HP Z4 G4 - RTX 3070TI

[ALIKO85]

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to upgrade my HP Z4 G4 workstation with the NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti. My workstation currently has a sufficient 750W  supply with a dual 6-pin connector free to use.

The RTX 3070 Ti requires a dual 8-pin to 12-pin connector. I’m unsure if my current setup will work with it or if I need an adapter to connect the GPU’s 12-pin mini PCIe connector.

Has anyone here upgraded their HP Z4 G4 with a similar GPU? Any advice on whether I can connect it directly or if I should go with an adapter would be greatly appreciated!

[SDH · Accepted solution]

The Ti version of that card has specs from nVidia stating it has a max power need of 290W and a required system power supply of 750W or greater. The QuickSpecs from 1/25 for the Z4G4 are attached below... go to page 13 and pay special attention to the notes at the top of page 14.

Your 750W power supply specs label is shown below and note that the two supplemental PCIe power cables provide 18A each. That is above the ATX standard so you can't use cheap wimpy power plug adapters. Power = Amps x Voltage:

Each PCIe supplemental power cable is 18A

Watts = 18A x 12VDC = 216W for each cable (x2 cables = 432W). Plus, 75W comes up from the PCIe x16 slot into the card... = 507W total... more than enough for one of those cards.

You'll need two high quality 6 pin-to-8 pin power cable adapters, and HP makes those (which we have posted on here in the past including part numbers). Only a few non-HP ones are good enough, also posted about here in the past.

Good luck on your project and let us know how things go.

[Z440Roger]

Does it even fit physically in the case?

It´s a pretty wide card and the Z4 case is not the widest so i would check that as well, so you can fit the card if/when you buy the 3070 Ti card.

I was about to do the same some years ago but ended up with a RTX A5000 since it is a standard sized card compared to the mega sized gaming cards. Not as cheap though...

[SDH]

The AI of google says 10.5 " is the max length the Z4 G4 can accommodate but I bet I could do better than that. As you know the front case cooling fan is mounted inside a black plastic fan holder that also serves also as an optional PCIe card support device with recesses built in to receive a long card or a support extension added to the end of a card.

The black plastic device takes up space in that bottom front inside corner of the case. I'd "Ghetto Mod" a 92x92x25mm HP front case fan directly onto the inside front perforated metal surface of the case to maintain front-to-back airflow. That fan would get an inside-face grill attached to protect adjacent internal wiring. That would provide roughly 2.5" of extra length.

Not that I play games or want to use that card in my Z4 G4 but for the OP I think they'd be fine. Good for them to consider that issue, of course.

[Z440Roger]

The lenght is no problem, it´s the width of the card from third party manufacturers, such as ASUS, etc, etc, that is the problem.

It vary between manufacturers, but the image here is an example of a very wide RTX 3070 Ti card. If the card comes from Nvidia it´s not a problem, but ASUS, etc, etc will come with that problem, iow the card being too wide to fit in the case and thus not being able to close the case with the side panel. Sometimes the power connector is placed on the side of the card rather than on the back of the card as well making it worse.

So make sure to measure the card and the case before buying the card.

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@SDH wrote:

The AI of google says 10.5 " is the max length the Z4 G4 can accommodate

[ALIKO85]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I ended up purchasing the ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti, along with the Cable Matters 2-Pack 6-Pin to 8-Pin PCIe Adapter Power Cable  from Amazon. However, after reviewing the specifications, I realized that these adapters are rated for 120W, which might not be sufficient for safe operation.

To avoid potential power issues, I searched further and found X2  HP GPU power cables (6F to 8M) on eBay, which are now on their way. However, I still have a couple of unanswered questions:

1. Should I connect the two adapters directly to the two 6-pin cables coming from my power supply to the GPU?
2. I'm unsure whether the HP power adapters I bought are actually compatible with my setup, as HP does not provide an easy way to verify compatibility. I searched for their part numbers from multiple sources and even used AI assistance, but I couldn't find any official HP listing for a compatible adapter sold directly in Germany. PN:721859-001

Any guidance or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Now that the GPU is sitting at home, staring at me, my intrusive thoughts almost tipped me over—I started seriously considering connecting the two 6-pin cables directly to the GPU’s two 8-pin connectors. Since the 8-pin slots on the GPU are technically 6+2, I wondered if my HP Z4 G4's 216W-rated 6-pin connectors would be enough.

Luckily, by the grace of my wife, I hesitated and later found out that this could have damaged the GPU or even prevented it from turning on, as some GPUs require both 8-pin connections to be fully populated before powering up.

I will share photos and updates as soon as I have the adapters at home.

[SDH]

Regarding your first question... the answer is that yes of course... that is what the adapter is for. The two 6-wire cables coming from the power supply and your two adapters are rated for well over the wattages that card needs.

Second question... see first answer above.

For anyone seeing prices of about $50.00 USD each adapter, recycled, and being horrified take a look from today at HP PartSurfer:

A bit too much...

[DGroves]

To people thinking about doing a ghetto fan mod to a existing system case fan

keep in mind that HP uses the fan in this specific system model to properly cool the whole system  and by removing the case's fan shroud and simply placing the fan against the case it will have a impact on the airflow the fan can provide.

this reduction in airflow can range from just a bit to a major reduction not what you want when installing a part that consumes up to 280 watts at peak draw so if you go this route you will need to carefully monitor inside case temps (and the card temp) to make sure things like motherboard vrms are still properly cooled

I'm mot against ghetto modding in additional case fans (i think that can be quite useful)  however reducing a systems main airflow/cooling fan which possibly reduces the systems existing cooling capacity is something that users need to be aware of

also, HP designs their workstations to support the full complement of optional cards/ram/cpu's/storage that the case can support at once so if all you are doing is modifying the case fan and adding in the video card you should be all right, but again monitor the systems case temps to confirm

[ALIKO85]

Z440Roger mentioned something that got me worried about the GPU fitment in the case, so I decided to open it up and test it out — and that’s when the nightmare started.

The GPU didn’t sit flush against the mounting bracket, which had a pin that looked a bit off to me. On top of that, I noticed the copper contacts weren’t fully inserted into the PCIe slot. I tried to gently push it in further, but I got anxious and stopped.

After thinking it through, I gave it another shot — this time I aligned the GPU with the mounting bracket first and then gently pushed it downward, and It clicked into place and sat perfectly.

But here’s where things got more interesting…

The GPU is pretty thick and ended up covering both PCIe x16 slots, which meant I couldn’t insert my WX7100 back in. There’s definitely no room for SLI or dual-GPU setups in this cramped space.

I considered moving the GPU to the second PCIe slot, but it sits so close to the bottom of the case that it would basically suffocate from lack of airflow. I also tried inserting my Wi-Fi PCIe card, but it was so close to the GPU that it blocked the GPU fans — definitely not ideal.

On a more positive note, I did notice the hidden fan inside the plastic bracket where my WX7100 used to sit. It’s nicely positioned to provide airflow if the GPU is installed in the first slot, which is what I’m going with. So cooling shouldn’t be a problem — at least for now.

Just thought I’d share in case anyone else runs into similar space or airflow challenges when upgrading their Z4 G4

[DGroves]

unless the Wi-Fi PCIe card, covers a gpu fan completely it should not be a real issue as most WIFI cards are low profile and quite short needing only a pci-e x1 slot to operate (see link below) usually this usually does not result in any cooling reduction  the card i linked to has a built-in heatsink so it can be used in your systems bottom slot without it overheating if the slot by the video card needs to be clear or used for something else

current upper midrange and hi end video cards have been dual slot air cooled for quite some time now and some factory overclocked hi-end cards can be 3 or 3.5 slots in width!!! low or midrange cards can be found still with single slot cooling designs like the one below

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/design-visualization/rtx-a4000/

https://www.amazon.com/3000Mbps-Wireless-Generation-802-11ac-ax210ngw/dp/B08VWRW7X7