How many versions of the Z8 G4 motherboard are there ?

[StevieTee]

Has the Z8 G4 motherboard been revised since its launch in 2017, are there multiple versions ?

[BeemerBiker · Accepted solution]

---

@StevieTee wrote:

Has the Z8 G4 motherboard been revised since its launch in 2017, are there multiple versions ?

---

From what I can find there are only two "different" motherboards

The 601 part number is licensed for windows the other 001 will require that a retail license for windows be purchased.

I looked over at eBay and all PCB were revision 1.0  All that means is the motherboard layout was not changed.  Devices on the board could be newer designs or from a different OEM vendor.

What is more important is there is only one BIOS for all Z8 G4

It would surprise me if the devices on the board had not been changed or improved since 2017.   

It would not surprise me if boards that failed quality control were marked as "engineering samples" and released to employees who then resold locally.

If you are looking for a replacement motherboard just get one from HP or from a vendor with a good return policy.

[edit] Want to point out that HP releases BIOS upgrades for this motherboard and indeed there are a number.  However, all the updates are compatible unlike this system that has 4 different bios, one for each SSID revision of the motherboard

[StevieTee]

Thank you for your help. The reason I asked was that I have recently bought a refurbished Z8 G4 and wondered if the motherboard is up to date to accept the 2nd Gen Refresh processors, at some point in the future, when they might be more affordable. You have answered my question. It's an attempt at future-proofing. I suspect that having not released a new flagship workstation since 2017, 2018 HP will likely release a new model soon, especially as Thunderbolt 4 has now been released.

[DGroves]

just to be a bit clearer on the two HP Z8 G4 board numbers

the HP board numbers do not reference different motherboard hardware revisions

what they do reference is if the motherboard will accept the HP cloud recovery   OS images of windows

the HP bios has a alphanumeric string embedded in it that  says either: licensed for windows / or not

if the code in the bios is not the  windows one, the free HP recovery images will not work and you will need a retail windows install or any other version that is activated via a serial or KMS server

[LEE251]

Thank you very much for your help. I really appreciate it. This is because I have recently bought a refurbished Z8 G4. I was wondering if the motherboard is able to accept the 2nd Gen Refresh processors, at some point in the future. This is because they might become more affordable, at a later date. The answer to my question has been provided by you. In other words, it is an attempt to prepare for the future. In view of the fact that HP has not released a new flagship workstation since 2017, 2018, it is likely that HP will release a new model soon, especially since Thunderbolt 4 is now available.

[SDH]

Even a little bit more:

The answer to your question is yes, regardless of whether your Z8 G4 is licensed for use of Windows or not (generally a Linux build) all of those motherboards will accept the next generation processors. However, make sure to upgrade your BIOS to the latest version before you put in a new version processor(s). You probably know that the processors must match each other.

You may have heard that there are two motherboard generations for the Z400/Z600/Z800 and Z420/Z620/Z820 earlier families of HP workstations. That is true... there were hardware changes between v1 and v2 motherboards in those.

With the Z440/Z640/Z840 that is not the case. The motherboards for that more recent family all can accept both the v3 and the v4 HP-approved processors. That is assuming that they have BIOS installed that allows the motherboard to recognize and work with the newer processors. It is no fun to install a newer generation processor and not have a BIOS present that will recognize it... voice of experience.

DGroves is right about the HP Cloud Recovery build access being only for workstations from ZX40 family and upwards... that has to do with "branding" of the motherboard. A new motherboard that is "virgin" will not yet be branded. That is a term related to upload of certain codes into the motherboard that then unlocks the Windows licensing. That is a complex process and quite a bit tricky but I've done it on two virgin Z620 v2 motherboards I got lucky on buying once. The necessary codes are on a bottom case sticker... and a motherboard cannot be rebranded from non-Windows to Windows-licensed... it has to be virgin to start with.

I believe one can buy a Windows-branded new motherboard directly from HP, and that will have a different part number on the bar code label on the motherboard that is different than for a motherboard that is non-Windows. Also, a sticker on the bottom of your case also should have tiny letters telling you if it is Windows licensed, and a Windows icon sticker is usually on the backplane of the case. The UUID of your motherboard will be registered on the Microsoft W10/W11 licensing servers if it has run with internet access under W10 or up so clean installs on that hardware should be easy.

So, update your BIOS first and you should be good to go. 

[StevieTee]

Thanks for all your help.

[DGroves]

boards that fail quality control are definitely not used for engineering testing

engineering testing is done to determine if a part meets the specified criteria for that product (in this case a motherboard)

it's impossible to see if a part meets specced values using a known part that has FAILED said values

and no company is going to use a known defective part  for testing and HP has strict rules about what you can do with test parts/systems and reselling them is not one that HP officially allows and they will take action if it's brought to their attention

apple is a prime example of a company that goes to extreme lengths to prevent ANY engineering part from being resold 

for small companies that buy retail or tested OEM parts from large companies like HP/Intel and so on

pre production testing of a semi defective part can be done in some cases if it's possible to test only part of a item

for a cpu this means that said cpu may fail at the rated speed but work at a lower non specced speed or the memory controller on a cpu may have one of the 4 controllers non functional rendering is useable a a dual mem controller that can only access half the dimm slots on the board

for motherboards you can apply the same, a bad usb port will not prevent testing the onboard voltage regulation

it's possible for parts from these small companies to sometimes be found for sale