Is the HP Thunderbolt3 PCIeCard compatible with an HP Z420 workstation

[BrianA012]

Tried the search options and I'm not a genius of these machines but I can definitely make upgrades once I have the knowledge I need. I'm updating my recording workstation and I am adding an interface that needs the Thuderbolt Ive been using Firewire or USB3 to this point.

Been looking for two days now and I'm throwing in the towel and asking for help before trying to order the card to upgrade or if I'm going to have to pass on the the interface for now.

MANY THANKS!

[DGroves]

while it "might" be possible to install a TBolt 3 card in systems like the Zx20 series that only came with TBolt 2 cards, keep in mind that  you will not get TBolt 3 speeds in systems that have a pci-e 2.0 bus (TBolt 3 needs pci-e 3.0 for the full data speeds)

the HP z820/420 were unique as the engineers added thunderbolt late in the motherboards design cycle, as such they were unable to use a dedicated thunderbolt header on the motherboard, so what they did was repurpose two of the usb 2.0 headers on the board for the necessary TBolt signals you need this specific cable for the card to work in the z820 i don't know if the z420/620 used the same cable as the z820

the card must be placed in PCIe socket 3 for the z420 and you will need to aquire/make the proper cable (this is where most people give up) if you search this forum on user uploaded some pictures of this cable and you might be able to make one from these picts

HP Z420/Z620/Z820 models:
The cable splits into two cables that plug into the system board. The cable header with three
wires labeled C26 plugs into the blue connector labeled P26 USB 2.0 DASH next to the yellow
connector. The cable header labeled C25 plugs into the connector labeled P25 USB 2.0 which is
closest to the USB 2.0 DASH connector.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04293195

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Names-of-Z820-plug-ends-C25-amp...