Second M.2 SSD for HP Workstation Z4 G4 - MT - 4U - 1 x Core i9 7900X X-series

[LukasKubicekABB]

Hi all,

I would like to buy this workstation, but I found out, that it has got only one M.2 port for SSD disk integrated. 

I know there are some reductions throught PCI 3.0 x4 or x16. 

Could you, please, recommend me any of abovementioned adapter? 

The most important for me is whether using of adapter does not slow down transmission rate.

Thank you

Best regards

Lukas K.

[BambiBoomZ]

LukasKubicekABB,

For full performance,  it is required to use a PCIe 3 slot at least x4.

Fortunately, all the slots in the Z4 G4 are PCIe 3. There is an HP guide to optimizing the use of the PCIe slots:

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/4AA7-1334ENW.pdf   {English]

I'm using two M.2 drives in a z620 ( HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI [Samsung SM951] + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 500GB NVMe). The z620 does not have an M.2 slot, so the Z Turbo is in a PCIe 3 x8 slot, the other PCIe3 is covered by the GTX 1070 Ti  so the Samsung 970 EVO has to use the 2nd GPU slot as that is the only available PCIe 3 slot. I tested the Z Turbo in a PCIe2 slot and the results on the Passmark disk test were - 20%.

For the M.2 adapter, I use the Lycom DT-120:

http://www.lycom.com.tw/DT-120.htm

Not the least expensive, but I simply mounted the Samsung 970 EVO 500GB, plugged the DT-120 into the PCIE x16 slot and it worked immediately. All finished in about 3 minutes.

One consideration with the first M.2's has been thermal problems, but that is less important now.  I also have an M.2 adapter with a fan:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-3-0-4X-Lane-Host-Adapter-Converter-Card-M-2-NGFF-to-Nvme-with-Cooling...

but I never needed to use it. I've monitored the 970 EVO and the highest temperature so far has been 41C immediately after a 72GB transfer- which it did in about 2.5 minutes. =Fast, fast, fast!

However, I do not have intensive disk applications.  If the new Z4 does, monitor the temperature awhile and if it is too high, consider the many choices of thermal pads, heatsinks and even heatsinks with fan solutions:

Heatsinks:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M-2-NGFF-NVMe-2280-PCIE-SSD-Aluminum-Cooling-Heat-Sink-With-Thermal-Pad-Bla...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-Thin-Pure-Copper-Cooling-M-2-NGFF-2260-Solid-Hard-Disk-Heat-Sink-Cool...

A heatsink with fan:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M-2-NVME-NGFF-2280-SSD-COPPER-HEATSINK-DUAL-COOLING-FANS-LARID-THERMAL-PAD/...

There are many choices and my preference would be for Copper over Aluminum. 

The new Z4 should be very fast and reliable- the i7-7900X is a very good choice.

BambiBoomZ

HP z620 (2017) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8-core@4.3GHz) / 64GB / GTX 1070 Ti / Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe + HGST 7K6000 4TB > Windows 7 64 Prof'l

[SDH]

Always spot on..... I detect a Z6 G4 in your future.

[lucretius15]

The HP guide for the Z4 G4 is here:

https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA7-2219ENW.pdf