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HP Recommended
HP Z820

Hi

 

I am looking to buy a Z820 on eBay some sellers specify that the machine is a V2 variant however some don't. I have asked a couple of sellers to tell me the boot block date so I could verify the version but they didn't get back to me. 

 

I have been reading around and from what I am understanding is that if the CPU(s) is an E5 2600 V2 Series then that is also an indicator that the motherboard is V2. is that correct?

 

 

 

Regards,

Bilal Yassine

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Yes.  Also, sometimes the seller includes a picture of the first page of BIOS and shows you the boot block date without knowing the info that they have provided.  A good number of v2 ZX20 workstations are out there that were ordered with v1 processors installed because those were cheaper.  You have to sift through a lot of listings to find the treasures.....

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HP Recommended

Yes.  Also, sometimes the seller includes a picture of the first page of BIOS and shows you the boot block date without knowing the info that they have provided.  A good number of v2 ZX20 workstations are out there that were ordered with v1 processors installed because those were cheaper.  You have to sift through a lot of listings to find the treasures.....

HP Recommended

Thanks for the help.

HP Recommended

I too ran into this issue.  There are a few ways to tell if a z820 motherboard can handle v2 processors.

My investigation is summarized here to help others.

 

1) Seeing the boot block date (from bios) is one way to tell if the motherboard supports v2 processors.
It appears that Boot block dates 03/06/2013 or later support v2 processors.

The Boot block date of a motherboard is NOT updated with a normal BIOS update.  Some hardware modifications have been proposed that can get around the boot block date, but I gave up on them as not practical.

2) The version embedded in the motherboard.  motherboards with "v1.03" embedded in them all seem to work with v2 processors.

v1.02 motherboards SOMETIMES support v2 processors, depending on the "Rev" printed on the sticker. 

I have one with version OR that works with v2 processors.  I cannot confirm that earlier "Revs" work with v2 processors.

Another contributor has confirmed that Rev "0J" does NOT support v2 processors and posted an image.

3) see the partnumber on the sticker on the motherboard.  The sticker holds several partnumbers, but the important one is the one beginning with 618266-. 

Partnumber 618266-004 definitely supports v2 processors.

Partnumber 618266-003 MAY support v2 processors.  Depends on the "Rev" on the sticker on the motherboard.  See 2) above. 
Partnumber 618266-001 or 2 definitiely DO NOT support v2 processors.

4) as SDH points out - motherboards are "Branded" as Windows or Linux.   When buying a used motherboard, ask what OS was previously installed on it. You can find lots of 618266-004 on eBay ($350 and higher), but they are quite expensive.  Be patient, since every few weeks a used motherboard with partnumber 618266-004  appears on EBay for about $220.

5) I have seen other comments that when buying a new motherboard, the "branding" process is not simple.

6) if a z820 is already running v2 processors, the motherboard has a satisfactory boot block date and should run all v2 processors.  I have replaced several v2 processors with stronger, faster v2 processors.

7) I cannot say that I fully understand "branding".  It seems to relate to rebuilding an OS from an OEM disk.  I have been installing fresh, licensed copies of windows NOT from OEM disks.  See SDH's comments below.

 

Hopefully this comment is now accurate and complete.  Please let me know if you have any further suggestions to make it more helpful to others.

 

Thanks

HP Recommended

Jack,

 

In your section 1 there is an important mistake:  This statement "The Boot block date of a motherboard is updated with a normal BIOS update. " is not true.  The boot block date never changes, and if you get one with 2013 instead of 2011 you always will have a v2 motherboard.  Yes, if one of these is sold with its original HP processors that are v2 then you also can be sure it is a v2 motherboard. 

 

More Linux motherboards are out there than I knew..... if you buy a used v2 motherboard that originally was "branded" as a Linux motherboard you can't just clone an image from another same type HP workstation's W7Pro OEM COA self-activating OS build onto it.  You can, however, activate that clone on the Linux-branded hardware if you have a proper HP side case W7PRo64 sticker and enter the serial number from that (assuming the W7Pro64 sticker serial number has not been used before).

 

W10 clones from same type workstations will self-activate assuming that workstation is W10 activated for W10 Pro 64, for example.  That will make cloning easier....

HP Recommended

Thank you.  Typo.  I have made the correction.

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