The highly rated HP Pavilion Slimline PC thread

Okay, guys, I'm having a serious problem with my s3400t Slimline. It goes into that infinite boot up cycle when I turn the power on and won't load Windows. It's been doing this for about five months. But it's an intermittent problem. It doesn't happen all the time. And also, on top of this, the sleep function and the restart function won't work. The computer freezes up if I try to use either of these functions. Only the "Shut Down" function works once I actually get the computer to boot up correctly.

So what's the problem? Is it the motherboard? Do I have a defective motherboard? :confused:

I should also mention that one of the USB ports stopped working around the same time that I started having this infinite boot up cycle problem. This USB port still does not work. Could this failed USB port be related to the infinite boot up cycle problem?

I've been dealing with those idiots at HP tech help by e-mail for several weeks now. They absolutely REFUSE to say the problem is the motherboard. They've been having me jump through hoops testing every little stupid thing they can think of. They keep telling me that my particular model isn't on the list of Slimline 3000 models that have the defective motherboard problem. But I know it MUST be the motherboard, because the infinite boot up cycle is the same exact problem that you guys have been having with your defective Slimline motherboards.

So what do I do? How do I get these morons at HP tech help to admit that I have a defective motherboard so I can have them replace it? I need to get this fixed NOW. This has been going on WAY too long. I'm sick and tired of dealing with this crap, and I'm sick and tired of dealing with HP tech help. :mad:
 
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Here's the latest reply I got from the HP tech help. What do you guys think? Is this idiot sending me on a wild goose chase? Would it be a waste of time to go through all these procedures?


*****, the possible causes of the issue are as follows:

1. New hardware conflicting with old hardware.
2. Bad or failing hardware device.
3. Connections not connected or connected properly.
4. Recent electrical storm that caused a surge that damaged computer.
5. Other hardware issue.

Please follow the below given steps to resolve the issue:

Remove new hardware

If any new hardware has been recently added to the computer, remove that hardware to make sure it is not the cause of your issue. If after removing the new hardware your computer works it's likely the computer is either not compatible with the new hardware or a system setting needs to be changed to work with the new hardware device.

Remove any disks or USB devices

Remove any disks, CD's, DVD's that are in the computer and if any USB devices (ipods, drives, phones, etc) are connected disconnect all of them as well. Reboot the computer and see if anything changes.

Disconnect external devices

Remove everything from the back of the computer except the power cable. Turn on the computer and see if it beeps normally. If the computer has never beeped keep the monitor or display connected to see if any change occurs.

Check all fans

Make sure all fans are running in the computer. If a fan has failed (especially the heat sink fan for the CPU) your computer could be overheating and/or detecting the fan failure causing the computer not to boot.

Check all cables

Verify that all the cables are properly connected at that there are no loose cables by firmly pressing in each cable.

* All disk drives should have a data cable and power cable connected to them.
* Your power supply should have at least one cable going to the motherboard. Many motherboards may also have additional cables connected to them to supply power to the fans.

Disconnect all expansion cards

If the above recommendations still have not resolved the irregular POST attempt to disconnect the Riser board (if applicable) and/or each of the expansion cards. If this resolves the issue or allows the computer to POST connect one card at a time until you determine what card is causing the issue.

Disconnect all drives

If you were unable to determine by the beep code what is failing or do not have a beep code disconnect the IDE, SATA, SCSI, or other data cables from the CD-ROM, hard drive, and floppy drive from the Motherboard.

If this resolves your irregular post or you now get an error message attempt to re-connect each device one at a time to determine which device and or cable is causing the issue. In some situations it can also be simply a loose cable connection that causes the issue.

Power cycle the computer

In some situations a computer may have power related issues often caused by either the power supply and/or the motherboard. To help determine if this is the cause of your issue try turning the computer on, off, and back on as fast as possible, making sure the computer power light goes on and off each time. In some situations you may be able to temporarily get the computer to boot.

This should only be used as a temporary workaround if you're able to get this to work. Often this is good for users who may have not done a backup and need to get the computer up one more time to copy files before starting to replace hardware.

POWER DRAIN:

1. Completely Shut Down the Computer

2. Disconnect the Tower from all the external peripherals connected to it,

3. Disconnect the tower from the Wall-Jack ensuring that the computer does not get any power supply.

4. Press & Hold on the power button of the tower for at least 30 seconds.

5. Connect the all the cables back to their respective ports.

6. Now connect the computer tower with the Wall-Jack.

7. Turn on the Power Button on both Wall-Jack & Tower.

Let the computer to boot up. If the issue still persists then follow the below given troubleshooting steps.

*****, this would resolve the issue. If the issue still persists, please reply to this message with your observations and we will be happy to assist you further.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site
at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Sincerely,

Dibyendu

HP Total Care​
 
Halsey said:
Sparkle Low-Profile GTS 250

Make sure that you have upgraded your power supply to the Sparkle 270W PSU first, and ensure you have plenty of additional cooling fans in your case - that video card is going to be VERY hot.
Click to expand...

miosis said:
Aww I just bought the GTS 250 a few days ago and here it is on sale. I installed the GTS 250 and 4 Gigs of G.Skill RAM into my beloved slimline and added a 1.5 TB external drive. Paired with a Samsung 24'' monitor at 1920 x 1080 Modern Warfare 2 is blazing fast with settings cranked up. I would definitely suggest getting this card. I removed the optical drive and added a FSP 450w supplemental psu.
Click to expand...

I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on a system upgrade so I can use my Slimline for gaming, and I'm debating whether I should go with the 9800GT or 250GTS in my s3330f. I plan to upgrade to the Sparkle 270W PSU and side-mounted 120mm cooling fan per Archaea's mod thread. The question is, will the Sparkle 270W provide enough juice to adequately power the 250GTS (I noticed miosis is using a 450W PSU) in addition to my stock Athlon 5400 (65W) and 2GB RAM?
 
ABCXYZ said:
Here's the latest reply I got from the HP tech help. What do you guys think? Is this idiot sending me on a wild goose chase? Would it be a waste of time to go through all these procedures?
Click to expand...

I would suggest you take the time to go through all those procedures if you have not already done so. Regardless of how good or bad HP support may be, those are good steps to follow, because in my limited experience, troubleshooting with something as complex as a computer (or, more accurately, a motherboard) often is a wild goose chase, and generally those instructions will significantly help you to at least identify your problem.

If you have already completed that entire procedure multiple times before and not made any progress, then spending the time to go through them again probably isn't going to do much good.

Other than that, I'm just as stumped as you are, sorry. Anybody else got any ideas?
 
23lbs said:
I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on a system upgrade so I can use my Slimline for gaming, and I'm debating whether I should go with the 9800GT or 250GTS in my s3330f. I plan to upgrade to the Sparkle 270W PSU and side-mounted 120mm cooling fan per Archaea's mod thread. The question is, will the Sparkle 270W provide enough juice to adequately power the 250GTS (I noticed miosis is using a 450W PSU) in addition to my stock Athlon 5400 (65W) and 2GB RAM?
Click to expand...

The Sparkle 270 watt should handle the 250GTS, but make SURE you do the fan mod, because the 9800GT is hot, and the 250GTS is supposed to be hotter still! :eek: (and a smidge faster)

You'll have fun with your upgrade. Drawing that much power from the Sparkle 270 watt makes it run loud - the cooling fan seems to be load based rather than heat based, and whenever I had the 9800GT in my machine the sparkle PSU just gets loud. So I took it apart. Chopped off the internal 40mm fan, and modified the sparkle PSU case with a dremel to accept a 60 mm fan on the bottom blowing into the PSU. I used the power lead wires from the 40mm fan to hook up the 60 mm fan. It worked great. Silent now! Alternatively and in hindsight I'm farily confident with the 120mm fan on the side you could just remove the PSU case bottom permanently and cut off the 40 mm fan, and the PSU would stay cool enough to not even need the fan with the 120mm fan blowing in the side. (assuming you dremel out the side to allow good airflow from the fan!)

You should also be able to see my sparkle PSU modification as well as fan modification in these two posts
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033931429&postcount=2686
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033961407&postcount=2726
 
ABCXYZ,

As much as that advice seems annoying it is probably a good start.

First thing I always do when troubleshooting a PC is disconnect EVERYTHING that is not necessary and try with the bare minimals.

1 stick of ram, onboard video card, no cd-roms, no add-ons.

Fire it up and make sure it works. Keep adding components one at a time, verfying each component works and then ultimately you'll hopefully find your culprit.
 
Krad said:
I had a SPDIF cable that was attached from the mobo to my 8500GT. When I installed the 9800GT and attached the same cable to the 9800GT, the sound did not go through because the positive/negative input was reversed on the 9800GT. Since it was difficult to get to the SPDIF mobo prongs, I just cut the SPDIF cable that was coming out of the mobo, which looked like it was attached to the 3 prongs but only had two wires: positive and negative. I connected those positive and negative wires to the positive and negative wires I cut on the SPDIF cable that came with the 9800GT, plugged it in and it worked.

From what I remember from reading various boards when trying to figure out what was wrong with my sound, it seemed that all three prongs on the mobo were unnecessary and that SPDIF to video card HDMI basically worked with a positive and negative. Maybe there's somewhere that tells you which one is which or you could just use trial and error with differing connections.
Click to expand...

Krad are you still around? Your 9800GT came with a SPDIF cable? I think I'm encountering the same thing with my 9800GT - I didn't care or test before because I didn't have it hooked up to an HDMI input, but now I do and would like to figure this out. I'll probably just cut the current SPDIF wire I have and swap the positive and negative to give it a shot. Glad you had this figured out!
 
Archaea said:
Krad are you still around? Your 9800GT came with a SPDIF cable? I think I'm encountering the same thing with my 9800GT - I didn't care or test before because I didn't have it hooked up to an HDMI input, but now I do and would like to figure this out. I'll probably just cut the current SPDIF wire I have and swap the positive and negative to give it a shot. Glad you had this figured out!
Click to expand...

It's been a little while but from what I remember, the 9800GT came with a SPDIF cable but I couldn't get it hooked up to the mobo input unless I took out a lot of things, which I wanted to avoid. I used the SPDIF cable that was already there (hooked up to the 8500GT) but that didn't work because the negative/positive input on the 9800GT was reversed. So I spliced that cable with the cable that came with the 9800GT (to reverse the negative/positive), and it worked for me. Good luck.
 
Krad said:
It's been a little while but from what I remember, the 9800GT came with a SPDIF cable but I couldn't get it hooked up to the mobo input unless I took out a lot of things, which I wanted to avoid. I used the SPDIF cable that was already there (hooked up to the 8500GT) but that didn't work because the negative/positive input on the 9800GT was reversed. So I spliced that cable with the cable that came with the 9800GT (to reverse the negative/positive), and it worked for me. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm a total noob to this, but what is the purpose of the SPDIF cable? I got one with my 9800GT, but didn't know what to do with it.
 
provides sound from the onboard sound card to the video cards so your HDMI output has audio.
 
k1dkash said:
Sorry, I'm a total noob to this, but what is the purpose of the SPDIF cable? I got one with my 9800GT, but didn't know what to do with it.
Click to expand...

We were all noobs at one time, k1dkash. The SPDIF cable simply routes the digital audio signal from your sound card to the video card so that you can output both digital video and audio via the HDMI connector.

More info here: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/600
 
Archaea said:
The Sparkle 270 watt should handle the 250GTS, but make SURE you do the fan mod, because the 9800GT is hot, and the 250GTS is supposed to be hotter still! :eek: (and a smidge faster)

You'll have fun with your upgrade. Drawing that much power from the Sparkle 270 watt makes it run loud - the cooling fan seems to be load based rather than heat based, and whenever I had the 9800GT in my machine the sparkle PSU just gets loud. So I took it apart. Chopped off the internal 40mm fan, and modified the sparkle PSU case with a dremel to accept a 60 mm fan on the bottom blowing into the PSU. I used the power lead wires from the 40mm fan to hook up the 60 mm fan. It worked great. Silent now! Alternatively and in hindsight I'm farily confident with the 120mm fan on the side you could just remove the PSU case bottom permanently and cut off the 40 mm fan, and the PSU would stay cool enough to not even need the fan with the 120mm fan blowing in the side. (assuming you dremel out the side to allow good airflow from the fan!)

You should also be able to see my sparkle PSU modification as well as fan modification in these two posts
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033931429&postcount=2686
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033961407&postcount=2726
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply and extra encouragement - you're right, this is going to be fun! ;) Dropped just over $230 for the whole shebang - PSU, video card, cooling, and accessories (cables, etc.).

I did some additional research and decided on a 120mm LED fan from Cooler Master (http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2915 - <$10 from amazon.com) that apparently provides even more air flow (69CFM vs. 47CFM) and is significantly quieter (19dBA vs. 28dBA) than the Yate Loon that you selected a while back (http://www.xoxide.com/yate-loon-120mm-uvbled.html).

With this much cooling power I'll probably take your advice and mod the PSU to remove the bottom cover / fan altogether to help keep the system as audibly inconspicuous as possible.

I'll post my results when she's back up and running after the upgrade.
 
23lbs.

What I learned in my fan research was that there are no standards in that dB rating that each fan manufacturer attaches to their marketing. No distance standards, no microphone standards, etc. 20 dB from one company can be louder than 45 dB from an honest company.

I.E. If you measure a fan from across the room it's much different than a measurement where the mic is six inches away.

The dB rating on the yate loon according to specs isn't in the teens, but it is a quiet fan and I saw a lot of forums stating exactly that. Yate Loons are known to be a high quality quiet fan. So I went with the experience of the forum junkies over the paper stats of the fan. I have a cooler master fan on my CM360 case, I recently bought, and It's probably that same fan you reference - a 120mm cooler master. I would say it is comparable in audio to the Yate Loon, or perhaps even a smidge louder than the yate loon -- even though the stats do indicate it should be quieter, but it is not a bad fan. It is certainty quieter than most 120 mm fan's I've had.
 
I looked through the thread, and I couldn't find any definite answer to this.

I'm finally looking to upgrade to the 9800GT - the 9600GT LPLP simply can't keep up as well as I had hoped and the fan on it is obscenely loud. I've already upgraded my power supply - I just need to improve cooling.

Archaea, 23lbs, and whoever else is using a 120mm fan for cooling - are you guys using your fans as intake (pushing air in) or exhaust (pulling air out) fans?

It seems like using a fan for exhaust would work best (pulling the hot air out, instead of pushing cooler air in on top of the hot air). However, do they make fans designed for exhaust? The 40mm fans I use for exhaust now are attached to the back vents - but they have stickers and wires showing (since I guess they were intended for intake) - it looks ok b/c they're relatively hidden, but I don't want what would essentially be a bigger version of them mounted on the side of my case with all the wires showing. Any and all advice, tips, suggestions, etc are appreciated. Thanks!
 
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just get a mesh grill fan cover like mine and you can't see the wires no matter which way you mount the fan. http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033961407&postcount=2726

Look at the above older pics. Generally speaking all PC fans exahust to the direction that the wires are, so since I have my 120mm blowing in you can't see the wires, but even reversed the wires wouldn't be bad.

I recently modified my slimline again and put the 120mm fan inside the case, rather than a wart on the side. This was accomplished through an OEM Intel heatsink and fan combo for an e5200. The heatsinks are relatively short in height. I broke the platic fan off the heatsink and have only the passive aluminum heatsink as the CPU cooler. The 120mm fan on the side is hooked up to the CPU fan header and keeps the CPU heatsink cool enough even without a dedicated CPU fan. In gaming I don't see my CPU go above 66*C according to core temp on an e5200. (my q9300 is now in another system). I don't know if this solution would work on a quad core (runs hotter), but it does work on a e5200. I'm turning my intel based slimline into my HTPC and building a full size system now as my gaming machine. I'm going to sell my AMD BE-2400 based slimline.

I have mine blow in over the CPU and northbridge. I was afraid if I directed it to exhaust, the PSU might not get enough cool air since heat rises and the fan is not at the top of the case. Exhuasting however, would keep the GPU cooler which could also be a problem.
 
Archaea said:
ABCXYZ,

As much as that advice seems annoying it is probably a good start.

First thing I always do when troubleshooting a PC is disconnect EVERYTHING that is not necessary and try with the bare minimals.

1 stick of ram, onboard video card, no cd-roms, no add-ons.

Fire it up and make sure it works. Keep adding components one at a time, verifying each component works and then ultimately you'll hopefully find your culprit.
Click to expand...

Okay, I tested all the hardware. I disconnected and removed all the hardware in the computer(DVD drive, hard disk drive, video card, wireless networking card, one stick of RAM), but the computer still failed to boot up and went into that $!%@!#*& "infinite boot cycle" every time I turned the power switch on.

So this means that the problem has to be the motherboard, right? The motherboard is the only piece of hardware left that could be causing the problem, because I removed every other piece of hardware and the computer still wouldn't boot up. :confused:
 
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ABCXYZ,

unfortunately no smoking gun absolutely --- but you have narrowed it down...

You've now limited your problem to

1. motherboard
2. CPU
3. RAM stick (did you try the other stick, did you try the other slot - if you've tried 1 stick in either slot and alternated slot you can eliminate the RAM as the problem)

Assuming you were using the onboard video card for your testing then the aftermarket video card is not your culprit. The PSU is not likely your problem because you took off all the extra load and even a dying PSU should be able to power your current bare minimum hardware.

I would suspect motherboard as well based on your testing - but it isn't absolute. Do you have another CPU to test first?

How far does it get into the Operating System load before it reboots? Do you see the windows loading screen, or is just rebooting in the BIOS screen? It's possible you even have a flaky OS image if it's rebooting as it's loading windows - I've had that before - OS gets corrupted.
 
Archaea said:
ABCXYZ,

unfortunately no smoking gun absolutely --- but you have narrowed it down...

You've now limited your problem to

1. motherboard
2. CPU
3. RAM stick (did you try the other stick, did you try the other slot - if you've tried 1 stick in either slot and alternated slot you can eliminate the RAM as the problem)

Assuming you were using the onboard video card for your testing then the aftermarket video card is not your culprit. The PSU is not likely your problem because you took off all the extra load and even a dying PSU should be able to power your current bare minimum hardware.

I would suspect motherboard as well based on your testing - but it isn't absolute. Do you have another CPU to test first?

How far does it get into the Operating System load before it reboots? Do you see the windows loading screen, or is just rebooting in the BIOS screen? It's possible you even have a flaky OS image if it's rebooting as it's loading windows - I've had that before - OS gets corrupted.
Click to expand...

Yes, I tested both RAM sticks, one at a time, in alternate slots.

No, I do not have another CPU to test.

The computer doesn't get into the OS at all. Windows never loads. The BIOS screen never loads either. In fact, no video signal is ever sent to the monitor at any time. There is no video signal or BIOS screen or Windows screen.
 
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How do you know it is power cycling then?

Does the CPU heatsink continually speed up and slow down to indicate the reboot cycle?

If not, you do likely have a dead motherboard.
 
Archaea said:
How do you know it is power cycling then?

Does the CPU heatsink continually speed up and slow down to indicate the reboot cycle?

If not, you do likely have a dead motherboard.
Click to expand...

I don't know what it's doing. What happens is that if the DVD drive is connected, the DVD light goes on and off in a cycle, along with the hard disk drive light. It does this in an infinite loop.

If I take the DVD drive out, I can tell that the computer is still going through this "infinite boot up cycle" because the video card fan still speeds up and slows down in this pattern. If I remove the video card and put the DVD drive back in, then the computer still tries to continually access the DVD drive in the same infinite loop pattern. So obviously neither the DVD drive nor the video card are causing the problem.

If I take out both the DVD drive and the video card(and also the hard drive), then I can't hear anything unusual. I don't hear any cyclical speeding up and slowing down of the CPU fan. So this means the problem has to be the motherboard, right?

Here is a site with comments from many people whose HP Slimline motherboards have crashed, some of them multiple times. Have you seen this page before? Apparently HP Slimlines are total garbage and the motherboards in them are constantly failing. This is a BIG problem. HP should issue a recall on all these Slimline models, but they won't do it because it would cost them too much money:

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/hp-pavilion-slimline-c171510.html
 
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Hey guys -- haven't been in this thread for a while. I want to give it another go to upgrade the CPU of my aging s3100n (currently an X2 4000+) to the fastest possible processor.

Recommendations?
 
So I finally figured out the problem with my Slimline. It was neither the PSU or the motherboard, it was the screws that screw into the PSU! Odd right?!?!?! I only have it screwed in with one screw now, instead of 3. Took me 2 weeks to figure it out, but finally did. Thanks to all of you for your great input. Definitely the best forum I've become a member of! =)
 
ObiYawn said:
Hey guys -- haven't been in this thread for a while. I want to give it another go to upgrade the CPU of my aging s3100n (currently an X2 4000+) to the fastest possible processor.

Recommendations?
Click to expand...

x2 5600 65 watt processor is the fastest your board supports.

Or you could get a slower quad core - review the last five pages or so of this thread for that information. Or you could get a low power 45 watt chip like the 4850e.

Depends on your use on which of these upgrades is the suggested path.
 
Hello... I need help because i am geting a psu, and i need a 20 Pin to small 24 Pin ATX wich is expensive, so i need help to change the 24 pin conector from the stock psu to the new one. I need some tips, pictures or wire diagram. Also i got a bfg 9400gt, and i need to replace the fan. I dont know where can I get one, or I want to know if is better to get the complete kit. One no too expensive but good enough to keep the card on good temperature. Thank so much,and sorry for my english. :D
 
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there isn't anything confusing about splicing the power supply wires, the colors even match for the old to new if they are like mine. Just takes time, precision and skill ---- or $25 dollars to buy the pre-made adapter from atxpowersupplies.

As far as the graphics card fan. Look up VGA heatsink at newegg to get ideas.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...PA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=vga+heatsink

You'll need to find one with the same hole dimmensions for the mount.
 
Archaea said:
ObiYawn said:
Hey guys -- haven't been in this thread for a while. I want to give it another go to upgrade the CPU of my aging s3100n (currently an X2 4000+) to the fastest possible processor.

Recommendations?
Click to expand...

x2 5600 65 watt processor is the fastest your board supports.

Or you could get a slower quad core - review the last five pages or so of this thread for that information. Or you could get a low power 45 watt chip like the 4850e.

Depends on your use on which of these upgrades is the suggested path.
Click to expand...

Thanks Archaea. I want to point out though that I tried the 5000+ Black Edition once, and I had to send it back as my PC didn't boot with it. Here is what I had to say back then: Link. I also remember that at least one other reader in this board had the same problem with his s3100n, and my understanding back then was that the board used in this particular Slimline model is not as lenient as slightly newer Slimlines.

If, after writing this, you still believe that the 5000+ (non-BE) should work in my board, could you point out to me the exact SKU/model number of the model that should work in my board?

As always, thanks much for the great support in this forum!

Edit: Here is another old post that confirms the model of my motherboard and the fact that I wasn't the only one for whom the 5000+ BE didn't work: Link and Link
 
The Black Editions were also sometimes 89 watt - Are you sure you got the 65 watt variant?

HP's website for your motherboard states that it should work with any X2 processor up to 65 watt. IIRC I had trouble with the BE-2400 initially until I upgraded the BIOS. It appears from a prior post that you have the newest BIOS - 5.07 on your board -
05-2008 - 5.07


Here is the motherboard spec compatiblity list for your s3100n
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ry&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3440586


This processor should work with the neweset BIOS update in my understanding - notice it is not a black edition. Perhaps the Black Edition's unlocked multiplier confuses the slimline motherboard.
http://products.amd.com/en-us/Deskt...&f9=2000&f10=False&f11=False&f12=True&f13=EOL

Here is the generic AMD processor comparison list.
http://products.amd.com/en-us/deskt...=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=False&f11=&f12=

Here is a list of the five diferent AMD 5000+ editions - all 65 watts - this does not include the serveral that were 89 watt. (AMD has a LOT of different product variation)
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUSideBySide.aspx?id=607&id=40&id=41&id=42&id=45

Notice that there is quite a bit of variance there in voltage requirements - nm size, core speed, and system bus speed, etc. I would say for compatiblity you would want the oldest version of these 65 watt processors.

Unfortunately I do not have any direct exp. with the AMD 5600+, but with HP's site would lead you to believe it should be functional - at least the model that was released at or before the newest BIOS date of 5-2008 (to include the CPU support for processors up to that date)
 
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Archaea,

Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it.

I finally got the HP tech help to agree that the problem is the motherboard. Now they want me to ship them the computer so they can repair it. Of course, my Slimline is out of warranty, so I would have to pay for the repair cost. :mad:

My question is, should I have HP do this repair or should I try to replace the motherboard myself? I'm sure replacing it myself would be a hell of a lot cheaper than having HP do it, but the problem is I don't think I have the technical ability to do it. Is replacing a motherboard a lot of work? I've never built a computer before, so I'm a total novice at this. :confused:
 
It is not difficult. In the first post is a service guide to take apart and disasemble your HP slimling. If you can turn a screwdriver you can take every single part out of the HP case. You'll be proud of your accomplishment and be able to do the work yourself and save at least half of your anticipated expense. Go to newegg and look up mini-atx motherboards. Cost range is from 50 to 170 for a new mini-itx motherboard. If you have an AMD CPU you want an AMD AM2 motherboard. You can re-use everything else but the power supply. For a power supply you'll need to buy a new one because the stock OEM slimline has that microfit adapter for the 20 pin connection and that will not work for a aftermarket motherboard. I would recommend the sparkle from censuspc listed in the first post. So now you are looking at 100 to 220 to do it yourself. If you need further advice on the motherboad or any help along the way - I and others on this board will be glad to assist!
 
i have a M2N61-AR (Acacia-GL6E) mother board will a

AMD Athlon II x2 250 3.0GHz AM3/AM2+ Socket 65W CPU

work on a hp slimline?
 
I'm guessing no.

That's a newer CPU and most likely will be incompatible with the BIOS.
 
thanks Archaea for your help I am working on that now, but i have another questionn, i got a 9400gt and it has a dvi-i dual connector, and my monitor has a dvi-d connector, i dont know what cable i have to use for that, is posible to use a dvi-d cable? and should i use single link or dual link?
picture
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6522/lipop.jpg
 
DVI - I carries digital video and analogue video so that you can use a DVI to VGA adapter on your video card. DVI-D is only digital.

Dual link DVI is not needed unless you plan to surpass 1920x1200 resolution.

Most newer DVI cables should be compatible. Specifically the cable that came with your monitor should work fine. Basically reason that if it plugs into both places without forcing it - it will work fine! If your cable is not compatible check out monoprice for one that is.
www.monoprice.com

DVI-I cables can only plug only into DVI-I ports

DVI-D cables can plug into either DVI-I ports or DVI-D ports

The digital connection is the same on either - it just adds analogue capability with the DVI-I
 
Hi I own a HP Pavilion Slimline s3360uk, I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card and I'm unable to find out what PSU I have.
Does anyone know?
Thanks.
PS The Graphics card I have at the moment is an ATI Radeon HD2400
 
Archaea said:
It is not difficult. In the first post is a service guide to take apart and disasemble your HP slimling. If you can turn a screwdriver you can take every single part out of the HP case. You'll be proud of your accomplishment and be able to do the work yourself and save at least half of your anticipated expense. Go to newegg and look up mini-atx motherboards. Cost range is from 50 to 170 for a new mini-itx motherboard. If you have an AMD CPU you want an AMD AM2 motherboard. You can re-use everything else but the power supply. For a power supply you'll need to buy a new one because the stock OEM slimline has that microfit adapter for the 20 pin connection and that will not work for a aftermarket motherboard. I would recommend the sparkle from censuspc listed in the first post. So now you are looking at 100 to 220 to do it yourself. If you need further advice on the motherboad or any help along the way - I and others on this board will be glad to assist!
Click to expand...

Okay, Archaea, I've decided to take your advice and try to replace the motherboard myself. HP hardware support wants to charge me $400 to repair the computer, and they want to charge my credit card before they'll even mail me the box to send the computer to them! :mad:

So all I need to purchase is a mini-ATX motherboard and a new power supply, correct? I see the link to purchase the Sparkle power supply in the first post of this thread, but I have no idea which mini-ATX motherboard to purchase on New Egg. My Slimline is the s3400t model. :confused:
 
ABCXYZ said:
Okay, Archaea, I've decided to take your advice and try to replace the motherboard myself. HP hardware support wants to charge me $400 to repair the computer, and they want to charge my credit card before they'll even mail me the box to send the computer to them! :mad:

So all I need to purchase is a mini-ATX motherboard and a new power supply, correct? I see the link to purchase the Sparkle power supply in the first post of this thread, but I have no idea which mini-ATX motherboard to purchase on New Egg. My Slimline is the s3400t model. :confused:
Click to expand...

Here are options
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

You need mini-itx.

There are four motherboards listed there. They generally get "better" by MSRP prices... Do you plan to use onboard video or do you have a PCI-E video card in your current slimline? Something like the 9500GS or 8500GS?

Look at the customer reviews to get an idea, and then look at the feature specificiations. What type of monitor do you plan to hook it up to? Do you have a tv tuner or any other add-on card in your current slimline? For $400 you'll save $250 of that and be happy with the work you did yourself! Become familiar with the PDF document in the first post about replacing componets in your slimline. It gives you step by step instructions on how to remove and disassemble everything in the case.
 
xXHardXx said:
Hi I own a HP Pavilion Slimline s3360uk, I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card and I'm unable to find out what PSU I have.
Does anyone know?
Thanks.
PS The Graphics card I have at the moment is an ATI Radeon HD2400
Click to expand...

You have the 160 watt PSU most likely. It's easy to tell when you pull of your cover and look at the sticker for the combined watts, watch my video in the first post of this thread about PSU replacements for info on where that sticker is. The 160 watt PSU does NOT have that much headroom for a graphics card upgrade. It can be done, but I don't recommend it personally outside of perahaps and ATI 4350, or even possibly a 4550. My AMD slimline could not handle a low power 8400GS with a 65 watt CPU at full power draw.

If you want to go for a faster video card, like the 9500GS, or the 8600 GT you could probably pull it off if you go to a 45 watt CPU - like the 4850e, or BE-2400. Read the first post if you haven't started there....
 
Archaea said:
just get a mesh grill fan cover like mine and you can't see the wires no matter which way you mount the fan. http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033961407&postcount=2726


I recently modified my slimline again and put the 120mm fan inside the case, rather than a wart on the side. This was accomplished through an OEM Intel heatsink and fan combo for an e5200. The heatsinks are relatively short in height. I broke the platic fan off the heatsink and have only the passive aluminum heatsink as the CPU cooler. The 120mm fan on the side is hooked up to the CPU fan header and keeps the CPU heatsink cool enough even without a dedicated CPU fan. In gaming I don't see my CPU go above 66*C according to core temp on an e5200. (my q9300 is now in another system). I don't know if this solution would work on a quad core (runs hotter), but it does work on a e5200. I'm turning my intel based slimline into my HTPC and building a full size system now as my gaming machine. I'm going to sell my AMD BE-2400 based slimline.

I have mine blow in over the CPU and northbridge. I was afraid if I directed it to exhaust, the PSU might not get enough cool air since heat rises and the fan is not at the top of the case. Exhuasting however, would keep the GPU cooler which could also be a problem.
Click to expand...

If this "pseudo-passive" cooling works with an Intel e5200 it should work with 45 watt AMD CPUs? Do you think the Cooler Master 754 sans its 92mm fan would be a likely candidate?
 
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