CPU Swap

[Dominic12346]

I  currently have a Intel Xeon 4 core processor and I would like to upgrade to a intel xeon 6 core, but I dont know if I have a v1 or v2. I've checked the boot block date and it says 2019.

[Brian1965]

Please re-check your boot block date in the BIOS as I believe it should be 2013 or earlier (I have a Z620 with a 2013 boot block date). If the boot block date is prior to 2013 then you can only install the v1 version of the the CPU.

With regards to CPU compatibilty, please see the link below to the Z420 quickspecs which lists the CPU's supported;

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/575118/Hp-Z420.html#manual 

As a general rule, if the CPU isn't listed in the quick specs then it won't work in your Z420.

[SDH]

The Z420 version 2 is a real jewel.... and as we have pushed its limits we have found it is essentially a Z620 version 2 when both are running one processor.  Given that it is a single processor workstation you don't need to feel compelled to buy a processor that has 2 QPI links (more expensive, works in workstations running 1 or 2 processors, and is a bit slower for the same cores/clock speed).  Brian and Bambi here have mastered overclocking of the HP-approved processors that also are unlocked enough by Intel to overclock.

There is cooling information here, to include HP liquid cooling, and the discovery that a specific heatsink/fan from the Z640/Z440 workstations fits perfectly in the Z420.  That heatsink has almost double the cooling surface area as the stock Z420 heatsink/fan so the need for liquid cooling when overclocking a processor can be reduced.  There are some added cooling tips to learn specific to the Z420.

Some of my recent work also has shown that the Z420 version 2 can run the same highest speed memory that the Z620 version 2 can.  For example, 8 sticks of 8GB ECC registered 1866 MHz RAM, and even 8 sticks of 16GB ECC registered 1866 MHz RAM.  This is also HP server memory, the reason it is available at reasonable cost, used.  Servers tend to get retired more quickly than workstations, in significant quantities.  Some bits get recycled, such as memory.  None of our high end work here is HP-certified.  For this size workstation HP had moved on to the Z440, and now on to the Z4 G4 generation.  There is a cost benefit to being 2 generations back, even more so when the workstation is a Z420 v2.

So, get into your BIOS and answer the question of its boot block date.  That is under the first tab in BIOS.  We can go from there....

[SamirD]

Information on the heatsink/fan from the z640/z440 please?  I would love to have some extra cooling in my z420 since the 256GB of LRDIMMs (32GB x8) seem to run a bit hot.