Processor Options for a HP Z420 workstation - 8-Core limit?

[RockLobster69]

Hi Just a question 🙂

I have an 

Intel® Core™ i7-3930K Processor

will this work in this motherboard?..

Thank you for reading 🙂

[old_geekster]

@RockLobster69, welcome to the forum.

Here is the Maintenance and Service Guide for the workstation.  On Page 33 are the processors that are supported by the motherboard.  As you will see, it only lists Xeon processors.  For this reason, I can't say that the i7-3930K will work.  I do know that HP won't support it.

Please click the Thumbs up + button if I have helped you and click Accept as Solution if your problem is solved.

[MtothaJ]

On a purely microcode level the i7-3930K should work in the Z420. Just bear in mind that officially the processor does not support ECC memory so you would need unbuffered non ECC RAM.

It is however a bad choice for the following reasons:

- no overclocking possibilities on the Z420 board

- in terms of stock performance it is c.a. equivilant of the E5-1650, a CPU which is much cheaper, supports both ECC Unbuffered and Registered RAM and has been certified by HP for use in the Z420.

If you have a sprare i7-3930K a better option would be to get a used X79 motherboard from a reputable company (e.g. Asus, Gigabyte etc.), however these are pretty expensive. Another option is those Chineese generic X79 boards which can be purchase new on Ebay, Aliexpress etc.

[RockLobster69]

Hi thanks for ansewring so quickly guys 🙂 really appreciate it.

On a purely microcode level the i7-3930K should work in the Z420.

I was thinking the same?

Would this be as long as the MoBo has v1 boot block? or v2?

I notice that the E5-1650 is a v2 CPU is that right? as they are both Sandy Bridge x (X = 3930=E & 1650=EP)

Comparing these CPU's on Ark website they are very similar.

Just bear in mind that officially the processor does not support ECC memory so you would need unbuffered non ECC RAM.

It is however a bad choice for the following reasons:

- no overclocking possibilities on the Z420 board

I have this CPU from my old ASUS MoBo that got damaged when the cooler leaked and dribbled down onto the USB ports socket, I'd have thought it shouldn't cause damage to anything when leaking as it should be inert? but it did kind of crystalise, 1st thing I new was all my USB periferals going haywire then CPU overheat warning popping up and then thermal shutdown 😞 then it wouldn't switch back on. All now replaced as my main PC. and NOT worried about overclocking.

anyway I digress.

- in terms of stock performance it is c.a. equivilant of the E5-1650, a CPU which is much cheaper, supports both ECC Unbuffered and Registered RAM and has been certified by HP for use in the Z420.

I have 16GB of unbuffered (normal) RAM its 8 x 2GB sticks so really want the 8 RAM slots.

If you have a sprare i7-3930K a better option would be to get a used X79 motherboard from a reputable company (e.g. Asus, Gigabyte etc.), however these are pretty expensive.

Looked at these, way overpriced for what I want it for, just a project to build a cheap PC(read server) with what I have mainly the RAM and play about with Virtual Machine Test Labs.

Another option is those Chineese generic X79 boards which can be purchase new on Ebay, Aliexpress etc.

Looked at these also but only have 4xRAM slots 🙂

Looking on eBay keeping my eye on a few MoBo options, but thank you for you very helpful info/advice. 🙂

[MtothaJ · Accepted solution]

The E5-1650 for LGA 2011 comes in two versions:

- E5-1650 (v1) - Sandy Bridge 32nm

- E5-1650 v2 - Ivy Bridge 22nm

The i7 3930k is a Sandy Bridge chip, so assuming our logic is correct it would work in both the v1 and v2 boards.

If you want to purchase a barebones Z420 board, bear in mind that the main PSU power cable for the board is 18 pin. You would have to get a cheap 24 pin ATX to 18 pin adapter from e.g. ALiexpress for the power connection.

There are other considerations too - the CPU fan connector is 5 pin - a 4 pin cooler plug will fit but you would also need to ground the remaining pin so that the system 'knows' you are using a high performance cooler. You would also be missing the I/O shield since this is integrated into the Z420 chassis. THere are probably many other little bits and pieces which might need sorting out - eg. system prompts during startup concerning any unconnected cables (again these can be grounded out) but all in all it is not a plug and play solution and not sure if I would go down that route myself.

Have you looked at the Intel DX79TO Extreme series motherboards? There seem to be several floating around ebay, maybe that would be a better bet? Prices are somewhere between the Chineese X79 boards and the used big name X79 boards.

[RockLobster69]

Hi thought about most of that 🙃 as just got rid of an 8100 elite board, that went south, having had to do similar with it, main bug bind with that was the front USB port header, just could not get it right to get past an f1 prompt, which was a royal pain when remotely using and required to reboot 😭

It's going to have to be a fall back plan if unable to get an old x79 board from eBay for a similar price.

Again thanks all for your valuable feedback /help I will mark this as solved ☺️

Regards to all