HP Z620 CPU - Single Thread Per Core

[scottw82]

Hi, I have a HP Z620 with a boot block date of 2011 and dual Xeon E5-2680 (8 core) CPUswith 192 gb of 1066 MHZ ram. I am running Proxmox 7.4-15 as my OS. When I run LSCPU at the command line the output shows 2-8 core CPUs with 1 thread per core. The CPU model is Xeon E5-2080 0 (not v1 or v2, it has a "0"). My question is, are these CPUs an older version of the E5-2680 with one thread per core or is this a sign that something isn't right with the CPUs, motherboard, etc? I was hoping I can just upgrade to the E5-2695 v1 (only $10 per CPU), but that may not be the issue.

Thanks for the help.

Screenshot below

[DGroves]

for the z820 a bootblock of 2011

indicates a v1 motherboard (sandy Bridge based cpu's) that does not officially  support the v2  (Ivy Bridge) CPU's

and the z620 follows the same bios bootblock dates as i recall

although some v1 2011 bios' based boards could run the v2 cpu's it was very hit or miss due to the MB chipset tolerances

i don't think the z620 bios supports the E5-2695 based cpu's

 (there was no v1 E5-2695, only v2 and higher as i recall)

due to the  increased thermals involved in cooling the smaller z620 case, the bios does not support the E5-2695 as opposed to the larger z820 which does support the E5-2695 cpu

the fastest CPU that HP listed/supported for the z620 2011 bootblock motherboards  was the E5-2690 v1  (135 watt)

to run the v2 cpu's you need a bios bootblock dated 2013 which indicates a revised MB chipset that officially supports the original cpu's and the later v2 cpu's

Original sandy bridge based cpu's will be marked v1 or have no "v"  just the cpu model name depending on the whim of the person describing the cpu

intel however has always called the original xenon by it's model name (no V in the cpu descriptor)

[SDH · Accepted solution]

Here's my perspective:

It is cheap and easy if living in the US to go to eBay and buy a v2 Z620 used motherboard. We've posted on that here in the forum on what to look for to be sure you're getting a v2 and not a v1 motherboard. The possible downside is that the motherboard you get is "branded" only for Linux use. Not licensed for use of the official HP W7Pro installer optical discs. That is a rare event so if you have those optical discs you're generally ready for the W7Pro64 to W10Pro64 migration, and then to the W11Pro64 step. Regarding that issue you generally can't tell the difference until you try to use an old HP W7Pro installer on the new used motherboard. And, if a motherboard has ever been W10Pro64 activated that stays with the motherboard by a UUID match on the W10/W11 Microsoft activation servers.

The upside is that for many of us this motherboard transplant takes under 1 hour. For me it takes under 1/2 hour because I've done that a few times. Thus you get the faster max 1866 MHz FSB motherboard, can use the inexpensive recycled 1866 MHz server 8GB or 16GB ECC buffered memory sticks we've posted about here, and can also use the fastest possible v2 1866 MHz Ivy Bridge processors certified by HP for the Z620 v2. Plus, W11Pro64 if you know what you're doing.

The weak links in your chain are easily, quickly, and cheaply fixed, but you'll be left with a way-underperforming box until you do that. All your other parts are fine. Also, use a SSD boot drive or even the special fastest AHCI-controller M.2 stick in the Z Turbo Drive v2 as your boot/applications drive and you're talking some real speed. It's all in here, with many thanks to DGroves for the help in his sharing some hard-won details.

[scottw82]

Thanks for the Info. I didn't realize the motherboards were so cheap. for about $200 i can buy a v2 motherboard and 2 12-core (dual thread) processors. I appreciate the help.