HP Z440 Compatible CPUs - Virtualization Lab

[techiestuff]

I have just purchased an HP Z440 and want to purchase a CPU that has most core/threads possible for this HP Z440 (using this PC for home Virtualization lab).  HP documentation states you can use Intel Xeon E2600v4 processors family.  Am I able use the proposed CPU a this processor?

Proposed CPU:

22-Core 2.2GHz Intel Xeon Broadwell E5-2699 v4 [22-cores / 44-threads]

Socket: FCLGA2011-3

E5-2699V4

My PC Detail:

My HP Z440s  Details:

Product3BB14US

Serial [Personal Information Removed]

If the proposed CPU will not work what CPU from the Xeon E2600v4 processors family will work meeting my goal of most possible cores/threads?

Thanks!

[SDH]

The official way to see if HP "supports" a particular newer processor is to find the latest HP QuickSpecs for your workstation and see the supported processor list there. Edit: older processors listed in older versions of the QuickSpecs may not be on the most recent list but they'll still be supported. Updating to the newest BIOS version is a wise thing to do first because some newer processors will need the latest BIOS for those more recent processors to boot.

However, as time has gone on we've seen cases where non-listed processors do work. In those cases you're on your own in terms of being self supporting. A way to see if a particular unsupported processor would work is by finding a respected system builder that offers that workstation with that processor as an option... that exists, HERE , at the bottom of the offered processors list.

That is a 145W max TDP processor, and you'd want proper memory rated at least at the max speed the processor can run at. That has a sSpec code of SR2J0 so you can go look on eBay for that and see that the lowest current price from a highly respected US seller is 199.00 USD, for a new (!) one.

I'd want to make sure I had a proper front case cooling fan (an option with a black plastic fan carrier that your box might already have). I'd also want to make sure I had the Z440 front/rear memory bank cooling "saddle" that fits over the nice big Z440 heatsink/fan. I'd load all 8 memory sockets with identical DDR4 ECC buffered memory, at least 2400 MHz speed so slow memory does not slow down that processor. Do you really need that many cores? Note that a high core count generally results in a slower max CPU speed. I'm very happy with a significantly faster hexa-core or octa-core (but I'm not running a virtualization farm).

If you choose to proceed it would be appreciated to have you post back after you get it up and running. BIOS settings are complex in these workstations compared to the older workstations. I have two of these here running W11 22H2, but only on SSDs... LINK , page 2 post with HowTo. I so far cannot get the HP proprietary ZTD G2 to boot it up; hours of work into that. There is a critical unknown driver missing for that, but excellent fast 2.5" form factor SSDs boot just fine on the same cloned build.

[NonSequitur777]

@techiestuff,

Welcome to our HP User Forum!

To actually answering your question, here we go:

Your HP Z440 Workstation (3BB14US) as per: https://partsurfer.hp.com/partsurfer?searchtext=3BB14US, is fitted with the HP p/n: 61514-601 ("System board (motherboard) - Intel Wellsburg 1S/DDR4 support, 2133MHz front side bus - For Windows 8.x Professional operating system, SSID: 212B").

The aforementioned link shows that the Xeon E5-1650 v4 is compatible with your desktop. So, methodically searching for compatible processors for your desktop from this reference point, we can look at possible processor upgrades here: https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Xeon/E5-1650_v4.html.

And the Table shows that your proposed Xeon E5-2699 v4 is compatible -showing a more than fair upgradeability chance (98%) too, at least according to CPU Upgrade:

Now we can search for actual real-life HP Z440 Workstations fitted with the Xeon E5-2699 v4 here: https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/HP-Z440-Workstation/10597.

And to bring a smile to your face on this special (Thanksgiving) day: here we see that the Xeon E5-2699 v4 is indeed compatible with your desktop: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/53481194:

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777