Upgrading CPU in Z420?

[DGroves]

nobody can answer your question untill you describe how (and what tests) you have used to come to the conclusion that the new card is no faster than the older one

[SDH]

The boot block date you provide from BIOS is in fact for the version 2 motherboard in the Z420/Z620.  As such it can support use of the version 2 processors listed in the later QuickSpecs available by searching for Z420 QuickSpecs.  The later ones will show you the "v2" processors.  The Z420 can run only 1 processor so you don't need an E5-26xx v2 processor.  You only need a E5-16xx v2 processor.

There are multiple HP-approved v2 processors for this workstation and you want one that can run the fastest possible memory to match the processor you choose.  I only pick the ones that can run at 1866.  So, is it a E5-1650 v2?  E5-1660 v2?  E5-1680 v2?  Do you want to overclock, in a limited but worthwhile fashion?  That is possible....  I've posted in here about how to use a Z440 heatsink/fan in the Z420... about double the cooling fin area.  Bambi has posted on use of HP Z420 watercooling as has Brian, and both on HP workstation overclocking.  DGroves has much high level experience to share as a very seasoned IT professional..

I chose the E5-1660 v2.  Best bang for the buck is the E5-1650 v2.  Most bucks for the bang is the E5-1680 v2.  Read up on all this in the forum, and check on eBay for the prices from a respected US used processor seller.  I don't do China for used processors, but do get other parts from there.

Here is your reference quite late quickspecs for the Z420 v2... I never have seen this "37.1" version before.  Those Aussies......:

https://www.bluechipit.com.au/media/product_spec/Z420_WORKSTATION_1.pdf

Final note:  HP engineer we trust has said filling all memory slots with identical RAM in these workstations gives a significant synergistic benefit.... is it 8 x 2GB?  8 x 4GB?  8 x 8GB?    It should be 1866, ECC unbuffered.

[BambiBoomZ]

z420_Guy,

There is certainly a relationship between the monitor refresh rate and the system FPS.  If the monitor has a refresh rate of 144MHz but the graphics card output is 128 FPS, the monitor will be displaying at 128.  Also, the GPU output connections  have limitations:  DisplayPort runs at a maximum of 120MHZ and HDMI at 60MHz. Also, there is a penalty when the system FPS rate and the monitor refresh rate are different, either higher or lower, in the form of  screen tearing.  That is a condition in which the information from two or more frames is displayed as a single screen draw. I see screen tearing sometimes using a z420 with a GTX 660 Ti

 when it can't send  pixels quite fast enough to a 40" 4K monitor. -I'm looking at used GTX 970's,..

Consider running Cinebench R15, which sets FPS as OpenGL output and CPU benchmarks foryour system.  If the FPS is not 144FPS, then the CPU clock speed will need to be higher and/or the monitor connection bandwidth needs to be higher- certainly not HDMI.  I run a z620 with a Xeon E5-1680 v2 overclocked to 4.3GHz on all 8-cores using Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.  On a GTX 1070 Ti (MSI Aero)(DisplayPort).  The results: Cinebench: OpenGL= 134.68 fps / CPU= 1234 cb  _10.27.18.  I think it's safe to say that with a GTX 1080 Ti, that system should work in the 144FPS range.

The E5-1650 v2 is excellent and may be suitable. If you already have one, give it a go.  Alternately, consider a Xeon E5-1660 v2 as the all-core speed is 3.9GHz. Using a version of Intel Extreme Tuning Utility more contemporaneous to an E5 v2, and adding the z420 liquid cooler, try running the E5-1650 v2  with 1 core @ 4.3GHz and the remaining 5-cores at 4.1GHz or 4.0.  Or, all cores at 4.2GHz. There are E5-1650 v2's running on HP z420's at 4.2  and on X79- up to 4.6GHz . There is a z420 running an E5-1660 v2 @ 4.3GHz.  I had a z420 with an E5-1660 v2 and I ran it at 4.2 on all cores.

If you do try XTU overclocking, proceed carefully and methodically. When finding the best settings, run the Prime 95 stress test a long while- a couple of hours or more, and watch the CPU temperatures on HWMonitor or similar. 

I know very little about Thunderbolt, except it can provide a very wide video bandwidth and it may be worth learning about it for your use. HP makes a Thunderbolt add-on card, (HP 753732-001)  PCIe 3.0 X4 which means it would go in PCIe Slot 4. That will run a 4K display at 120MHz but a lower resolution will improve on that.

BambiBoomZ

HP z620_2 (2017) (R7) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8-core@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid Cooling / 64GB DDR3-1866 ECC Reg / Quadro P2000 5GB _ GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB + HGST 7K6000 4TB / 825W PSU /> HP OEM Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)