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HP t730: Hardware 

HP t730 Thin Client

The HP t730 was launched in November 2015. It reached end-of-life at the end of January 2021. My example dates from April 2017.

HP Marketing: "The HP t730 Thin Client, the world's first thin client to drive quad UHD/4K2 displays natively, is ready to deploy in demanding environments right out of the box with an AMD quad-core processor, maximum interfaces, and OS and ISV choices......

I think the t730 is the largest thin client in my collection. I guess it doesn't quite align with my definition of a thin client as:

  • It is large. (Click here to see it along side a 10Zig 4572 thin client.)
  • It is fitted with a fan.
  • It's power consumption is higher than most.

Specifications

Processor & Graphics
   Type
   Speed
   Graphics		 AMD RX-427BB APU
2.7-3.6GHz
Radeon HD 9000
Memory
   Flash
   RAM		8GB-64GB
upto 16GB DDR3L-1600 (max 16GB)
Ports
   Network
   USB (front)
   USB (rear)
   USB (internal)
   Serial
   Parallel
   PS/2
   Video Ports		 10/100/1000
2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0
4 x USB 2.0
1 x USB 3.0
2
1
1
4 x DisplayPort 1.2: Resolution 3840 x 2160
Power
   Power
   Plug
   Off
   Idle
   Stressed		 19.5V 4.62A (label)
Coax male 7.4mm/5.0mm + centre pin
0.1W
18W
60W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)240 x 67 x 221 (Excluding Stand)

Note: Power on full load starts off at 60W but does slowly throttle back to 50W over the first minute.

The embedded operating system is one of:

  • HP ThinPro
  • Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019

Full specifications can be found in:

Power Supply

The power supply has the standard HP 7.4mm x 5mm + centre pin coax connector and is rated at 19.5V 85W. My simple power check of the basic unit with keyboard, mouse, one display and running four null shell loops clocked the power consumption at 60W. It looks like you'll need careful thought about your configuration if you have CPU demands along with additional hardware plugged into the PCIe slot.

Note: See the t740 entry re a probable 35W power limit on cards used in the riser.

If you don't have an HP PSU/charger and are thinking of using a non-HP PSU see this page.

CPU

The t730 has an AMD RX-427BB system-on-chip. The CPU has four cores and supports four threads. It runs at a base frequency of 2.7GHz, with a boost frequency of up to 3.6GHz.

vendor_id :AuthenticAMD
cpu family :21
model :48
model name :AMD RX-427BB with AMD Radeon(tm) R7 Graphics
stepping :1
flags :fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc cpuid extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes xsave avx f16c lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs xop skinit wdt lwp fma4 tce nodeid_msr tbm topoext perfctr_core perfctr_nb bpext ptsc cpb hw_pstate ssbd ibpb vmmcall fsgsbase bmi1 xsaveopt arat npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold overflow_recov

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Complex
00:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) I/O Memory Management Unit
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kaveri [Radeon R7 Graphics]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kaveri HDMI/DP Audio Controller
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
00:03.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
00:03.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
00:03.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
00:04.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 09)
00:10.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 09)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 40)
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 16)
00:14.1 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH IDE Controller
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller (rev 01)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH PCI Bridge (rev 40)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 5
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 8260 (rev 3a)

Noise

Unlike virtually all thin clients the t730 includes a fan thanks to the potential of its CPU and PCIe slot.

The BIOS includes a setting for 'Fan Idle Mode' which lets you set the speed between 1200 and 3120 RPM (approx).

In my simple testing the fan ran at the low speed and was close to inaudible. When I did my power check with each core running a null loop the fan speed/noise did not change. There may be an OS or BIOS power setting that alters this behaviour but I didn't see anything with a cursory check.

Expansion

Inside the HP t730

As usual click on the photo for a larger photo of the motherboard.

Flash: There is a single M.2 slot for flash memory and it is capable of accepting M-key devices in the 2230, 2242, and 2280 sizes. It has to be a SATA device. Mine came with a 32GB SATA drive that had been wiped clean by the seller.

The t730 also supports an internal USB port but what I fail to understand is why it will boot from anything plugged into one of the eight external USB ports but it will not boot from any USB drive fitted to the internal USB port.

HP t730 ram
RAM: There are two slots for DDR3L SODIMMs. These are enclosed in a metal shield. HP fit up to 16GB of RAM. Others have happily fitted 32GB (2 x 16GB). The hardware reference guide gives the following specification for the RAM:
  • unbuffered non-ECC PC3L-12800 DDR3L-1600 MHz-compliant
  • 1.35 volt DDR3L-SDRAM SODIMMs
  • support CAS latency 11 DDR3L 1600 MHz (11-11-11 timing)

HP t730 wireless card
M.2 slot: There is another M.2 slot bottom right on the motherboard. It is an E-key slot and for 2230-size devices only. It is marked wlan.

My example of the t730 was fitted with an Intel 8260 dual band wireless card.

USB: There are plenty of USB ports - 2 x USB3.0 and 2 x USB 2.0 on the front panel, 4 x 2.0 connectors on the rear panel, and 1 x USB 3.0 internal connector. These can be individually enabled/disabled in the BIOS. As noted elsewhere the t730 will not boot from the internal USB port.

Display: There are four dual-mode DisplayPort 1.2 ports on the rear panel. If the optional video card is installed, it provides two more. All four (or all six if the video card is installed) can be used simultaneously.

HP t730 PCIe slot
PCIe slot: There is a low-profile PCIe slot available on a riser card at the bottom. The physical socket is x16 but electrically it is x8. The data sheet indicates that the PCIe riser is supplied in all configurations, including models that do not ship with a PCIe card.

Note: See the t740 entry re a probable 35W power limit on cards used in the riser.

HP t730 onboard links
Links: Adjacent to the M.2 SATA device are various links and headers (or space for them). The main one of interest is E49 labelled PSWD. If the link is in place then you have 'normal' operation in that you can set and change the BIOS password. If you remove the link then on power-up the BIOS will clear any set password. i.e. to remove any unknown BIOS password remove the link and power up the system. (Hit F10 to get into the BIOS?). Then power down and replace the link.

For what it is worth my example came without this link in place. This meant that it was impossible to set a password as, should you attempt to set one, it was immediately cleared the next time the thin client was booted.