Booting to NVMe ON Z820 HP AND Z600

[Buffalo_Rider]

I posted my notes, steps, in a new thread.  Title is something like Booting from an NVMe SSD card on a z620. 

[Buffalo_Rider]

DGroves: "one last tip, sometimes when doing a MS update and restarting you might get stuck at the REFIND boot options screen, if so simply clicking on the left icon that is the four blue squares the boot will resume normally "

Thanks for the tip.  I have had to use this a couple of times.  (I just hit enter, however, rather than clicking on the icon).  

[Ro808]

Interesting thread!

I may follow suit, as I am about to upgrade a Z600 v2. 

[SDH]

The link to Buffalo's more detailed write-up is  HERE , and thanks very much for taking the time to provide this:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/Booting-from-an-NV...

[DGroves]

the z600/z800 nvme install while close to the zx20 based systems does differ i have written a guide on how to install the nvme boot code on a z800

you need the REFIND/DUET 2015 version as later versions will not work, and the install is rather straightforward as the win 10 install disk does not have to be removed during the os install portion

[Buffalo_Rider]

Ro808,

Good luck on getting your z600 up and running, i.e., booting from an NVMe card.  Let us know how it turns out for you.

[Ro808]

Thanks for the prompt replies and tips guys, it's much appreciated.

I really appreciate the quality and subsequent reliability of the older xw and Z-series workstations.

The Z600 at hand is a single CPU version, that will be upgraded with a X5675, 48GB and faster SSD.

Does anyone have experience with HP's EX950?

[DGroves]

the HP EX950 is a rather fast ssd, with upper range specs but as it's a TLC based Nand flash it will experience massive slowdowns if you exceed the ssd's onboard SLC buffer (all TLC drives have this problem) in normal usage it's very rare for this to happen for most people but in a business usage with large file sizes it might

this is why HP only recommends the "MLC" based ssd's for professional usage

samsung ssd models are still the gold standard for all their SLC/MLC based models and the EX950 matches the samsung EVO line in almost all specs

[Ro808]

This is supposed to be a fairly low budget project, so I'll probably buy most of the parts used. I found an extra Samsung 16GB 12800R module and made an offer on a 960 Evo.

[DGroves]

don't let the marketing of a SSD sway you, these numbers are not realistic in most cases as they list SEQ xfer speeds and high queue depths rather than steady state speeds

the intel 750 cards and older samsung enterprise SSD models are also worth looking at, while not as fast in specs these drives are more balanced in R/W  speeds and the listed speeds are what you will get in day to day usage