Acquired Z400 & xw8400 - which 1 to upgrade + issues

[Biomecanoid]

Thank you for your quick reply and for verifying that i can indeed use the X5690.

Adding a fan on the chipset was in my plans as i already have lots or spare computers  parts i can use.

Going into the bios when the PC is idle the CPU is around 25-30 degrees but the ram is 50c so i guess i need to cool the ram down any suggestions on that ?

Also how can i know if i can run 8gb sticks for a total of 32gb ram ? i guess no way to be sure.

I will post a screenshot of the error i am getting on the device manager and also my shopping list to verify everything is in order

[Biomecanoid]

Here is the error i am getting. All USB ports seem to be working fine though. I don't think its a hardware issue but just a driver/windows 10 issue, what do you think ?

[SDH]

I tend to improve my posts shortly after original posting..... reread for some added info.

That error code will go away with a proper HP factory install or W10.  If you have a HP OEM COA W7Pro64 you likely can still get W10Pro64 install for free.  I can.  I'd start with the W7Pro64 HP OEM COA build, update it properly, and then do a W10 upgrade atop that (rather than a clean W10 install).  That tends to get the right W10 load from MS versus a clean install from zero for these tricky issues.

Small fans tend to run very fast and make way too much noise.  Invest in a Noctua fan of the right size that just fits over the fins there that I showed.  I've modified all my HP-stock Northbridge cooler fans (such as in the xw6600 and the Z600) to slow them down from running at 5k or so.  Same cooling with much less noise.

There is a Z400 air flow guide (591329-001) that is black plastic and clips in place.  Find that.... it sits over the RAM area and uses the power supply to suck cool air from the case front up across the RAM and out through the power supply fan.   Once you see the current price I think those temperatures will look just fine to you.

This workstation RAM is made to run hot.  Too many people worry about that.  You've got a front fan added that I can see from your picture... good move.  You're going to soup this one up and you'll need to invest a bit more time and money to optimize it.

[Biomecanoid]

Here is my shopping list:

Z400

CPU 61.90
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Xeon-X5677-X5680-X5687-X5690-Processor/273971283376?_trksid=p248549...

Ram 88.70
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16GB-4-x-4GB-Memory-DDR3-1333-PC3-10600-ECC-for-HP-Workstation-Z400-Z420/...

Ram Heatsink 4x 1.12
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RAM-Memory-Aluminum-Cooler-Heat-Spreader-Heatsink-for-DDR2-DDR3-NfPTUKTWU...

xw8400

CPU 25.88
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lot-of-2-Intel-Xeon-X5365-3-GHz-Quad-Core-8MB-1333MHz-LGA771-SLAED-CPU-Pr...

CPU Fan 35.49
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FREE-SHIP-for-HP-XW6400-XW8400-USED-CPU-Heatsink-w-Fan-398293-002-Tool-ZV...

GPU ?

1650 or 1660

Does everything look good ? anything i have missed or anything you recommend ?

Thank you

[SDH]

I like HP RAM... here are some part numbers for it and from that you can search deeper.  I'd rather have used HP RAM than new no-name stuff:

4GB
500210-071 = 500672-B21
500210-571
500210-572 = 661524-001 (was originally for Z210)

16GB total is nothing to sneeze at......

If you use USB much the HP "2x2" card project is worth doing..... that gets you 2 front and 2 rear USB3 ports.  Same TI chipset as in the ZX20 workstations so same drivers, and W10 support.

A good fast video card (I like the Quadro K2000 for such builds) is worth having.

You must must have a SSD.  These are SATA II workstations so a good sized Intel 320 series used SSD will serve you well.  The non-HP ones work well with the Intel Toolbox software for firmware updates.  I like the 600GB ones.

[Biomecanoid]

Amended shopping list:

Z400

CPU 61.90
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Xeon-X5677-X5680-X5687-X5690-Processor/273971283376?_trksid=p248549...

Ram 4x13.50
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-500210-572-ECC-Unbuffered-Ram-4GBx1-PC3-10600E-1-5v-M391B5273DH0-CH9-M...

Ram Heatsink 4x 1.12
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RAM-Memory-Aluminum-Cooler-Heat-Spreader-Heatsink-for-DDR2-DDR3-NfPTUKTWU...

xw8400

CPU 25.88
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lot-of-2-Intel-Xeon-X5365-3-GHz-Quad-Core-8MB-1333MHz-LGA771-SLAED-CPU-Pr...

Fan 35.49
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FREE-SHIP-for-HP-XW6400-XW8400-USED-CPU-Heatsink-w-Fan-398293-002-Tool-ZV...

GPU

1650 or 1660

So list amended as per you recommendation. Anything else i should change or am i OK for both z400 and xw8400 ?

I am already running 2x Crucial SSDs in Raid0, so no need to buy one, i only need a good GPU.

Thank you

[SDH]

I can't comment on the xw8400 due to lack of experience.  The xw8600 is much better, though.

On RAM... much better choice.

On processor.... grab that X5690 asap..... rare good price if it really is available.  There is only one version (1 SPEC code) so no issue there.

On the RAM coolers.... I'd avoid them.  Unnecessary dinking around in my opinion... always a small risk.  My HP RAM runs cooler.  You can always get those later.

Noctua fan..... Noctua does make resistor 3-wire and 4-wire fan speed reducers.  You can experiment with those later.  I think the size is 40x40 mm and probably thicker is better than thinner if you have a stash.  You can stack more than one of the fan speed reducers together.

[DGroves]

i've owned the xw8400/8600 and have a z800 which is of the same architecture as a z400 and the z400 is a newer and better chipset offering pci-e 2.0 vs 1.0 on the 8400, same for the ram ddr3 vs RDimm and the sata interface is SATA 3.0 vs SATA 1.5

also,.....the xeon 5690  is going to be faster than a 8400's fastest dual or quad core cpu's

https://jp.ext.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/workstation/xw8400/364898-001.pdf

https://jp.ext.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/workstation/hp_workstation/504630_001.pdf

[SDH]

Battle of the Titans, respectfully:

The xw6600 and the xw8600 both got PCIe 2.0, but only on their two PCIe x16 video slots.  Thus, if you want to use one of the HP 2x2 TI chipset based PCIe USB3 cards to get full USB3 speed you want to use one of those rather than the xw6400/xw8400, placed in the second video slot of those two workstations.  If you put that in the earlier two you'll get 1/2 speed given that all their slots only have PCIe x1 speeds.

The Z400/Z600/and I believe also the Z800 all are SATA II workstations.  They will run SATA III SSDs but only at SATA II speeds.  So, a great way to get a 600 GB SATA II SSD at reasonable cost now is used on eBay via the Intel 320 series non-HP drives.  The HP branded ones usually only want to accept HP firmware updates, but not in all cases.  The HP branded ones are still supported for all benefits of the most recent Intel Toolbox SSD utility (except firmware updates).

[Biomecanoid]

Since you are talking about SSDs and sata, this is the speed i am getting in Raid0, around 500mb/s.

Both workstations have about the same performance.