Z820 - Performance issues

[Srb1n]

I wonder if anybody help me out, my system is as follows:

Computer Name: PC        

Model: HP Z820 Workstation        

Computer Type: Desktop        

Manufactured by: Hewlett-Packard        

Baseboard ID: 158B        

Serial Number: CZC5022LX4        

BIOS version: 3.90        

Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz (2 processors)        

Enabled Processor Count: 48        

Total Memory: 128 GB        

Local Storage: 953.87 GB  (2 drives)        

Graphics Card & Driver: Quadro K600 -- 369.09

        Slots in use:         

SLOT 2 (PCI Express Gen 3): Quadro K600        

SLOT 7 (PCI): LSI 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller        

Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit)        

Current Culture: en-US        

Current Active Power Scheme: High performance (GUID {8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c})        

HP Performance Advisor: 1.8.9323.0  (Database Timestamp: 23/09/2016 20:02:30)                 

Installed Applications: Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise

1. How can I improve the boot speed?

      How quick are your machines? How long until the log on screen appears.

1. Hyper threading - would my system benefit by having this enabled.
2. Regarding Windows Experience index: 6.8 > Graphics giving me the lowest scores (NVIDIA Quadro K600).

     NVIDIA Quadro Professional Driver Windows 7/8 (x64) - VERSION: 09 REV: A PASS: 1

• SOFTPAQ FILE NAME: SP77454.exe 08/08/2016 
• Any help is appreciated.
• Basically I could do with this machine running faster.

Any help or advice is appreciated

[Z440Roger]

1. How can I improve the boot speed?
Alt1: Go into the BIOS and disable the SAS ports. This will make the time from start to Windows boot dramatically faster.

Alt2: Install Windows on a SSD drive.

2. Hyper threading - would my system benefit by having this enabled.
Yes.

3. Regarding Windows Experience index: 6.8 > Graphics giving me the lowest scores (NVIDIA Quadro K600).
With a Quadro K600 that´s expected. Buying a new/better card may not be necessary depending on the applications you use.

[Srb1n]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly Z440Roger

I'm trying to locate the SAS ports in the BIOS to disable them as suggested, would you happen to know the location. Also have you download and used the HP Performance Advisor - I was looking to see if I could disable it from there.

The original setup i had was 2 X  SSD cards and 4 Seagates all connected through an LSI MegaRaid SAS 9270-8i card which I've removed. The 2 X SSD cards had been configured for RAID 1 and 4 HD's as RAID 5, I've now rebuilt my whole machine and kept the 2 X SSD cards as separate connected to SATA 3.0 with 1 configured with my OS, the other is basically for storage. Regarding the 4 Seagates I've disconnected them for now.

I need to make some drastic changes to performance to this machine, I need to improve on boot up, USB data extraction and processing speed.

Again any advice will be appreciated.

[karim_me]

Hello,

When you said two ssd card, you mean two hp z turbo drive or standart SSd disk connected to the motherboard?

If they are standard ssd, they are connected to which one of the below sata connector:

 

If they are connected to sata, try to update the Intel rapid storage:

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=5225042&swItemId=wk_150137_1&swEnvOid=406...

The option to disable SAS controller is available on Security menu --> Device Security (you can do it from hp performance advisor, the station must be rebooted).

You can also disable all unneeded Option rom from the Advanced Menu --> Device Option (you can do it from hp performance advisor, the station must be rebooted).

I propose also to set Idle power saving to normal instead extended   Power Menu --> OS Power management (you can do it from hp performance advisor, the station must be rebooted).

 Best Regards

[Srb1n]

Karim_me

I hope your on-line:

Thank you for the info – what is the difference between SATA (AHCI-3GB) and SATA (SCU-6GB), I’ve presently connected both my Micron SSD cards in the SATA (AHCI) = “Grey connections”, could I just move both my SSD drives across.

Regards

[Z440Roger]

The picture abowe is not correct.

The Z820´s SATA ports are: The two grey ports to the right are 6.0 Gb/s while the four white to the left are 3.0 Gb/s.

The SSD (boot drive) should be connected to one of the grey ports (6.0 Gb/s) since those two ports are the fastest one. I don´t know why the Z820´s were delivered from HP with the CD/DVD drive attached to a 6.0 Gb/s port while the boot drive is attached by default to the slower 3.0 Gb/s port.

I always changed the connections for the boot drive on every Z820 i sold when i was a reseller. I don´t remember if i had to enter the BIOS to change the boot order.

[karim_me]

Hello,

After having checked on the z820 reference guide, I confirm that the informations concerning the sata and SCU ports on the picture are inverted.

For more details : 

http://h20565.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=5225041&docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-c04...

Did you already tested this station with HP Z turbo drive first generation : 

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14992_div/14992_div.pdf

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA5-1840ENW

Best Regards