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HP Recommended
Z1 Workstation
Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)

Hi there,

 

I've been going through all of the posts relating to the Z1 Workstation and have not been able to find anything that relates to more recent technologies' compatibility with the Z1 Workstation (first edition). It's been an interesting read so far, so thatnk you all for sharing your thoughts and experience.

 

I have a second-hand decent-spec' HP Z1 Workstation that I'm pretty pleased with but I want to upgrade it further where possible, to cope better with heavy-lifting software such as Unreal Engine 4.

 

Currently I have a E3-1245 (v1 or v0) Xeon processor, SSD drives, 32GB RAM and a 3000M GPU.

 

I've read the posts regarding upgrading to a  v2 processor being a good place to start with upgrades.

 

I've also read the posts about IT Creations and succesful non-recommended (but compatible) CPUs . 

 

I'm wondering has anyone tried to upgrade with more recent CPUs, say v3 or upwards that use the LGA 1150 connection? Any ideas as to whether this would work?

 

Their website currently shows that v3s work with the Z1 G2 model but they are not stocking any of the earlier' and so would appreciate any advice here.

 

Lastly, I also need to upgrade the graphics card. I read with interest about people's experience in this area and am wondering what the consensus is? Is it worth going for something like a GTX 980m? Or are are the old Z1's getting a bit past-it for that kind of investment? What would be the best bet?

 

Once all the upgrades have been done, I'm hoping I can stick with the computer for a while before the future catches up on it...

 

Anyway, if anyone still frequents this forum and can offer some advice or thoughts on the above, I'd be very grateful.

 

Thanks,

Daniel 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 REPLIES 16
HP Recommended

#1 thing to do is a E3 V2 CPU upgrade.

Don't get 1220v2 or 1225v2 as long as they are missing HT.

 

You can not put a E3 V3 CPU, because it is a different socket.

 

You can put practically any CPU from Ivy Bridge line.

The only thing that you have to find out is whether you have regular or ECC memory, because for example, you can not use i7-3770 with ECC memory, while a basic i3-2120 or i3-3220 do work with ECC memory. Intel's marketing mainly.

 

The same story with GPU, you can pick any MXM 3.0B GPU. But, be aware that there are two different GPU heatsinks.

They are practically the same and as far as I remember the difference was the thermal pad placement and amount.

 

BTW, I am selling my custom HP Z1 K5000M 4GB VRAM GPU (Kepler 1344 Cuda cores). I have it working thru VBIOS mod at 758/3000MHz core/memory and this makes it faster than stock 680M.

Let me know if you are interested.

 

PS, I'd never invest in 980M, overpriced card, IMHO.

 

 

HP Recommended

 I am interested.

HP Recommended
Sorry for the off-topic to the OP.
KUEI12 I've sent you a private message.
HP Recommended

Xeon V3 processors is uncompatible by socket. 1245v2/1275v2/1290v2 is a maximum CPUs

 

Colleagues, what you think - can be VGA from Z1 Gen2 an uncompatible with Z1 gen1?

Now i have GTX770M inside and Quadro K2100M from HP.

 

With 770M everything is ok.

 

But when i replacing them to K2100M HP - oddities are beginning )

System starting only on UEFI-mode bios, i seeing the first screen of a system, but when windows started - the signal doesn't reach the monitor (i heard starting sound). What thinking about it?

HP Recommended

Daniel,

 

The first thing to consider is what aspect of your system would provide the greatest benefit for it's use.  If you are doing calaculation-intensive work, it may be the CPU and/or the drives, but for visualization applications, it may be more more useful to concentrate on the GPU. The system already has the maximum32GB RAM and changing from 1333 to 1600 will not be noticeable (the faster the RAM clock speed, the higher the latency).

 

CPU:  Staying with Xeon's, here is a handy shopping list for Xeon E3-1200 v2's  (LGA1155):

 

http://ark.intel.com/products/series/75142/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1200-v2-Product-Family#@Server

 

The E3-1245 is a good performer already.  The average Passmark CPU mark is 8075 and with a single thread mark of 1882.  As you are doing 3D CAD, having a higher single-thread perofrmance is going to be noticeble,  but it should be farily good jump to make it worthwhile. Comparing versions of the E3-1245, the E5-1245 v2 has an average mark of 9074 and single thread of 1992 and the v5 numbers are 10303 and 2157.  The Xeon E3-1200 v2 with the highest single-thread rating is the E3-1280 v2, (4-core @ 3.6 /4.0GHz) with an average CPU score of 9758 and single thread of 2139. For Unreal engine 4, that would be my suggestion.

 

So , in considering CPU replacement,  look at the list of E3-1200 v2's and consult the Passmark CPU Benchmark page to compare performance and then choose by need and price- cost /performance.

 

GPU:  Upgrading the Quadro 3000M is probably going to provide the most improvment.  In Passmark  baselines the average 3D mark of the 288 samples tested is 1329. For your use, in my view, the 3D mark should be say, 2800 or better.  Unreal Engine recommended hardware focusses completely on NVIDIA GTX and I would say, in general, consult the Passmark Videocard Benchmarks page and buy the GTX with the best performance within your budget. 

 

Cheers,

 

BambiBoomZ

 

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz)  / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM  / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX  1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H  (2560 X 1440)>
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559]  [6.12.16]

 

HP Recommended

V1per,

 

If I understand your post correctly, you have both a GTX770M  and Quadro K2100M in a Z1. 

 

If that is the case, I would say that the problem is that the GTX and Quadro drivers are conflicting. BIOS doesn't know which card is primary and there are too many files with the same name.

 

To get your system working properly again, remove one of cards, restart, and delete the driver of the card that was removed.

 

I, and I think many other people have wanted a system with a GTX and  Quadro. But,  I never saw a post that it works.  

 

One idea to do it is to use a dual boot or VM.  Whenever changing to the other card, go into BIOS on startup, select the primary GPU, and then boot to the machine version- VM that had the driver for the selected card.  That would keep the drivers seperate.   A bit fussy, but I think I would only do that twice a week.

 

There are definite advantages to each kind of card. I would like to have the Quadro K4200 and a GTX 1070 in a z420.

 

Because you already have both cards,  it may be worth trying the VM idea. Set it up on one card or the other. Take out one card and delete the driver of the other card.  But, be careful and make restore points to recover the system.

 

Cheers,

 

BambiBoomZ

HP Recommended

BambiBoomZ

I've two cards for my Z1.

But with K2100M the system didn't starting even in the safe mode 🙂

Resp. this isn't drivers problem. Btw - these moves has been also - ineffectually

Moreover - i found vbios for HP and for Dell 2100M cards (in case with quadro was the same moments - any driver updates i've some time for adding few symbols to the *.inf driver file)

 

I, and I think many other people have wanted a system with a GTX and  Quadro. But,  I never saw a post that it works. 

Actually - not for me, but anyway - this experience should be OK for those who need two cards

 

HP Recommended

Updating this thread to 2017 as one option that might be of interest to fellow HP Z1 G2 users is that the new Nvidia processors require much less power and produce less heat than previous versions. There is a thread on upgrading the graphics processors in the HP Z1 G2 MXM pci modules that stated that the bios did not check what kind of graphics processor that was present so as long as it fitted inside the module and did not exceed 75 watts it should work.

 

These geforce 1060 MXM boards are now appearing on the market

**www.aetina.com.tw/products-detail.php?i=86 

power requirement 78 watt

They are not in any resellers that i have been able to find but is there any reason why they would not work

 

I currently have a quadra K3100m which is a MXM type B card in a plastic cooling shroud

 

HP Z1 G2

Zeon E3-1246v3

24Gb ECC RAM

1TB Samsung SATA SSD

2TB HDD

Quadra K3100M

 

 

HP Recommended

WOW. Thanks for pointing this out. If you get anymore info, please update us.

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