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HP Recommended
HP Z820 Workstation
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

I'm upgrading a Z820's processors and RAM.

 

I've ordered 2 Xeon E5-2643 v2 processors. I want my RAM to run at the top speed possible. The Quick Specs document for the Z820 shows a top RAM speed of 1866 in the Supported Components section.

 

In the System Technical Specifications section, under System Board, the top RAM speed is listed as 1600.

 

Please help me verify top RAM speed.

 

Thanks in advance.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Time to slow down and educate yourself.  DGroves here has much experience with the Z820.  Brian and Bambi here have weighed in on best processors for the version 1 ZX20 workstations.  Take time to read their prior input on these issues.

 

Of course there is a difference between processors with different numbers and sSpec codes.  Take time to dig into the Intel Ark site for each.  The processors HP listed for these workstations can have more than one version... different steppings... so you want to buy the latest stepping.  It will have a different sSpec code.  That is all in the Intel Ark listing for each processor.

 

There ae many different QuickSpecs for both the v1 and v2 of the Z820.  Have you considered upgrading your motherboard from v1 to v2?  Do you know how to tell the difference between those by looking at the eBay ads?  You need to invest quite a bit of time... maybe it is time to look at a Z640 project rather than a Z820 v1 upgrade?

 

Do me a favor..... what exactly is your boot block date, from your BIOS.  Don't guess.... v2 boxes were sold with v1 processors.  

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
HP Recommended

There is a listing of the E5-2643 v2 in a later Z820 QuickSpecs,  HERE .  It is officially supported assuming the motherboard is a v2 type of motherboard:  https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04111526.pdf       On page 3 there it tells you the fastest processor speed it runs at, 1866 Mhz, and thus if you are using 1866 MHz memory that is as fast as it can go.  We are only  running 1866 server memory in all of our ZX20 boxes that are running v2 1866 processors.  We have found that recycled server memory that exactly matches what HP uses serves us well.

 

You sound like you know what you are doing.... I'm assuming you know the issue with original vs the later boot block date motherboards and how the later one is needed to run the v2 HP-approved processors.  Let's hope that is a non-issue for you.

 

One corner some paint themselves into is to not have the latest BIOS installed before a processor upgrade.  There is a section of BIOS termed the microcode, and as new processors get added to the HP-approved set of processors they add that new capability in a BIOS upgrade, among other improvements.  That is there in all future BIOS upgrades too.  You can imagine the hell you might go through if you were running an old Z820 BIOS that had an old microcode that did not include support for your E5-2643 v2 processors and you install them and try to boot.  Do the upgrade before rather than after the processor upgrade.

HP Recommended

 

You saved me a bunch of time and inconvenience. Thank you. 

 

I was unaware of the, original vs. v2 situation. I have the original. I don't know why I thought my E5-2630 CPUs were v2, but I did, so I didn't bat an eyelash at the v2 on the E5-2643 that I had ordered. Anyway, I was able to cancel the order before it shipped.

 

I found the QuickSpecs for the original Z820. The E5-2689 is not listed as compatible, but an eBay listing states in the title that it's the same as the E5-2670, which is compatible.  I've found info that lists different socket types: LGA2011 for the E5-2689 and FCLGA2011 and there seem to be conflicting opinions about whether or not these are the the same socket.

 

These two CPUs have identical specs, but the E5-2689 gets much better benchmark scores (per cpuboss.com). So, if the E5-2689 is compatible, I'd pay the higher price for those.

 

I updated my BIOS when I got the computer. System Information lists it as: Hewlett-Packard J63 v3.95, 6/13/2019

 

Any and all feedback is welcome.

HP Recommended

Time to slow down and educate yourself.  DGroves here has much experience with the Z820.  Brian and Bambi here have weighed in on best processors for the version 1 ZX20 workstations.  Take time to read their prior input on these issues.

 

Of course there is a difference between processors with different numbers and sSpec codes.  Take time to dig into the Intel Ark site for each.  The processors HP listed for these workstations can have more than one version... different steppings... so you want to buy the latest stepping.  It will have a different sSpec code.  That is all in the Intel Ark listing for each processor.

 

There ae many different QuickSpecs for both the v1 and v2 of the Z820.  Have you considered upgrading your motherboard from v1 to v2?  Do you know how to tell the difference between those by looking at the eBay ads?  You need to invest quite a bit of time... maybe it is time to look at a Z640 project rather than a Z820 v1 upgrade?

 

Do me a favor..... what exactly is your boot block date, from your BIOS.  Don't guess.... v2 boxes were sold with v1 processors.  

HP Recommended

I found verification of compatibility. I've ordered the E5-2689 CPUs, and will post again after installing.

 

HP Recommended

My E5-2689s are installed and working well. Interestingly, the Intel Ark page only lists the E5-2689 v4. From others sources I learned that the only difference in specs (for my E5-2689 v1) from the E5-2670 is a nice increase in TurboBoost frequency (from 3.3 to 3.6GHz.)

 

This post was originally about RAM speed, so to wrap things up, I think that it's likely that the discrepancy between memory specifications in different sections of the QuickSpecs doc that I was looking at was just an oversight when the v2 Z820s were first introduced.

† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.