![Vista "Benchmarking"](http://www.jamesthebard.net/blog/wp-content/gallery/s3200n/thumbs/thumbs_s3200n_newscore.png "Vista "Benchmarking"")
So, I went to various brick-and-mortar stores along with Pricewatch, NewEgg, and TigerDirect trying to find this magical combination of cheap, good, and fast. Of course, experience tells us that you can only get two out of three.
After much searching, I found a HP Pavillion Slimline s3200n on clearance, allowing me to pay roughly $420.00 for a computer that HP’s stats told me was not only capable, but possibly overkill. (As a side note, the box did not come with keyboard, mouse, or wireless antenna…)
So, I buy said box and bring it home. Before I get into the guts of the computer, here are some stats for this tiny PC:
After getting it home, connecting it to the flat-panel and hooking up all the necessary connections, I came to realize that I really hate Vista. I had already come to this conclusion before, but after a few months of not using it, it was a stark reminder of how much of an upgrade Windows XP/OS X/Linux was. This also meant that I could tack on formatting hard drive to the list of things left to do.
After it’s first boot and setting up users and such (just like every other retail computer you buy) I was welcomed to the log-in screen of Vista. This is where I realized that 1GB of RAM minus what the graphics card needs of system RAM equalled some hard drive paging. So, after the requisite 20-40 seconds of waiting, I was introduced to the desktop. And this is where my first task of clearing out all the “extra” things that HP likes to include with its consumer desktops (the reason for the long wait).
Twenty minutes to half-an-hour later, I had a cleaner and better protected desktop which to work with. This dropped the overall wait time to around 12 seconds from the start of Vista’s load process to get to the desktop.
I installed the Combined Comunity Codec Pack which gave me Media Player Classic, Zoom Player 4.0 and the ability to watch pretty much anything on the web. Also, for those of you who haven’t heard of Media Player Classic, it gave me the ability to watch DVDs on the computer without any fuss. I also installed the VideoLAN Client which I think is a better DVD watching open-source application. Now, for a good music application.
I decided to try foobar2000 and was impressed and disheartened at the same time. I like the application, but as a slave to iTunes there are some tracks which foobar2000 just can’t handle. Also, some of the tracks’ metadata were not translated well. This meant I had 1000+ tracks that were mis-ID’d. I haven’t searched for another alternative yet, but I will here in the near future.
Now, with a stable machine, I decided to see what the insides look like. With my trusty Nikon D40 and an equally trusty screwdriver it was time to delve into the HP Slimline Pavillion s3200n.
The Rear of the Machine
The HP s3200n opted to put the power supply in the case (which I am thankful for). A decent amount of ports on the back. I like the general layout, including the 802.11b/g antenna connection but I’m not a fan of having no DVI connector on the back. The video card you see on the far right of the photo is an addition and doesn’t come with the s3200n. I’ll get to that later. You’ll also notice there is no modem. That was removed due to the fact that I have no need for a modem, and I’d rather give my PCIe graphics card some room.
On the Inside
Layout is fairly clean with the power cables being run from the power supply on the top and most of the other cables being run down the bottom. The DVD Drive is mounted above the HDD, and the small looking structure to the bottom is the cage for the “HP Pocket Media Drive.” You can also see the PCI and PCIe slots on the bottom left.
Power Supply
The power supply is manufactured by Delta Electronics and is rated at 160W. This will severely limit what you can add to the PCIe 16x slot. However, you can add an nVidia 8400 GS to the system without any troubles. Just remember you don’t have alot to work with power-wise. A replacement power supply will cost you around $50-$100 but they are available. More on that later.
Motherboard
The motherboard is an ASUS M2N61-AR a.k.a. HP Acacia-GL6E which there is little mention of on the internet other than those already installed in HP product. It is an AM2 motherboard (940 pin socket). Not much more information other than the audio is based on the Azalia HD/AC97 from Intel. Also, the onboard graphics is the nVidia GeForce 6150 IGP with 128MB of dedicated video RAM with the option to borrow from system memory.
Processor
CPU-Z identified the processor as an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (). The processor has a maximum power envelope of 65W, and runs of a Core Voltage of 1.3W. It is a 65nm core, and is considered to be one of the lower-end dual-core AMD processors. It does, however, run Vista well along with decoding H.264 content at 720×480. I haven’t tried any of the HD content I have, but I believe after looking at the processor stats of the content I have played that there will be no real problems to speak of.
RAM
The RAM is situated behind the HDD, and is a slight pain to access. So, instead of removing it and photographing it I will let the software do the talking. The RAM itself is manufactured by Micron Technology and comes with no heat-spreaders. The timings from CPU-Z are here:
There are only two slots for RAM, and each is occupied by a 512MB DDR2 PC-5300 stick of RAM. If you want to upgrade, you will have to replace them. However, the motherboard does support 4GB of RAM (2GB x2).
Audio
Using a trusty copy of Knoppix, I gleaned that the audio was being provided from an Intel High Definition Audio “card” through a RealTek AC888 chip. There are three ports on the back (microphone, line out, line in) along with digital out by the PS/2 connections. Also the front holds a “headphones” jack so that you don’t annoy your neighbors when you play whatever you play at high volume.
Video
I’m not going too deep into this. The graphics card is a nVidia GeForce 6150 SE that manages to run Aero with all the desktop effects on with no problems to speak of. It scores a 2.9 in the Graphics subsection in the Windows Experience Index. Needless to say, you won’t be playing Crysis but you can do most things with minimal impact to the system.
Hard Drive
The hard drive (again, sorry, no picture) is a Seagate ST3320820AS 7200.10 320GB hard drive. It is a SATA-3.0GB hard drive and runs well. Not too loud and doesn’t detract from the overall operations of the computer. The hard drive is divided into two partitions, the first is the Vista operating system and the second is the “backup” partition which holds the image to restore your computer to factory default goodness. To receive actual install DVD’s, you have to contact HP and pony up some money.
Optical Drive
The drive is manufactured by ASUSTek for HP. It is a SATA Lightscribe DVD±R/W/RAM drive and works relatively well. More information can be found here.
Networking
The motherboard comes with a 10/100Mbps fast ethernet port (thanks be to thee nVidia MCP61) and an “integrated” Ralink-based USB wireless networking card. The wireless card works perfectly in Vista as does the 10/100Mbps RJ-45 port.
Expansion
I was walking around a favorite brick-and-mortar store and saw a PCIe 8400GS low-profile graphics card made by XFX for sale at around $99.00. It was a big improvement over the GeForce 6150SE integrated into the motherboard and I figured I’d see how difficult it would be to take said low-profile graphics card and install it into said PCIe x16 slot.
I removed the PCI modem, and started to observe what I needed to do to get said graphics card in.
First was to remove the standard height mounting bracket and replace it with the low-profile bracket supplied by XFX. The key to this is a 3/16″ socket and it makes things go that much faster. With everything ready, I simply inserted the card into the PCIe x16 slot, put the case back on, attached screws and restarted the computer after hooking everything back up. The motherboard “de-activated” the integrated 6150SE and my computer was ready to go (well, after installing the new nVidia drivers).
And the result performance wise:
A .5 increase in overall graphics (from a 2.9 for the GeForce 6150SE) and a 1.6 increase over gaming graphics (previously a 3.0). The computer seems to run a tad quicker too, but I think the real performance boost will be upgrading the RAM.
Overall
The computer is inexpensive, does what it does well (it’s silent, has enough power to decode HD content), plays music, surfs the internet, and does email. I actually think that this computer (with the upgraded RAM and graphics card) would do well as a low-to-middle-end desktop that has a low footprint.
Was it worth the $450 before I added the graphics card? Yes.
Was it worth the $550 after I added the graphics card? Yes again.
It was worth the cost of the machine, especially now that you can get the s3200n or something similar with decent discounts due to alot of these being in clearance/refurbished models. HP has moved on from the s3200n, but that means we, the consumer, can find them cheap.
May 2, 2008Thanks.
This helped a lot as I too prefer XP.
Tony
May 3, 2008Glad to help to be honest. I started out with Vista on the machine, and decided that I didn’t like what I saw. I’ve used Vista enough to form an honest opinion about it (not a good one mind you) and then formatted and installed XP.
The problems started with no real central location for drivers, and I thought it would be easier to find as many as I could and post them in a central location.
Of course, what’s more interesting is that I ended up ditching XP on the s3200n for Mythbunthu, a MythTV version of Ubuntu, and it has worked flawlessly after a touch of setup.
May 4, 2008Thanks a lot you saved me a lot of time. I have s3220n and i used another dirver for the chipset im posting if anybody needs it
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp32_8.26_11.09.html
May 8, 2008You guys are freaking life savers. Thanks for all the links. I cannot express how grateful I am to have stumbled across your site.
I too loathe Vista; I believe this is Microsoft’s attempt to circumvent the terms of its Anti-Trust suit. It disgusts me how low they have sank all in the name of a workaround to an archaic policy. Instead of investing the funds required to develop an inferior OS Bill should have just hired a lobbyist to bribe politicians like everyone else in big business.
May 10, 2008Yo! Big Ups to JTB. You saved me some time and I was able to rock my set at the Clubs. Werd!!!!!!
May 10, 2008@IvanGlez: I appreciate you posting the drivers. It’s a big help when people can install the OS that they want on something that they buy.
@ReydrX: I think it’s more the fact that they tried to push something out that was nowhere close to finished. Add to that I believe they simply didn’t know what they wanted to release. Overall, not a great way to design an OS. YMMV though.
@dj quixslvr: Glad we could help.
Jun 9, 2008thanks. I have one question. im buying a nvidia geforce 9800 gtx. can i put it on the slimline s3200n?
Jun 9, 2008I wouldn’t recommend it, and by recommend I mean I wouldn’t even try it. The power supply would literally eat itself. The power supply in the s3200n is 160W for all the components while the 9800GTX consumes upwards of 450W.
EDIT: I read the wrong card. It is recommended to be used with a power supply of 450W or greater. The card itself draws around 168W at peak usage. The card I upgraded to is pushing the limit of the power supply (8400GS) which uses considerably less. I still don’t recommend it unless you can find a way to upgrade the power supply.
Jun 10, 2008Thank you so much for the driver list James! I bought the same HP Pavilion and after two days I formatted it and installed Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs. Now, my HP works great
Jun 12, 2008hey a very concise review indeed. Anyway I have a HP slimline s3388d and Im having trouble removing the optical drive to install additional ram. Could you teach me how to remove the drive? pics would be great! =p
Jun 12, 2008will this verison of the gerfoce 8400 series work?
http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%E2%84%A2+8400&productConfigurationId=1745147
cause its pretty cheap
http://www.anitec.ca/product/9454/xfx_geforce_8400_gs_256mb_pci_express/
thx for the help
Jun 13, 2008@mike: I installed an XFX GeForce 8400 GS with 256MB of RAM. The part number is slightly different though. I would recommend making sure that either the graphics card you are purchasing has the low-profile bracket included or ordering the specific low-profile bracket from the ‘intarweb’.
Jun 13, 2008k thx a bunch i cant find any info on that veriosn of the 8400gs…. hahaha i’ll ask if it comes wiht a low profile bracket thx for the help
Jun 13, 2008hey did urs come with the low profile bracket? cause the website says that it doesnt come with the bracket:S
Jun 14, 2008@mike: Mine did to be honest. I was pretty suprised (and lucky now that I think about it) when I saw it in the box.
Jul 2, 2008Hey did you run at dual displays?
I need to know where i can get an adapter for the video card to hook it onto VGA
Jul 6, 2008Great review. Thank you. How is the noise level of the fans? Are there any heat issues with your slimline?
I just returned the s3400f slimline because it ran extremely hot and the power supply fan was running at a constant pace (very loud).
i am reluctant to buy another slimline as a replacement. Do you think I got a lemon?
Jul 8, 2008hey james thebard, I have a HP slimline s3137c. I want that card you showed us. does it run at about 160W, because I think I found the same card with a low profile bracket included. I wont send you link (someone else might steal it) but i did find it XFX and it looked exactly the same with low profile brachet included. but is it as I said close to 160W usage
Jul 9, 2008do u need to remove the old integrated 6150 then put in the new 8400GS? or do u just leave the integrated card where it is and put the new one on top of it????????/
Jul 10, 2008How did you remove the integrated video chip under the PCI -e slot?
Jul 10, 2008@Warren: The power supply on the s3200n ran hot. I can’t attest to it ever causing any problems other than trying to encode 2.5 hours of 1920×1080 video and downmixing and re-encoding DTS+ audio. The only two fans in the case (IIRC) were the power supply fan and the heatsink fan. Neither made too much noise.
@Ehab: The nVidia 6150 SE is integrated. What this means is that the card is physically part of the motherboard and cannot be removed. When you install a discrete graphics card, you won’t have to worry about it due to the fact that it will disable itself.
Jul 14, 2008I bought an HP Slimline Pavillion S3200n but there is a problem.
After about 3 hours of use it shuts down. If touched at the power supply it is very HOT. The fan doesn’t seem to be going fast as well. but it is being used at europe with 210 voltage. Could that be a problem??? ill be waiting for a reply thanks…
Jul 14, 2008I’m starting to think that all is not right in the state of Denmark.
So far I’ve been trolling the internet and quite a few people have been having a few issues with the power supply overheating. I’m beginning to think that even with all the pluses, the power supply may have regressed into the negative side. I’ll take a look into it and see what I can find.
As far as the 210V problem with the power supply, the simple answer is “I don’t know.” Most power supplies have sweet spots as far as efficiency goes. If you run a power supply at 100V vice 120V, efficiency goes down and temperature goes up. I haven’t had much experience with 210V though and this power supply. The unfortunate thing is that the power supply is one of the few avenues that hot air escapes from the case. If the fan isn’t spinning very fast (i.e. fast enough) then heat will shutdown your system as a safety measure. The only other fan is the one on the processor. It can dissipate heat pretty well from the low-power processor, but having to do that with the excess heat that the fan in the power supply generates…that’s another story.
I also looked at replacements, and I haven’t been able to find one that is more powerful/more capable/less hot on the ‘intarweb’ but YMMV on this one. The case is pretty small and I can’t think of too many other things to do other than trying to mount some small fans in the back, or blow money on a new case, new motherboard (proprietary ATX connector), and new power supply.
Jul 15, 2008I downloaded speed fan (a great program). It shows my computer temperature at about 20 C but after hours of use it goes up to the mid 40′s. When i checked the section that wrote “Fan”, It wasn’t detecting anything. Almost if my computer didn’t have a fan. If i get a light and look inside the computer i could see the fan and I could feel the blowing of the fan. When i compare this blowing of the fan to my other pc or my labtop it is very low. It barely blows. I am guessing the problem with my hp slimline is the fan. So i am thinking to switch the interior fan to a more powerfull one and maybe even add an exterior fan.
I think i could of found the problem but what i dont understand is why we get computers such as the hp slimline which end up giving many people heating problems… Shouldn’t the manufacturer fix all these problems and add a stronger fan etc… anyways ill be trying to switch the fan these few days and test it out to see what would happen.
Jul 19, 2008@Endi: It’s unusual. My s3200n didn’t have heat issues until I started a 1920×1080 encode that lasted ~18 hours. Of course, I’m not exactly sure why it seemed like a good idea at the time, but it did eventually kill it.
As far as ventillation, I’m not sure where you’ll place it, but it should help out with overall cooling. I’m curious to know what the end result is myself.
Jul 20, 2008Thanks much James The Bard for the XP driver links. I was getting nowhere fast till I came across your listings.
I used them after installing XP and got everything working except the 10/100 lan card. I’ve got 2 unknown devices in Device Manager ( I had 6 before your drivers), one of which must be that card. I presume it’s
“6.86_nforce_w2kxp_international..”
from nVidia that contains the correct lan driver. When I try running its setup file it opens a window and closes it so fast I cannot read it. Otherwise it appears to completely refuse to install.
Any ideas on how to install the lan?
Thanks again,
Roger
Jul 20, 2008I asked too fast.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp32_8.26_11.09.html
Got my lan up and running. I still have the one unknown driver. Also there is a non existent IEEE 1394 lan card listed as a network card in device manager under “network”. I guess the 1394 device listed as Agere OHCI compliant IEE1394 host controller under Vista is not properly installed in my XP partition. If and when I can solve that I’ll be clean in my device manager.
Thanks again for your help,
Roger
Aug 12, 2008i have the s3200n hp and i’ve upgraded the memory to 2x1gb sticks and i really wanted to get one of these low-profile cards. i’ve been searching religiously for one but the only carrier i can find is amazon and it takes 4-6 weeks delivery. im impatient. on new egg i found a “DIAMOND Stealth 2400PRO256PEL Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card” i wanted to know if this will work with the system since the PSU is SO weak. this is the adress.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103047
what do you think?
Sep 20, 2008Interesting facts.I have bookmarked this site. stephanazs
Sep 24, 2008good site tqeurg
Sep 28, 2008@neal: The ATI 2400 PRO requires a 350W power supply or greater to work with. This means that with the 160W power supply in the Slimline s3200n, it cannot draw the required power necessary to operate properly.
From newegg.com:
Oct 11, 2008I actually just installed an ATI Radeon 2400 pro in my s3200n 2 days ago and it’s been running great.
The temp is at 26C and my windows index went up from 2.9 to 4.0.
Oct 20, 2008excuse me but whats a modem? can you please show me where it is? and which one is the pci -e slot? the top one with video card, or the bottom white slot?
Oct 22, 2008Excuse me but what is that white slot under your video card for? what is it called? how come your’s is empty and mine has a weird card in it? please help.
Oct 23, 2008@nev: It’s a good deal. I will stress that the power supply on my s3200n destroyed itself though I have a feeling it was more due to trying to encode 1080p content over a very long period of time.
@Ehab: For what exactly a modem is, I send you here. The slot “below” the PCIe slot is a standard PCI slot (this means the PCIe slot is “above” the PCI slot.)
Nov 19, 2008So I think I’ll get that video card. I’ve found it, and larnt about it. I hope it works on my computer ^^ so that I could play counter strike source with a good 80FPS, and watch movies without the laggy scenes
Nov 20, 2008so do i have to remove what is inside the PCI slot to put the new card the pci -e slot on top of it? or that is just optional?
Nov 22, 2008I see I see. that white slot is the modem card. If I dont use it, and want to give my video card some room, I could take it out right? what does the pci modem do anyway?
Dec 3, 2008Thanks for posting links to the drivers. I had enough quite enough of vista not running things I need it to run, and flushed it. The drivers were a huge help, thanks again.
Dec 11, 2008what if you need a good gaming graphics card for this computer? I need something above a nvidia 7000, but i cant find anything like that that is small enough to fit inside the computer.
Dec 14, 2008@Ehab: In today’s computers, not much. The only thing I caution is to make sure that the graphics card does not consume your power supply. If you can get yourself a good PCIe graphics card and you don’t need to access the internet via dial-up then go ahead and remove that archaic modem and enjoy.
@james: Not a problem, I’m glad they helped out.
@Smackupsidethehead: It’s a difficult task. The power supply combined with the half-height/low-profile restriction will make it a real pain. When I wrote the review, there were fewer cards out there…
Dec 18, 2008yeah. well the computer game i need to run says it needs above an nvidia geforce 7000 or it just won’t work. is there anything like that? i mean, what with technology today, you’d think there would be something. and you said that the other graphics card you recomended had poor gaming quality, and thats the main reason i bought this computer. i didn’t have alot of space, and i had a limited budget. i’m not very “tech savvy” myself, so if you do happen to come across a good gaming card that will fit inside this itsy bitsy computer, do let me know.
BJB
Dec 20, 2008There are more than a few options for low-profile graphics cards, but due to the lack of space on the boards, you’re not gonna find an 4870/50/30 or a GTX 280/260 that will fit in such a small space.
Here is a list on NewEgg of graphics cards that should physically fit inside the tiny Slimline Pavillion. Just keep an eye on the amount of power these cards draw and/or what they require overall from the power supply overall.
Dec 26, 2008thanks that was really helpful. i’m gonna order one of those as soon as i can withdraw the money. by the by, what about the monitor cord. do they all come with the white connectors, and i have a blue one? and do i need to buy a white monitor cable so i can use these?
Dec 30, 2008Hi, i got the s3400f slimline, i have 160 w…. =[
so anyways, i wanted to know what affordable graphics card i could just add to the pc get gaming, im not expecting Crysis but at least Elder scrolls: Oblivion high or something, i hear that the 8400 GS needs 350 watts, i dont know, since you opened one up and added a video card, i was wondering if you could email me, the options i have according to my 160watt power and x16 pci slot, thanks. -MED
Jan 5, 2009yo. i just used the list of graphics cards you supplied to smackupsidethehead and got myself one it’s an nvidia geforce 8400 or something like that, and it would be appreciated if you would post some instructions or something like that on how to put it in, because i opened up the computer thismorning, and frankly, i don’t have a clue/
Jan 7, 2009Hi, I made one the biggest mistake of my life when I bought 4 pieces of HP Slimline s3488d (Intel E8400 (3ghz) and GeForce8400). I used to build my own rigs and should have continued, but I was impresed by the specs and the small format.
They are all overheating like hell, with idle temps between 55 to 60C , and load temp around 70C ! The online HP tech support told me that the normal running temperature is between 40 to 70 C. Complete BS of course !
The guy was clueless, kept repeating what he saw on his support screen after typing overheating and tried to suppress the criticism without offering any solution.
First I started by putting succion fans on the grilles. No effect on the temp. BTW, I am using SpeeddFan. HP chose a motherboard with a BIOS with no temperature gauge. Maybe they knew of the overheating problem and did not want to leave any proof behind.
But wait, it gets better: I escalted the issue and the HP engineer who came to inspect the PCs told me it was the thermal paste. He changed it, to no avail, and advised me to do the same on the other 3 PC ! What the hell, I did it, used Artic Silver 5, suppoed to be one the best thermal compiound on the market. No luck here either.
Fed up, I then went to the computer gaming shop becaue most of their customers want todrop their temps !. I was hoping to get a better heatsink + fan. Tough luck. The power supply takes all the space and it’s difficult to put a bigger heatsink. Plus, you have to be careful not to blow your Power Out on the motherboard. I suppose one of the reason, as mentionned abov, is that the fan is turning too slow. It’s silent, but therefore inefficient. And you have no way to inscrease speedfan, even with peedFan, which can’t the fan !
HP people refuse to recognize the problem nor offer a working solution. It’s a nightmare.
As a conclusion, don’t buy a Slimline, ever, if you intend to do anything more than sending a couple of emails, surfing or do menial tasks like spreadsheet or powerpoint.
For anything else, you will live in fear of having your machine die on you of exposure. You’ll have the MB capacitors, which are by the way pretty small, starting to bulge until they give way. The Gaming shpop shop me such a motherboard, it’s impressive.
Shame, I tended to trust HP. Not any more. My only option now is to do daily backups, let them burn, I took a 5 year extended warranty, and wait for HP to replace them with the latest model.
Hope it helps. Good luck.
Jan 7, 2009@William: I understand that one. The HP Pavilion I had ran hot to begin with, but the final blow to the machine was me queuing up a 1080p -> 720p encode to put on the file server I have running. I was curious if the little machine could even handle the stress, and after setting it up and starting it before going to bed, the damned thing destroyed itself by morning. It did, however, work well as a HTPC before I introduced it to it’s death, but heat issues are a concern depending on what someone is using it for.
* – The HP Pavilion Slimline was replaced with a custom HTPC, then that was replaced with a Mac Mini.
Jan 7, 2009@Medardo, theodenking: This link shows the overhead view of the PCI Express and PCI slots on the motherboard. The top slot shows the GeForce video card already installed. Just remember that only half-height/low-profile cards will fit in there.
Jan 7, 2009But, I dont know what good video card i can get low profile, that will not fry my system, its new and i dont want to @#$# it up, what options do i have for 160 watts? i know lowprofile/halfcards.
but what are the options for 160 watts?
Jan 8, 2009Well, you’ve got 160W to work with. Hard drives are around 5-10W each, optical drive peaks around 18W, motherboard shouldn’t eat more than 30W, and processor hits in around 65W.
The math adds up to ~130W. Now, this isn’t even close to an exact science and I hesitate to sit there and recommend a ‘good’ graphics card that is guaranteed to work because the power supply wasn’t really designed with this in mind.
My recommendation now is an ATI Radeon 4350 256/512MB graphics card (you can find it here on NewEgg.) The only drawback that you need to keep in mind is that (1) it’s not a gaming card, (2) that the overall power draw is based on AMD’s handout at 25W, and (3) the power supply is nowhere close to being a brute. This card is definitely a HTPC card which will allow you to watch everything up to 1080p without problems (Bluray drive not included however).
Hope this helps.
Jan 8, 2009Oh, By the way, i heard from a guy at school, that you can EXPAND the Watt capacity/power of your low amount of power, like me 160 watts, without removing the 160 power though, i heard its like a backup power, like adding 500 watts to the 160 watts, without messing things up or removing anything else that might screw up. If you can confirm this, i could be able to buy one of the great cards, without a hassle on the power.
Jan 17, 2009so are you able to run dual monitors simultaneously. one from the vga and one from the dvi.
Feb 19, 2009You mentioned some more information on an upgraded powersupply can you provide some detail on this. I have maxed my box with 4GB ram with heat spread, water pipes, and an externally powered Video card however I would be interested in understanding what powersupply you can upgrade to? I have had a tough time finding a replacement internal PS for this rig. My goal is a gaming rig for lan parties. I love this rig for casual gaming and the portabilitiy however, I would love to remove the external power requirement for my current Video Card setup.
Mar 6, 2009Hi,
I appreciate very greatly this post on this forum.
I had purchased a HP slimline a little over a year ago, thinking it was a great deal for the price and it was to serve as an economy entertainment device.
I was able to upgrade it with a low profile Galaxy GeForce 8400 GS (512, rather than the 256, which was another option). I should preface this by saying that I know nothing about computers beyond plug and play, and doing research, I have never had much of a need to go under the hood, so to speak.
With the price of approximately $70 plus tax for the 512 (about $20 less for the 256) this was the better deal as opposed to dropping $700 or more on a new system at the moment.
The slimline poses some problems because of its size. For the Galaxy, you must remove the factory face plate and replace it with two of the provided faceplates–the VGA is connected by a cable so that it receives its own bracket on the back.
The slimline has one PCI Express 16 slot, available for the Galaxy low profile card. Beneath it, there is one PCI slot, used by a modem card. This is overkill in the system, as my model is set up with a wi-fi antenna, as well as a ethernet port. So, the PCI modem card was removed, and the VGA faceplate is routed beneath the Galaxy card. The screws were reattached, and then using the Device Manager of Vista, I was able to uninstall the 6150 integrated video card and install the 8400 GS drivers.
It took me a few hours to have everything up and running. This was mostly due to my being somewhat unsure about how to do things, and not wanting to break my new card and have to drive to the store to get a new one. If I had to do it again, I could have it up and running in about half an hour tops.
Your site was useful for my needs. It would be good if you provided an ‘after’ photo of the back of the computer.
I have to say that Dawn of War II works fine on this system; it wouldn’t load on the original set up. Anecdotally, I have to say that the 8400 runs cooler than the integrated 6150! This is based on my being seated near the computer during gameplay, and is only empirical observation.
Thank you for saving me over $600.
erik.
Mar 7, 2009Hey Erik,
Just for the record, you just put that in and said is was working fine. Can you update us in a few days to confirm that is still the case. I am going nuts over hear. I upgraded the ram and that helped a lot, but the power limitations are killing the video card options. If that one works, i saw best buy carries it. I will get it right away.
If i had more time and energy, i could write a novel venting on all the info i found about the slimline, power supplys, atx “small” 24 pin plug, power boosters, etc.
I just want to play empire total war!!!! is that too much to ask, ahhhhh.
danny
Mar 8, 2009Hi,
Danny, it is still working great. No overheating, and I have been playing DoW2 when possible–a few hours here and a few hours there. No probs at all. I am happy.
So, today I went and got a RAM upgrade for the system, to quicken it up just a bit. I am also looking into using the dual SATA ports on the board–and I believe this is supportable by the power supply.
As for power supplies for this type of set up, I have considered that I may need to upgrade. The best search you can do for this is to type in Flex ATX for power supplies. There are some models that conform to the case type that go at about 250W.
I would recommend the geForce 8400 low profile, the price from best buy seems fair. As for anything else they offer, I would recommend you can find cheaper deals online for the same or better products.
Best wishes,
I am not playing DoW 2 through Steam, but offline for now. The whole Steam interface is more like interference than anything else.
Good Luck.
Mar 8, 2009Hi again,
I might also add that it should be possible to migrate the entire set up to a new case with a pre-installed power supply of about 500W (give or take) for under $50. (online search…don’t remember, but there are some good deals out there for about the same price as a Flex ATX power supply upgrade).
Erik.
Mar 8, 2009@Danny: It’s a slight pain in the arse as far as a new power supply. A FlexATX power supply should work, but the problem is taking the time to try and fit it in. I would’ve gone that route myself, but that computer eventually ended up as a Phenom 9850/ATI Radeon 4870 rig with only one original part out of the set.
@erikscott: I’m glad it helped and that everything is working out for you as far as the gear goes. Right now I’m working more with the Mac Mini’s than the Slimline Pavilions though I’m trying to get my hands on a Studio Hybrid and see what she can do.
As far as power supply’s go: My opinion is pretty simple: Standard case + standard power supply + standard motherboard would be my way to go incase you need more power. The reasoning is that if you’re going to add more graphics punch to the system (i.e. greater than an 8400GS) then you’ll need to dissipate more heat and the power requirements will go up.
On the s3200n, IIRC, the onboard was automatically disabled once I installed the new graphics card. Due to a catastrophic failure, I can’t test this out again to verify.*
* – BluRay drive + AnyDVD + Slimline Pavillion + 12 hour encode = good chance of death.
Mar 8, 2009Also, now that I think about it, if you plan on attempting to keep the case, here [www.power-on.com] are a few power supplies that might work.
If anyone has actually upgraded their PSU, give a shout.
–JamesTheBard
Mar 9, 2009HI,
I should note that the system gets plenty of use since installation. I play games, and they work fine–also, the system is usually in use because it was meant initially as a media center pc. It is on more often than it should be, energy wise, but it is used to play a lot of dvds beyond my instances of gaming. No real problems to note, I am getting the computer bug now that I have a little confidence.
erik.
May 6, 2009i have this same pc…can u give me the link to that 8400 GS( or a decent gaming card that will fit in this pc and run on 160 watts)? oh and is good for games…well it has to better than the one that came with the PC. one last question, i asked HP about updating my Power supply they told me not to cause it could fry my motherbaord..is that true?
Jun 11, 2009I just recently noticed that this little computer heats up bad. I have had it for two years and it now heats up. If I touch the case, its hot to the touch. How can I fix this myself? It gets cleaned etc… but how often should I clean it ? I don’t even hear a fan kick on to cool it down? Thanks in advanced.
Jun 12, 2009Holli, I’ve noticed the same thing with my s3200. My solution is simple but it works. I just bought a small inexpensive fan and put it behind the computer to blow cool air on it. Works like a charm.
Now on to my question: I just purchased 2GB of memory to upgrade my system but when I took the panel off, I couldn’t see how I was to get to the memory slot without taking apart the whole thing. The DVD drive seems to be sitting right on top of both memory slots and there is barely a 1/2 inch between them, certainly not enough room to get my fingers in there to remove or install anything. I’m curious to know how others found a way around this (literally) to install new memory. Thanks so much!
Sep 26, 2009For those of you out there with these little machines I know hat the power supply is a problem. If you want to keep the machine and dont care about the case size then look at moving the board to a Micro ATX case. I just moved a s3220n Slimline from the original case to a $35 Standard Micro ATX case. Now the Nice thing about the move is the Motherboard fits the standard mounts and I can now use a standard Power Supply with the Din Block Adapter for the power connector. 400W power supply in and humming with 3 fans in the case.
The problems with the move is any existing expansion cards will have the short or slimline case mounting brackets. Getting the full size bracket will most likely be impossible unless you installed the card yourself and still have the full size bracket.
You will also loose the built in care reader and drive expansion bay as these wont mount in a standard case ( well not with out a lot of extra work moding the case ) but the good news is that the expansion drives work with a standard USB cable and a card reader is only about $20 and fits in the 2.5 inch slot.
Be careful moving the wireless USB NIC on this model. The built in antenae is removable as is the mount for the external but you cannot just jerk these off – Go Slow ab be Delicate – this part clearly came out of a laptop.
Finally there in no information about the pin-outs on the board. You’ll need to follow the wires on the old case to figure out which pair is the power button, the HDD Light, Power LED and so on. The rest of the board is well enough marked.
I hope this helps everyone who wants to keep these little guys. Last note, the motherboard I moved was the ASUS M2N61-AR. It fits the standard mounts in the Micro ATX case but if you have a different board measure before you jump in and buy a new case.
Good luck to all who have these and if anyone has the pin-outs diagram please post a link.
Sep 27, 2009For those of you about to embark on the above transfer of the Motherboard to a new case I realized I should have listed links to make things easier.
1st – Any STANDARD ATX case would work I just went for the mini as that made the most sense. And yes I did use a mini case not a micro as stated above but I had that option as well. Search http://www.newegg.com , http://www.tigerdirect.com or http://www.compusa.com for an ATX case or drop in at your local brick and mortar computer shop- most will sell you a case with powersupply already installed.
2nd – Here’s one link for the power adapter
http://www.directron.com/hp24mini.html?gsear=1
3rd – To replace some of the nice front panel stuff that is lost when you switch, like the card reader, try picking up one of these multi card readers with a few extras for either the 3.5 in bay ( old style floppy bay) or the 5.25 bay (cd/dvd-rom bay).
___
http://www.amazon.com/5-25-Inch-Multi-Function-Reader-Front-Panel/dp/B0012MV3QA/ref=pd_cp_e_3
4th – The unit I rebuilt had a TV Card in it and since I cannot get the full size case bracket the card had to be replaced.
http://www.provantage.com/asus-mycinemaphc3-100~7ASU90KX.htm
Hope this makes it easier.
Oct 8, 2009DRIVERS FOR HP PAVILION s3310la here:
http://www.mxdtr.com/M2N61-AR-Socket-AM2-Motherboard-Driver-Drivers-Download.html
(this is asus m2n61-ar motherboard)
Oct 26, 2009@bob The info you posted about moving the case is very helpful. I have one issue I was given the mobo and power supply unit for this PC and now want to put it in another case. My problem is as you stated there is no info on the web as to where to plug in the switch hdd, and the led light. Do you have any info that would be helpful otherwise.
Nov 3, 2009Ref: overheating, weak powersupply
Just to let some people in on a quick & dirty but effective solution:
Look around in your box of old electronics for a wall plug 12v power supply converter. Clip the connector off, ensure you know which wire is + and -, and splice that into your case fans. I’m using a liquid cooling setup with the guts of this slimline PC installed in a full-size ATX case. In order to fool the CMOS into believing it’s still running the CPU heatsink fan I spliced a small GPU card fan into the three prong OEM CPU fan connector and mounted it over the northbridge heatsink.
Liberated from powering the cooling fans the power supply gives the board all the power it needs.
One thing to keep in mind is always ensure the fan power supply is plugged in before booting up the computer. I’ve connected all the power leads for this PC system into a single power strip that is accessible from my chair.
Works for me anyway and didn’t cost a dime of new material.
Dec 13, 2009i have a 32 bit computer. if there was a 64 bit low profile graphics card, can i still use it?
Mar 26, 2010Greetings,
This post was a big help, thanks! I have some questions though:
1. Did you upgrade your power supply when you installed your video card?
2. Can I get a video card with more memory than what you have?
3. And what’s the meaning of “low-profile” video cards?
I have the same desktop computer as yours running on XP too.
Cheers!
Mar 26, 2010To be fair, the computer that this article was based on has long ago morphed into a completely different computer system. I’ll try to answer your questions as best as I can.
@Conker: A graphics card is pretty much a graphics card. I haven’t seen one that is strictly for 64-bit operating systems only.
@animatix: I didn’t upgrade the power supply. There is a link somewhere in this thread to a website that could help you with ‘upgrading’ it. As far as memory goes, there are many more graphics cards out there which are better than the one I wrote about. Also, a low-profile graphics card is simply a graphics card that isn’t as tall as a normal ones. They also include a bracket to allow the graphics card to fit into the case.
Mar 26, 2010Greetings,
Thank you very much sir, really appreciate your quick reply. So as long as I look for a low-profile video card and buy the required power wattage, I’m all good?
Cheers!
Mar 26, 2010If you get a power supply that can handle the extra stress of the graphics card you’re installing then yes. Just don’t forget that it’s a very small case and ventilation will become an issue–make sure you plan for it ahead of time or it will bite you in the ass.
Mar 26, 2010Greetings,
Yes you are indeed right, this system has a small tower. I was just hoping to upgrade since I can’t even play games like CoD, and even using photo manipulation software like PS is such a problem. I purchased this when it first came, Aug. 2007, and that time I was a complete noob looking for a PC to use. I’m still thinking if I would upgrade now or just wait to buy a new system. What’s your system like now? Would you mind giving me the specs.?
Cheers!
Mar 26, 2010Well, I replaced the s3200n with a Mac Mini for my home theater computer needs. The Mac Mini will be replaced by a dual-core Athlon setup with an ATI Radeon 5650 for decoding 1080p video (still getting the parts together). I would recommend looking around. Depending on your needs, there are some great deals going on with components (like the ATI Radeon 4850) along with processors (AMD does well on the low end). Tom’s Hardware just completed a system builder’s series of articles that can help out as well.
My current gaming rig is an ASUS M4A78-M running Windows 7 (x64) on an AMD Phenom X4 9850 and 4GB of RAM. My video card is an ATI Radeon 4870.
Mar 26, 2010Greetings,
I see. Well I think I’ll just wait for a system upgrade instead of upgrading my current PC. Moreover, it has this noise that I don’t even know where it comes from. It sounds like a fan and it comes on and off. Well thanks for the help.
Cheers!
Apr 30, 2010JTB-I have this s3200n and it will not power up. The green LED on the back of the power supply comes on faintly but nothing else. I do not have the adapter to test the power supply, which has a plug that I do not recall seeing ever before. Based on the history of this computer, which would usually shut down due to heat issues, is this situation indicative of a power supply failure or a motherboard failure?
May 3, 2010Thank you very much for your information.
Jun 4, 2010Great job James
I recently acquired one of these excellent gadgets which I took in part exchange.
I’m running it on XP pro SP2, but am still having issues with the USB and sound drivers.
Cheers
Marc
Jun 23, 2010Blue Screen frozen 
Happened a few weeks ago, but after a few power-ons / power-offs and disconnecting the external hard drive, the computer booted up. Now, however, nothing but blue…Ever have this happen to yours? Still have it laying around in case I need to buy the motherboard from you? 
I’m hoping when it cools down maybe that’ll do something…Was running a file sharing program throughout the night, don’t know if that woulda done anything…sigh…Don’t wanna lose my baby haha (at least not before I buy a new one)
Jun 23, 2010I have the HP Slimline s3330f media PC and had a bunch of overheating issues that cost me 2 graphics cards (luckily not my motherboard!). The Slimline is notorious for poor ventilation and if the graphics card gets too hot, it will shut down your PC! Here’s the fix:
1) DO NOT use the computer in the vertical position! This blocks the vents to the tuner and graphics card. Both of these card run extremely hot and need this vent.
2) Even in the horizontal postion, this box will get very hot, so I bought a USB fan ($15) to blow air directly into the vent near the graphics card and put the computer in a well ventalated area…this one works like a champ (so far)
http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile-Fan-External-Cooling/dp/B00080G0BK
3) Download SpeedFan (free) and monitor your core temperatures and fan speed (especially while watching HD video @1080p). Also open your graphics card app and monitor its temperature (IT SHOULD NOT BE ABOVE 105 degrees celcius !!).
This process cooled my graphics card down about 10 degrees celcius and keeps the box well ventilated and (most importantly) no more crashes!
Jul 10, 2010A website shows that the card you used also requires a 350 watt power supply. Should i upgrade mine? Is that why you said your power supply got destroyed? I want to make this upgrade but i don’t want to mess up my comp.
Jul 10, 2010Also, When you said the motherboard “de-activated” the original, integrated card, does that mean that it did it automatically? What do i need to do after installing it on the first start up other than installing drivers. I am using windows 7.
Jul 10, 2010Jay,
I believe the overall reason that my s3200n destroyed itself was due to the fact that the small machines aren’t ventilated as well as they should be. They weren’t designed with 24/7 use at 100% CPU load. The Slimline Pavillion eventually succumbed to heat stroke (so to speak).
As for a power supply, if you’re looking to ‘replace’ the graphics card, pay special attention to the specifications with respect to power draw. You’ll need to make sure your machine can provide the necessary power.
As far as ‘de-activating’ the original card is concerned: the motherboard does that automatically. It’s not something you really need to worry about.
–JTB
Jul 15, 2010Well today i tried to start my computer before putting the card in and all it did was make a beeping noise. It was one short beep and then one long beep. The HP website says that that beep sequence means it’s a memory problem, but does that just mean the hard drive or could it be something else?
Jul 15, 2010I haven’t turned the computer on in about a month, but the last time that i did everything went fine.
Jul 15, 2010Well, you could remove one of the DIMMs of RAM and try booting. If it still fails, swap that DIMM out with the other one and try it again. This will single out whether it’s a RAM going bad issue or whether your Slimline Pavilion simply doesn’t like you (i.e. something else broke).
Jul 28, 2010i hope you can answer a question for me since your pix of slimline innards are as good as anything i’ve seen. recently had to replace internal hard drive on 1 of the 2 slimlines i own. i noticed when i took it apart that the pocket media drive cable wasn’t connected to anything. i’d never had a reason to notice b/c i hadn’t used a portable external drive.
after the bad internal drive incident, i decided to purchase a drive for the pocket bay. lo and behold, it worked fine in the 2nd slimline i own (the one whose internal hard drive hadn’t gone bad) but the other one didn’t recognize the new drive. evidently, i hadn’t guessed correctly on how to connect the cable. so i opened up both machines, thinking i would connect the drives the same way. but alas, the working slimline had its pocket drive connected to pins that were in use by one of the other drives in the slimline whose pocket drive doesn’t work. so unless i disconnect/reconnect even more things or do trial and error, i’m not sure what else to try. any suggestions? thanks in advance –
Jul 28, 2010Okay, It turned out to be the CD drive and a stick of RAM, got it working, thanks! Ill get some ram and try the new card out soon! I was able to get the exact same one used here for $25.00 brand new with the bracket!
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12:50 am
I have tracked down drivers for the 32-bit version of Windows XP (for those interested in upgrading to XP). I also tracked down some drivers for the 64 bit version of Windows XP, but I couldn’t find all of them.
nVidia nForce XP Drivers
64 bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp64_6.86.html
nVidia XP Graphics Drivers
64 bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp64_169.21_whql.html
Realtek Ethernet Drivers
Realtek High Definition Audio Drivers
Gemtek USB Wireless 802.11b/g
Also, drivers can be found at: http://www.gemtek.com.tw/download.htm (I believe it is a WL-280)
Modem Driver