HP Elite Mini 600 G9 Internal Hardware Overview
The layout of the HP Elite Mini 600 G9 is similar to other HP units for generations. Part of the system is CPU and memory and the other part is for storage and I/O.
Something notable in this generation is the CPU heatsink, even on this 35W TDP model, has a nice airflow shroud. That is there to keep the Intel Core i7-12700T (or other CPU you configure) cool without having to transition to a heavier and costlier copper heatsink.
The memory is still under the fan as we have seen with previous generations, but there is a little memory cooling flap on top of the RAM between the SODIMMs and the fan. This generation takes DDR5-4800 SODIMMs, a big upgrade over the DDR4-3200 generation as we covered in Guide DDR DDR2 DDR3 DDR4 and DDR5 Bandwidth by Generation.
Our unit was configured with the Intel AX211 WiFi 6E and Bluetooth solution. This is an optional feature so if you want WiFi be sure to configure it new, or purchase a unit with it.
In this generation, we have two M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe slots. Both slots have little covers to help with cooling, but these are still using screws while Lenovo has a toolless M.2 solution in production for generations.
Under the cover was a disappointment. This is a HP OEM drive, but it is a SK Hynix BC711. While it is a 512GB NVMe SSD, it is also a PCIe Gen3 x4 drive, not a Gen4 x4 drive. We wish HP just standardized on Gen4 drives at this point.
Here is the Flex IO V2 slot.
The large white connector in the unit is for the dGPU option that was in early documentation but we cannot figure out how to configure this on HP’s website. That would occupy the large internal cavity and the rear I/O slot.
Something you may have noticed is that we do not have a 2.5″ SATA cage. That is now an option and includes cooling for M.2 SSDs. Our unit did not have this as the world is moving to M.2 NVMe.
Next, let us get to the performance.
HP Elite Mini 600 G9 Performance
As with all of these reviews, we wanted to look at performance quickly. We installed Ubuntu to validate Linux worked but also to provide some performance comparison with other offerings. We also had Windows 10 Pro installed for some of the storage testing.
Python Linux 4.4.2 Kernel Compile Benchmark
This is one of the most requested benchmarks for STH over the past few years. The task was simple, we have a standard configuration file, the Linux 4.4.2 kernel from kernel.org, and make the standard auto-generated configuration utilizing every thread in the system. We are expressing results in terms of compiles per hour to make the results easier to read:
Overall, very strong Core i7 performance here in Ubuntu.
7-zip Compression Performance
7-zip is a widely used compression/ decompression program that works cross-platform. We started using the program during our early days with Windows testing. It is now part of Linux-Bench.
Again, the P-cores plus E-Cores in this system provide a unique combination that differentiates it from previous generations.
OpenSSL Performance
OpenSSL is widely used to secure communications between servers. This is an important protocol in many server stacks. We first look at our sign tests:
Here are the verify results:
The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and 6900HX are 45W TDP parts, yet this 35W TDP part is very competitive.
Next, let us talk about networking and storage.
Networking and Storage
WiFi 6/ 6E is great. We were transferring real files after we set up the machine such as drivers, CPU-Z, and more. The more sequential bits were over 90MB/s which is not too far off from 1GbE speeds (just over 120MB/s peak) on the same transfer. That was just over a WiFi 6 network, but compared to older Project TinyMiniMicro nodes with 802.11ac WiFi, this is a huge upgrade.
On the storage side, the 512GB SK Hynix BC711 was a HP branded unit.
Performance was disappointing since we were hoping to get a PCIe Gen4 x4 drive, but this was only a Gen3 drive. On the HP configurator, only Gen4 drives are currently listed, but the SK hynix is a HP part number drive so it seems like there were some Gen3 drives out there. Beware of this.
It was also fun to see that when we got the drive, it had more writes than reads in the system’s 14 days of use.
Next, let us get to the power consumption and noise.
It seems like dozens of small form factor PCs have been reviewed so far. While I understand smaller computers allow for smaller cubicles in an office setting, I’m confused what good they are second hand as servers.
Are there remote management features I’m missing? Are there standard ways to rack mount them? What advantage does 2.5Gbit networking have that wouldn’t better be served with 10Gbit?
There is a small form factor PC mounted behind the TV in the conference room. It tends to overheat and shut down after about 40 minutes of use. While a mandatory break from the slide show is a feature for most meetings, I don’t see how similar behaviour would be useful in a server.
Could the fans and cooling in many of these small form factor PCs be reliable 24 hours a day under load for a server application?
Under load, probably not.
I’ve got one behind a TV that has been reliable so far, but it’s under very little load, showing an information display. Maybe if you have it right against a very hot part of the TV? Maybe a fanless mini PC which is basically all heatsink, and high temperature rating would serve your needs better?
We have had some of the fans on the HP units fail, but they have been mostly reliable for office users.
Eric – I can tell you I use these all over the place now. vPro can be used for remote management. Beyond that, it is fairly trivial to use them as a Ubuntu server. One can take a cluster of Raspberry Pi’s for example, and just change the environments to virtual on a single node like this. Overheating on the 35W units is probably less common. Rack mounting is pretty easy as well, especially if you only have a few. You can even just buy a shelf and then put these on that.
These tiny PCs have all sorts of uses.
I use one as a Plex server. QuickSync of Intel CPUs is excellent for transcoding.
It lets my NAS just serve files instead of hosting VMs.
I went with Dell 3260 Precision. It has PCIe slot and plopped in a cheap mellanox 10Gb card for faster access to my NAS. It supports 1 NMVe, 1 SATA drive, 64GB RAM.
these small pc are compromised and you are living in La La land – build a cluster out of 3 z440 for almost the same price as one mini pc is a much better option – more ram, more expandable, cheaper parts – if z440 is too old goto 6/7th gen parts – parts is parts and the pc mkt is closed down atm – hp may go bankrupt, intel is having major issues and savvy consumers will just wait it out until the cabal of big tech decides they need price wars to gain more mkt share – right now that is not happening
z440 is OLD and is way bigger using more power. These new Core i7’s are like 2x the perf of an e5-1650 v3 and faster than even the e5-2698 v3. For us, we’ll spend the extra Euros on energy bills to make these cheaper
It’s interesting that none of these HP small form factors have Thunderbolt, even as an option.
as far as value compute goes refurbs rule the roost even when higher electricity rates are concerned and with the tiny micro pc being so expensive it is really just a matter of time before soc/sbc segment supplants smaller pc in large measure – space concerns are a luxury problem and there is no real cachet value of small pc – they are tougher to work on, contain proprietary parts, are less expandable, have issues with performance on network side of things and thus can’t scale as effectively; savvy consumers will go for refurbs and take advantage of better roi and lower tco plus ease of repair-ability and upgrades but the sbc mkt is one to look at since they are largely connected and related to mobile mkt where innovation and product cycles are so much more vital and emergent – next gen sbc and soc will take a lot of mkt share away from the big entrenched interests and more competition is going to benefit everyone – look forward to sbc with fast nvme. better networking, wifi7 and usb4/5 and increased arm core counts
How does a 3050ti fit in there? Trying to find doc on the website with no luck.
I don’t think the 3050TI fits in the 600, only the 800. Did you ever install a GPU in this unit or look into it?
curious if i can upgrade this to 14th gen intel cpu
I’ve got one of these, but the cooling, for me, is lacking. Any ideas?