Upgrading an HP Z420 Workstation (v2 motherboard)

[SDH]

NS777,

I've read about that Samsung driver for the M.2 form factor 950 Pro from back in the Windows 7 era. For those who don't know Samsung added to the NVMe controller on that drive boot special OPROM code that can supplement the early UEFI boot code built into the BIOS of some servers and workstations (such as your Z420) so that with a single change in BIOS and GPT partitioning of the drive the combination of those two codes will allow booting from such NVMe-controller drives.  That won't work from the on-motherboard BIOS based boot code alone.

I have run those 950 Pro M.2 SSDs as boot drives in the HP Z Turbo Drive G2 PCIe cards in our Z420 and Z620 workstations here under W11 (latest) under the in-box W11 NVMe storage controller driver from Microsoft. Do you think there is any benefit to adding in the Samsung one you linked to in addition?

[NonSequitur777]

@SDH,

Truth be told, I didn't see much if any difference between the Samsung and the generic MS driver.  But I'd like to cross my proverbial t's and dot the i's, too.

Should be ready to attempt the BIOS flashing jump to make either the i7-3970X or the i7-4960X work, scheduled for this weekend.

Been busy with other non-HP upgrade projects.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[NonSequitur777]

@SDH,

I got the CH341A 24/25 Series EEPROM Flash BIOS USB Programmer Module hooked up correctly, but I can't seem to locate the BIOS chip (Winbond W25Q64FV, MXIC or similar 8-pin SOIC chip) supposedly near the CMOS battery or CPU socket.

I assume that we are dealing with a version 25x BIOS chip -correct?

the Z420 BIOS chip's Pin #1 (I believe is marked with an indented dot or notch) must align with the red stripe on the clip cable:

I got UEFITool_0.28.0_win32 and: AsProgrammer_1.4.1 available.

Any assistance would be helpful!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[SDH]

MtothaJ is the only forum member I recall who actually worked on this. A post that might get you some traction is HERE .

I never went down this rabbit hole personally. Let us know how it looks down there!

[NonSequitur777]

@SDH,

As the great master Yoda would say it:

Hmm… down this rabbit hole, I go, my friend.
BIOS chip, elusive it is. Small, it hides… like Jedi in exile.
Patience I must have… magnifying glass, tweezers… snacks.
Find it I will. Flash it I must. Compatible with i7-4960X, my destiny is.
Speak again I shall… if smoke I do not release.

Heh-heh… may the Force be with me.

NonSequitur777

[NonSequitur777]

Dear Forum,

Decided to 'shelf' this particular upgrade project indefinitely.

Even if I were to succeed making the i7-3970X or the i7-4960X work in this platform, the overall graphics performance will likely just be as poor as shown with top Xeon processors (E5-2667 v2 and E5-1680 v2).

Essentially all my legacy upgrade projects worked great with high end graphics cards, this one sure doesn't.

Conclusion: if gaming is your aim, the HP Z420 Workstation as an upgrade project, quite frankly, sucks.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777