HP EliteDesk 800 G6 Mini in a 10-inch rack

The HP EliteDesk 800 G6 Mini is HP’s 10th Gen business mini, built on the 1L chassis that HP’s 600 G6 to G9 minis share. It packs two NVMe slots, a 2.5-inch bay, up to 64 GB of RAM and Flex IO ports that can add a 2.5GbE NIC from the factory. It lies flat in one unit on the catalogue’s HP mount and suits Proxmox nodes, small clusters and anyone who wants more storage than the older HP minis offer.

At a glance

Where it fits in a mini rack

As a Proxmox host, the storage layout is the draw. Two NVMe slots let you mirror the system disk or keep VM storage apart from the hypervisor, and the 2.5-inch bay is still there for a bulk drive. Up to 64 GB across two SO-DIMMs is enough to split between a useful number of VMs and containers, and several identical units make a tidy cluster, one unit of rack height each.

The CPU choice matters more here than on most office minis. HP offered both 35 W T-series and 65 W 10th Gen parts, and the 65 W versions draw noticeably more power under load (see below). Check which one you have before you plan power and cooling.

The Flex IO ports are the other reason to look at this model. Port 1 can carry an Intel I225-LM 2.5GbE NIC, a fibre NIC or Thunderbolt 3, among others; port 2 can carry USB, serial or even a GTX 1660 Ti. These are factory options, so a used unit has whatever it was ordered with.

What it is not: a storage server or a fast-network box out of the box. Without the 2.5GbE Flex module it has one Gigabit port, and two NVMe drives plus one 2.5-inch drive is a backup target, not a NAS.

How it fits a 10-inch rack

The configurator checks each placement against every rack in the catalogue:

The community HP Mini PC mount holds it in 1U at 178 mm deep and fits all six RackMate frames. In the 200 mm-deep T0 and T1 that leaves only a little room behind the chassis for the rear power and network plugs, so the 260 mm frames are the more comfortable choice.

The same mount is listed for the ProDesk 600 G5, 400 G6 and 600 G2, so a mixed HP rack can use one print.

The 10i hex shelf is the alternative: flat in 1U at 179 mm deep in every frame, or upright in 5U, which is too tall for the four-unit T0 and T0 Plus.

Outside the catalogue, the community HP EliteDesk / ProDesk 600 G6–G9 10" Rack Mount on MakerWorld targets this chassis family, which the 800 G6 shares. It is not in the configurator yet, so plan with the HP Mini PC mount and check the print against your machine.

Power

HP’s ENERGY STAR figures for a typically configured Desktop Mini are 8.93 W short idle and 6.34 W long idle; the catalogue uses 8.93 W as the low end. The high end is 61 W, the peak ServeTheHome measured with a 35 W i5-10500T. ServeTheHome’s 65 W-CPU unit idled at 12–14 W and peaked at 89–91 W, so the catalogue’s high figure only holds for T-series machines.

HP ships this machine with a 65 W, 90 W or 150 W adapter. Those are ratings, not consumption. For rack planning, budget 61 W per T-series unit, or 91 W for a 65 W CPU, and find a home for each external adapter behind the mount or on the rack floor.

The 800 G6 has an active fan and is rated for 10 to 35 °C. In a closed rack full of minis, keep the rear vent grid clear of cable bundles and adapters.

Networking and cabling

The onboard port is a single Gigabit RJ45 on an Intel I219-LM, and it faces the rear. Patch it to a rear keystone in the same rack, and never route the cable around the frame to reach the front. If your unit has the I225-LM 2.5GbE module, it sits in Flex IO port 1, also at the rear, and goes to a rear keystone the same way.

The front panel has a USB-C 10 Gbps, a USB-A 10 Gbps and a USB-A 5 Gbps port, which keeps boot media and quick console work at the front. The two DisplayPort 1.4 outputs are at the rear. Wi-Fi is an optional M.2 2230 card, and in a rack you will rarely want it.

How it differs from the other HP minis

All four HP minis in the catalogue take the HP Mini PC mount and have a single rear Gigabit port. The differences:

The 800 G6 is the only one with a 65 W CPU option and a Flex IO NIC option, and the one to pick for two NVMe drives alongside a 2.5-inch drive. The idle figures come from different typical configurations, so treat the gaps as rough.

Full specifications

Plan it

Open the HP EliteDesk 800 G6 Mini in the catalogue to add it to a rack plan with the HP mount or the hex shelf.

The ProDesk 600 G5 Mini guide and the ProDesk 400 G6 Mini guide cover the HP minis compared above, and the ThinkCentre M720q guide covers Lenovo’s take on the same idea.