BIOS HP Z420 workstation

[AlbertOost]

Hi.

I have 2, HP Z420 workstations with a xeon E5-1650 v2-3.5 Ghz  CPU,  but both PC's have a differend BIOS version.

I wonder if this is correct ?

The CPU's are differend i must say, the first is a Ivy bridge-E and the second one is a Sandy bridge-E.

Both are E5-1650 v2 3.5 Ghz  CPU's and the Ivy bridge-E is a newer type of a E5-1650 if i am correct.

The point is that the bios version of the newer E5-1650 HP Z420 workstation is older then the PC with the older E5-1650 Sandy bridge-E .

The Ivy bridge-E, E5-1650 v2 has Bios version J61 v03.65

The Sandy bridge-E, E5-1650 v2 has Bios version J61 v03.88

I want to know if this is correct, HP driver download assistent says that there are no updates available for both PC's.

This seems strange to me because the newer CPU ( Ivy ) has a older BIOS version.

Or could it be a complete BIOS misunderstanding in detecting the correct CPU structure, Ivy or Sandy ?

The PC's are running fine, but could it ne even better ?

Kind regards

Albert

[SDH]

Go to this  LINK ,, on the left click on the "Ordering and Compliance" link, and note that there is only one Spec Code, SR1AQ for the E5-1650 v2.  That is, there are not two of the v2 version of this processor.  That site is the official Intel "Ark" site that is considered the gold standard for info on Intel processors.

The v1 version of this processor does have two sSpec codes, SR0KZ and SR0HC.... the later C2 stepping vs the earlier C1 stepping.  If you were ever to buy a used processor off eBay, for example, you'd always want the later version.  If you actually do have a v1 in one box it may indicate you have a Z420 v1 that will never be able to run the v2 processors and that is easy to check via the boot block date in BIOS.

Perhaps you have a v1 and a v2?  The free utility CPU-Z is a handy way to probe your processors but you can also see that from the OS and HP Performance Advisor.  The sSpec code is laser etched on the stainless steel heat spreader atop each processor, but in some cases there have transfer of the lid from one valuable processor to a lesser one by bad actors.  Highly unlikely in your case.

BIOS.... you should be on the latest version but that will not happen by itself.  The latest is 3.95 released by HP 7/1/19 via SP98273.  The BIOS in the Z420 and Z620 is identical.  LINK 

I've posted in here on the safest way to update BIOS, from within BIOS, via the .bin file that comes with that installer.  This HP BIOS is built with a capability to use that .bin file to update itself.....  updating BIOS from within W10 is a risky business that I will never do again after the hell a number of our members here have gone through, including me.

[AlbertOost]

Many thanks for your responce.

You are totally right, i see now its a other version E5-1650, its a bit slower on 3.2 Ghz if i am correct.

It says version 0 in device manager E5-1650 0 3.2 Ghz.

In any way its older.

My hole interest began with the sata speed thats layed out on the lid of the PC, it says 3 gig/sec for port 1 and 2, the other one says 6gig/sec on the lid (cap, hood).

Now its all clear for me.

I will update the bios, i know its tricky and can be dangerous, so i just want to be sure.

I hope things will turn out well, i did it before with a usb stick.

Its not clear to me how to get it on the stick right now because the installer does nothing, but things will work out.

I have not really looked at it how to do it.

In any way, thanks a lot.

Kind regards

Albert

[AlbertOost]

Just updated the BIOS and i am still here, all is fine.

And i just did it in W10, with HPQ Flash.

People did it on youtube so i just did the same, and it worked out fine.

It could be a bug in W10 why you had trouble doing it.

I run W10 for 2 month right now (just made the switch)  and its not the first time that a new update made a program work.

Jasc paintshop pro 9 for example, many posts on internet that it failed to install on W10, but with a recent update it just worked.

Also the reason for me to wait with windows 10.

And again thanks,

regards

Albert

[SDH]

Happy to help.... earlier version of HP BIOS installer had the HPQFlash that was built for W7 OS, and that was the version that bricked a number of motherboards, including one of my best Z620 builds.  The recovery was very difficult, but succeeded and became the basis of a thread here on the tricky business of clearing a corrupted BIOS install using some undocumented jumpers.  Still was a huge PITA and will never do a BIOS update from within the OS again because doing it from within BIOS is so easy, and safer.

HP had a few BIOS updaters for these workstations in quick succession, and one even had an "oops" statement about the W10 issue in the ReadMe after the bricking storm.

The concept here is that BIOS also is an OS, very primative, and HP built the BIOS update feature into it.  Once you add in the "real" OS and other programs, and antivirus, and other such things there just is much more complexity that can bite you during the run of HPQFlash as your updater method.  I think HP has fixed it but still don't ever want that experience again, so I'm not ever going to use HPQFlash on my builds because I really don't need to take that risk for any reason.

Did you get what you needed from that BIOS update?

[SDH]

I forgot to address your discovery that you really have two versions of that processor.

In the Intel literature the first version is simply presented as an E5-1650, and the second is presented as an E5-1650 v2.  Then there is a v3 and a v4 that can work in the Z440/Z640.  So, to me, the first is an E5-1650 v1 (not a v0).

The "v1" can work fine in a v1 or a v2 version of the Z420/Z620.  The v2 cannot work in the V1 type of Z420/Z620 workstations.  If you have a v2 motherboard workstation with a v1 processor in it you can upgrade to the v2 processors.  Otherwise you cannot unless you also swap in a used v2 motherboard.  You can look at your motherboard's boot block date in BIOS to see if it is a v1 or v2 motherboard.

[AlbertOost]

Type number of the motherboards is the same, i must look further into this if that is really the case.

Fact is that the sata speed is lower (3gig/sec) on the older chipset, so it could be a older motherboard, or this has to do with the kind of chipset, i dont know.

The buss speed (or something like it } whas higher with the version 2 so this could be.

All this stuff is backwards compatable as you say, i understand, just like the PCE slots ect.

One thing to mention is also that it took some time the installer finished after the flash completed, in the end it looked like it whas stuck, or frose.

But after a small minute it unfrose and the countdownclock for restart appeared.

That whas the case for both PC's

Just for other people to know that this will happen, DONT ABORT!!!!

I understand that you never again will take the risk for doing it in W10 itself, its a real pain in the ass that can trouble you or me for days.

Just like the hunt for a virus that troubled me for days.

Regards

Albert

[SDH]

SATA speeds for each of the SATA ports are the same for all the Z420/Z620 v1 and v2 motherboards..... only the 2 gray ones down at the bottom front corner are 6Gbps and all the others are 3Gbps (that is, only 2 ports are SATA III and the rest are SATA II).

Maybe you are talking about FSB speeds?  Max for the E5-1650 is 1600 MHz, but max for the E5-1650 v2 is 1866.  Thus you can have 1866 memory and in a Z420 v2 running a E5-1650 v2 processor it will run at that rate but in a Z420 v1 running an E5-1650 v1 it will only run at 1600 MHz.

[AlbertOost]

Something like that i believe, it whas talked about in a comparison between those 2 processors.

The specs on the lid ( hood, cap ) of the older z420 says that the speed is 3gig/sec for those slots, not 6 as on the other PC.

But i also wonder why the update asistent of HP failed to detect the older Bios.

It failed also on other drivers, no updats availeble it said, i installed most of the drivers with the "driver booster" from IObit Advanced system care.

Could it be because HP dit not detect a HP instalation of windows 10 ?

I installed W10 fresh and new.

Regards

Albert

[AlbertOost]

Could be a fault, error, that it said 3gig/sec, we are just people in the end