HP z400 z620

[Green_Ice]

Hi All,

Recently my hp z400's motherboard got out of order(north bridge),so now I want to buy z620 motherboard and put it in z400 case.So I will remove the back panel from z400 case to meet the usb,audio,Lan and other connections.

I have 12gb (6 x 2gb) ram's  1Rx8 PC3-10600E and 1Rx8 PC3-12800E in z400.So I have some questions.

1) Can I  use the CPU fan from z400. Connections are same 5 pin connector, but what about fastening points ? 

2) Can I  use this RAM's (I think yes) ?

3) How can I use power supply from z400 ?

    The connectors are different , and also this is with 475W output power,but for z420/620 there is recommended 600W, but       I think this 475W can be enough ?

[SDH]

The answer is no to all your questions. 

Buy a version 2 Z620 off eBay and tune it up for best performance as has been discussed here in the forum.  Make sure to only get a version 2.  If you don't know how to do that then you have some research to do, but it is all here.

Getting a version 1 would be a big mistake at this point in your project...

[Green_Ice]

Thank you for response.

I find that 1st version is with serial numbers 61XXXX and the v2 is with 70XXXX.

Accordingly I can put v1 xeon or v2 xeon. This PC I need for gaming and I want to put Intel Xeon e5-2690 and I think that it doesn't make sense ,that it will be Xeon e5-2690  or Xeon e5-2690 V2.

So howewer what the difference between V1 V2 ?

And can I use this DDR3 ECC RAM's with both versions ?

[DGroves]

as SDH said do some research, read this forums z620 questions/replies on these subjects using the forum "SEARCH" box

all of your questions have been asked/replied to many many times previously

[Green_Ice]

I think that this is V2 :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/708614-001-HP-Z620-WorkStation-LGA2011-e5-2600-v1-v2-System-Board/224383916...

[DGroves]

last time, read previous posts on how to determine v1 v2 board revisions or you may get a nasty surprise when the board arrives

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/how-to-find-a-z620...

[BambiBoomZ]

Green_ Ice,

In my view, the best and quickest results would be to buy a modest specification, working z620 with an E5-v2 CPU in it. For example here is a completed ebahhh listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z620-Workstation-SIX-CORE-3-50GHz-E5-1650v2-16GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-TOWER-/13...

The cost of $202 gives a system that could be usable in  a few hours.  The Xeon E5-1650 v2  is one of the rare Xeons that may overclocked using the free Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) and the 16GB of RAM is a good start. It has an NVS 310 which is useless for 3D, but perhaps the GPU from the unhappy z400 will serve.

Craft the HD carefully on a mech'l HD and then clone to a good SSD for the OS/Programs. At the same time shop for the right GPU at the right price for the use, add RAM- always use HP-labelled memory, find faster, larger drives, and so on. The good feature is that new system need not be out of use more than a short time at any step. While upgrading, it's possible to part out the previous system and somewhat fund the new one.

Here's an example of this process, the current office z420:

Purchased for $136:

HP z420_3: (Original) Xeon E5-1607 (4-core / 4 Thread @ 2.8GHz) / 4GB (1X 4GB DDR3-1866 ECC unbuffered / NVIDIA GeForce 7100 GS / WD Blue 500GB / 400W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (HP OEM )
[Passmark System Rating: = 569 / CPU = 5492 / 2D = 538 / 3D = 60 / Mem = 1117 . Disk = 864 ] [Single Thread Mark = 1509] 9.27.17

>  and about $500 later:

HP z420_3: (2015) (R12) Xeon E5-1650 v2 (6C@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid cooling / 64GB (8X 8GB HP /Samsung DDR3-1866 ECC registered) / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB/ Samsung 860 EVO 500GB + HGST 4TB / ASUS Essence STX S/C/ 600W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (HP OEM )

[Passmark System Rating: = 5644 / CPU = 15293 / 2D = 847 / 3D = 10953 / Mem = 2997 Disk = 4858 /Single Thread Mark = 2384 [6.27.19]

If the goal is to have a dual processor system, buying  one with the 2nd CPU riser already installed is financially important- they're expensive. 

Buying parts separately  requires a lot of research, shopping / purchasing, waiting for delivery, assembly, and configuration.  Having a running, starter level system means being able to immediately set it for work ; load a new copy of the HP OEM OS, load the programs, get to work even if it's a somewhat frustrating level, and over time it gets better and better without being out of use very long as only only one part at a time is affected.  Z420_3 started humbly; almost at the bottom, but over time became the highest-rated z420 of the 1,556 Passmark z420 Baselines . 

BambiBoomZ

PS: This z620 started out for $180:

HP z620_2 (2017) (R7) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8C@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid Cooling / 64GB (HP/Samsung 8X 8GB DDR3-1866 ECC registered) / Quadro P2000 5GB _ GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB + HGST 7K6000 4TB + HP/HGST Enterprise 6TB / Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 sound interface + 2X Mackie MR824 / 825W PSU / Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit (HP OEM) > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)

[ Passmark Rating = 6280 / CPU rating = 17178 / 2D = 819 / 3D= 12629 / Mem = 3002 / Disk = 13751 / Single Thread Mark = 2368 [10.23.18]

[SDH]

Here's a little added advice.. if you don't want to step up to a new generation you might just want to buy a v2 Z400 motherboard, and swap it in for your burned out one.  Very inexpensive and easy to tell the difference between the Z400 v1 and v2 generations..... the v1 Z400 motherboard only has 4 memory sockets, and the v2 has 6.  Note that the v1/v2 processors are different for a ZX00 workstation versus for a ZX20 workstation.

That is an option, and might suit you just fine.  Some of us, however, would encourage you to move on up to the better faster higher evolved ZX20 platform but that will cost some extra.  Within that next generation the v1 would be Sandy Bridge processors and the v2 will be Ivy Bridge.  If you only plan on running a single Ivy Bridge processor such as the E5-1650 v2 (which our friends Bambi and Brian have mastered with overclocking) then you might just want to buy a v2 Z420 workstation.  A dual processor Z620 v2 costs quite a bit more because that requires a second CPU processor riser "mini-motherboard".  There is no doubt the Z620 v2 is a nicer case and has some nicer internal parts, but that is a luxury item if you're only running one processor (which is what many of the forum members do).  I use a bunch of both.... most of our v2 Z620s were upgraded from old slow V620 v1 single processor builds that I then swapped in v2 motherboards.  A tuned up Z420 v2 is virtually identical in performance to a tuned same-single-processor Z620 v2.  I can help you with that info.  You really want the highest (1866 MHz) processor speed to match 1866 memory speed for best performance.

The Z620 with a single processor lets you use the special HP memory cooling "saddle" that covers each bank of memory, and you can also use the Z440 special double cooling capacity heatsink/fan fits perfectly under that to virtually double your cooling on overclocked processors for about 18.00 USD.  Yes, there have been some improvements and some discoveries to share.

So, you have reading and decisions to work on. 

Regarding processors.... I'd personally go for a single processor build and follow the expert advice you can get here from Bambi and Brian re what is the fastest memory and matching fastest processor build which can be overclocked, if you wish..