though in HP specs it says it can only upgrade to these processors:
  • Intel Core 2 Duo (Wolfdale) E8xxx

  • Core 2 Duo E6xxx (Conroe) up to E6850

  • Core 2 Duo E4xxx (Conroe) up to E4400

  • Pentium E2xxx series (Conroe) with Dual Core technology up to E2160

  • Celeron 4xx series (Conroe) up to Celeron 440





  • Now my question is has anyone experimented with other upgrades that weren't supposedly upgradeable from HP specs but tried anyways and had the same results as me? I'm gonna try adding more ram from 4gb to 8gb next, has anyone tried 8 gbs of memory yet if so is the post on this thread?
 
oefoifvet said:
Hey peeps, I bought a s3600f with a dual core E21xx and recently bought another used s3600t with a quad core q9300, Just for shiats and giggles I switch the dual core with the quad core and VOILA! I have a quad core processor in it even though in HP specs it says it can only upgrade to these processors:
  • Now my question is has anyone experimented with other upgrades that weren't supposedly upgradeable from HP specs but tried anyways and had the same results as me? I'm gonna try adding more ram from 4gb to 8gb next, has anyone tried 8 gbs of memory yet if so is the post on this thread?
Click to expand...
Good work with the CPU. Think the MB can do a lot more that the HP spec site says (although why would they...) eg. HP Irvine Motherboard: A List of CPU That Fit HP Irvine

Haven't tried more RAM. Can't say 8GB of DDR2 is economically easily achievable in my geography sadly :(

Consider BIOS version and of course you will know you need a x64 OS to get >4gb ram accessible. Best luck
 
oefoifvet said:
Hey peeps, I bought a s3600f with a dual core E21xx and recently bought another used s3600t with a quad core q9300, Just for shiats and giggles I switch the dual core with the quad core and VOILA! I have a quad core processor in it even though in HP specs it says it can only upgrade to these processors:
  • Intel Core 2 Duo (Wolfdale) E8xxx

  • Core 2 Duo E6xxx (Conroe) up to E6850

  • Core 2 Duo E4xxx (Conroe) up to E4400

  • Pentium E2xxx series (Conroe) with Dual Core technology up to E2160

  • Celeron 4xx series (Conroe) up to Celeron 440





  • Now my question is has anyone experimented with other upgrades that weren't supposedly upgradeable from HP specs but tried anyways and had the same results as me? I'm gonna try adding more ram from 4gb to 8gb next, has anyone tried 8 gbs of memory yet if so is the post on this thread?
Click to expand...

Just wanted to let everyone know my S3600f rig now has a Core 2 Quad Q9300 with 8GB of ram ( 4gb per slot) and an upgraded 350 PSU. This is by far worth every nickel and dime I put into it for a 2nd HTPC in my home. I spent $60 shipped on eBay and spent A little over $200 on upgrades with PSU, processor , ram, and video card including expansion 4 slot esata/ sata card in which I'm using a 1 tb laptop HD for my DVR. It works great with Kodi and Next PVR. Only thing now is I want to try to upgrade to the best supported video card possible. I want 1080 and up to psx emulator no lag performance. I currently using a MSI GT 210 1gb ddr3. Any suggestions would help, thanks!
 
Great thread you have here! Had to register just to tell about my upgrade since i didn't find anyone with this same upgrade path (at least with search function).

So i have HP s3642 (FL350AA) slimline with M2N61-AR motherboard (AM2) and latest bios 5.18.

I replaced the OEM Phenom X3 8250e CPU (AM2, AM2+ 65W) with Phenom II X4 905e (AM2 69 W, AM2+, AM3, 65W) and it boots and works just fine although HP tells the maximum CPU should be 65W. I guess it is more a PSU thing than a motherboard/bios thing. 4 watts over the limit is not much anyway.

The only problem is with bios/system information, it tells me CPU is "AMD unknown model". I can see all the cores both in Windows 10 device manager and task manager and Piriform Speccy also recognizes the CPU with right exact model number.

Can i assume the CPU works with full clock speed (when needed) and/or how to test it? I can hear CPU fan speeding every time i try to put some load to CPU and slowing down after i quit it. Thanks!
 
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migesan said:
Great thread you have here! Had to register just to tell about my upgrade since i didn't find anyone with this same upgrade path (at least with search function).

So i have HP s3642 (FL350AA) slimline with M2N61-AR motherboard (AM2) and latest bios 5.18.

I replaced the OEM Phenom X3 8250e CPU (AM2, AM2+ 65W) with Phenom II X4 905e (AM2 69 W, AM2+, AM3, 65W) and it boots and works just fine although HP tells the maximum CPU should be 65W. I guess it is more a PSU thing than a motherboard/bios thing. 4 watts over the limit is not much anyway.

The only problem is with bios/system information, it tells me CPU is "AMD unknown model". I can see all the cores both in Windows 10 device manager and task manager and Piriform Speccy also recognizes the CPU with right exact model number.

Can i assume the CPU works with full clock speed (when needed) and/or how to test it? I can hear CPU fan speeding every time i try to put some load to CPU and slowing down after i quit it.
[\QUOTE]

It is just because the missing of new CPU microcode in BIOS. However, the CPU still normally operates without problems. If you just want to make sure CPU performs at full spead, then download CPU-Z to check its clock speeds.
Click to expand...
 
bao, change the backslash to a forward slash( \ to / ) to fix your quote.
but you are right double check with cpuz and if it IDs the cpu correctly your good. the 4W difference shouldn't matter.
 
I know this is old but I am tryng to load Windows 7 on a S3400f Athlon X2 version and when I get to the section to choose what drive to install to it's asking for a driver... I figured windows 7 would already have something for this loaded as it's so old. Anyone know what driver I can use to make it work?
 
Copyright said:
I know this is old but I am tryng to load Windows 7 on a S3400f Athlon X2 version and when I get to the section to choose what drive to install to it's asking for a driver... I figured windows 7 would already have something for this loaded as it's so old. Anyone know what driver I can use to make it work?
Click to expand...

you need the windows install drivers for the sata controller. if my googlefoo is accurate your mobo is a NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 based board. I looked on NVidia its under he legacy driver section and is an all-in-one package. you will have to d/l on a different system and grab the sata drivers. you may be able to find just the sata driver if you look around but you'll need the full package anyways...

edit: or set it to ide/legacy mode in the bios
 
pendragon1 said:
you need the windows install drivers for the sata controller. if my googlefoo is accurate your mobo is a NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 based board. I looked on NVidia its under he legacy driver section and is an all-in-one package. you will have to d/l on a different system and grab the sata drivers. you may be able to find just the sata driver if you look around but you'll need the full package anyways...

edit: or set it to ide/legacy mode in the bios
Click to expand...

I did not see an option to set legacy mode.. it was the first thing i looked for. I extracted the Win7 64bit SATA/IDE driver and it even shows supported yet when I go to load the file it fails to load. And yes I came up with the same chipset you did.
 
shitty! I looked on hp's site but didn't see anything useful there. try the link on the page below(post 167) not sure if its the same as on nv's page but there is a sataraid and sataide in the "ide" folder, try both. if I remember right you have to have the specific "press f6" driver, the one for in windows doesn't always work.
RE: NVIDIA: Optimized nForce Driverpacks for Vista/Win7 - 12

or try the one from this nforce 430 based gigabyte board. look under support and drivers/all os and grab the vista 64bit (F6 version) should still work with 7. then update to the newest one you have already downloaded once you get windows running.
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM2 - GA-M61PME-S2 (rev. 2.x)

New Bitmap Image.png
 
pendragon1 said:
shitty! I looked on hp's site but didn't see anything useful there. try the link on the page below(post 167) not sure if its the same as on nv's page but there is a sataraid and sataide in the "ide" folder, try both. if I remember right you have to have the specific "press f6" driver, the one for in windows doesn't always work.
RE: NVIDIA: Optimized nForce Driverpacks for Vista/Win7 - 12

or try the one from this nforce 430 based gigabyte board. look under support and drivers/all os and grab the vista 64bit (F6 version) should still work with 7. then update to the newest one you have already downloaded once you get windows running.
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM2 - GA-M61PME-S2 (rev. 2.x)

View attachment 6057
Click to expand...


Ahh ok.. I think you are onto something.. the drivers I am trying to load show its valid but when I try to get them into the install to show my drives it will not work... They are NOT F6 drivers though and that could be the issue.. I will give this a shot tonight! Thank you for the info!!!
 
It will not take any driver I try to load off USB.. it shows it and acts like its trying to load it and then nothing. Ill get a pic of what I see....
 
Here is where I am stuck.. it can see the driver that I believe should be working and It keeps telling me this...

 
pendragon1 said:
hmm....
try the ones in the Gb link. they specifically say for pre-install(f6)
Click to expand...

I could not find that under 64bit.. when I clicked on teh gigabyte link it had me choose the OS and driver .. nothing under 7.. tried Vist a64 but no F6 option i noticed
 
It's the dang win7 ISO I was using.. I had another one I had made a while back and when it loaded up it saw the drives right away and now Win7 is installing.. so annoying!!!
 
Win7 is surprisingly unprepared with drivers for storage controllers besides Intel raid and true raid cards maybe some Marvell chipsets. I tried to install win7 on an amd raid 890gx chipset and it asked for drivers! Do the same thing on a z97 and you have no issues! Anyway you can inject drivers into win7 image using NTLite. Also the read performance with 2 x sata III ssds was around 630MB/s on the 890gx compared to 1GB/s on the Z87/Z97 for the same 2 SSDs.
 
Upgrading your HP Pavilion Slimline S5000 case?
You may desire to change out the Front Panel USB 2.0 ports to USB 3.0

I worked with modDIY (China) in 2015 to create a USB 3.0 upgrade for this HP s5000 front panel. They now offer this cable to other builders.
USB 3.0 19-Pin to Dual USB Type-A Female Front Panel Cable (40cm)

20150110_164747__29521_zoom.jpg


It is not "perfect" (plug-n-play), and required removal of the heat shrink and hot glue for the stacked USB 3.0 receptacles to fit into the HP plastic clamp molding. Requires patience (newbies may desire to pass) to not damage and install upgrade correctly.
TAKE measurements of the Cable Length you require (not all motherboards have the 19-pin header (USB 3.0) near the case front.

Works well with the Gigabyte H97N-WIFI mobo upgrade in this S5000 case.
I also installed internal WiFi/Bluetooth antennas (surplus HP units eBay) under the plastic extrusions, which I use instead of external antennas (just like a laptop)
 
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Asrock continues to offer new 2-slot mDTX / mATX motherboards that
fit the HP s3000 and s5000 Slimline chassis.
Motherboard Size: 7.5-in x 7.4-in, 191 mm x 188 mm

- 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE2: x16 mode)*
- 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slot
*Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

ASRock > H110M-HDS
Same connectors are H110M-DGS model, BUT adds an HDMI port on the Rear Panel.

Video Ports
1 x DVI-D Port
1 x HDMI
==
ASRock > H110M-DGS

REAR PANEL CONNECTORS
Keyboard/Mouse
1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port

Video Ports
1 x DVI-D Port

Ethernet/RJ45
1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)

USB 3.0
2 x USB 3.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

USB 1.1/2.0
4 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
ACPI wake-up function is supported on USB23 ports only.

Audio Ports
HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

INTERNAL CONNECTORS (Headers)
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
1 x USB 2.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
1 x USB 3.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

Other Connectors
1 x TPM Header
1 x Chassis Intrusion and Speaker Header
1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
1 x Chassis Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector
1 x 8-pin 12V Power Connector
1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
 
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hi guys,

i had to rejoin the forum as i wasnt getting any feedback from moderators due to my password being invalid. my last username on this thread was kakawak and is now the same with no.1 at the end.

ok here goes... as you might know i have had my slimline for the best part of 8-9 years which is a 7720.uk, 4gb ram, 9600gt on a 108w psu....lol im guessing you wondered how it lasted this long on the stock psu, i aint got a clue on that but it did until recently as the psu has died :(

i recently bought a slimline s3330.uk for £30 off fleabay with a 2400hd pro installed. no doubt this question has been answered a thousand times and before you say read page 1 i have but it hasnt been updated for about 5-6 years!

so what is the best graphics card i can use on my stock 160 psu at the moment. i have seen geforce gt730 and other amd cards but should i stick to my 9600gt? the problem being with the latter is that i would need to mod the inners to accommodate the size of the 9600. it also has the seperate 6 pin adpapter connected to the card that uses a 4 pin molex that the s3330 doesnt have as it only seems to have the sata connectors :/

im assuming that the power draw from the 9600gt was ok in my last slimline as it would have prbably blown at the beginning and not recently, maybe i was just lucky :D anyways is there a way to connect a sata to 6 pin connector on the gpu? or can i run it straight from the MB? i would also state that im using the amd 64 x 2 5050e cpu which is now showing on the bios after the terrible upgrade process i had to do recently just to install the 5.18 bios :( using a copy version of vista on seperate partition of HD.

because i had upgraded from vista to windows 7 years ago i thought my recovery discs wouldve helped out in this situation but it didnt so im now left without a copy of both vista and windows 7 meaning im having to use a copy of windows 7 just to get my pc up and running. i did transfer my old HD from my last PC but the discs made no difference :(

whats the best quad core i can put in my s3330 or should i stick with the 5050e and would the quad core have much more difference over this?

still a great thread after all these years!

cheers

cammy
 
HP Upgrading and Servicing Guide for your HP Slimline
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00877796

HP Quick Setup Guide
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01311397

Regarding your 160 watt power supply, I doubt this will be adequate.
Replacing Power Supply for HP Slimline S3000 series
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01358060

Athena Power offers a number of Flex ATX power supplies.
http://www.athenapower.com/product/power-supply/flex-atx

Seasonic has a selection of power supplies with 250 and 300 watt units.
You will have to look at cable management, since most of these have cabling at end (and not middle).
https://seasonic.com/product-category/industrial-products/ipc-mini-1u/
==
For restoring Microsoft Windows 7, 8(8.1), and 10 ... the ISO are available on Internet.
The ISO can easily be converted to a bootable CD-ROM or USB memory stick.

Windows 7 Disk Image (ISO) : Download
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7
 
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hi,

ive done the usb memory stick option but its the fact im using a copy and not a genuine original thats annoying. as for graphics cards what are my options should i stick with original PSU? i could buy another PSU for my old system and upgrade that as i prefer the look of the first gen models :)

also is there a 5.19 bios update available? i only recently changed to 5.18 but read on previous pages that 5.19 is. i cannot find this at all :/

i reckon my original PC with the 108w psu was a typo and shouldve been 180w. will the 9600gt run straight from the MB by not using the 6pin adapter to 4 pin molex i used on my old pc.

cheers

cammy
 
Your answer, regarding BIOS can be found at the HP Support page for your specific HP Slimline model.

HP Slimline s3330.uk Product Support Page
http://support.hp.com/us-en/product...s3300-Desktop-PC-series/3644713/model/3666188

Software and Driver Downloads
http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers...s3300-desktop-pc-series/3644713/model/3666188

M2N61-AR Motherboard
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01321559

M2N61-AR BIOS Update -- Last version was 5.18
http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers...ies/3644713/model/3666188/swItemId/pv-65083-2
  • Resolves issue with the computer shutting down and displaying message "ERROR: Unsupported CPU installed. PC will automatically shut down in a few seconds.".
  • Updates NVMM to revision 4.082.11
---
HP directly sourced (OEM) this 2-slot mDTX Motherboard from ASUS.
Asus M2N61-AR (Aracia), Socket AM2, AMD motherboard.
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01321559
=====
A replacement Seasonic power supply (more watts) for your 7720.uk will cost ~$50-$75.
The other HP Slimline 7720.uk uses a mITX motherboard, the Asus A8MN-BR (Hematite).
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c00783657

That OEM board from Asus, has different capabilities
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-HP-A8MN-BR-Hematite-Athlon-II-Upgrade-Request

As you ADD newer graphics cards (power hungry GPU), they require that power is supplied to their connector. These require Newer Power Connectors -- not found with the Budget/Entry-Level computers (and their power supplies).
You will need power adapter cables OR a newer power supply that supplies correct Voltage (Voltage) and sufficient Current (Amps).
 
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Cammy -

Regarding your other questions, learn the basics:
Motherboard determines your constraints (CPU, RAM, OS support);
AND the Power. supply sets your total Wattage Limit.

Your Power Supply should be purchased at 50% of Wattage used.
CPUs typically require 65 to 95 Watts; Add-On Graphics cards can easily grab 50 Watts + depending on GPU;
the remaining parts, DVD, Hard Drives, and Fans add additional power Load (Watts).
This HP Slimline platform chassis/case is NOT a good choice for the Gamer (was not designed for those users) -- due to limited wattage power supply (original ~180W) and ventilation/cooling fans.

The "Secret" for Retro-fitting or upgrading the HP Slimline caees is to THINK Power Efficient (Laptop/Table like).
1.) Install SSD instead of Hard Drive for speed and power efficiency.
2.) Selected Power Efficient CPUs, that provide best balance of power/energy usage (65W is maximum I use).
3.) Unless you really need the DVD, it can easily be eliminated.
4.) IF you upgrade motherboard -- upgrade to PWM fans.
 
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kakawak1 said:
it also has the seperate 6 pin adpapter connected to the card that uses a 4 pin molex that the s3330 doesnt have as it only seems to have the sata connectors :/
Click to expand...

kakawak1 said:
will the 9600gt run straight from the MB by not using the 6pin adapter to 4 pin molex i used on my old pc.
Click to expand...
if the video card has the extra connector you HAVE TO use it, it will not run without. but honestly, I'm not sure if it is worth doing all that you want to with this system, new psu, cpu and gpu. now if you could get freebies...
and w9gb makes very valid points.
 
thanks w9gb and pendragon,

i should mention that im getting alot of freezing from my pc when i go online or try to update via microsoft. its bloody annoying that it happens so often but i do not get any BSOD so not sure why im getting this :/

very detailed reply and much appreciated. so it looks like i will need to source a new PSU and when ive done that is the 905e quad core the fastest chip that uses the least power? as for graphics what do you recommend with a 250 - 300w power supply? i will purchase a ssd drive to replace my harddrive. will wait and see what black friday offers :) now if i can source a new screen, keyboard and mouse to suit my s3330 then that would be good :)

is there a big difference between the 5050e 2.6ghz and the quad core 905e? or should i stick with what ive got.

also, is there a certain ssd drive thats specific to the hp slimlines or can i buy any ssd that uses 3.0 or 6.0? yes im a noob but im still learning :D

you were spot on regarding the bios with the unknown cpu problem. this was the first thing i tackled and a sore head it was as i had to reinstall vista on another drive. my problem is when i reinstalled windows 7 with me trying to restore from my backup with old files etc... i was expecting everything to be like it was before i started this but my files only show up on windows.old files and havent restored to my original layouts etc... to be honest im not too bothered but i expected different from a restore!

what a crappy setup microsoft offered in regards to upgrading. i have no working original restore discs due to me transferring my hardware into the s3330. what i do have is the vista key thats attached to my case of my old pc so not sure how i go about using it if i were to revert back to vista again.

anyways, i will bust my head more in regards to keeping my slimline for a few more years yet as i use my macbook more than i do my pc nowadays. its still good to have a pc though as backup and for all my photos and other stuff :)
 
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hi guys,

i bought a new Kentek 300w psu for £35 and is now doing the job as before :)

however, i used the new psu on my old slimline because i wanted to keep everything the same :) hopefully all will be good when the graphics card is used at some point.

i now have an obsolete hp slimline s3030, which i will sell via the proper channels.

i still need to know if i can put in a triple or quad core cpu in my pc. and if so, will the performance gain be noticable? if its not worth the upgrade please let me know :) will a amd athlon x 4 615e work with my pc as its tdp rating is 45w, which is the same as the 5050e.

i managed to get my old username back up and running thanks to the mod :D

cheers

cammy
 
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So I junked my motherboard and threw in some components I already had such a Zotac Geforce 9300 ITX motherboard from 2009 (available for $15 today), q9550 Core 2 Duo ($30) , 8gb DDR2 ($75), and an SSD. I bought the new Geforce GTX 1050 TI low profile card from MSI turning it into a SERIOUS multimedia and gaming rig that can handle anything I throw at it. The only things left from the original slimline is the case and the DVD drive.
 
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