HP Elite Elite 805 G9 Small Form Factor Review

This is a business PC, not a performance machine. It scores in the top quartile for reliability but the GPU is in the 8th percentile, making it useless for gaming or creative work. At $1759, you're paying for the brand and the compact size, not power.

The HP Elite 805 G9 is a business desktop that scores high on trust but low on raw power. It lands in the 77th percentile for social proof and 76th for reliability, which means people who buy it tend to be happy and it's built to last. That's the good news.

Now for the numbers that matter: you're getting a 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 8600G CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Our scoring puts it in the 52nd percentile for CPU and 54th for RAM, so it's right in the middle of the pack for general office work. But that GPU score? It's in the 8th percentile. This is not a machine for anything graphics-heavy.

Performance is a story of two halves. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 8600G is a solid modern chip, and with 16GB of fast DDR5 memory, this thing will handle your spreadsheets, browser tabs, and video calls without breaking a sweat. It's perfectly competent for the daily office grind.

Where it falls off a cliff is graphics. That integrated AMD Radeon GPU sits in the 8th percentile. That means it's slower than 92% of the desktops in our database. You can forget about gaming or any serious video editing. The 512GB SSD is also on the smaller side, landing in the 37th percentile. It's fine for the OS and core apps, but you'll need to manage your files or add more storage.

At $1759, the value proposition is tough. You're paying a premium for the 'Elite' business branding, the compact form factor, and that high reliability score. For the same money, you could build or buy a standard tower with a much more powerful CPU and a dedicated graphics card. You're buying peace of mind and a small footprint, not raw performance per dollar.

Compared to its listed competitors like the HP Omen or Dell Alienware, it's a different universe. Those are gaming desktops with powerful discrete GPUs. A fairer comparison would be against other business SFF PCs, like a Dell OptiPlex or Lenovo ThinkCentre with similar specs. Even then, the 805 G9's price seems high. If you need a tiny PC, a modern Intel NUC or Mini PC might offer similar CPU performance in a much smaller package for less money, though you'd sacrifice some business management features.

Gamers, video editors, or anyone who needs graphical power should look elsewhere immediately—that 8th percentile GPU score is a brick wall. Also skip if you're on a budget or want the best performance for your money; at $1759, you're in territory where you can get a much more powerful all-around machine. Even developers might find the storage (37th percentile) a bit limiting for large projects.

We can only recommend the HP Elite 805 G9 if your needs are very specific: you absolutely need a compact, reliable business PC from a trusted brand, and you have zero interest in graphics performance. For general office work, it's fine. But for nearly $1800, that GPU score in the 8th percentile is a deal-breaker for most. There are better values out there unless the HP ecosystem and SFF size are non-negotiable for your IT department.