Posted on by Why Not

Vista PC Reviewed: HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC

This HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC is actually the second PC with Windows Vista pre-installed that I worked on. The first one was Gateway® GT5404 Desktop.

UPDATE: Download and install the latest nVidia GeForce driver to enable higher resolution display. I tested it with Samsung SyncMaster 940MW at 1440×900 resolution.
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

HP Pavilion Slimline PC is roughly one-third the size of a mid-tower PC. Previously it was equipped with Intel Celeron, AMD Sempron, and AMD Athlon 64 Processor. HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC is equipped with AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor.

Product specifications:

  • AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor (2GHz)
  • 250GB Serial ATA hard drive
  • 1GB DDR2 PC4200 RAM (2x512MB); Supports up to 2x1GB
  • Multi-format/dual-layer LightScribe DVD drive
  • 5 USB, 1 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 headphone, 1 microphone, 1 S/PDIF out, 2 PS/2, 9-in-1 memory card reader
  • 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g)
  • 10/100 Ethernet
  • Integrated nVidia GeForce 6150 LE video card with 128MB dedicated memory and TurboCache
  • 1 PCI slot
  • 56K bps data/fax modem (occupying the PCI slot)
  • Windows Vista Home Premium

It is a great Windows XP machine, but it is a little sluggish running Windows Vista. I eventually upgraded the RAM to 2GB (2x1GB) and it’s been running a lot better.

Windows Vista uses around 800MB of RAM right after it finishes booting up. The computer was unusable for the first few minutes when it has only 1GB of RAM. After Windows Vista settles down it uses around 500MB of RAM; that’s before having an anti-virus software installed. It is imperative to have a minimum of 2GB of RAM on this machine if you want to run Vista comfortably.

This computer is equipped with nVidia GeForce 6150 LE video card with 128MB dedicated memory. It also takes 191MB from the sytem RAM. It has one VGA port, no DVI. It has no problem driving a 22-inch flat panel at 1680×1050 resolution. It has one PCI slot available, so theoretically a PCI graphic card can be added. Unfortunately it will only accommodate cards with shorter bracket. At this point there is no option to adjust the amount of system RAM shared by the graphic card. There is no such option in the BIOS or in nVidia control panel.

HP Pavilion s7700n - nVidia GeForce 6150 LE

Picture Gallery

HP Pavilion s7700n 1 HP Pavilion s7700n 2 HP Pavilion s7700n 3

HP Pavilion s7700n 4 HP Pavilion s7700n 5 HP Pavilion s7700n 6

HP Pavilion s7700n 7 HP Pavilion s7700n 8 HP Pavilion s7700n 9

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2 Replies to “Vista PC Reviewed: HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC”

  1. Hi,

    I blew away the vista install image and installed XP. The drivers don’t work and downloads from HP are Vista only – can’t even install them.

    How did you get XP running on this machine? WOuld love to get the site to download compatible drivers.

    Thanks

    I have not tried installing windows XP on this particular computer. I’d like to try but unfortunately I cannot “experiment” with the particular computer anymore.
    I’d like to suggest you to “hunt down” the drivers. The chipsets and graphic drivers can be obtained from nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com/). the audio can be obtained from Realtek (http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High%20Definition%20Audio%20Codecs).
    As for the wireless LAN, it’d be a little bit difficult (I haven’t researched that yet).

    Hope this help!

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