HP Z800 HDD larger than 2TB + SSD as a Windows disk

[Bartsky600]

Hello everyone, 

I want to upgrade storage space on my HP Z800 workstation. I would like to have the following configuration:

1. SSD as a system drive only (Windows)

2. 4TB HDD as a storage space 

I have already bought both drives (SSD Samsung 850 Pro, 4TB HDD WD Ultrastar)

From what I've learned so far the Z800 does not recognise HDD larger than 2TB. My 4TB HDD  shows up both in bios and Windows 10 but is detected as a 2TB one.  

I think that a seperate SAS controller (PCI-e based one ???) would solve the problem so a 4TB HDD would be in fact detected as a 4TB one but I am a complete newbie in this field and so am looking for recommendations / tips.

I would appreciate recommeding controllers that have already been used and tested by a HP Z800 users, and allow both the SDD and the 4TB HDD to use their full speed and transfer capabilities. . 

I hope that somebody has gone this road before and can help me out or maybe there are some shortcuts that I am not aware of ? - all help and recommendations in this area are more than welcome. 

[DGroves]

i've answered these questions (and so have others) quite a few times, it would be helpful if you would take the time to use this forums "SEARCH" feature before posting

early systems like the z800 will have a  boot size limit of just under 3TB (when using the latest bios) this is a hardware/bios limit and cannot be changed

windows DATA (non booting) drives can be up to 8TB in legacy format and any size when using a operating system with "GPT format " 

the z800 does not support booting from nvme drives as it's a non UEFI bios (the z820 is EFI and has limited boot support for"some" nvme enterprise/data center drives that have the necessary boot code on the nvme ssd's bios

the only way to get a nvme drive to boot on a z800 is to use a USB boot key that has the missing nvme boot code

this method requires the system to boot from the usb key, then xfer the boot process back to the z800 bios it does work and i've tested it on my z88/z820 and found that it's really not worthwhile, get yourself a fast 2TB SATA based SSD as your boot device

it's really time to retire the z800, you can buy a bootable HP z240/440 system that can run win 11

or a lenovo p520 for approx. $300 which is also win 11 compatible on ebay