Love to see people still making content on these beasts. My main PC for the last 5 years has been a HP Z620 with the dual 2690 v1 xeons in and recently upgraded to a RTX 3060. Even with 48gb of 1333mhz ram, it does it all. I run Linux, i game, work, use VM's and does my multimedia stuff. No replacement parts has ever been needed. It is stamped 2012 on the inside, so has been working for coming up 11 years now. No other PC i have ever owned has done that. The only thing i would recommend is if anybody owns or is thinking of owning one of any of the z600 series with the CPU riser attached, they must keep the riser connector very clean on the motherboard. The slightest dust can play havoc with the QPI link as i have found out. Whenever i open it and remove the riser to clean i now give it a spray with electrical contact spray and ive been problem free for 3 years. It seems a semi-regular complaint and I've known people replace their entire motherboard at a fairly hefty cost for what was most likely this issue. The 600 series motherboards are extremely reliable and are essentially 400 series motherboards, with the 2nd CPI riser connectors soldered in, which you can note on the diagrams of both motherboards. Good luck!
Hi Lee. Not only am I making content on the beasts, but the beast is rendering the content! haha. It is great to hear you have been rocking a Z620 for so long! They remain solid machines and it just comes to show their durability. I was hoping to one day do a review on the Z600, Z620 and Z640 but I have not had a chance to purchase them (I have done Z400 / Z420 / Z440!). Z620 / Z640 seem more rare on the second-hand market (on my local marketplace). Yes, the CPU riser board on the Z620 (P/N: 689471-001) / Z640 (P/N: 710326-001) is a challenge to obtain! (Note the Z600 actually has two CPU sockets on the motherboard - like the Z800 etc.). It's good to hear about the solution to the contact issue with the CPU riser board. If you are looking towards a machine upgrade it could be worth looking at the HP Z840, or even the HP Z6 G4 (pending funds!).
Love my Z800. Only issue was a bad temp sensor that caused the fans to run at super noisy full speed until I sourced a replacement. Great to be able to run SAS or SATA in the same bays.
Well done on being able to fix that temp sensor. It is a common issue on them and I had that issue on mine also. Thankfully I had the transistors (2N2222A NPN) on hand because I had done a Z420 case swap which also needed them. The only other issue is the PSU failing and given the age of the Z800 now I would say it would be wise to hold onto a spare PSU to make sure you can enjoy the system for a long time yet. They are very versatile systems with the on board SATA and SAS chipset.
The Z840's have been working pretty nicely for me. Not as desktops, but as compute for my at home VM farm. z840's loaded up with ram and SSD and proxmox installed means I can model just about any kind of environment I could want.
Hi Ivan. The Z840 provides a very powerful system for VMs and likely you'll be hard-pressed to run out of processing power for your VMs. From an operational cost perspective the 1450W PSU would make me think twice for using it for a 24/7 system, but in my case the idle power-draw is actually decent (mine is ~ 350W at it's lowest). Have you got your one running all the time? I haven't had the need to set up Proxmox just yet, but I am sure that may change.
@@racerrrz powerwise, the nice thing is being able to shut down easily when its not going to be getting used for a while. proxmox makes managing the VMs nice and easy. It has worked out really well on the compute side as I have enough horse power to do quite a lot of work across multiple hosts. In the end having lots of cores and plenty of ram makes up for how power hungry it is.
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it - I enjoy making these videos. I don't even know what my accent is anymore (it seems to be changing with each video I make haha) - but the "RUclips Voice" sure does come through. It's actually cool to go back to my first video to hear the progress with my voice.
The Z800 does have appeal given the less complex CPU cooling system. I have seen some solid CPU setups on the Z800 but the newer models are less accepting of aftermarket coolers. The Z Coolers for the Z820 and Z840 are quite good though, and if you can live with the cooling module they aren't too bad.
There is just one problem with those older xeons. Pre LGA-1356 don't have AVX instructions and some modern programs might run unexpectedly slow on them, or not at all in some cases. A few games will not start if you are trying to run them on systems without AVX instructions.
Hi. That's definitely something to consider in this day and age, thank you for the comment. The Z840 will support AVX thanks to the Haswell/Broadwell generation of Xeons. Side note, the Z800 that I used a few years back never gave me any issues from a software perspective but I found the slow Sata 2.0 and USB 2.0 a bit tedious (I had Sata 3.0 PCIe expansion on mine - but it gets a bit tedious).
The Z440 really packs a punch for their hardware cost. The 600W PSU's power efficiency is excellent, with a 90% "Platinum" efficiency rating. The catch is that the PSU is geared to power some powerful CPU and GPU combos. Comparing it to the Z840's 1400W PSU the Z440 will save you a decent amount in power, but in the cost crisis right now a smaller PSU wouldn't be such a bad thing. Although not as powerful normally, laptops tend to have a lower power consumption and they work great for the more general daily tasks. The Dell Latitude 5580 would likely match the Z440 in purchase cost right now.
I just purchased the 840. I'm planning to set it up for video editing. I'm new to the PC customization game. I know I'll need to upgrade some components on the 840. For starters, I'll need to add WiFi, HDMI connections, and USB-C. I'll update other components as needed. What resources/ documentation would you recommend for a beginner to shop for compatible components for the 840? I need the TLDR Quick Start Guide for Beginners! Ha!
Great choice with the Z840. In terms of hardware to fill up your new machine, it really just comes down to what your end-use would be - but for the primary use of video editing you can basically copy my build to get a really capable system together. If you are looking for inspiration you are in the right place. I have made ~21 videos based on the Z840 - for a quick list you can find them here: ruclips.net/p/PL365qNcOkwuVGKF8AMoWRi0qx5i5oRsho . The most important upgrades for video editing will be GPU (allows rendering projects faster) and storage (large projects need large drives - HDDs are too slow for editing - SSDs are ok but the ideal is NVMes). I settled on the RTX 3090 Ti in my Z840. I have 10GbE networking, 4x NVMEs in RAID 0 within a Asus Hyper M.2 V2 PCIe adapter for ultra fast storage (4x NVMes installed on the quad card each receive 4x lanes from the x16 PCIe slot thanks to lane bifurcation). I have done other videos on upgrades for storage - with the best bang for buck upgrades being 5.25" Bay HDD / SSD adapters. Pending the CPU and RAM that your system came supplied with you may need to upgrade there also. The ideal RAM specification is DDR4 Server RAM 2400MHz ECC Registered - and I settled on 256GB (16x 16GB modules; but you could likely order 64GB modules for a decent price - just keep in mind the RAM has to be evenly split between CPUs and you can't mix different types of RAM). In terms of CPU selection, I have made a comprehensive guide with quick search links to search for the ideal CPU for your end use: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxinbLescQdmrqtvl7VzO2DW8Eaysrn3QH (Broadwell generation of Xeons are best suited to the Z840 - so that's E5-26xx V4, but Haswells are also supported - E5-26xx V3). I settled on dual E5-2697 V3's for my Z840 when I ordered them back in 2022. Right now the E5-2697 V4 would be the most cost effective CPU for video editing in the Z840. They have a good balance of clock speed and core count. I found that DaVinci Resolve has several processes that are only able to operate from a single core - which means clock speed will be limiting in your workflow. The Z840 does however shine when you start rendering the videos - with the CPUs doing a great job there.
@@racerrrz Holy smokes, you are a wizard! Ok, I'll try to digest all this valuable and generous guidance, and create a shopping list. Yes, my end use will be video editing and some basic graphics, using Adobe CC Creative Suite: primarily Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, (some limited work in After Effects), and Photoshop. Thank you so much! I've been binge watching your Z840 playlist BTW, thank you for the comprehensive education! 👍🏻
@@racerrrz Can you please tell me more about lane bifurcation? I want to replicate your Z840 upgrades for video editing, but I don't understand what lane bifurcation is or how to replicate it. Can you please recommend a resource, perhaps a step-by-step guide?
@@e-vd Yeah, no trouble! It's a popular point of confusion but it's really simple once you get the run down on the topic. I can recommend my video, but there may be others as well. ruclips.net/video/PRMWIpscDCg/видео.html Bifurcation is a method for splitting a given PCIe lane into smaller segments. As an example, you may be familiar with your GPU needing a X16 PCIe slot. X16 means the slot on the motherboard has a mechanical length that can support 16 electrical lanes of data connectivity. Think of it like a highway. 1X lane means way less traffic flow than 16X lanes. Bifurcation splits the "data motorway" into smaller segments. X16 could become X4X4X4X4 (4x roads of 4 lanes). This would allow Quad NVMe adapters to connect 4x NVMes - because NVMes normally need X4 electrical lanes for maximum speeds. The setting can be toggled in the BIOS, but on the Z840 I would recommend using HP Performance Advisor. You can adjust BIOS settings from within Windows with HP's software package. Check my video for more guidance or ask questions here if you like.
hello again , i really need your opinion about it, due to my university projects and homelab stuff and testing and trying new tools and technologies, i need a powerful computer to do my tests with it, like setting up multiple virtual machine and testing things, i was going to buy hp dl 380 g9 for that, now after couple days of thinking I've come to conclusion that workstation like hp z840 would be beneficial to me, noy that hp server, in my use case it would not be on 24/7, even on those kind of situations i think hp z840 could handle that, because hardware wise they are almost identical, another thing is noise, if i go with hp z840 my room would be much much quieter, what is your opinion, should i go with hp dl380 g9 or hp z840?, have that in mind that it would be in my room, and my use case is more around virtual machines, and testing things.
Hi. I think you answered your own question! The Z840 will be the way to go, especially if you live in the same room as the workstation. With the Z840, you'll be able to complete your Uni projects with server-like hardware without the server noise! The HP DL380 G9 and Z840 share similar components, but naturally the server is built to be in operation 24/7, and has aggressive fan profiles as a result. If you had a dedicated room to leave the server machine, while accessing it remotely, that would work just fine. The DL380 G9 would offer more functionality due to the more server oriented configuration (redundant PSU, more PCIe slots, more HDD bays etc.). I have my Z840 set up in my room. My only complaint is that I can't actually leave the Z840 on all the time (I can't sleep with background fan noise), otherwise I would leave it on working away 24/7.
Technically no, the Z840's PSU has a fully proprietary system which makes it near impossible to get a second PSU connected. In saying that, there is a custom wire loom that I have tested which managed to power the Z840's motherboard independent of the original PSU. That may allow you to get a custom dual PSU connected (side note, the new HP Z8 G5 has dual redundant PSUs). I have not made a video on the Z840's PSU cable - technically because I am not sure how reliable it is, and thus I would not endorse it as "reliable". But if you are curious / need something extreme: ruclips.net/video/Rsr_zxOg6K8/видео.html
Thinking of a Z440 for a hackintosh. Anything else to look out for in term of gaining admin access to the BIOS etc. I don't want any gotchas! LOL. The used dealer has 100 of these and they are squeaky clean on the inside. I only need to get the front fan on aliexpress. Perhaps an episode of the BIOS and how to reset it to factory or gaining access etc. Things NOT to do etc.
Great idea there, I'll see if I can get something together. The Z440 prices are really coming down now which makes them more accessible, and they are a great value machine. I filmed a BIOS video on the Z840 a while back, but I never got around to editing and releasing it (partly because it is difficult to get good quality footage of the BIOS screen). That included how to flash the BIOS using the HP BIOS Update Utility. Unlocking a password protected BIOS is possible with the CMOS jumper (I'll work something into a video!). Also, there is HP Performance Advisor that allows changing BIOS settings from within Windows (I am not sure if there is a Mac supported version, but likely there is).
That's a fair point, the Z8xx's have always trended towards high prices on the second-hard market - but they do at times come up for good prices. The Z440 is a fantastic machine for the price point. I just upgraded my Z440 case swap build to it's final form with a e5-2697A V4 CPU and 64GB of 2400MHz ECC memory where it's serving as a powerful 10GbE capable TrueNAS server (I am editing this video right now lol - major project). I have nothing but great things to say about them.
@@markkilley2683 The Z840's can still be very expensive, but definitely keep an eye on your local websites, they do seldomly come up for much cheaper. The Z440 does everything that is needed and I do appreciate how it uses the same RAM and CPUs as the Z840. Being able to interchange components between them is a huge plus.
As far as I can see the highest core count you can get in one of the E5-26xx series would be the E5-2699 v4, which has 22 cores (giving a total of 44 cores for the dual chip setup). Am I missing something or was there a typo in the headline, where you mentioned 56 cores total? Cheers 😊
You are observant and completely correct! Sorry about the confusion. The thumbnail has a small * that says 56 Cores and 112 Threads * on one table. That was the total cores present across all three workstations in the video (2x X5670 v1 (6 Core) + 2x E5-2690 v1 (8 Core) + 2x Xeon E5-2697 v3 (14 Core), netting 56 Cores, on one table. It’s a fine line between click-bait and the perfect hook! If you do want 56 Cores in one machine, the HP Z8 G4 with 2x Intel Xeon Platinum 8180 28 Cores each will get there without trouble. Or the newer HP Z8 Fury G5 which can get to 56 Cores on a single Intel Xeon W9-3495X CPU (1.9GHz Base, 4.8GHz Boost)!
Hey! I also saw your video on the z400 series and I currently can buy either a z420 or an z820. But I'm wondering which one to get. They are roughly the same price but the 420 got a GPU upgrade. I'm wondering now if they have huge differences that would make one better than the other if I plan to modify them strongly (maybe even flash the Bios to unlock the CPUs to Ivy Lake). I'm not sure if I would ever want a dual CPU setup.
Hi there. I am glad you found both videos before making your decision! The Z420 is a great value machine. I put mine through its paces as a TrueNAS file server (and I use to game on one!); but they can be set up to match most tasks. The Z820 really packs a punch and there are some solid upgrade paths. The decision can be made simple once you consider what hardware you want to run in your machine and what the end use is. In terms of the Z820, aside from the extra CPU to handle multi core tasks, another major benefit is the extra PCIe lanes. If you plan to run a lot of expansion cards (like RTX GPU, NVMe adapters, 10 GbE NIC, SAS HBA, USB Type C etc.) the Z820 will give you more freedom to expand (although you would need 2x Xeon CPUs fitted to make use of the extra PCIe slots). What GPU does the Z420 come supplied with? What was your main purpose for the machine?
Hi there. You can't go wrong with the Z820 for a gaming and VMware combo. Add in the ample Xeon CPU options (V1/V2) and affordable DDR3 RAM modules and you have a solid performer. Pending the number of cores you desire, something like dual Xeon E5-2687W V2 CPUs could work well for gaming and VMs. The main downsides on the Z820 are: 1) Hardware age, 2) Limited USB 3.0 ports (USB PCIe expansion a must), 3) Dated chipset (2x 6 Gb/s Sata 3.0 ports but 8 channels of 6 Gb/s SAS, i.e. best to use the SAS ports for HDDs etc.), 4) No NVMe boot support (technically - this one is complex, I have seen some users boot via specific NVMes and specific adapters, but my Z820 never booted from a PCIe NVMe [Samsung 970 in cheap PCIe adapter]; the Clover USB workaround may work - I have not tested that on the Z820). Otherwise, a great value machine that still packs a punch today.
I have had several HPs, my most important is a Z820... as with my other HPs, when I turn it on the fans race for a few seconds before settling down and starting the boot... --> BUT beginning 2 weeks ago my Z820 has the fan on full for 8 seconds or so before starting to boot (rather than 2-3 seconds as before)... any ideas or experiences with this phenomenon? My other HPs, with my Z820 up until a few weeks ago had the fan go on full for 2-3 seconds before booting, so that didn't worry me... but now with 8-9 seconds of the fans on full, I wonder what's up... otherwise my Z820 is an amazing beast for music production, and an amazing value for the money...
Hi. There are a whole bunch of factors that can influence the fan speeds on booting. It is great to hear you are making use of your Z820's potential! I am certain it would work well for music editing! Regarding the Fan issues: The short answer: It is likely your thermal sensor beginning to show signs of wear. The long answer: I tend to have my Z420 (which spends most of its time off given that I use it more as a NAS / File Server) being quite loud on startup for several seconds. It can be because the room temperature is high, or that there is a fair amount of dust building up in the system. The most logical answer would have to do with the thermal sensor that regulates the fan speed control (it's located behind the front panel and is tied into the front I/O with the power button etc.). HP Workstations have a build in feature where the fans spin at max speed on startup to help clear dust out of the system (only when booting). If you notice a change in that duration the most plausible cause is the thermal sensor is beginning to show signs of wear (intermittent; if the fans run at max speed all the time it has likely failed). The sensor allows voltage to pass based on the case temperature. Higher temperatures mean higher fan speeds. But there are several other factors that can also influence the fan speeds. To test / diagnose it yourself you could use software like HWiNFO (I did a video on using it here: ruclips.net/video/rs_7Qd-Jp9o/видео.html ). Albeit a complex software package, you can use it to monitor your sensor outputs on your Z820. Another software package that can work is HP Performance Advisor (www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/performance-advisor.html ; I have done a video on it but I never released it due to copyright concerns!). The sensor of interest is the case temperature. If that sensor reads 99 degrees Celsius, as an example, the sensor has gone bad. If it reads normal, say 28 degrees Celsius, it could be another system that is having issues. A logical one to test next is the CPU thermal paste. What temperature are your CPU cores operating under? Let me know how you get on and we might just get to the bottom of it.
@@racerrrz Wow! You are great! I have an operation happening tomorrow (ugh) and I won't be on the computer for a week or so... but I'll check it out... I had a Z820 maybe two years ago and it worked fine for a couple of weeks and then I changed some settings on the BIOS and after that it would only race the fans and not boot up... I sent it back to the dealer (30-day return) after a week of tests, but neither he nor I could ever figure out what had happened (BIOS reset, all the recommended things for HP Z820s, without success)... but now I wonder if there could have been a problem with the temp sensor, since it apparently wasn't a bios problem... ANYWAY, it's great to make your acquaintance! Another Z820 (Z6-800 series) fan. They really are great... this machine is a dual CPU with 2x 8core @ 3.3ghz (standard, not "peak")... it's a beast for music production, it can handle almost everything I throw at it ;-) And I got it on Ebay for €700 !! Anyway, in a week or so I'll check out my system, see what I can find out... the racing fan is only a bit unnerving, but since the system always boots after the 8 seconds, I'm not too worried... also it's in a room with the heat set at 18 C and it's been cold lately, and it could also be a temperature issue... Thanks for your quick response, I'll get back to you!! Big smile here ;-)
@@racerrrz Oh and one more question.. my Z820 never actually shuts down... if I do "shut down" it will shut down, but then after 1-2 seconds it will restart.. same if I set it to hibernate (which is faster than a shutdown)... it hibernates and then, after 1-2 seconds restarts and loads the saved state from hibernation... I have to stand there and wait until it goes off and then, when it comes back on, press the power button for 5 seconds to actually shut it down... I did a bunch of research on this, but nothing I've tried has worked... any ideas? thanks!!!
@@bobe.thomas Lightning fast reply here (Sorry, I either missed the message notification or I never got one! But I just saw this again now - I am busy prepping a follow-up video to this one and I am actually editing the footage for the Z820 right now!). The random rebooting issue I do not have a solution for either - I have that on some of my machines also (my Z840 tended to do that). What I found prevented it from rebooting was removing the ethernet cable. Maybe if network boot is on in the BIOS the machine remains in a "listening state" and if your router, for whatever reason, sends a data packet ("hi z820, you awake" lol), then it jumps back to life. I trust your operation went well and your recovery went well. How's your Z820 going?
Hi. The simple answer is no, the Z800 does not support bifurcation due to the age of the hardware. You can install the card but only one NVMe will be detected - even if 2-4 are fitted. Bifurcation support in the BIOS was first introduced to the HP Z440 / Z640 / Z840. Does this mean you can't boot from a M.2 NVMe on an older workstation? Yes and no. I have read that the Samsung 950 Pro was able to get these older systems to boot due to having a chip on the PCB for dealing with older BIOS. I have not confirmed this myself but I have seen others claim to have done it: h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/Z800-PCIe-NvME-lsi-megaraid-what-slots/td-p/6189360/page/2 I have tested booting from a Samsung 970 Evo Plus with Clover on a Z800 and a Z820 but I never got my systems to boot from these NVMes. Is there a way to get bifurcation support on an older system? Yes, but at a cost! You would require a PCIe NVMe adapter with a PLX chip to negotiate PCIe slot bifurcation. The best one I have read about is this (link may break over time; IO Crest PLX Quad PCIe NVMe adapter): www.amazon.com/IO-CREST-Non-RAID-Bifurcation-Controller/dp/B083GLR3WL?th=1 (note, there are two versions. The M key version supports NVMes, the B key version only supports M.2 SSDs - also called M.2 NGFF SSDs)
@@LeoBasuki No worries. If you can source a Z840 for cheap it could be worth it. But don't neglect the HP Z8 G4 either. I managed to get a Z8 G4 for half of what I paid for my Z840 three years back. Z8 G4's are coming off lease after the release of the new HP Z8 G5 earlier this year.
@@racerrrz There's an offer for $1,000 for Z840 comes only with: 2x Intel Xeon E5-2967 v3 DDR4 64Gb PSU 1000W No GPU No HDD. Not sure if it's worth it.
@@LeoBasuki It's ok for the price, but honestly that's too much for the Z840 in this day and age. If you want a more future proof system I would recommend the HP Z6 G4 since the HP Z8 G4 is still quite expensive. The Z6 G4 can support Intel Gen 1 and Gen 2 Scalable processors and some Xeon-W CPUs (LGA 3647 socket). There is less info on them online but I am working on video tutorials on the Z8 G4 (like CPU fitment which is more technical than the Z840). I would pair the Z6 G4 with a powerful Xeon W and 2933MHz Regulated ECC RAM to give a powerful system. It would cost a little more than the Z840 you listed overall but you'll get a far faster / newer system. Example links (Amazon affiliate link - I would get a small margin if you buy using this link): HP Z6 G4 Silver 4110 8C 2.1Ghz 96GB RAM 250GB NVMe W2100 Win 10 (Renewed): amzn.to/3GAyrZ0 Non-affiliate HP Z6 G4 search link: www.amazon.com/s?k=HP+Z6+G4&s=price-asc-rank&crid=L7MZWBLO0VUR&qid=1702002502&sprefix=hp+z840%2Caps%2C308&ref=sr_st_price-asc-rank&ds=v1%3A5WOWAJ1QggWIZ%2BCEy64KFzA50A1kjZJKz69xJ8KyRDc Non-affiliate Xeon W-3235 link (12 Core 32 Thread, 3.3GHz base, 4.4 GHz Boost): www.ebay.com/itm/385612677985?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=mkemlddiq-y&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=geuID1L0SNO&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY What do you plan to use the system for? If you will be gaming the Z6 G4 will be better overall. There will be many CPU options and it's best to pair the CPU with RAM that's best suited (basically 2666MHz or 2933MHz DDR4 ECC Regulated modules). I presume the Amazon link Z6 G4 comes with 2666MHz ECC Regulated which is better suited to the older Xeon Gold Gen 1 Scalable CPUs, e.g. Gold 6142 (I have these in my Z8 G4).
@racerrrz Well it didn't come with a hard drive. It was used by a government office so they pulled the hard drives. I'll start there. On the top of the tower it has a 'windows 7 ' sticker. Insides it's a dual cpu, no sure which ones tho
Hi there. I have not made any videos on how to install an OS, mostly because getting good video footage is difficult (I can't record screen from BIOS and camera footage of a screen just looks bad lol). What I can do is give you a quick written tutorial (I specified it for the Z800 specifically): 1. Download Windows 10 ISO (www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 ): a. Visit the official Microsoft website and download the Windows 10 ISO file. 2. Create Bootable USB with Rufus (rufus.ie/en/ ): a. Download and install Rufus from the official website. b. Insert a USB flash drive (at least 8GB) into your computer. c. Open Rufus and select the USB drive under 'Device.' d. In the 'Boot selection' section, click on 'Select' and choose the Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded. e. Set the partition scheme to "MBR" if your system uses legacy BIOS, or "GPT" if it uses UEFI (normally GPT for Windows 10 etc.). f. Click 'Start' to create the bootable USB drive. 3. Insert USB and Restart: a. Insert the USB drive (USB 3.0 ideally) into your Z800 workstation (Rear I/O USB port in top left corner). 4. Boot from USB: a. Restart your computer, hit ESC key during the boot process to enter BIOS boot menu. Select Boot Menu and select the USB drive from the list. 5. Run Installation: a. Once the computer boots from the USB drive with the Windows 10 ISO, follow the on-screen instructions to begin the Windows 10 installation process. 6. Upgrade Option: a. During the installation, you'll be prompted to choose whether to upgrade the existing installation or perform a clean installation. Choose the new installation and select a clean / new drive for your OS. b. Note the HDD/SSD you select will be formatted if not clean already. c. You can clear any previous data in this menu also - just select format drive (data will be lost, so backup any critical files - best to use a new drive here). 7. Follow On-Screen Instructions: a. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. This process may take some time. I find it best to avoid registering an email initially - it makes the install quicker. Also, best to not connect to the internet during the install - do that after. 8. Post-Installation Updates: a. After the upgrade is complete, connect to the internet (ethernet or wifi if you have a wifi PCIe card) check for Windows updates again to make sure your system is up-to-date. 9. Check Device Drivers: a. Verify that all your hardware components are working properly. Check the Device Manager for any missing or outdated drivers and install the necessary drivers for Windows 10. b. You can go to the HP Z800 page to also check for out of date drivers. c. It’s also good to update your BIOS to the latest version from the HP website. d. This can be done via a windows BIOS installer that HP supplies from their website. It's fairly straightforward, but if you run into issues feel free to ask for help.
Hi there. If you already have the Z820 you have completed the most expensive step! PC hardware is really expensive (even more so now compared with a few years ago...). The good news is that the Z820's hardware is more affordable now than ever. What CPU/s do you have at the moment? Matching your Z820 with a well priced Xeon like the E5-2667 V2 (~$15 USD on Ebay right now) and 64GB of RAM (~$45 USD for DDR3 1600MHz) can help give it a performance boost on a budget. I can't really help with the GPU, they are just really expensive. But something like the RTX 2070 Super second-hand (~$120 USD on Ebay) might be as good as it gets.
Hey! Yes I researched it back in September, and I even found a trace of your comments on "Z By HP". I had planned to leave a comment here: ruclips.net/video/lUZaOVUWrs0/видео.html then, but I didn't quite manage to confirm my own comments by actually getting zCentral working! I also looked into why there are almost no RUclips videos explaining the HP software and there was some "fine-print" in their legal notes that made me question if doing a video tutorial on it will be wise or not. (I had a video for HP Performance Advisor that I withheld for the same reason). I have been wanting to get a web server machine built for which I will need ZCentral Remote Boost to manage it. The best I have for now is this - my notes from then! : RACERRRZ here 😅. Doing background research to figure out how to get Z Central Running, and while I am here I'll answer your questions, albeit late! (Links May/May Not Work For You). Your Host Z840 Workstation would require Product #: ZCRB-WSR (ZCentral RB 22.1 Win Sender-Receiver, h30670.www3.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=ZCRB-WSR ) (Links appear to still work, 2023!). The Remote Computer (another HP Z Computer, e.g. Z Book etc.) would require Product #: ZCRB-WR (ZCentral RB 22.1 Windows Receiver: h30670.www3.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=ZCRB-WR ). I'll test out the 4-Part Videos Outlined by ZbyHP to see if I can get it running on my Z840. Did you obtain the required licenses? There is a free trial license that you can get that will be linked to your HP Account. The license is for one user on one machine (so multiple licenses are needed for a team etc.) I tracked the downloads here (Links under "SETUP WITH ZCENTRAL REMOTE BOOST IS EASY" ): www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/zcentral-remote-boost.html Other useful links: h30670.www3.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=ZCRB-WR www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/zcentral-remote-boost.html teradici.com/products/hp-anyware
@@racerrrz @RACERRRZ thanks for your effort dude! For me this is like an unfinished project also it feels like im wasting my time ive followed and watched many utube vids about it but no success. Only the success i got if im using it in same network and everytime im checking its always there an update like now there is hp-anware and teradici. About the video where you found traces of my comments. I think the issue im having is the powershell script where he make a active directory. This is where o get stuck. I this this is for programmers. Anyway im not forcing you to do vids about it specially if you will be on trouble just thought that it is might be cool to showcase how you can play on games remotely 😀. Thanks again and "DDD" Dont Drink and Drive 😀
@@wilsione Those projects become an Achilles' heel! You know it is bound to be simple, yet powerful once you have it done, yet you keep going in circles when you put time in to resolve it! It sounds like you got quite close. I'll recheck the powershell detail and see how I interpret it. There are some assumptions made in these types of tutorials and it would really help if the tutorials were able to cover every step in the process. As you say, we can't all be qualified programmers and the tutorial needs to account for that! If I get it working I may well sneak some sort of video out on it. It becomes challenging when the product is locked behind licenses, and the "terms of use" that comes with it.
Where modern Ryzen CPU based systems are really competitive, these workstations operate with a different purpose in mind. They tend to focus on maximizing CPU cores, having massive amounts of RAM and lots of PCIe slots. There are no Ryzen options for the HP Z800, Z820 or Z840 - they only operate on dual Intel Xeon Workstation processors. The newest Z8 G5 workstation can do Intel Xeon W's though, check Linus’s video for that one! ruclips.net/video/ESW3gXUo1QM/видео.html&vl=en Let’s do a quick comparison: With enough money you could get a Ryzen system like an AMD Threadripper 3990X + TRS40 AORUS XTREME which gives 56C/128T, 8 DIMM sockets (ECC or non-ECC 3200MHz), 4x PCIe 4.0 slots (x16 + x8 + x16 + x8) and 4x M.2 NVMe slots (x4 each), ~1200W min. PSU. System cost: ~$7000- $10000 USD (RTX 4090, 4x NVMes, 1200W PSU etc.) Price is an estimate - you may be able to price it up cheaper. HP Z840 Workstation with dual E5-2699 V4 (44C / 88T), 16 DIMM sockets (ECC or Non-ECC 2400MHz), 7x 3.0 PCIe slots (x8, x16, x8, x16, x8, x16) and no M.2 NVMe slots, 1450W PSU (~$2000 USD for the workstation with ~768GB RAM), plus your GPU and M.2 NVMe PCIe adapter, likely makes the system cost ~$4000-6000, you could drive that price down also. Example Z840 listings (link may break over time): www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=HP+Z840+44+Core+Workstation+2X+E5-2699+V4+768GB+RAM+No+GPU%2F+HDD%2F+OS&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&rt=nc&_odkw=hp+Z840&_osacat=0&_sop=16 The Ryzen system will give a decent performance boost, but it will come at a cost. I went for the HP Workstation because I can have massive computing performance for a lower price point (buying second hand anyhow). Your budget would decide which hardware system you can obtain, I opted for the workstation (28 Cores, 56 Threads, 256GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM, RTX 3090 Ti, 40TB of storage (28TB of HDDs, 4TB RAID 1 SSDs, 8TB RAID 0 NVMes in ASUS Hyper V2), 2x 10GbE, 2x 1GbE, 10x USB 3.0, 2x USB type C).
Thank you for your quick and detailed response@@racerrrz So it is easier to build a separate pc with AMD tech then try to squeeze it in the Z800 for me. Then I would go the route of upgrading what I have in here atm, which is the following. I have the Z800 equipped atm with 88gb Ram, 1060 GTX (6GB VRM), 2 Intel Xeon E5645 2.4GHz 12 core CPUs and a 1TB Samsung 860 Evo SSD. Now, I could for example upgrade my GPU, but which one would you recommend for this system? Also, would love to upgrade the CPU's to the maximum GHz that my system can run.
@@sekaiology Hello, I can recommend 2x CPU X5690 upgrade and RTX 2080Ti GPU combo based on my use case. If you want max GHz CPU you might go for the quad core X5687 @3.86 GHz turbo. Otherwise the 6 core X5690 is the best option @3.73 GHz turbo. I will share my z800 story :) I rescued a z800 from a recycling bin and with some upgrades it is my entertainment and gaming machine. From memory, the machine needed a bios update to support the Xeon X5690s (originally 1x X5550 CPU, now 2x X5690). I chose to put aftermarket CPU coolers because it was missing one and I did not like the price of the OEM coolers, which both should be upgraded to the higher-spec air-coolers (more heat pipes and fins) or the OEM water cooling solution when going to the higher power CPUs. As a result of fitting the aftermarket CPU coolers I had to get rid of the RAM fan shroud (either that or butcher it with a dremel). I upgraded to the 1200W power supply and fitted an RTX 2080ti. Since the machine was also very noisy I replaced all fans, including those in the power supply, for premium Noctua fans, after that it was much more pleasant. My experience of this system for gaming has been excellent. I do not count framerates but I run it on my living room 55' tv @4k and always have had a smooth experience with maximum settings. My main complaint is that because of the age of the CPUs, they are lacking some instruction sets so some games I have tried to play flat out will not work. This might not be an issue in your use case, but it is leading me to want to replace the machine, which is a shame since I really like the z800 aesthetic. Currently I am building a budget z240 (also recycling bin) machine to replace the z800 which I will give the z800 to the wife for video editing. If it were not for the recycling bin finds I would rather build a machine from standard form-factor components so I don't have to stuff around with non-standard form-factors and non-standard power connectors if I want to say upgrade to a more modern motherboard to support newer generation CPUs. Perhaps I might try to hack a standard form factor motherboard into the machine at some later date so I can keep the fabulous case. There is some good simple guidance at greenpcgamers.com. They have basic guides for many workstation builds.
Hi Shereif. The HP Z8xx workstations would be ideal for running Proxmox. I have not attempted an installation as I have not needed to set up virtual machines. Z8xx workstations have two 1GbE integrated NICs. The network card specifications will vary according to the model: The Z800 (2x RJ-45; 1x Integrated Broadcom 5764 PCIe LOM Controller + 1x Integrated Broadcom 5761 NetXtreme GbE Plus), Z820 (2x RJ-45; 1x Integrated Intel 82574L NIC + 1x Integrated Intel 82579LM GbEs), Z840 (2x RJ-45; 1x Integrated Intel I210AT + 1x Integrated Intel I218LM GbE). In my Z840 I have added the Intel X540-T2 10GbE NIC to obtain an additional 2x 10 GbE RJ-45s.
@@racerrrz Thank you for the quick response. Right now i'm using multiple dell 10th Gen Micro PCs and instead of adding one to the fleet, I'm thinking of consolidating all of those into a single system, also where I can assign more than 64GB ram to a single VM.. Z840 looks like a perfect system
@@SheriefElHamalawy Nice, that sounds like a solid lineup of PCs. I suspect the Z840 will handle that quite easily and there are options to expand them quite easily. Power draw on the Z840 is generally quite good despite the large capacity of the PSU (I would estimate ~450W to run all the VMs but that will depend on their complexity and scale of use. Right now I have outgrown the storage capacity on my Z840 and I have partially incorporated a Z420 that's loaded with HDDs and TrueNAS Core to manage it all (plus 10 GbE to link them). I am not sure if this is of help but I presume Proxmox VMs could be linked to a TrueNAS database. You could set up a virtual machine running on Proxmox and configure it to access the TrueNAS database (with some RAID 5 perhaps) over the network (NFS or iSCSI etc.).
Hi. Thanks, I am glad you found the video of benefit. NVMe booting is possible, and I use that in my Z840 right now for rendering videos, but it depends on the Z8xx model. I have videos on how to get the Z840 to run 4x NVMes on one lane by using the AORUS GEN4 NVMe Adapter (e.g. ruclips.net/video/3MLLdAAv4cU/видео.html). In my hands the Z820 and Z800 have not been able to boot to NVMes mounted in PCIe lanes (I can boot to them via USB - e.g. ROG Arion). But you can load your machine with SSDs and HDDs without issue. I have some future videos planned on the Asus Hyper M.2 and HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro - both of which can allow a Z840 to boot from a NVMe (maybe the Z820 - but not in my experience). RE your other message (it seems to have vanished!), the Z820 can work well as a home lab - but take note the operating system booting from a NVMe is challenging - I have seen others have success, but my Z820 machine (with the latest BIOS) would not detect/boot to a PCIe NVMe (Win 10 - Samsung 980). Both the Z840 and Z820 share similar spec PSUs. With a 6-Pin to 8-Pin PSU power adapter cable you can run most modern GPUs. I managed to get the RTX 3090 Ti into my Z840 here: ruclips.net/video/D1cwwiR4UHM/видео.html
@@racerrrz thank you for your help, English is not my first language, because of that I can't show fully my gratitude for your kindness. i really wanted to buy z 840, but my budget is limited, my option are models below z840, like z820 and z640 and so on, i don't know, maybe sata SSDs are also fine, i really wanted the best for my homelab😅😅, sometimes you should lower your expectations 😂
@@racerrrz sorry for asking another question, can i use any pcie to nvme m.2 in the market?, or should i just use hp z turbo?, i dont understand the difference between common pcie to nvme m.2in the market and the hp z turbo, i appreciate your help,🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@sembutininverse No trouble! If you are patient you might just find a Z840 for a low price. I got mine by selling my Z800, which paid for half of the Z840! The Z640 is a really solid machine - if you can source one that makes for a good option. The Z820 is very powerful and can still quite easily be used today. I say keep those expectations high, nothing wrong with falling short of high expectations! 😅
@@sembutininverse Your question comes a little too soon! I am working on videos to answer your question, with lots of clarity regarding PCIe connectivity and NVMe adapters. I can't find official HP documents to confirm, but I saw at least one mention of the HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro adapter having a PLX chip that allows it to connect to motherboards that do not support bifurcation (only the Z240, Z440, Z640 and Z840 or newer workstations have this function). i.e. The Z820 could then accept this adapter with 4x NVMes - but may still not boot from the NVMes. The Asus Hyper M.2 is the cheapest and it looks like a solid option. The HP adapter has more features but it is more than double the price. In terms of NVMes, you are best to spend money on NVMes that are matched to GEN 3 / PCIe 3.0. The Z820 and Z840 can't support the full speeds of Gen 4 NVMes (like the Samsung 980 Pro) - hence I went for the cheaper options - like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus or 980 (not the Pro!).
Your Intel 10th gen CPU is powerful! You are doing well on the integrated GPU (I was using the HP Elite 8300 SFF as my main machine only 4 years back! I know the limits of the integrated GPUs). If you are able to save some cash for a GPU you will be able to do 1080p on all your gaming titles with ease and your video work will go even faster / smoother. Pending what's available for you, the GTX 970 still remains a solid card (~$50-80USD; I got my one in ~2014 and it's still working well!) or a more modern RTX 3050 (~$350 USD).
@@seemasaiprasanthreddy1400 Samsung monitors work well. That's great to hear! Go for it. The most important thing is consistency with posting videos. You'll learn on the job!
@@seemasaiprasanthreddy1400 Nice. The GTX 1060 is a solid performer. Keep an eye for cards with more VRAM. I found it really helps with the video editing but you only need it if you try to use lots of effects.
Hi Robin. The Z800's Xeon CPUs can't usually be overclocked due to the Xeon processors not supporting the feature (they are build to be reliable). The Xeon E5-2687W V1 might be the only CPU that could be pushed further through using the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, but I have not tried this out.
ChatGPT kee madad se likha gaya: Kuchh inamen vaastav mein shaktishaalee hain, lekin yadi aap dekhana chaahate hain ki hp kitana kar sakata hai, to hp z8 phyooree g5 ko jaroor dekhen. Yah duniya mein sabase uchch spek varkasteshan mein se ek hai. (English translation: Written with the help of ChatGPT: Some of these are really powerful, but if you want to see what HP can really do, check out the HP Z8 Fury G5. It's nothing short of being one of the highest spec workstations in the world.)
Hi Damian, I am sorry to hear that. Which model workstation did you have? Unfortunately due to the size and design of the PSU it will cost a fair amount to obtain a replacement, but you can source replacement PSUs on Ebay/Amazon. www.amazon.com/s?k=792340-001&crid=HDAAXTKKI65&sprefix=z840+psu%2Caps%2C299&ref=nb_sb_noss Side note, I found an adapter cable that allows the Z840 to be used with an ATX PSU, and it works (future video). That could leave room for PSU upgrades, like a 1600W EVGA SuperNOVA P+!
@@racerrrz sup, it's a hp800 with 2x xeon 5672, 96GB RAM and a GTX 1050ti. PSU is the 1250w. So I've looked into it and the best options seem to be retro fitting a different PSU into it since the PSUs for these tend to fail often. The cause isn't really known as far as I can tell since no one sees it as worth the trouble. Some people have fixed theirs by blindly replacing components since when you test them they are "good" when in fact they are not. One theory is microfractures others say it's bad caps (although I did have mine tested and the caps are supposedly good. Might take it to a different guy who knows more he also asks more money so it'll have to wait.) I've also seen those adaptor cables and I'm strongly considering going that route or atleast doing something similar and essentially building a different PSU into the case, word of caution the adaptor cables are sometimes wired incorrectly (saw some people complain in forums whilst trying to figure what was going on with my system)
@@damianmarais7852 Hey. In terms of PSU failure, it will be a combination of age and fatigue on the components. The Z800 PSU's have likely been in service since 2008 and I can't blame them for failing, but I would hope the Z820/Z840 PSUs have some life remaining as of yet. Another common failure on them is overloading certain rails. Of the handful of workstations that I have obtained second hand about half of the machines had burnt out PSUs - but always on the GPU power rails (i.e. GPU likely too grunty for the PSU, so could be user error also). Also, it is worth checking the PSU connectors as I have had those not make good contact which also gives a no-posting issue. I haven't seen PSU ATX adapter cables specifically for the Z800, but they must exist. These PSU ATX adapter cables present some risk, especially when there are not many people that use them/have tested them. I would only advise to test it if you can afford to loose/repair your machine (i.e. it's high risk and can easily damage the motherboard if wired incorrectly). I did my testing on a $100 "For parts" machine that was in a sad state already (PSU had clearly been opened), so I had nothing to loose. I did my test with a small 340W PSU and the Z840 powered (with errors lol), but I am yet to fully test it (test machine needs a new motherboard to get full function).
@@racerrrz yea I've chalked it up to age I know it's a old system and I'm surprised it lasted this long to begin with. It hasn't been mine for long but it was basically free (it worked at the time I recieved it). As far as the PSU is concerned it's a rather confusing matter. I doubt my GPU caused any issues since it had been using it for a long time. Only thing is I don't know what the minimum PSU spec I can run it on. It's easy to find the specs for its original PSU so I could probably just compare the max amperage of the rails and see what should be usable. Part of me just wants to build a modern system into this case later on but the same thing that is stopping me from slapping a fancy PSU in there is stopping me from doing that(money 😕). As far as the connectors not making good contact I don't think that's the case cause it's been in and out a few whilst I was trying to figure out what the problem was in the first place. I could probably try reseating it but I have my doubts, never noticed anything wrong with them but I'll check them in anyways. Getting employed in my country is challenging and the real problem I have. Once that's sorted out I'm more than likely going to go the route of retro fitting better components starting with the PSU. It used to be a rare occurrence that it would randomly shut down now it's at the point where it can't turn in for more than maybe two or three seconds. I've tested everything else I possibly can though.
@@feelsbad1193 The Z640 is a solid platform. The only downside to them was how rare/hard to obtain some of the upgrade parts are (e.g. 2nd CPU Riser Board 736520-001). You'll have a solid performer and it will boot just fine from a NVMe. Definitely look into a PCIe adapter with some cooling for the NVMe (the Aorus GEN4 adapter can be sourced for a good price these days). The other machines that are quite neat is the Z440 and Z240. The Z240 has a native NVMe slot on the board but the only downside is the limit to 4-Core CPUs. The Z440 tends to still be pricey but they are easier to find than the Z640.
@@racerrrz I saw people had weird issues with the riser board. I saw the 240 but yeah not into the 4 core cpu builds anymore. The best cost per dollar seems like the Z640
@@feelsbad1193 As an owner of a Z620 for 5 years, the riser issue which is reported on is actually down to the riser connector. It needs to be very clean, dust plays havoc with the QPI links. I had trouble on and off for 2 years and almost replaced the motherboard as many have done prior, before giving it one last go with electrical contact spray and i have had not one issue with it in 3 years and is now part of my maintenance routine.
Love to see people still making content on these beasts. My main PC for the last 5 years has been a HP Z620 with the dual 2690 v1 xeons in and recently upgraded to a RTX 3060. Even with 48gb of 1333mhz ram, it does it all. I run Linux, i game, work, use VM's and does my multimedia stuff. No replacement parts has ever been needed. It is stamped 2012 on the inside, so has been working for coming up 11 years now. No other PC i have ever owned has done that. The only thing i would recommend is if anybody owns or is thinking of owning one of any of the z600 series with the CPU riser attached, they must keep the riser connector very clean on the motherboard. The slightest dust can play havoc with the QPI link as i have found out. Whenever i open it and remove the riser to clean i now give it a spray with electrical contact spray and ive been problem free for 3 years. It seems a semi-regular complaint and I've known people replace their entire motherboard at a fairly hefty cost for what was most likely this issue. The 600 series motherboards are extremely reliable and are essentially 400 series motherboards, with the 2nd CPI riser connectors soldered in, which you can note on the diagrams of both motherboards. Good luck!
Hi Lee. Not only am I making content on the beasts, but the beast is rendering the content! haha. It is great to hear you have been rocking a Z620 for so long! They remain solid machines and it just comes to show their durability. I was hoping to one day do a review on the Z600, Z620 and Z640 but I have not had a chance to purchase them (I have done Z400 / Z420 / Z440!). Z620 / Z640 seem more rare on the second-hand market (on my local marketplace). Yes, the CPU riser board on the Z620 (P/N: 689471-001) / Z640 (P/N: 710326-001) is a challenge to obtain! (Note the Z600 actually has two CPU sockets on the motherboard - like the Z800 etc.). It's good to hear about the solution to the contact issue with the CPU riser board. If you are looking towards a machine upgrade it could be worth looking at the HP Z840, or even the HP Z6 G4 (pending funds!).
Love my Z800. Only issue was a bad temp sensor that caused the fans to run at super noisy full speed until I sourced a replacement. Great to be able to run SAS or SATA in the same bays.
Well done on being able to fix that temp sensor. It is a common issue on them and I had that issue on mine also. Thankfully I had the transistors (2N2222A NPN) on hand because I had done a Z420 case swap which also needed them. The only other issue is the PSU failing and given the age of the Z800 now I would say it would be wise to hold onto a spare PSU to make sure you can enjoy the system for a long time yet. They are very versatile systems with the on board SATA and SAS chipset.
The Z840's have been working pretty nicely for me. Not as desktops, but as compute for my at home VM farm. z840's loaded up with ram and SSD and proxmox installed means I can model just about any kind of environment I could want.
Hi Ivan. The Z840 provides a very powerful system for VMs and likely you'll be hard-pressed to run out of processing power for your VMs. From an operational cost perspective the 1450W PSU would make me think twice for using it for a 24/7 system, but in my case the idle power-draw is actually decent (mine is ~ 350W at it's lowest). Have you got your one running all the time? I haven't had the need to set up Proxmox just yet, but I am sure that may change.
@@racerrrz powerwise, the nice thing is being able to shut down easily when its not going to be getting used for a while. proxmox makes managing the VMs nice and easy. It has worked out really well on the compute side as I have enough horse power to do quite a lot of work across multiple hosts. In the end having lots of cores and plenty of ram makes up for how power hungry it is.
Love your energy and accent
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it - I enjoy making these videos. I don't even know what my accent is anymore (it seems to be changing with each video I make haha) - but the "RUclips Voice" sure does come through. It's actually cool to go back to my first video to hear the progress with my voice.
The Z800 have the best (internal) Design, direkt CPU fans eg. ... ❤
The Z800 does have appeal given the less complex CPU cooling system. I have seen some solid CPU setups on the Z800 but the newer models are less accepting of aftermarket coolers. The Z Coolers for the Z820 and Z840 are quite good though, and if you can live with the cooling module they aren't too bad.
There is just one problem with those older xeons. Pre LGA-1356 don't have AVX instructions and some modern programs might run unexpectedly slow on them, or not at all in some cases. A few games will not start if you are trying to run them on systems without AVX instructions.
Hi. That's definitely something to consider in this day and age, thank you for the comment. The Z840 will support AVX thanks to the Haswell/Broadwell generation of Xeons. Side note, the Z800 that I used a few years back never gave me any issues from a software perspective but I found the slow Sata 2.0 and USB 2.0 a bit tedious (I had Sata 3.0 PCIe expansion on mine - but it gets a bit tedious).
I love my z440 that I use for a server. I wish it was more power effecient though. I will be switching only for that reason.
The Z440 really packs a punch for their hardware cost. The 600W PSU's power efficiency is excellent, with a 90% "Platinum" efficiency rating. The catch is that the PSU is geared to power some powerful CPU and GPU combos. Comparing it to the Z840's 1400W PSU the Z440 will save you a decent amount in power, but in the cost crisis right now a smaller PSU wouldn't be such a bad thing. Although not as powerful normally, laptops tend to have a lower power consumption and they work great for the more general daily tasks. The Dell Latitude 5580 would likely match the Z440 in purchase cost right now.
I just purchased the 840. I'm planning to set it up for video editing. I'm new to the PC customization game. I know I'll need to upgrade some components on the 840. For starters, I'll need to add WiFi, HDMI connections, and USB-C. I'll update other components as needed. What resources/ documentation would you recommend for a beginner to shop for compatible components for the 840? I need the TLDR Quick Start Guide for Beginners! Ha!
Great choice with the Z840. In terms of hardware to fill up your new machine, it really just comes down to what your end-use would be - but for the primary use of video editing you can basically copy my build to get a really capable system together.
If you are looking for inspiration you are in the right place. I have made ~21 videos based on the Z840 - for a quick list you can find them here: ruclips.net/p/PL365qNcOkwuVGKF8AMoWRi0qx5i5oRsho .
The most important upgrades for video editing will be GPU (allows rendering projects faster) and storage (large projects need large drives - HDDs are too slow for editing - SSDs are ok but the ideal is NVMes). I settled on the RTX 3090 Ti in my Z840. I have 10GbE networking, 4x NVMEs in RAID 0 within a Asus Hyper M.2 V2 PCIe adapter for ultra fast storage (4x NVMes installed on the quad card each receive 4x lanes from the x16 PCIe slot thanks to lane bifurcation). I have done other videos on upgrades for storage - with the best bang for buck upgrades being 5.25" Bay HDD / SSD adapters.
Pending the CPU and RAM that your system came supplied with you may need to upgrade there also. The ideal RAM specification is DDR4 Server RAM 2400MHz ECC Registered - and I settled on 256GB (16x 16GB modules; but you could likely order 64GB modules for a decent price - just keep in mind the RAM has to be evenly split between CPUs and you can't mix different types of RAM).
In terms of CPU selection, I have made a comprehensive guide with quick search links to search for the ideal CPU for your end use: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxinbLescQdmrqtvl7VzO2DW8Eaysrn3QH (Broadwell generation of Xeons are best suited to the Z840 - so that's E5-26xx V4, but Haswells are also supported - E5-26xx V3).
I settled on dual E5-2697 V3's for my Z840 when I ordered them back in 2022. Right now the E5-2697 V4 would be the most cost effective CPU for video editing in the Z840. They have a good balance of clock speed and core count. I found that DaVinci Resolve has several processes that are only able to operate from a single core - which means clock speed will be limiting in your workflow. The Z840 does however shine when you start rendering the videos - with the CPUs doing a great job there.
@@racerrrz Holy smokes, you are a wizard! Ok, I'll try to digest all this valuable and generous guidance, and create a shopping list. Yes, my end use will be video editing and some basic graphics, using Adobe CC Creative Suite: primarily Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, (some limited work in After Effects), and Photoshop. Thank you so much! I've been binge watching your Z840 playlist BTW, thank you for the comprehensive education! 👍🏻
@@racerrrz Can you please tell me more about lane bifurcation? I want to replicate your Z840 upgrades for video editing, but I don't understand what lane bifurcation is or how to replicate it. Can you please recommend a resource, perhaps a step-by-step guide?
@@e-vd Yeah, no trouble! It's a popular point of confusion but it's really simple once you get the run down on the topic. I can recommend my video, but there may be others as well. ruclips.net/video/PRMWIpscDCg/видео.html
Bifurcation is a method for splitting a given PCIe lane into smaller segments. As an example, you may be familiar with your GPU needing a X16 PCIe slot. X16 means the slot on the motherboard has a mechanical length that can support 16 electrical lanes of data connectivity.
Think of it like a highway. 1X lane means way less traffic flow than 16X lanes. Bifurcation splits the "data motorway" into smaller segments. X16 could become X4X4X4X4 (4x roads of 4 lanes). This would allow Quad NVMe adapters to connect 4x NVMes - because NVMes normally need X4 electrical lanes for maximum speeds.
The setting can be toggled in the BIOS, but on the Z840 I would recommend using HP Performance Advisor. You can adjust BIOS settings from within Windows with HP's software package. Check my video for more guidance or ask questions here if you like.
@@racerrrz You, sir, are a PhD, a doctor of computer magic, and a kindly one at that!
hello again , i really need your opinion about it, due to my university projects and homelab stuff and testing and trying new tools and technologies, i need a powerful computer to do my tests with it, like setting up multiple virtual machine and testing things, i was going to buy hp dl 380 g9 for that, now after couple days of thinking I've come to conclusion that workstation like hp z840 would be beneficial to me, noy that hp server, in my use case it would not be on 24/7, even on those kind of situations i think hp z840 could handle that, because hardware wise they are almost identical, another thing is noise, if i go with hp z840 my room would be much much quieter, what is your opinion, should i go with hp dl380 g9 or hp z840?, have that in mind that it would be in my room, and my use case is more around virtual machines, and testing things.
Hi. I think you answered your own question! The Z840 will be the way to go, especially if you live in the same room as the workstation. With the Z840, you'll be able to complete your Uni projects with server-like hardware without the server noise!
The HP DL380 G9 and Z840 share similar components, but naturally the server is built to be in operation 24/7, and has aggressive fan profiles as a result. If you had a dedicated room to leave the server machine, while accessing it remotely, that would work just fine. The DL380 G9 would offer more functionality due to the more server oriented configuration (redundant PSU, more PCIe slots, more HDD bays etc.).
I have my Z840 set up in my room. My only complaint is that I can't actually leave the Z840 on all the time (I can't sleep with background fan noise), otherwise I would leave it on working away 24/7.
can we add two power supplies to the z840?
Technically no, the Z840's PSU has a fully proprietary system which makes it near impossible to get a second PSU connected.
In saying that, there is a custom wire loom that I have tested which managed to power the Z840's motherboard independent of the original PSU. That may allow you to get a custom dual PSU connected (side note, the new HP Z8 G5 has dual redundant PSUs). I have not made a video on the Z840's PSU cable - technically because I am not sure how reliable it is, and thus I would not endorse it as "reliable". But if you are curious / need something extreme: ruclips.net/video/Rsr_zxOg6K8/видео.html
Thinking of a Z440 for a hackintosh. Anything else to look out for in term of gaining admin access to the BIOS etc. I don't want any gotchas! LOL. The used dealer has 100 of these and they are squeaky clean on the inside. I only need to get the front fan on aliexpress. Perhaps an episode of the BIOS and how to reset it to factory or gaining access etc. Things NOT to do etc.
Great idea there, I'll see if I can get something together. The Z440 prices are really coming down now which makes them more accessible, and they are a great value machine. I filmed a BIOS video on the Z840 a while back, but I never got around to editing and releasing it (partly because it is difficult to get good quality footage of the BIOS screen). That included how to flash the BIOS using the HP BIOS Update Utility. Unlocking a password protected BIOS is possible with the CMOS jumper (I'll work something into a video!). Also, there is HP Performance Advisor that allows changing BIOS settings from within Windows (I am not sure if there is a Mac supported version, but likely there is).
They are good if you've got the spare money. I got a 440 instead.
That's a fair point, the Z8xx's have always trended towards high prices on the second-hard market - but they do at times come up for good prices. The Z440 is a fantastic machine for the price point. I just upgraded my Z440 case swap build to it's final form with a e5-2697A V4 CPU and 64GB of 2400MHz ECC memory where it's serving as a powerful 10GbE capable TrueNAS server (I am editing this video right now lol - major project). I have nothing but great things to say about them.
@@racerrrz I saw a 840 for $3000 Aus. I didn't buy it. It's good to see another 440 user.
@@markkilley2683 The Z840's can still be very expensive, but definitely keep an eye on your local websites, they do seldomly come up for much cheaper. The Z440 does everything that is needed and I do appreciate how it uses the same RAM and CPUs as the Z840. Being able to interchange components between them is a huge plus.
As far as I can see the highest core count you can get in one of the E5-26xx series would be the E5-2699 v4, which has 22 cores (giving a total of 44 cores for the dual chip setup). Am I missing something or was there a typo in the headline, where you mentioned 56 cores total? Cheers 😊
You are observant and completely correct! Sorry about the confusion. The thumbnail has a small * that says 56 Cores and 112 Threads * on one table. That was the total cores present across all three workstations in the video (2x X5670 v1 (6 Core) + 2x E5-2690 v1 (8 Core) + 2x Xeon E5-2697 v3 (14 Core), netting 56 Cores, on one table. It’s a fine line between click-bait and the perfect hook! If you do want 56 Cores in one machine, the HP Z8 G4 with 2x Intel Xeon Platinum 8180 28 Cores each will get there without trouble. Or the newer HP Z8 Fury G5 which can get to 56 Cores on a single Intel Xeon W9-3495X CPU (1.9GHz Base, 4.8GHz Boost)!
Hey! I also saw your video on the z400 series and I currently can buy either a z420 or an z820. But I'm wondering which one to get. They are roughly the same price but the 420 got a GPU upgrade. I'm wondering now if they have huge differences that would make one better than the other if I plan to modify them strongly (maybe even flash the Bios to unlock the CPUs to Ivy Lake). I'm not sure if I would ever want a dual CPU setup.
Hi there. I am glad you found both videos before making your decision! The Z420 is a great value machine. I put mine through its paces as a TrueNAS file server (and I use to game on one!); but they can be set up to match most tasks. The Z820 really packs a punch and there are some solid upgrade paths.
The decision can be made simple once you consider what hardware you want to run in your machine and what the end use is. In terms of the Z820, aside from the extra CPU to handle multi core tasks, another major benefit is the extra PCIe lanes. If you plan to run a lot of expansion cards (like RTX GPU, NVMe adapters, 10 GbE NIC, SAS HBA, USB Type C etc.) the Z820 will give you more freedom to expand (although you would need 2x Xeon CPUs fitted to make use of the extra PCIe slots).
What GPU does the Z420 come supplied with? What was your main purpose for the machine?
Hello Mate!
What do you think about a Z820 for a occasional gaming setup and VMware workstation workhorse?
Thanks!
Hi there.
You can't go wrong with the Z820 for a gaming and VMware combo. Add in the ample Xeon CPU options (V1/V2) and affordable DDR3 RAM modules and you have a solid performer. Pending the number of cores you desire, something like dual Xeon E5-2687W V2 CPUs could work well for gaming and VMs.
The main downsides on the Z820 are:
1) Hardware age,
2) Limited USB 3.0 ports (USB PCIe expansion a must),
3) Dated chipset (2x 6 Gb/s Sata 3.0 ports but 8 channels of 6 Gb/s SAS, i.e. best to use the SAS ports for HDDs etc.),
4) No NVMe boot support (technically - this one is complex, I have seen some users boot via specific NVMes and specific adapters, but my Z820 never booted from a PCIe NVMe [Samsung 970 in cheap PCIe adapter]; the Clover USB workaround may work - I have not tested that on the Z820).
Otherwise, a great value machine that still packs a punch today.
I have had several HPs, my most important is a Z820... as with my other HPs, when I turn it on the fans race for a few seconds before settling down and starting the boot...
--> BUT beginning 2 weeks ago my Z820 has the fan on full for 8 seconds or so before starting to boot (rather than 2-3 seconds as before)... any ideas or experiences with this phenomenon?
My other HPs, with my Z820 up until a few weeks ago had the fan go on full for 2-3 seconds before booting, so that didn't worry me... but now with 8-9 seconds of the fans on full, I wonder what's up... otherwise my Z820 is an amazing beast for music production, and an amazing value for the money...
Hi. There are a whole bunch of factors that can influence the fan speeds on booting. It is great to hear you are making use of your Z820's potential! I am certain it would work well for music editing!
Regarding the Fan issues:
The short answer:
It is likely your thermal sensor beginning to show signs of wear.
The long answer:
I tend to have my Z420 (which spends most of its time off given that I use it more as a NAS / File Server) being quite loud on startup for several seconds. It can be because the room temperature is high, or that there is a fair amount of dust building up in the system. The most logical answer would have to do with the thermal sensor that regulates the fan speed control (it's located behind the front panel and is tied into the front I/O with the power button etc.). HP Workstations have a build in feature where the fans spin at max speed on startup to help clear dust out of the system (only when booting). If you notice a change in that duration the most plausible cause is the thermal sensor is beginning to show signs of wear (intermittent; if the fans run at max speed all the time it has likely failed). The sensor allows voltage to pass based on the case temperature. Higher temperatures mean higher fan speeds. But there are several other factors that can also influence the fan speeds.
To test / diagnose it yourself you could use software like HWiNFO (I did a video on using it here: ruclips.net/video/rs_7Qd-Jp9o/видео.html ). Albeit a complex software package, you can use it to monitor your sensor outputs on your Z820. Another software package that can work is HP Performance Advisor (www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/performance-advisor.html ; I have done a video on it but I never released it due to copyright concerns!). The sensor of interest is the case temperature. If that sensor reads 99 degrees Celsius, as an example, the sensor has gone bad. If it reads normal, say 28 degrees Celsius, it could be another system that is having issues. A logical one to test next is the CPU thermal paste. What temperature are your CPU cores operating under?
Let me know how you get on and we might just get to the bottom of it.
@@racerrrz Wow! You are great! I have an operation happening tomorrow (ugh) and I won't be on the computer for a week or so... but I'll check it out...
I had a Z820 maybe two years ago and it worked fine for a couple of weeks and then I changed some settings on the BIOS and after that it would only race the fans and not boot up... I sent it back to the dealer (30-day return) after a week of tests, but neither he nor I could ever figure out what had happened (BIOS reset, all the recommended things for HP Z820s, without success)... but now I wonder if there could have been a problem with the temp sensor, since it apparently wasn't a bios problem...
ANYWAY, it's great to make your acquaintance! Another Z820 (Z6-800 series) fan. They really are great... this machine is a dual CPU with 2x 8core @ 3.3ghz (standard, not "peak")... it's a beast for music production, it can handle almost everything I throw at it ;-) And I got it on Ebay for €700 !! Anyway, in a week or so I'll check out my system, see what I can find out... the racing fan is only a bit unnerving, but since the system always boots after the 8 seconds, I'm not too worried... also it's in a room with the heat set at 18 C and it's been cold lately, and it could also be a temperature issue... Thanks for your quick response, I'll get back to you!! Big smile here ;-)
@@racerrrz Oh and one more question.. my Z820 never actually shuts down... if I do "shut down" it will shut down, but then after 1-2 seconds it will restart.. same if I set it to hibernate (which is faster than a shutdown)... it hibernates and then, after 1-2 seconds restarts and loads the saved state from hibernation... I have to stand there and wait until it goes off and then, when it comes back on, press the power button for 5 seconds to actually shut it down... I did a bunch of research on this, but nothing I've tried has worked... any ideas? thanks!!!
@@bobe.thomas Lightning fast reply here (Sorry, I either missed the message notification or I never got one! But I just saw this again now - I am busy prepping a follow-up video to this one and I am actually editing the footage for the Z820 right now!). The random rebooting issue I do not have a solution for either - I have that on some of my machines also (my Z840 tended to do that). What I found prevented it from rebooting was removing the ethernet cable. Maybe if network boot is on in the BIOS the machine remains in a "listening state" and if your router, for whatever reason, sends a data packet ("hi z820, you awake" lol), then it jumps back to life.
I trust your operation went well and your recovery went well. How's your Z820 going?
Bro, is ASUS Hyper m2 support on HP Z800 (bifurcation)? If it's not, any other way other than the BIOS thing?
Hi. The simple answer is no, the Z800 does not support bifurcation due to the age of the hardware. You can install the card but only one NVMe will be detected - even if 2-4 are fitted. Bifurcation support in the BIOS was first introduced to the HP Z440 / Z640 / Z840.
Does this mean you can't boot from a M.2 NVMe on an older workstation? Yes and no. I have read that the Samsung 950 Pro was able to get these older systems to boot due to having a chip on the PCB for dealing with older BIOS. I have not confirmed this myself but I have seen others claim to have done it:
h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/Z800-PCIe-NvME-lsi-megaraid-what-slots/td-p/6189360/page/2
I have tested booting from a Samsung 970 Evo Plus with Clover on a Z800 and a Z820 but I never got my systems to boot from these NVMes.
Is there a way to get bifurcation support on an older system? Yes, but at a cost! You would require a PCIe NVMe adapter with a PLX chip to negotiate PCIe slot bifurcation. The best one I have read about is this (link may break over time; IO Crest PLX Quad PCIe NVMe adapter):
www.amazon.com/IO-CREST-Non-RAID-Bifurcation-Controller/dp/B083GLR3WL?th=1
(note, there are two versions. The M key version supports NVMes, the B key version only supports M.2 SSDs - also called M.2 NGFF SSDs)
@@racerrrz Bro, thank you for the answer. It helps. For sure, it's better to upgrade to Z840.
@@LeoBasuki No worries. If you can source a Z840 for cheap it could be worth it. But don't neglect the HP Z8 G4 either. I managed to get a Z8 G4 for half of what I paid for my Z840 three years back. Z8 G4's are coming off lease after the release of the new HP Z8 G5 earlier this year.
@@racerrrz There's an offer for $1,000 for Z840 comes only with:
2x Intel Xeon E5-2967 v3
DDR4 64Gb
PSU 1000W
No GPU No HDD.
Not sure if it's worth it.
@@LeoBasuki It's ok for the price, but honestly that's too much for the Z840 in this day and age.
If you want a more future proof system I would recommend the HP Z6 G4 since the HP Z8 G4 is still quite expensive. The Z6 G4 can support Intel Gen 1 and Gen 2 Scalable processors and some Xeon-W CPUs (LGA 3647 socket).
There is less info on them online but I am working on video tutorials on the Z8 G4 (like CPU fitment which is more technical than the Z840).
I would pair the Z6 G4 with a powerful Xeon W and 2933MHz Regulated ECC RAM to give a powerful system. It would cost a little more than the Z840 you listed overall but you'll get a far faster / newer system.
Example links (Amazon affiliate link - I would get a small margin if you buy using this link):
HP Z6 G4 Silver 4110 8C 2.1Ghz 96GB RAM 250GB NVMe W2100 Win 10 (Renewed):
amzn.to/3GAyrZ0
Non-affiliate HP Z6 G4 search link:
www.amazon.com/s?k=HP+Z6+G4&s=price-asc-rank&crid=L7MZWBLO0VUR&qid=1702002502&sprefix=hp+z840%2Caps%2C308&ref=sr_st_price-asc-rank&ds=v1%3A5WOWAJ1QggWIZ%2BCEy64KFzA50A1kjZJKz69xJ8KyRDc
Non-affiliate Xeon W-3235 link (12 Core 32 Thread, 3.3GHz base, 4.4 GHz Boost):
www.ebay.com/itm/385612677985?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=mkemlddiq-y&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=geuID1L0SNO&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
What do you plan to use the system for? If you will be gaming the Z6 G4 will be better overall. There will be many CPU options and it's best to pair the CPU with RAM that's best suited (basically 2666MHz or 2933MHz DDR4 ECC Regulated modules). I presume the Amazon link Z6 G4 comes with 2666MHz ECC Regulated which is better suited to the older Xeon Gold Gen 1 Scalable CPUs, e.g. Gold 6142 (I have these in my Z8 G4).
Just got a Z800 no clie where to start 😅😅😅
Nice, what are your system specs? Once you get it run-in, the best place to start is upgrading the CPU and RAM.
@racerrrz Well it didn't come with a hard drive. It was used by a government office so they pulled the hard drives. I'll start there. On the top of the tower it has a 'windows 7 ' sticker. Insides it's a dual cpu, no sure which ones tho
I have a Z 800 for gaming. It’s still on windows seven. Do you have any videos on updating to Windows 10 or if I can thanks
Hi there. I have not made any videos on how to install an OS, mostly because getting good video footage is difficult (I can't record screen from BIOS and camera footage of a screen just looks bad lol). What I can do is give you a quick written tutorial (I specified it for the Z800 specifically):
1. Download Windows 10 ISO (www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 ):
a. Visit the official Microsoft website and download the Windows 10 ISO file.
2. Create Bootable USB with Rufus (rufus.ie/en/ ):
a. Download and install Rufus from the official website.
b. Insert a USB flash drive (at least 8GB) into your computer.
c. Open Rufus and select the USB drive under 'Device.'
d. In the 'Boot selection' section, click on 'Select' and choose the Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded.
e. Set the partition scheme to "MBR" if your system uses legacy BIOS, or "GPT" if it uses UEFI (normally GPT for Windows 10 etc.).
f. Click 'Start' to create the bootable USB drive.
3. Insert USB and Restart:
a. Insert the USB drive (USB 3.0 ideally) into your Z800 workstation (Rear I/O USB port in top left corner).
4. Boot from USB:
a. Restart your computer, hit ESC key during the boot process to enter BIOS boot menu. Select Boot Menu and select the USB drive from the list.
5. Run Installation:
a. Once the computer boots from the USB drive with the Windows 10 ISO, follow the on-screen instructions to begin the Windows 10 installation process.
6. Upgrade Option:
a. During the installation, you'll be prompted to choose whether to upgrade the existing installation or perform a clean installation. Choose the new installation and select a clean / new drive for your OS.
b. Note the HDD/SSD you select will be formatted if not clean already.
c. You can clear any previous data in this menu also - just select format drive (data will be lost, so backup any critical files - best to use a new drive here).
7. Follow On-Screen Instructions:
a. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. This process may take some time. I find it best to avoid registering an email initially - it makes the install quicker. Also, best to not connect to the internet during the install - do that after.
8. Post-Installation Updates:
a. After the upgrade is complete, connect to the internet (ethernet or wifi if you have a wifi PCIe card) check for Windows updates again to make sure your system is up-to-date.
9. Check Device Drivers:
a. Verify that all your hardware components are working properly. Check the Device Manager for any missing or outdated drivers and install the necessary drivers for Windows 10.
b. You can go to the HP Z800 page to also check for out of date drivers.
c. It’s also good to update your BIOS to the latest version from the HP website.
d. This can be done via a windows BIOS installer that HP supplies from their website.
It's fairly straightforward, but if you run into issues feel free to ask for help.
I have Windows 10 on my Z800. Only issue was video drivers for my NVIDIA Quadro which took a bit of persuading to work.
i really want something make my z820 powerful ..but all these things are very expensive
Hi there. If you already have the Z820 you have completed the most expensive step! PC hardware is really expensive (even more so now compared with a few years ago...). The good news is that the Z820's hardware is more affordable now than ever. What CPU/s do you have at the moment? Matching your Z820 with a well priced Xeon like the E5-2667 V2 (~$15 USD on Ebay right now) and 64GB of RAM (~$45 USD for DDR3 1600MHz) can help give it a performance boost on a budget. I can't really help with the GPU, they are just really expensive. But something like the RTX 2070 Super second-hand (~$120 USD on Ebay) might be as good as it gets.
Dude nice vid. I have a request b4 regarding zCentral remote boost. Have you look into it? Thanks
Hey! Yes I researched it back in September, and I even found a trace of your comments on "Z By HP". I had planned to leave a comment here: ruclips.net/video/lUZaOVUWrs0/видео.html then, but I didn't quite manage to confirm my own comments by actually getting zCentral working! I also looked into why there are almost no RUclips videos explaining the HP software and there was some "fine-print" in their legal notes that made me question if doing a video tutorial on it will be wise or not. (I had a video for HP Performance Advisor that I withheld for the same reason). I have been wanting to get a web server machine built for which I will need ZCentral Remote Boost to manage it. The best I have for now is this - my notes from then! : RACERRRZ here 😅. Doing background research to figure out how to get Z Central Running, and while I am here I'll answer your questions, albeit late! (Links May/May Not Work For You). Your Host Z840 Workstation would require Product #: ZCRB-WSR (ZCentral RB 22.1 Win Sender-Receiver, h30670.www3.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=ZCRB-WSR ) (Links appear to still work, 2023!). The Remote Computer (another HP Z Computer, e.g. Z Book etc.) would require Product #: ZCRB-WR (ZCentral RB 22.1 Windows Receiver: h30670.www3.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=ZCRB-WR ). I'll test out the 4-Part Videos Outlined by ZbyHP to see if I can get it running on my Z840.
Did you obtain the required licenses? There is a free trial license that you can get that will be linked to your HP Account. The license is for one user on one machine (so multiple licenses are needed for a team etc.) I tracked the downloads here (Links under "SETUP WITH ZCENTRAL REMOTE BOOST IS EASY" ): www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/zcentral-remote-boost.html
Other useful links:
h30670.www3.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=ZCRB-WR
www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/zcentral-remote-boost.html
teradici.com/products/hp-anyware
@@racerrrz @RACERRRZ thanks for your effort dude! For me this is like an unfinished project also it feels like im wasting my time ive followed and watched many utube vids about it but no success. Only the success i got if im using it in same network and everytime im checking its always there an update like now there is hp-anware and teradici. About the video where you found traces of my comments. I think the issue im having is the powershell script where he make a active directory. This is where o get stuck. I this this is for programmers. Anyway im not forcing you to do vids about it specially if you will be on trouble just thought that it is might be cool to showcase how you can play on games remotely 😀. Thanks again and "DDD" Dont Drink and Drive 😀
@@wilsione Those projects become an Achilles' heel! You know it is bound to be simple, yet powerful once you have it done, yet you keep going in circles when you put time in to resolve it! It sounds like you got quite close. I'll recheck the powershell detail and see how I interpret it. There are some assumptions made in these types of tutorials and it would really help if the tutorials were able to cover every step in the process. As you say, we can't all be qualified programmers and the tutorial needs to account for that! If I get it working I may well sneak some sort of video out on it. It becomes challenging when the product is locked behind licenses, and the "terms of use" that comes with it.
Would it be possible to replace the motherboard with a more recent one that can run an AMD Ryzen 7 chip for example?
Where modern Ryzen CPU based systems are really competitive, these workstations operate with a different purpose in mind. They tend to focus on maximizing CPU cores, having massive amounts of RAM and lots of PCIe slots. There are no Ryzen options for the HP Z800, Z820 or Z840 - they only operate on dual Intel Xeon Workstation processors. The newest Z8 G5 workstation can do Intel Xeon W's though, check Linus’s video for that one! ruclips.net/video/ESW3gXUo1QM/видео.html&vl=en
Let’s do a quick comparison:
With enough money you could get a Ryzen system like an AMD Threadripper 3990X + TRS40 AORUS XTREME which gives 56C/128T, 8 DIMM sockets (ECC or non-ECC 3200MHz), 4x PCIe 4.0 slots (x16 + x8 + x16 + x8) and 4x M.2 NVMe slots (x4 each), ~1200W min. PSU. System cost: ~$7000- $10000 USD (RTX 4090, 4x NVMes, 1200W PSU etc.) Price is an estimate - you may be able to price it up cheaper.
HP Z840 Workstation with dual E5-2699 V4 (44C / 88T), 16 DIMM sockets (ECC or Non-ECC 2400MHz), 7x 3.0 PCIe slots (x8, x16, x8, x16, x8, x16) and no M.2 NVMe slots, 1450W PSU (~$2000 USD for the workstation with ~768GB RAM), plus your GPU and M.2 NVMe PCIe adapter, likely makes the system cost ~$4000-6000, you could drive that price down also.
Example Z840 listings (link may break over time): www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=HP+Z840+44+Core+Workstation+2X+E5-2699+V4+768GB+RAM+No+GPU%2F+HDD%2F+OS&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&rt=nc&_odkw=hp+Z840&_osacat=0&_sop=16
The Ryzen system will give a decent performance boost, but it will come at a cost. I went for the HP Workstation because I can have massive computing performance for a lower price point (buying second hand anyhow). Your budget would decide which hardware system you can obtain, I opted for the workstation (28 Cores, 56 Threads, 256GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM, RTX 3090 Ti, 40TB of storage (28TB of HDDs, 4TB RAID 1 SSDs, 8TB RAID 0 NVMes in ASUS Hyper V2), 2x 10GbE, 2x 1GbE, 10x USB 3.0, 2x USB type C).
Thank you for your quick and detailed response@@racerrrz So it is easier to build a separate pc with AMD tech then try to squeeze it in the Z800 for me. Then I would go the route of upgrading what I have in here atm, which is the following.
I have the Z800 equipped atm with 88gb Ram, 1060 GTX (6GB VRM), 2 Intel Xeon E5645 2.4GHz 12 core CPUs and a 1TB Samsung 860 Evo SSD.
Now, I could for example upgrade my GPU, but which one would you recommend for this system? Also, would love to upgrade the CPU's to the maximum GHz that my system can run.
@@sekaiology Hello, I can recommend 2x CPU X5690 upgrade and RTX 2080Ti GPU combo based on my use case.
If you want max GHz CPU you might go for the quad core X5687 @3.86 GHz turbo. Otherwise the 6 core X5690 is the best option @3.73 GHz turbo.
I will share my z800 story :)
I rescued a z800 from a recycling bin and with some upgrades it is my entertainment and gaming machine.
From memory, the machine needed a bios update to support the Xeon X5690s (originally 1x X5550 CPU, now 2x X5690). I chose to put aftermarket CPU coolers because it was missing one and I did not like the price of the OEM coolers, which both should be upgraded to the higher-spec air-coolers (more heat pipes and fins) or the OEM water cooling solution when going to the higher power CPUs. As a result of fitting the aftermarket CPU coolers I had to get rid of the RAM fan shroud (either that or butcher it with a dremel). I upgraded to the 1200W power supply and fitted an RTX 2080ti. Since the machine was also very noisy I replaced all fans, including those in the power supply, for premium Noctua fans, after that it was much more pleasant.
My experience of this system for gaming has been excellent. I do not count framerates but I run it on my living room 55' tv @4k and always have had a smooth experience with maximum settings.
My main complaint is that because of the age of the CPUs, they are lacking some instruction sets so some games I have tried to play flat out will not work. This might not be an issue in your use case, but it is leading me to want to replace the machine, which is a shame since I really like the z800 aesthetic.
Currently I am building a budget z240 (also recycling bin) machine to replace the z800 which I will give the z800 to the wife for video editing. If it were not for the recycling bin finds I would rather build a machine from standard form-factor components so I don't have to stuff around with non-standard form-factors and non-standard power connectors if I want to say upgrade to a more modern motherboard to support newer generation CPUs. Perhaps I might try to hack a standard form factor motherboard into the machine at some later date so I can keep the fabulous case.
There is some good simple guidance at greenpcgamers.com. They have basic guides for many workstation builds.
have you tried a baremetal proxmox installation? what’s the embedded network interface card type? intel I201?
Hi Shereif. The HP Z8xx workstations would be ideal for running Proxmox. I have not attempted an installation as I have not needed to set up virtual machines. Z8xx workstations have two 1GbE integrated NICs. The network card specifications will vary according to the model:
The Z800 (2x RJ-45; 1x Integrated Broadcom 5764 PCIe LOM Controller + 1x Integrated Broadcom 5761 NetXtreme GbE Plus),
Z820 (2x RJ-45; 1x Integrated Intel 82574L NIC + 1x Integrated Intel 82579LM GbEs),
Z840 (2x RJ-45; 1x Integrated Intel I210AT + 1x Integrated Intel I218LM GbE).
In my Z840 I have added the Intel X540-T2 10GbE NIC to obtain an additional 2x 10 GbE RJ-45s.
@@racerrrz Thank you for the quick response. Right now i'm using multiple dell 10th Gen Micro PCs and instead of adding one to the fleet, I'm thinking of consolidating all of those into a single system, also where I can assign more than 64GB ram to a single VM.. Z840 looks like a perfect system
@@SheriefElHamalawy Nice, that sounds like a solid lineup of PCs. I suspect the Z840 will handle that quite easily and there are options to expand them quite easily. Power draw on the Z840 is generally quite good despite the large capacity of the PSU (I would estimate ~450W to run all the VMs but that will depend on their complexity and scale of use. Right now I have outgrown the storage capacity on my Z840 and I have partially incorporated a Z420 that's loaded with HDDs and TrueNAS Core to manage it all (plus 10 GbE to link them). I am not sure if this is of help but I presume Proxmox VMs could be linked to a TrueNAS database. You could set up a virtual machine running on Proxmox and configure it to access the TrueNAS database (with some RAID 5 perhaps) over the network (NFS or iSCSI etc.).
awesome video, i was wondering that is ot possible to boot from nvme m. 2 storage?, sata ssd is possible but nvme m. 2 is better.
Hi. Thanks, I am glad you found the video of benefit. NVMe booting is possible, and I use that in my Z840 right now for rendering videos, but it depends on the Z8xx model. I have videos on how to get the Z840 to run 4x NVMes on one lane by using the AORUS GEN4 NVMe Adapter (e.g. ruclips.net/video/3MLLdAAv4cU/видео.html). In my hands the Z820 and Z800 have not been able to boot to NVMes mounted in PCIe lanes (I can boot to them via USB - e.g. ROG Arion). But you can load your machine with SSDs and HDDs without issue. I have some future videos planned on the Asus Hyper M.2 and HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro - both of which can allow a Z840 to boot from a NVMe (maybe the Z820 - but not in my experience).
RE your other message (it seems to have vanished!), the Z820 can work well as a home lab - but take note the operating system booting from a NVMe is challenging - I have seen others have success, but my Z820 machine (with the latest BIOS) would not detect/boot to a PCIe NVMe (Win 10 - Samsung 980).
Both the Z840 and Z820 share similar spec PSUs. With a 6-Pin to 8-Pin PSU power adapter cable you can run most modern GPUs. I managed to get the RTX 3090 Ti into my Z840 here: ruclips.net/video/D1cwwiR4UHM/видео.html
@@racerrrz thank you for your help, English is not my first language, because of that I can't show fully my gratitude for your kindness. i really wanted to buy z 840, but my budget is limited, my option are models below z840, like z820 and z640 and so on, i don't know, maybe sata SSDs are also fine, i really wanted the best for my homelab😅😅, sometimes you should lower your expectations 😂
@@racerrrz sorry for asking another question, can i use any pcie to nvme m.2 in the market?, or should i just use hp z turbo?, i dont understand the difference between common pcie to nvme m.2in the market and the hp z turbo, i appreciate your help,🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@sembutininverse No trouble! If you are patient you might just find a Z840 for a low price. I got mine by selling my Z800, which paid for half of the Z840! The Z640 is a really solid machine - if you can source one that makes for a good option. The Z820 is very powerful and can still quite easily be used today. I say keep those expectations high, nothing wrong with falling short of high expectations! 😅
@@sembutininverse Your question comes a little too soon! I am working on videos to answer your question, with lots of clarity regarding PCIe connectivity and NVMe adapters.
I can't find official HP documents to confirm, but I saw at least one mention of the HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro adapter having a PLX chip that allows it to connect to motherboards that do not support bifurcation (only the Z240, Z440, Z640 and Z840 or newer workstations have this function). i.e. The Z820 could then accept this adapter with 4x NVMes - but may still not boot from the NVMes. The Asus Hyper M.2 is the cheapest and it looks like a solid option. The HP adapter has more features but it is more than double the price.
In terms of NVMes, you are best to spend money on NVMes that are matched to GEN 3 / PCIe 3.0. The Z820 and Z840 can't support the full speeds of Gen 4 NVMes (like the Samsung 980 Pro) - hence I went for the cheaper options - like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus or 980 (not the Pro!).
I have i5-10400 mobo:h510m 16gb ram No graphic card.. But i run some games and resolve 17,premier pro 2020 crack version
Your Intel 10th gen CPU is powerful! You are doing well on the integrated GPU (I was using the HP Elite 8300 SFF as my main machine only 4 years back! I know the limits of the integrated GPUs). If you are able to save some cash for a GPU you will be able to do 1080p on all your gaming titles with ease and your video work will go even faster / smoother. Pending what's available for you, the GTX 970 still remains a solid card (~$50-80USD; I got my one in ~2014 and it's still working well!) or a more modern RTX 3050 (~$350 USD).
@@racerrrz I have Samsung 24inch ips 1080p led borderless monitor..next month start RUclips channel
@@racerrrz save some money planning to buy gtx 1060 6gb
@@seemasaiprasanthreddy1400 Samsung monitors work well. That's great to hear! Go for it. The most important thing is consistency with posting videos. You'll learn on the job!
@@seemasaiprasanthreddy1400 Nice. The GTX 1060 is a solid performer. Keep an eye for cards with more VRAM. I found it really helps with the video editing but you only need it if you try to use lots of effects.
Z800 overclock possible?
Hi Robin. The Z800's Xeon CPUs can't usually be overclocked due to the Xeon processors not supporting the feature (they are build to be reliable). The Xeon E5-2687W V1 might be the only CPU that could be pushed further through using the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, but I have not tried this out.
@@racerrrz thx for the info
@@robinreso6240 No trouble. Let us know if you manage to get some overclocking done!
@@racerrrz pfft probably not possible
Playing Mad max low 720p , tomb Raider 2013,metro 2033,left4dead 1,2..
Your PC is handling these modern titles well. I haven't actually tried any of these titles but Tomb Raider is meant to be intense on the hardware.
Hp ke kuch system dumdar he ,
ChatGPT kee madad se likha gaya: Kuchh inamen vaastav mein shaktishaalee hain, lekin yadi aap dekhana chaahate hain ki hp kitana kar sakata hai, to hp z8 phyooree g5 ko jaroor dekhen. Yah duniya mein sabase uchch spek varkasteshan mein se ek hai. (English translation: Written with the help of ChatGPT: Some of these are really powerful, but if you want to see what HP can really do, check out the HP Z8 Fury G5. It's nothing short of being one of the highest spec workstations in the world.)
All fun and games till the psu calls it quits (i have a 20kg paper weight)
Hi Damian, I am sorry to hear that. Which model workstation did you have? Unfortunately due to the size and design of the PSU it will cost a fair amount to obtain a replacement, but you can source replacement PSUs on Ebay/Amazon.
www.amazon.com/s?k=792340-001&crid=HDAAXTKKI65&sprefix=z840+psu%2Caps%2C299&ref=nb_sb_noss
Side note, I found an adapter cable that allows the Z840 to be used with an ATX PSU, and it works (future video). That could leave room for PSU upgrades, like a 1600W EVGA SuperNOVA P+!
@@racerrrz sup, it's a hp800 with 2x xeon 5672, 96GB RAM and a GTX 1050ti. PSU is the 1250w.
So I've looked into it and the best options seem to be retro fitting a different PSU into it since the PSUs for these tend to fail often. The cause isn't really known as far as I can tell since no one sees it as worth the trouble. Some people have fixed theirs by blindly replacing components since when you test them they are "good" when in fact they are not. One theory is microfractures others say it's bad caps (although I did have mine tested and the caps are supposedly good. Might take it to a different guy who knows more he also asks more money so it'll have to wait.)
I've also seen those adaptor cables and I'm strongly considering going that route or atleast doing something similar and essentially building a different PSU into the case, word of caution the adaptor cables are sometimes wired incorrectly (saw some people complain in forums whilst trying to figure what was going on with my system)
@@damianmarais7852 Hey. In terms of PSU failure, it will be a combination of age and fatigue on the components. The Z800 PSU's have likely been in service since 2008 and I can't blame them for failing, but I would hope the Z820/Z840 PSUs have some life remaining as of yet. Another common failure on them is overloading certain rails. Of the handful of workstations that I have obtained second hand about half of the machines had burnt out PSUs - but always on the GPU power rails (i.e. GPU likely too grunty for the PSU, so could be user error also). Also, it is worth checking the PSU connectors as I have had those not make good contact which also gives a no-posting issue.
I haven't seen PSU ATX adapter cables specifically for the Z800, but they must exist. These PSU ATX adapter cables present some risk, especially when there are not many people that use them/have tested them.
I would only advise to test it if you can afford to loose/repair your machine (i.e. it's high risk and can easily damage the motherboard if wired incorrectly). I did my testing on a $100 "For parts" machine that was in a sad state already (PSU had clearly been opened), so I had nothing to loose. I did my test with a small 340W PSU and the Z840 powered (with errors lol), but I am yet to fully test it (test machine needs a new motherboard to get full function).
@@racerrrz yea I've chalked it up to age I know it's a old system and I'm surprised it lasted this long to begin with. It hasn't been mine for long but it was basically free (it worked at the time I recieved it).
As far as the PSU is concerned it's a rather confusing matter. I doubt my GPU caused any issues since it had been using it for a long time.
Only thing is I don't know what the minimum PSU spec I can run it on. It's easy to find the specs for its original PSU so I could probably just compare the max amperage of the rails and see what should be usable. Part of me just wants to build a modern system into this case later on but the same thing that is stopping me from slapping a fancy PSU in there is stopping me from doing that(money 😕).
As far as the connectors not making good contact I don't think that's the case cause it's been in and out a few whilst I was trying to figure out what the problem was in the first place. I could probably try reseating it but I have my doubts, never noticed anything wrong with them but I'll check them in anyways.
Getting employed in my country is challenging and the real problem I have. Once that's sorted out I'm more than likely going to go the route of retro fitting better components starting with the PSU. It used to be a rare occurrence that it would randomly shut down now it's at the point where it can't turn in for more than maybe two or three seconds. I've tested everything else I possibly can though.
All of them are UEFI?
Good question. The Z800 missed out on UEFI and boasts Legacy BIOS. With some work-arounds you could get UEFI-like functions (Clover/Duet etc.).
@@racerrrz I was looking at Z640 as it has DDR4 and UEFI so making easy install of an NVME boot dive for linux.
@@feelsbad1193 The Z640 is a solid platform. The only downside to them was how rare/hard to obtain some of the upgrade parts are (e.g. 2nd CPU Riser Board 736520-001). You'll have a solid performer and it will boot just fine from a NVMe. Definitely look into a PCIe adapter with some cooling for the NVMe (the Aorus GEN4 adapter can be sourced for a good price these days). The other machines that are quite neat is the Z440 and Z240. The Z240 has a native NVMe slot on the board but the only downside is the limit to 4-Core CPUs. The Z440 tends to still be pricey but they are easier to find than the Z640.
@@racerrrz I saw people had weird issues with the riser board. I saw the 240 but yeah not into the 4 core cpu builds anymore. The best cost per dollar seems like the Z640
@@feelsbad1193 As an owner of a Z620 for 5 years, the riser issue which is reported on is actually down to the riser connector. It needs to be very clean, dust plays havoc with the QPI links. I had trouble on and off for 2 years and almost replaced the motherboard as many have done prior, before giving it one last go with electrical contact spray and i have had not one issue with it in 3 years and is now part of my maintenance routine.