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HP Recommended

@AnthonyK wrote:

@MtothaJ wrote:

I wanted to attach a picture but external linking of images does not seem to be working on this forum and any uploaded pictures need to be approved - rather awkward.

 

So here goes the typing:

Passmark rating: for my HP Z420:    5255.1

   CPU                   12427.0

   2d graphics         716.1

   3d graphics    10105.9

   Memory              2687.2

   Disc                    10293.9


Nice and what CPU and GPU are you using ?


 

The config is as follows:

 

CPU: E5-1650v1

GPU: GTX 1070

Memory: 64GB ECC Registered (rated at 1866Mhz but running at 1600hz due to v1 processor)

Disc: Samsung 950 Pro NVMe 256GB SSD + WD Blue 1TB HDD

 

There is still some room for improvement by going to a Xeon v2 processor, which this particular machine / board will support. This would give improved CPU IPC, potential clock speed / cores / threads increase and ability to utilise the 1866mhz memory.

 

At this moment in time however the v2 processors which I would be interested in rarely come up for sale or are pretty expensive. These are the 1660v2, 1680v2 and 2687W v2.

@I briefly considered the 1650v2 since prices on this one are more down to earth. This would give an +0.3Ghz stock and 0.1Ghz turbo speed improvement over the v1 version and the ability to run memory @ 1866mhz). However ultimately I have the feeling it may not be a sufficent enough improvement to warrant the whole fuss associated with buying the new CPU, selling the old one etc. (gain

 

My usage of this workstation is proabably different to most users here since its a general home PC which I also use for gaming. Therefore single core performance and clock speed are from my perspective more important than core / thread count. 

 

HP Recommended

 

HP z420 (2015)(Revision 3) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz)  / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM  / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX  1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H  (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559]  [6.12.16]

  

 


 

That is a very nice config. The 1660v2 is high on my list of CPU's I would want to upgrade to, due to the strong single core performance / high clock speed. That said, I was expecting a higher CPU score - 14046 for the 1660v2 is not really that much of a significant increase from my 1650v1 score of 12427 (c.a. +12%).

 

I am wondering what the improvement would be when stepping up to the 2687W v2 in the Z420. The only real concerns are the 150W TDP and obviously price at  this moment in time. 

HP Recommended

@AnthonyK wrote:

@BambiBoomZ wrote:

Anthony K,

 

That appears to be a very good choice for your use. 

 

Because that series of Xeon E5 first version are so inexpensive, it is worthwhile to consider an E5-2680 (2.7 /3.5GHz).  I think the supply of these will gradually decrease and prices rise over time. 

 

When you receive the system, check the bootblock date and if it is after 6 /2013, it can use Xeon E5-2600 v2.  This is worth knowing. The v2 processors will have more cores and higher clock speeds and the system will have a longer future and better value when sold. 

 

It would be fun to know the Passmark test results as received.

 

My z620 as received:

 

HP z620 (Original@) Xeon E5-1620 (4-core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz) / 8GB (1X 8GB DDR3-1333) / AMD Firepro V5900 (2GB) / Seagate Barracuda 750GB + Samsung 500GB + WD 500GB
[ Passmark System Rating= 2408 / CPU= 8361 / 2D= 846 / 3D = 1613 / Mem =1584 / Disk = 574 ] 7.13.16

 

And after upgrading:

 

HP z620 (2012) (Revision 3@) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 / 3.8GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1600 ECC reg) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) + Tesla M2090 (6GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB)  + Seagate Constellation ES.3 (1TB) / 800W > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > HP 2711x  (27"  1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5675 / CPU= 22625 / 2D= 815 / 3D = 3580 / Mem = 2522 / Disk = 12640 ] 9.25.16

 

Ausgezeichnet!

 

Cheers,

 

BambiBoomZ


Check the bootclock ? I presume I must check that in the BIOS then. Let me reboot and check.


PS does something similar apply to an z600 that of my wife ? She runs a z600 but her system does not accept registered ECC just plain unbuffered.

 

 


BambiBoomZ 

 

I checked the bootclock and it shows this

 

http://prntscr.com/di7dpb

 

My boot block date is from 12/28/2011 and my firmware is from version 7.1.21.1134

I am not sure if I could upgrade to a V2 gen E5 Xeon, do you ?

HP Recommended

@AnthonyK wrote:


 

 

I checked the bootclock and it shows this

 

http://prntscr.com/di7dpb

 

My boot block date is from 12/28/2011 and my firmware is from version 7.1.21.1134

I am not sure if I could upgrade to a V2 gen E5 Xeon, do you ?


 

You need the 2013 bootblock for the v2 procesors to work.

HP does not offer any means of updating the bootblock, the standard response is that you should get a new motherboard.

It is however possible to update the bootblock, either by in circuit programming using an external flash programmer, or by socketing the bios and burning the bios on an external programmer. Using Intel Flash Programming Tool may possibly also be an option.

You will find more info in this thread: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/z820-e5-2600-v2-ivy...

 

BTW you BIOS version is really old. You may consider upgrading to the latest one, but since the bios is so old you ma need to update in two steps - first a slightly newer one, and then the newest one - may be worth searching the forum since info on the exact procedure was posted here.

The firmware version you refer to is the Intel Management Engine firmware - this too can be updated, however for all intents and purposes for a standard user this is largely irrelevant, unless you have a bunch of machines and need to remotely power them on and run updates etc. If not you an just as well disable AMT in the BIOS.

HP Recommended

@MtothaJ wrote:

 

You need the 2013 bootblock for the v2 procesors to work.

HP does not offer any means of updating the bootblock, the standard response is that you should get a new motherboard.

It is however possible to update the bootblock, either by in circuit programming using an external flash programmer, or by socketing the bios and burning the bios on an external programmer. Using Intel Flash Programming Tool may possibly also be an option.

You will find more info in this thread: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/z820-e5-2600-v2-ivy...

 

BTW you BIOS version is really old. You may consider upgrading to the latest one, but since the bios is so old you ma need to update in two steps - first a slightly newer one, and then the newest one - may be worth searching the forum since info on the exact procedure was posted here.

The firmware version you refer to is the Intel Management Engine firmware - this too can be updated, however for all intents and purposes for a standard user this is largely irrelevant, unless you have a bunch of machines and need to remotely power them on and run updates etc. If not you an just as well disable AMT in the BIOS.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

I noticed this yes just at the same time I posted my questions / reply to it.

At the moment my budget will not take me far enough to get into that upgrading part of the motherboard but I am now just looking at the oppertunity to get the most of my current z620 configuration for what I purchased it for.

 

- video content creation 

- web development (design) 

- photo editing and label illustration design (Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Illustrator CS4

- audio editing

 

I should be alright for now I think.

It is most certainly a upgrade from my previous xw6600.

 

PS my new project right now would be to perhaps have the z600 of my wife which I need to do a reinstall of Windows 10 and uefi boot and perhaps have her current Samsung Evo 850 Gen2 drive replaced coupled to a LSI  Sas 9212-4i controller card.


Another poster her on the community forum suggested to go for a Kingston Predator M2 instead of of this LSI solution.

At any rate while being on a budget I am now still trying to see what the best option for me would be for a more than decent audio and or video editor. 

I am not that a fanboy of Adobe Premier but guess that would it.

 

 

HP Recommended

@BambiBoomZ wrote:

 

Here's an auction in which the buyer can choose components:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Build-Your-Own-HP-Z420-Workstation-8C-CPU-No-OS-Save-A-Lot-of-Money-/1823303...

 

> and a system with an E5-2680, 32GB of RAM, 1TB drive, and a Quadro K600 costs $545.

 

 

Cheers,

 

BambiBoomZ


 

The link is very interesting since it confirms that the Z420 can handle 4 CPU's which are not in the HP Quickspecs:

 

E5-2660 - 8C/16T, 2.2 - 3.0 Ghz 

E5-2670 - 8C/16T, 2.6 - 3.3 Ghz 

E5-2680 - 8C/16T, 2.7 - 3.5 Ghz

E5-2690 - 8C/16T, 2.9 - 3.8 Ghz

 

Since these are v1 CPU's prices on these are pretty reasonable at the moment. Good find.

HP Recommended

@AnthonyK wrote:

 

PS my new project right now would be to perhaps have the z600 of my wife which I need to do a reinstall of Windows 10 and uefi boot and perhaps have her current Samsung Evo 850 Gen2 drive replaced coupled to a LSI  Sas 9212-4i controller card.

 


From what I recall the Z600 is not UEFI capable. This was introduced in the Zx20 line. 

In any case I would not spend too much money on the Z600 at this moment in time, especially with the falling prices of the Zx20 machines and abundance of supply thereof since a lot of companies have just come to the end of their three year hardware replacement cycle for these machines.

HP Recommended

Regarding SATA3 support, the only instance that you are going to feel a difference vs SATA2 is when using an SSD.

WIth that in mind, I would consider getting something like the Apricorn Velocity Solo X2. Basically the card uses a PCIe 2.0 2x slot and you mount the 850 EVO SSD on the card for full SATA3 bandwidth. Its tried and tested and also a clean way to install your SSD. It also gives you an additional SATA3 port should you wish to connect another SSD or HDD.

 

There is also a Duo version ofthe card - with that you forgo the additional SATA3 port but instead can mount 2 SSD's on the card, configure them in RAID 0 and get speeds of up to 800MB/s.

 

In general, if I had a Z600 which I felt like upgrading I would probably get one of the above two cards, also a USB3 controller card if you do not have this already, something like the HighPoint RocketU 1144C, for full bandwidth on all USB 3 ports.

HP Recommended

Well I now do not intend to invest more in this system than a few bucks and since I already have a spare LSI 9212-4i SAS 6Gb 4-port RAID Card laying around I presume I could get the same results which I could with your suggested Apricorn Velocity Solo X2 card to connect to this Samsung 850 Evo SSD drive.

Correct me please if I am not reading this right.

Also I do already a USB3 controller card which I have to build in this PC Workstation later tonight.

HP Recommended

@AnthonyK wrote:

Well I now do not intend to invest more in this system than a few bucks and since I already have a spare LSI 9212-4i SAS 6Gb 4-port RAID Card laying around I presume I could get the same results which I could with your suggested Apricorn Velocity Solo X2 card to connect to this Samsung 850 Evo SSD drive.

Correct me please if I am not reading this right.

Also I do already a USB3 controller card which I have to build in this PC Workstation later tonight.


 

The LSI card will be fine and you will acheive the same result as the Apricorn cards - obviously since you have this card already using it is the smart move.

† 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>.