Nvidia Geforce gtx 550ti oc edition compatibility with Z400 Workstation

[ravenly]

Hi Experts ,

I have  Nvidia Geforce gtx 550ti oc edition 1gb 192bit ddr5 is it compatible with Z400 Workstation ? I cant't find a compatibility matrix or reference.

Please advice.

Thanks in Advance. . . . .

[SDH · Accepted solution]

It will work great.

The highest wattage high end card HP specified for the Z400 was the Quadro FX4800 drawing 146W max TDP, and the card you specify draws 116W.

I'm hoping you have a version 2 Z400 (with 6 instead of 4 memory slots), and will be running a nice SSD with your new card......

p.s.  Fill all memory slots with identical RAM for best performance.....

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

The NVIDIA GTX 550TI should work but some caveats.

1. Your PC needs to be running non-UEFI mode (legacy).

2. The video BIOS in the GTX 550TI needs to be the original unmodified legacy video BIOS.

3. Your PC needs to be able to run a PCIe version 2 graphics card.

4. The BIOS in your PC needs to be the latest HP unmodified BIOS.

5. The power supply in your PC meets the power recommendation minimum as stated by the graphics card manufacturer.

-------------------------------------

I had a NVIDIA GTX 550 and flashed the vBIOS to UEFI mode with an update from the graphics card manufacturer. The warning was that the card would no longer work in older PCs with the old legacy BIOS.  That warning was true as I tried to boot the GTX 550 TI with the UEFI vBIOS in a PC with a legacy BIOS and the PC would no longer boot after the vBIOS flash.

If say the GTX550TI was flashed to UEFI vBIOS then you might be able to get it to work if W7 is running UEFI mode and the PCI slot supports UEFI mode. If say the GTX 550TI has a legacy BIOS and W7 is running UEFI mode then you also need the PCI slot to support legacy mode.

----------------------------------------------------------

I gave you some situations to consider since there are those that would run with a modified BIOS and/or modified vBIOS in which cases can cause different configurations to work or not work.

[ravenly]

@SDH

Thanks for the answer.

The Z400 Workstation I have is the one with 6 DIMMs.

[ravenly]

@Big_Dave

Thanks for the information.

I have another question, I'm going to format my Z400 Workstation (6 DIMMs) and Install Window 7 Professional 64 bit.

I need to know what are the Drivers I need to download and install  for my Z400 workstation?

Thanks in advance. . . . .

[DGroves]

grab the "enterprise" driver pack for your model  it will have all of the latest drivers in one package. just download/extract

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/HP_Driverpack_Matrix_x64.html

[ravenly]

@DGroves

Thanks for the answer.

This is the file name that I need to download "sp58949.exe"  right? and do I need to install all drivers?

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/HP_Driverpack_Matrix_x64.html

[DGroves]

i don't have or use a z400 so i have no idea which drivers are required, but in general you should install a driver only when windows device manager shows no previous driver installed or the driver in the matrix is a newer build/revision than what is previously installed

as for the "sp" you need... it's rather simple,.......click on the z400  file that matches the OS you are running

[SDH]

DGroves has given you the valuable link to the HP Enterprise Driver Pack archive.  You've found the correct SP number for the pack for the Z400/Z600/Z800.

Note it was last updated by HP in October of 2012.... and the drivers in there are only for W7.

There are more recent drivers and I happen to be helping a friend on how to get those.  I'll post a new HowTo for that specifically under the heading of Newest Z400/Z600/Z800 drivers, but it won't be for a few days.

Do you have the HP "Restore" or "Recovery" partition on your boot drive?  It can only be used once to make backup media, so read up on that if you do.  You may have the original Restore/Recovery optical discs if you bought that new.  If bought used virtually never will you get the partition or the discs.  For some reason people tend to lose those..... they are very valuable.

However, you can load W7Pro64 off an official MS system builder kit, with proper license to apply.

Turns out that later HP SoftPaqs for later workstations can work for earlier workstations if you know the right ones to use.... they tend to be "universal" installers that will support older hardware even if it is not discussed in the HP documentation.  That is what I do, but I need to update my records first before I post here.

[SDH]

DGroves has given you the valuable link to the HP Enterprise Driver Pack archive.  You've found the correct SP number for the pack for the Z400/Z600/Z800.

Note it was last updated by HP in October of 2012.... and the drivers in there are only for W7.

There are more recent drivers and I happen to be helping a friend on how to get those.  I'll post a new HowTo for that specifically under the heading of Newest Z400/Z600/Z800 drivers, but it won't be for a few days.

Do you have the HP "Restore" or "Recovery" partition on your boot drive?  It can only be used once to make backup media, so read up on that if you do.  You may have the original Restore/Recovery optical discs if you bought that new.  If bought used virtually never will you get the partition or the discs.  For some reason people tend to lose those..... they are very valuable.

However, you can load W7Pro64 off an official MS system builder kit, with proper license to apply.

Turns out that many of the later HP SoftPaqs for later workstations can work for earlier workstations if you know the right ones to use.... the SoftPaqs from HP are repackaged installers from the original device manufacturer and tend to be "universal" installers that will support older hardware even if it is not discussed in the HP documentation.  That is what I do, but I need to update my records first before I post here.

One important tip.... make sure before install that your BIOS is set to RAID + AHCI under SATA Emulation because what the installer sees there influences what you get installed as storage drivers and this setting is what both HP and Intel strongly recommend (even if you'll never use RAID).