Power Consumption
Idle power consumption on 120V power we saw 11-14W idle for the quad-core unit. We generally assume these nodes will use 9-12W idle so this was a bit higher. Again, these are used units so it may vary a bit.
The power supplies are 65W HP power adapters from the company’s notebook line. We hit 59W on our unit putting as much stress as we could on it. This is still a relatively low power consumption. Most nodes used for labs, or even as desktops, will sit idle most of the time.
At idle, the noise is not significant. Under CPU and/or GPU loads, the fan spins up and the system is audible. An advantage is that one can move this system to avoid direct noise by mounting it on the back of a TV or monitor, under a desk, or elsewhere. These are designed to be quiet so many of them can fill rooms of small cubicles or co-working desk space so HP had to design them to be relatively quiet.
Next, we are going to discuss key lessons learned before getting to our final thoughts.
Key Lesson Learned for TMM
In this series, we wanted to also focus on some key lessons learned. Since we have already tested well over a dozen different models, we are taking away key pieces of advice from each that we wanted to share.
The first lesson came in the form of a Windows license. Most of the Project TMM nodes we have seen have embedded Windows 10 Pro licenses tied to the motherboard. This one had a Windows 7 Pro license but utilized a sticker COA with a license key on it. This is just a different model, but something to look at. We were able to upgrade the key to a Windows 10 Pro key, but that was a nominal amount of extra effort.
We had a second key takeaway. When we look at our Project TinyMiniMicro HP EliteDesk 705 G3 Mini CE Review we find a “G3” system where the AMD APU performance was much lower. The 705 G3 Mini also does not have a front USB Type-C port. Likewise, the 705 G2 Mini utilized DDR3 memory even though the Intel solutions in this generation transitioned to DDR4. We also noted that this system was before the big games happened as AMD became competitive and drove massive performance gains. As an example, the Intel Core i5-8500T added two more cores (6C/6T) and a lot more performance.
The key takeaway we are starting to see here is that one has to be more careful than to simply look at the system generation (e.g. “G3”) or the CPU marketing name (e.g. “Core i5”) because there can be massive differences. That is why we purchased so many of these nodes.
Final Words
We started Project TinyMiniMicro to focus on very low-cost nodes. There are lower-cost Core i5-4000 nodes on the used market with DDR3, but we are focusing on the DDR4 generation since it is still the current generation and DDR5 is not too far away. It also lets us peer back ~5 years so we did not want to go beyond that. As a result, the Core i5-6500T is one of the oldest CPUs and the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 Mini is one of the oldest platforms we will have in Project TinyMiniMicro.
At the same time, for around $205 with low power and noise requirements, a solid amount of expandability, and a surprising amount of USB 3.0 connectivity, there is a lot to be said for using these units to build a lab cluster (Linux), as a QuickSync transcoding machine, or even to use as inexpensive desktop nodes. At this end of the pricing spectrum a few dollars may make a big difference. On newer dual socket servers $95 may be a small delta. In this arena, at $95 more or $300 total, this would be a very hard system to recommend. For $200-215, especially if there is an easy path to 16GB and with the Windows license, this type of system can be a great value.
DDR4-21333 it’s extra fast memory (small typo on page 1)
So how did it do against the Pi?
Before this series. I was researching SFF/Tiny PCs about to buy this thin client because the form but I found out the price isn’t that good. I can stretch a Ryzen 3200G and 8GB in a SFF chassis for a better performance. The downsides are bigger chassis, Wifi and BT.
FYI this machine was also sold as the HP MP9 G2 – aimed for the retail point of sale/signage market. They are the same system with a different name.
The m.2 was annoying that it supports NVMe only, not SATA, which I spent way too long troubleshooting. As far as I know the only thing the serial port can be swapped out for is a displayport, part number 832076-001, which gives you 3 displays.
Was a great low power server for a while with a G4400T, ran a few VMs on it even with a dual core (now a 6500T), now use it as a desktop terminal as I upgraded to an R320
@Bull: Agreed! The Ryzen 3200G / 8GB / 256 GB SSD like in Lenovo ThinkCentre M75Q offers a superb price performance ratio. The Ryzen is on par with the Intel Core i5 9500T.
One can get a new M75Q for ~320 € including VAT in Germany.
Forgot to mention: same form factor as all your other models mentioned with ~1L case volume
It would be useful to keep a running article with the machines you do recommend, and why (high points). Kind of an index? With ebay affiliate links, if that’s a thing. It’s a little hard to figure out what is the “good value” and what’s not without crawling through all of the verbose reviews, so a kind of cheat sheet would be awesome.
Where the heck do you guys find these at the prices you get them for!
Just ebay. Some get them much less expensively at local liquidators. When a big decommission happens they tend to get very inexpensive.
I bought one of these. There’s a whining sound (not very load, but load for idle) from the fan all the time. Is this normal? Or did I just get one with a bad fan?
If you can noticeably hear it from more than about 0.5m or 1.5ft away when it is idle, then it may be a bad fan. Two things to try before that are cleaning the heatsink/fan and also see if you have something ticked in the BIOS causing the fan to spin higher than normal.
Hello! Is it possible to view the product number and all other markings on the serial module at this EliteDesk ?
Thank you!
Any chance you did a comparison of the 35W vs 65W model of these (e.g. i5-6500T vs i5-6500)? I know you mentioned in a previous video that an advantage of the lower TDP model is that there are no vents on the top of the case, so they can be more tightly stacked.
Wondering if there is significantly more fan spin and noise at idle with the higher TDP model?
PS – Thanks for the great review and fun channel, Patrick.
Big fan of STH web & YT.
I just picked up a used 800 G2 Mini and it came with a no-name 256GB SATA SSD but noticed it also has a spare 2280 NVME slot (underneath the SATA tray). I’d like to junk the SATA disk and install the OS on a 2TB NVME SSD.
Can this machine boot from NVME?
Ron, I do not know if we can test your specific combo, but NVMe boot was an option on the G2’s right? So it should work. The harder bits are when you try to do something strange on these systems.
Is there an upgrade for photo/video work (more photo).
Do you have a link to the specs of this exact system? I’m trying to see if it supports 64GB (2x32GB), but “official” HP information is incredibly hard to find on this exact model!
Thanks!
Got a couple of these as barebones, but using known-working HP laptop power supplies (65W & 90W) they act “dead” (no POST activity at all).
Do these units use some kind of proprietary power supply compared to HP laptops?
Thanks!
Awesome review and series, very very helpful for getting started with a homelab!
What is the Display Port version, I assume capable of HBM2? Can it drive 4k 60Hz with HDR? Specs on the site are vague at best. Wonder if DP to HDMI passive adapter will work, it should as its a DP++ labeled.