Ram /CPU Upgrade

[42OZ]

Ok, I have a Z420 E5-2660  300 GB SSD 1TB HD 16 GB 1333 RAM Cineima 4d R18  PS  After Effects Smith Micro MOHO formally known as Anime Studio, looking to add Maya autodeck 2017.

What is the  best ( Fastest) memory I can buy for this thing can I use 1866 MHZ Duel Rank ?

What upgrades can I install as far as processors go, IE: 2670, 2690, 10 core, 12 core?

[42OZ]

Ok, forget the processor question, I figured it out and they are way out of my budget at this time.

Will this memory work?

Crucial Ballistix Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 MHz PC3-14900 Ram Memory

[SDH]

The processor speed will limit the memory speed.... faster memory will not let a slow processor go faster.

Your processor, from the Intel specs, can work with the memory speeds below.  You can put in faster memory but the memory and the processor won't go faster than 1600.  Whether you can mix that Crucial memory in with your current memory is another issue, as is whether it is compatible by itself in your workstation.  Crucial can tell you that:

DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600

HP engineers have posted here that it is best to use HP memory certified for your workstation, and to fill all slots with same memory for best performance.

[42OZ]

I appreciate your response but I have to question weather that is entirely true.

I'm not saying you are wrong, it's just that I have read some things that contradict your statment.

I read that, the Xeon E5-1600 seires has a limit 0f 1600mhz and that the E5- 2600 v2 seires has a limit 1866mhz

I also found a few sites that specify 1866mhz for the Z420 see link below.

I just want to make sure I get the best I can get, so If you can clarify that for me that would be great.

The site below is just one that I found, there are many others.

https://www.compuram.biz/memory/hp-compaq/hp-workstation/z420/4gb-e2q91aa-x4e70.htm

4GB ECC HP Workstation Z420 z-Series memory upgrades PC3-14900E DDR3 1866 MHz

[42OZ]

I see, I have a E5-2660 V3, Yes, max mem speed 1600mhz.

So, know my question is, does the z420 support  E5-2660 V2 Ivy bridge?

 boot block date is 3/6/13 

[SDH]

Nope.... you have a V1, not a V3.

Go to  HERE, and do a search on that page for E5-2660, and you'll see 4 entries that you can read up on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Xeon_microprocessors#Xeon_E5-26xx_v2_.28dual-processor.2...

Those have 2 QPI links as you'll see..... a single socket workstaton only needs 1 QPI link.  You may wish to use the free CPUID.com program CPU-Z to  confirm what processor is actually in your Z420 workstation.  That is a good little utility that is kept updated.

It can be possible to run a processor with 2 QPI links in a workstation with only 1 socket.... that is what I'm doing running a X5690 in my Z400 version 2 here.  The second QPI link adds significant cost to a new processor so generally running a new one with 2 QPI links in a single-processor workstation is not done.  However, that can make sense when buying a used processor especially if there are a lot of those on the market from decommissioned servers, driving the used price down.  

Whether you always can run a same generation single QPI link and its dual QPI link mate in a HP workstation is not something I know (E5-1660 versus E5-2660, both "version 1", for example).

So, terminology and TDP are important, knowing what version of the Z420 workstation you have is important, and being able to find a compatible used processor at a price you are willing to pay is key.  Then there are socket compatibility issues, and what the HP BIOS/microcode will let you do.  Update us on what you finally end up doing, and good luck!

[MtothaJ · Accepted solution]

---

@42OZ wrote:

I see, I have a E5-2660 V3, Yes, max mem speed 1600mhz.

So, know my question is, does the z420 support  E5-2660 V2 Ivy bridge?

 boot block date is 3/6/13 

---

With that bootblock - yes. you will be able to run Ivy Bridge Xeon E5 v2.

Memory speed is 1600mhz for the v1 and 1866mhz for the v2 CPU's.