HP EliteDesk 800 G2 Mini Key Specs
Since many of our users are going to want to run different OSes on this, we wanted to give some of the key hardware specs. There is a lot on these machines that are customizable, but this at least gives you some sense of what hardware is available. If you want to know if your hardware is compatible with your OS, this list should help do that tie-out.
CPU Support
- Intel Core i5-6500T (35W)
- Intel Core i7-6500 (65W)
- (Likely others)
RAM Support
- Up to 32GB in 2x DDR4-2133 SODIMMs
Storage Support
- 1x M.2 NVMe SSD
- 1x 2.5″ Drive (SATA)
Networking (Wired)
- Intel i219LM
WiFi
-
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 NV
-
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 + Bluetooth 4.0
-
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 + Bluetooth 4.0
-
HP WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.0
Chipset
- Intel Q170 PCH
USB Ports
- 1x USB 3.0 Type-C Front
- 2x USB 3.0 Front
- 4x USB 3.0 Rear
OSes From Factory
- Windows 10 Pro 64
- Windows 7 Pro
- Linux
HP EliteDesk 800 G2 Mini Performance and Power Consumption
Instead of going through the entire Linux-Bench test suite, we are going to show a few performance and power numbers here to give a general sense of performance. We actually planned to do storage testing, but then we realized that there was a huge variability in terms of what drives could be found in machines.
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:
We first wanted to point out that this is a Core i5-6500T, as such, it is much faster than the HP EliteDesk 705 G3 Mini AMD Pro A10 and A6 options we tested previously. These systems are around the same price, so if you need CPU performance, the Core i5-6500T is a better choice.
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.
After this generation, AMD became more competitive with Ryzen Pro. As a result, we see newer CPUs offer significantly more performance. As an example, the Core i3-9100T is newer and offers more performance in the lower tier CPU line. An important aspect to look at is performance, not just the CPU branding.
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:
We also wanted to point out that this is very competitive with 4C-6C Intel Xeon D-1500 solutions such as well as the Intel Atom C3758. This uses more power, and does not have 10GbE, but it does have an Intel 530 iGPU which allows features such as QuickSync for transcoding to be used. There are certainly trade-offs, but these are very reasonable especially given the price.
Next, we are going to look at power consumption before moving onto our key lesson learned and final words.
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.