Best CPU for my HP Z420

[YooperComp]

Hi all im kinda new to all this but so here we go...:)

I Have a 

HP Z420 

Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1603  @ 2.80GHz 

32.0 GB

Nvidea NVS 310 Graphics card ( Upgrading next week )

3TB sata Drive HDD

250GB sata HDD

2TB  sata SSD.

256 NVMe SSD in my PCIe x16 

What is the fastest CPU I can install  I've been told or read i can use V2 CPUs like this one Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1660 v2 

Thank you for your advice

Jim 

[SDH]

1. You left out a critical piece of information. Is your Z420 a version 1 or version 2? You can read up on that issue by searching here or via google. The boot block date of your workstation, found in BIOS, is key to figuring that out. Why? If it is a v1 you can't run v2 processors.

2. The price of Z440 workstations has come down so far that moving up to that next generation of workstations is truly worth considering. Most of your hardware would be plug and play over in a Z440 (which does not have a v1 vs v2 issue). Those can run the even faster v3 and v4 processors, and faster memory (DDR4 instead of DDR3).

3. Regardless, you want to update your BIOS to the latest before putting in a newer processor. Old BIOS may know nothing about a newer HP-approved processor, and it is no fun to run up against the failure to boot that results from that.

4. A v2 processor can run faster than a same v1 processor but needs matching or faster memory to do that. Slow memory will hold back the maximum speed of a fast v2 processor. Look up the latest Z420 QuickSpecs you can find to see the latest info on that. As you go up in speed and amount of memory you'll need to optimize your case/memory cooling.

5. What you use your workstation for impacts what processor you should choose. More cores? More base single thread speed? If you don't need lots of cores then higher base speed would be preferred. A fast video card really boosts user experience too, and those have gotten very fast. Consider used off eBay for that because gamers upgrade fairly quickly giving the market a source of inexpensive but fast video cards.

[YooperComp]

thank you for your insite i went and looked it up on this community page Wow is all i can Say with the advice ...

My Hp Z420 is a V1

so the best cpu for some gaming but mostly office work. 

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-1660 

    TURBO       BASE                                       

3.90 GHz

3.30 GHz

15 MB Intel® Smart Cache

130 W

tHIS SHOULD WORK AS LONG AS ITS A v1

sorry for the caps

jim

[SDH]

Yes, that is a good choice if you stick with your current v1 motherboard. However, it would also be reasonable to buy a recycled v2 motherboard from eBay and do a transplant so you can move up to a faster better v2 1866 MHz v2 processor and 1866 MHz memory. The cost to do that is very reasonable these days and we can help with part numbers that ensure you get a v2 motherboard... those are on the "bar code label" on the right-hand side if you look on eBay. We've posted about those numbers here in the forum.

These Z420 workstations can actually run specific ECC buffered recycled server memory at a very good price. Another thing to know is that use of the Z Turbo Drive G2 PCIe card with an SM951 AHCI-controller M.2 stick in place gets you almost the full speed of a NVMe-controller M.2 stick. Samsung also made a NVMe-controller SM951 that won't work in this generation of workstations. I'd try to get a 512GB one, but those are hard to find these days. Both HP and Lenovo used those, and either would work for you. That provides a big boot/applications drive improvement vs a SATA 2.5" form factor SSD. Our chosen video card giving best performance for our particular software needs here is the Quadro K2200 (still getting updated drivers from nVidia) but there are bunch more you can choose from. Your needs likely will be different... ours is medical imaging.

I've been installing W11 23H2 from the recently released MS v2 iso using a Rufus-created boot thumb installer drive on our souped up Z420 v2 workstations here. However, I'd personally recommend you consider moving up to the Z440. Its performance is quite close to a next generation Z4 G4 I'm working on now, but the cost is not.

[YooperComp]

Thank you SDH your advice has been appreciated, Ive gone and ordered a Z440 Intel E5-1620 v3 3.5GHz $75.00 plus shipping of 35 fair price i can move the hard drives to it comes with 16gb or ram now i wanna find a list with for the 2600 series processor ? 
Thanks again for the advice ...

P.S. i need a mid level GPU and advice there? i play like CS2 or Sid Meier's Civilization VI

Jim

[SDH]

Great deal on that one, and I know that moving up to the Z440 is a smart move for you. The technology in those is a big jump above the Z420 now, and the prices have really come down now that both the Z4 G4 and Z4 G5 are available to big businesses.

Attached below is the latest QuickSpecs document on the Z440. I've highlighted a few things in there for you. I included the sSpec codes for you to look on eBay for the v4 processors I'd recommend. HP has one E5-2xxx processor in that listing but others have gotten added 2 series processors from the Z640 lists to work. Since yours is a single processor workstation you don't need a 2 series processor, and that does slow a processor down a tiny bit.

You can add more memory later... you'd want 2400 or faster if possible to at least match a v4 processor's max MHz speed. I've tested 2666 and 2933 HP memory used in the next generation Z4 G4 workstations and it runs fine in the Z440 but just auto-down regulates to 2400 max speed. There is a benefit to filling at least all the dark memory sockets with identical memory. Even a bit bigger benefit from filling all the sockets with the same. 4GB 2400 HP memory is 809078-581 and 8GB is 809079-581.

We can help you later on use of a Z Turbo Drive G2 or a Z Turbo Drive Dual Pro... those M.2 NVMe-controller sticks are really very fast compared to even a SATA SSD. I've built up my Z440 and Z4 G4 builds recently with the ZTD DP which has 2 versions now...the original v1 is what I've used recently, but I also like the ZTD G2.

You want to update your BIOS if it is not yet at the latest to make sure it can work with a v4 processor... see attached HowTo PDF.

Regarding gaming... ours are for high end medical imaging and I don't do gaming so others will be able to help you on that.

Finally, for thermal paste I really like the original Noctua NT-H1. They have a later release NT-H2 but it just does not spread as well as the NT-H1 which is the only one I've used for years now.