Part 3 of a series called "Generations" which compares subsequent generations of the HP EliteDesk 800 Mini. In this segment we compare the G3 to the G4.
Hey, this is the guy who complimented you and you responded! Anyway. I do not own a G4 but I know the G4 looks like it's even designed worse then the G3, which I previously told you I don't like. and the G3 is worse than the G2. The G1 is a design nightmare because of the backwards heat sink and cooling fan. So in my opinion the G2 is the best design. If you don't mind a 6th generation CPU and 2133 mhz memory, the G2 is your best bet!
@handmedowntech, thank you for the video. Please confirm that in the G4 you cannot have 2 x m.2 2080 and the HDD cage at the same time. I was planning to go with that configuration, but is the first time I have heard that it cannot be done? If so, why? Isn't the cage clear of the NVMe all the time? Please let me know, thanks!
Unfortunately two 2280 won't fit with the drive cage. I've seen folks on the Internet that cut into the drive cage so that there would be room for that second 2280 but I haven't tried that since I'd like to keep the cage original. If you could instead get a 2230 sized drive then the cage would fit.
I'm waiting for a cutoff wheel for my Dremel to do surgery on the underside of the 2.5in drive caddy so that a 2280 will fit under it, in addition to the other 2280 slot. The cuts look pretty straightforward. As an alternative, you could leave out the caddy and elevate the 2.5in SSD above the slot with some nylon posts. Also, someone 3D-printed a custom caddy for the HP Prodesk, but sadly that doesn't fit in an Elitedesk.
I thought of another possible solution for the G4 that would allow both M.2 2280 slots to be filled AND use a 2.5in SATA SSD. Ditch the drive caddy and buy a 22-pin (7-data + 15-power) male-to-female SATA extender cable. Plug the male end into the SATA data+power connector from the motherboard and the female into the SSD. Mount the SSD onto the underside of the G4 cover using a thermal pad and some kapton tape, or (if you don't care about thermals) use velcro. As long as the extender is long enough, you should be able to slide/unlatch the cover and disconnect the SSD from the extender without yanking out the tiny SATA FFC connector.
Now that is inventive and allows for the extra drives. I've also been trying to find a cable that splits the 22 pin cable into it's two parts so you could use the power site for other cards. Like one I saw that turns m.2 into PCI e
I've been experimenting with an M.2 to mini SAS SFF-8087 expansion card installed in the second 2280 M.2 slot in the G4. This card has an ASMedia ASM1064 chip that bridges NVMe to 4 SATA ports thru the 8087 connector and a fanout cable that provides 4 SATA connectors. You can route the fanout cable outside the case thru the hole located behind the flexio option port. So far appears to work, and the cover for the G4 even fits because the 8087 is mounted horizontally. So this hack provides a way to direct connect an external array of 4 mechanical hard drives to the G4 if you want to create a NAS or backup server.
Very cool. I like solutions that allow the cover to stay on. Was this eBay or Amazon and do you have a link you could share? Where does power for the drives come from?
@@handmedowntech Ok, my reply with a Newegg link disappeared (at least to me) when I refreshed the browser tab. I also replied about the power and drive enclosures, but that disappeared too. I'm tired of wasting my time doing this. Either you find a way to fix this, or provide me with alternate contact info, or I'm done writing comments in your videos. I may stop watching them also.
@@dktol56 one of the commenters said that UA-cam does not allow commenters to put in link. I didn't realize that, sorry. If you ordered on Amazon maybe just give me the Amazon item number and I'll look for it. Sorry for the frustration, would hate to see you leave.
Excellent once again. I would suggest the G3 is now wallowing in the wind a bit - I would either go G2 or G4 unless the G3 was a very good price. One thing I've yet to do is work out which power supplies are demanded by the system as the hardware is loaded up, and how the motherboard components cope with the increased power and cooling required as it's the same power mosfets on the board having to regulate 65W or 150W, I believe the auxilliary fan mounting is slightly different to the G2 but I haven't tried it - some are sold as G2 only, others for G2,3,4 and 5 - and it will also certainly be required with 2 or 3 m.2 devices installed, but without physically trying one there's no way of telling. One interesting test would be, as power and cooling requirement increases, can the improved airflow design of the G4 keep fan speed (and noise) under control in such a small case? Perhaps noise is potentially a benefit of the G3 over the G2?
Thank you. I've also been curious on the power usage since I have several running at all times. Does having the non mechanical drives help? SATA vs m.2. I've been curious to use one of those kiliwatt units to see the power levels.
@@handmedowntech SATA SSD are lower power than m.2, spinning rust is potentially even lower but remember you pay for lower power with reduced performance. But it is not necessarily the use of power from the power brick that matters so much as how hot the power mosfets get under load - unlike the processor I don't believe they have any temperature monitors. The only way to check is with a thermocouple, ideally mounted directly to the side of a mosfet, as the load changes.
@@andygardiner6526 it is a bit crazy to think of using a 150w power adapter with the G4 when you have that optional graphics card installed. Starts to get into the realm of the SFF units. Which of course gives you neat stuff like multiple NICs on a card, etc.
@@giangnguyen8344 65w is louder but have you checked or listened to each fan in case the bearings are going bad? Bad bearings though would have more of a squeel. Maybe also make sure nothing is in the way like the fan wire
Don't know about the G3, but the G4 absolutely works with 64GB of RAM, despite HP's specifications. I have three G4's with 64GB - should be great for zfs.
That should never be a deciding factor; there are adapters for hdmi to display and vice versa. Some video cards require an actively powered adapter and others passive ( most of the time, it's just try it and if not , try a different one ) I use these all the time with my Dell computers going to HDMI. The adapters are all over Amazon, in the $10 to $20 range; some more, some less.
I have both situations. For the bulk of my stuff I use a Display port to HDMI adapter and that works great since I have to switch around to all the different models when doing videos. But on my G5 I decided to go with the HDMI FlexIo since my ancient monitor we're using does not have HDMI but uses DVI so I didn't want to invest in more adapters and cables 😀
I'm just using an HDMI-to-DP dongle. A bought one last summer that works fine at 1440P. It may do better than 60Hz, but I'm running Debian 12 Mate for testing the hardware and it only handles 60Hz.
Can you say somthing about the sata connector ? I know the caddys from G3 dont fit into G4 , but is the sata connector the same?
Interesting idea. Maybe I can do a comparison video like the one about fans.
Hey, this is the guy who complimented you and you responded! Anyway. I do not own a G4 but I know the G4 looks like it's even designed worse then the G3, which I previously told you I don't like. and the G3 is worse than the G2. The G1 is a design nightmare because of the backwards heat sink and cooling fan. So in my opinion the G2 is the best design. If you don't mind a 6th generation CPU and 2133 mhz memory, the G2 is your best bet!
Wait until you see the G5 video, looks just like the G4 😁. Those G2s have that unique look. G1 is a tough sale for sure.
@handmedowntech, thank you for the video. Please confirm that in the G4 you cannot have 2 x m.2 2080 and the HDD cage at the same time. I was planning to go with that configuration, but is the first time I have heard that it cannot be done? If so, why? Isn't the cage clear of the NVMe all the time? Please let me know, thanks!
Unfortunately two 2280 won't fit with the drive cage. I've seen folks on the Internet that cut into the drive cage so that there would be room for that second 2280 but I haven't tried that since I'd like to keep the cage original. If you could instead get a 2230 sized drive then the cage would fit.
I'm waiting for a cutoff wheel for my Dremel to do surgery on the underside of the 2.5in drive caddy so that a 2280 will fit under it, in addition to the other 2280 slot. The cuts look pretty straightforward. As an alternative, you could leave out the caddy and elevate the 2.5in SSD above the slot with some nylon posts. Also, someone 3D-printed a custom caddy for the HP Prodesk, but sadly that doesn't fit in an Elitedesk.
I thought of another possible solution for the G4 that would allow both M.2 2280 slots to be filled AND use a 2.5in SATA SSD. Ditch the drive caddy and buy a 22-pin (7-data + 15-power) male-to-female SATA extender cable. Plug the male end into the SATA data+power connector from the motherboard and the female into the SSD. Mount the SSD onto the underside of the G4 cover using a thermal pad and some kapton tape, or (if you don't care about thermals) use velcro. As long as the extender is long enough, you should be able to slide/unlatch the cover and disconnect the SSD from the extender without yanking out the tiny SATA FFC connector.
Now that is inventive and allows for the extra drives. I've also been trying to find a cable that splits the 22 pin cable into it's two parts so you could use the power site for other cards. Like one I saw that turns m.2 into PCI e
@handmedowntech You have to consider that even if you do that, it will only carry the 5V, not the 12V, just in case you need it for your use case.
Great review. Can a 2nd ethernet port added to either for pfsense/opnsense?
@@kenmorris2858 yes, check out my video on adding a second network port
I've been experimenting with an M.2 to mini SAS SFF-8087 expansion card installed in the second 2280 M.2 slot in the G4. This card has an ASMedia ASM1064 chip that bridges NVMe to 4 SATA ports thru the 8087 connector and a fanout cable that provides 4 SATA connectors. You can route the fanout cable outside the case thru the hole located behind the flexio option port. So far appears to work, and the cover for the G4 even fits because the 8087 is mounted horizontally. So this hack provides a way to direct connect an external array of 4 mechanical hard drives to the G4 if you want to create a NAS or backup server.
Very cool. I like solutions that allow the cover to stay on. Was this eBay or Amazon and do you have a link you could share? Where does power for the drives come from?
@@handmedowntech Ok, my reply with a Newegg link disappeared (at least to me) when I refreshed the browser tab. I also replied about the power and drive enclosures, but that disappeared too. I'm tired of wasting my time doing this. Either you find a way to fix this, or provide me with alternate contact info, or I'm done writing comments in your videos. I may stop watching them also.
@@dktol56 one of the commenters said that UA-cam does not allow commenters to put in link. I didn't realize that, sorry. If you ordered on Amazon maybe just give me the Amazon item number and I'll look for it. Sorry for the frustration, would hate to see you leave.
@handmedowntech Will you be doing a G4 vs G5 video? Anxious for that one :D
I think that would be good. Complete the set. Hope to get that done this week.
Excellent once again. I would suggest the G3 is now wallowing in the wind a bit - I would either go G2 or G4 unless the G3 was a very good price. One thing I've yet to do is work out which power supplies are demanded by the system as the hardware is loaded up, and how the motherboard components cope with the increased power and cooling required as it's the same power mosfets on the board having to regulate 65W or 150W, I believe the auxilliary fan mounting is slightly different to the G2 but I haven't tried it - some are sold as G2 only, others for G2,3,4 and 5 - and it will also certainly be required with 2 or 3 m.2 devices installed, but without physically trying one there's no way of telling. One interesting test would be, as power and cooling requirement increases, can the improved airflow design of the G4 keep fan speed (and noise) under control in such a small case? Perhaps noise is potentially a benefit of the G3 over the G2?
Thank you. I've also been curious on the power usage since I have several running at all times. Does having the non mechanical drives help? SATA vs m.2. I've been curious to use one of those kiliwatt units to see the power levels.
@@handmedowntech SATA SSD are lower power than m.2, spinning rust is potentially even lower but remember you pay for lower power with reduced performance. But it is not necessarily the use of power from the power brick that matters so much as how hot the power mosfets get under load - unlike the processor I don't believe they have any temperature monitors. The only way to check is with a thermocouple, ideally mounted directly to the side of a mosfet, as the load changes.
@@andygardiner6526 it is a bit crazy to think of using a 150w power adapter with the G4 when you have that optional graphics card installed. Starts to get into the realm of the SFF units. Which of course gives you neat stuff like multiple NICs on a card, etc.
I love watchin these videos secretly
@@PIayboyNike your secret is safe with us 😉
I have a 7500T G3 and it works great as a Work From Home machine
I've been thinking of upgrading my G3 to the 7500T. I had purchased a 6500T for it not realizing at the time that it could use the 7th Gen.
Just received my elitedesk 800 G4, works great only thing is it’s loud. Is there a way to reduce the fan noise. Btw, it’s running window 11. Thanks
Is it the 35w or 65w?
@@handmedowntech it’s the 65W
@@giangnguyen8344 65w is louder but have you checked or listened to each fan in case the bearings are going bad? Bad bearings though would have more of a squeel. Maybe also make sure nothing is in the way like the fan wire
@@handmedowntech will check it out tomorrow
what type of m2 ssd works with g3 mini running i5 7500t. nvme or ngff? thanks in advance
You would use m.2 NVME. They can be used in the normal slot or you can get an adapter (check out my videos) and use the wifi slot.
@@handmedowntech thanks
Don't know about the G3, but the G4 absolutely works with 64GB of RAM, despite HP's specifications. I have three G4's with 64GB - should be great for zfs.
I thought I'd heard of folks getting 64Gb on these units. I'm assuming you're running VMs on these?
@@handmedowntech I will be soon thru proxmox. One of them will provide a virtualized NAS for my lan.
My Truenas VM is setup for 12gb since zfs seems to love memory
I got the prodesk 400 g3 mini 7500t and can confirm I put in 64gb of Kingston fury ddr4 3200 and it works like a charm
@@8iter so even a G3? Wonder if you need the 7th Gen chip to get the 64gb
My 800 g3 mini has 64gb ram
Sweet. Which CPU?
@@handmedowntech i78700t
Wish they had HDMI.
Either of them can be upgraded to HDMI using a $10 FlexIo card.
That should never be a deciding factor; there are adapters for hdmi to display and vice versa. Some video cards require an actively powered adapter and others passive ( most of the time, it's just try it and if not , try a different one )
I use these all the time with my Dell computers going to HDMI. The adapters are all over Amazon, in the $10 to $20 range; some more, some less.
I have both situations. For the bulk of my stuff I use a Display port to HDMI adapter and that works great since I have to switch around to all the different models when doing videos. But on my G5 I decided to go with the HDMI FlexIo since my ancient monitor we're using does not have HDMI but uses DVI so I didn't want to invest in more adapters and cables 😀
I'm just using an HDMI-to-DP dongle. A bought one last summer that works fine at 1440P. It may do better than 60Hz, but I'm running Debian 12 Mate for testing the hardware and it only handles 60Hz.