HP DC7900 vs 8000 ELITE

So.... Those who follow the YouTube channel will know we have done a few videos on our HP DC7900 USDT (Ultra Slim Desktop Tower) (Thats USFF to me and you!)

We recently came across an 8000 ELITE which is the model that HP replaced the DC7900 with. They are pretty similar, Both use Socket 775 Processors, Both use the same Intel Q45/Q43 Chipset and on board video.

The main difference is the new 8000 Elite uses DDR3 where the older DC7900 uses DDR2.... So this got us thinking, Running the exact same CPU, and the same 4GB of ram (2x2GB Dual channel) just DDR2 VS DDR3, what sort of performance gain, if any could be had?


The video is going live soon on the channel when its finished, after the machine has had a makeover, but thought I would give you guys a sneak peak.

so who wants to take a guess... will we see a gain going to DDR3? if so care to take a guess at how much extra performance.

The benchmark tools are simple, Cinebench R15, 3d Mark 2001se and CPU-Z benchmark.

So far its looking like you may be correct!
3d mark 2001se on the DC7900 scored 6992


3d mark 2001se on the ELITE 8000 scored 7587


If my maths is correct I make that at an 8.5% gain in performance just from switching over DDR3 memory. Its not life changing but when both machines cost roughly the same, it makes the 8000 a good buy!

more benchmarks to come!

Yeah its still a decent gain and better value for money with the 8000 Elite!

Especially when paired to an SSD makes it shift some (Or more give the feeling of snappyness as its still slow on its SATA controller is it not Martin?)

Either way these two machines are still both capable and excellent for a simple browser system or as a RDP node.

Would just be nice if the bios would recompile with the C2Q microcodes but so far no luck

hmmmm, when I re-compiled the bios on wildcats mobo to support the 771 xeon, it also added support for the latest c2q...
ah, ok...it's a Q-Chipset, I used a P45 for that.

Yeah its the encryption thats making it fail when recompiled as its doesnt match the original bioses signature meaning I need to get the security encryption algorithm right!

Not given up just yet on converting the 7900 and 8000's to C2Q

An update on this, CPU-Z benchmark and Cinebench - Both obviously CPU bound benchmarks scored EXACTLY the same results!

no surprise, good to know.
thx for the info.