Highest End Z400 Build

[B_RadD]

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@nelsona wrote:

Hello Scott,

5. As for RAM, I can almost confirm that the following 48 GB sticks should work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8H53HD5595

Buying 2 pairs (each pair consists of 3 - 8 GB sticks) should push me to 48 GB and spec wise, they match up perfectly with my pre-existing RAM.

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This RAM will also work with the z400 and is much cheaper. Z400 uses ECC unbuffered. Z600/z800 use ECC Registered. PC3-10600 or PC3-12800 will work as well. 

Kingston ValueRAM 24GB Kit 1600MHz DDR3L ECC CL11 DIMM 1.35V Desktop Memory with TS Intel Validated ...

Brad

[nelsona]

Hello B_RadD,

Thank you for the recommendation, though I already went with the following sticks of RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8H53HD5595

That being said, I can confirm that the Z400 works with more than 24 GB of RAM.

I'm currently using 30 GB, and will be moving to 48 GB in the near future.

Thanks,

Nelson

[K19]

My HP Z400 V2 boots fine -and very fast- from Samsung SM951 M2 AHCI version (Via PCIe adapter Lycom 120), Mac OS X 10.13.4  About 1100 MB/s write and 1400 MB/s read due to PCIe v2 limit but it's quite good for an old WS like this.

Xeon W3690

12Gb Ram

Nvidia GT1030

[SDH]

I'd appreciate some added info..... I did get a SM951 M.2 AHCI SSD and could get my Z400 and Z600 workstations to see it once booted, but could never get it to be seen as a bootable drive.  It originally was from Lenovo, and I concluded that maybe that was the problem.

Did you use any special techniques to pull this off.  What was the original source of you M.2 drive?

I have found in the past with Kingston AHCI based M.2 SSDs in the ZX00 series that the storage controller version was critical in getting those working, but the one that worked for the Kingston Predator M.2 SSDs would not allow the SM951 to be seen as bootable drive.  Can you provide the storage controller version you're using from your Device Manager listing?

Thanks!

[K19]

Good evening. As you said in your post the machine BIOS doesn't list the M2 SSD among bootable devices and it's not visible. I installed a bootloader (Clover) on another internal SSD attached to a SATA port and choosed that one as 1st device in Bios>Boot order menu. When Clover loads from that HD it shows all other bootable devices-volumes, even the M2 in the PCIe adapter so I can choose my SM951 with keyboard arrow keys and boot the machine.

Rob

[theOne77]

This topic seems interesting. How i wish it will be easier to understand 😁😁

[DGroves]

to "SDH" RE: lenovo sm951 ssd

my z620 came with a  sm951 and the z820 a xp941, both had HP bios's and the sm951 worked in a z400 using 3rd party pci-e adapter (lycom)

i also had a sm951 nvme with hp bios that refused to boot in a lenovo laptop

(which had a 128 gb nvme ssd factory installed), this drive could be seen as a data drive on the lenovo when it was booted from a 2.5 in HD in said laptop

moving this HP ssd over to a supermicro motherboard using it's motherboard M.2 slot the ssd was seen as a bootable device

i suspect both the type of ssd adapter used (cheap adapters are trouble prone!) and the system  motherboard  bios the ssd was placed in  were the cause of the non boot issue i can see oem's like  HP/lenovo/Dell using bios's that are tuned to their brand ssd's and therefor having compatability issues with other oem venders ssd customized firmware

[SDH]

DGroves,

Thanks much for your insights, and I'm sure that you are right about the issue being multifactorial. 

I've been happy with the version 1 Z Turbo Drive for the Z620/Z420 as a reliable solution, and I have one Z620 with one of those plus two other bootable SSDs so that I can test out multiple builds with W7 and W10, SSDs, and M.2 SSD all on the same hardware other than the boot drive chosen.  The main take home from that testing over the last year is that the ZTD G1 and a nice fast modern SSD of the same size are virtually equal in perceived performance for us.

[theOne77]

@ SDH

so to sum it up, we really cant have a booting M2 PCIe SSD in HPZ400?

sorry im not so technical about this..noobie here

[DGroves]

you can have working SATA interface ssd's in a z400 (M.2 format included) however OEM ssd's are not guaranteed to work due to their custom firmware, and in general no current model nvme ssd is going to boot on a z400

 there are a very few rare exceptions such as the sm950, but they are not current nvme models and cost a arm and a leg

if you do find one, stay with SATA based SSD's and everything will be fine

retail ssd's  should work without issues and if they do not can either be returned for a refund or the retail ssd maker can try to resolve the problem via a firmware update and usually carry a 3 year or longer warranty

OEM ssd's do not have any  guarantee about working in any other make/model other than what the OEM designed it for

and have no warranty other than what the reseller may offer which is mostly   30 days or exchange if DOA,

last, i generally recomend that people not buy a used SSD even if it's a retail model as you have no idea how much usage the ssd may have on it. 

however some large resellers of used ssd's may have NEW OLD STOCK (NOS) or SSD'S removed from equipment that have almost no use and will state how many hours/amount of data use. these resellers will also give a  non DOA warranty and usually a 30 day or longer general warranty  along with a return policy,  sellers who  give this type of warranty are useually ok to buy from but the savings are usually not that much diffrent over a new retail ssd so consider carefully if the savings are worth any reductions on warranty/return policy as opposed to retail ssd's