Z2 Mini G9 PCIe slot is out of spec with PCI-SIG

[5urg3]

I posted another thread about this but because it has been awhile, I can’t update it — all relevant info is there for those interested

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/Z2-Mini-G9-PCIe-ca...

So I thought I would provide an update here in another thread — I have contacted the PCI-SIG (the group the manages the PCI express specification) and lodged a complaint against HP for falsely claiming that the z2 mini g9 uses a “standard low profile” PCIe slot, which is how HP advertises it in their marketing materials and website

PCI-SIG were able to conduct an investigation based on my complaint and confirmed that the PCIe slot and bracket on the Z2 mini g9 is out of spec and does not conform to standard low profile PCIe specification 

Just putting this here for anyone else who is interested in this computer, if you’re wondering about the PCIe slot, it’s a proprietary slot!  You can’t put any cards in here other than HP OEM graphics cards.  

These proprietary cards are marked up significantly compared to their traditional standardized counterparts.

[EastoftheBay]

HP's proprietary PCIe bracket for the HP Z2 mini G9 is the syphilitic child of corporate profit. I have own a bunch of HP Z workstations, and upgrading without buying parts from HP can be a challenge.  HP, Lenovo, and Dell are becoming more like Apple; they want consumers to stay within their ecosystems and charge eye watering amounts for parts.

I have a T1000 with a standard low profile bracket.  I used a metal saw to cut both ends to shorten the bracket.  Works well but certainly annoying to even have to do this.

I used a metal saw to cut both ends to both shorten the bracketInstalled 

[5urg3]

What is even more ridiculous is that you CAN actually order the just the custom GPU brackets from HP

They're somewhat expensive (around $30 US if you get them direct from HP), but at least you can still order them

* N09189-001 is the Nvidia T400 bracket

* N09192-001 is the Nvidia T600/T1000 bracket 

* N09191-001 is the Nvidia A2000/RTX 4000 SFF bracket 

Unfortunately the A2000/RTX 4000 SFF bracket is "backordered" --  I placed an order just over a month ago and still have not received it

The other problem here is that there are no brackets for things like SFP ethernet cards, or cards for additional M.2 slots but behind a PCIe bridge, and various other workstation PCIe cards  -- because HP didn't want to bother making any for this specific platform.

I ended up getting a custom made bracket for the Intel 10Gb NIC...really ridiculous that I had to spend that much effort on it though.  

What I want to know is, did they do this custom bracket nonsense for any OTHER platform, other than the Z2 Mini G9?

EDIT: I found another one, looks like it's for an Infiniband / QSFP card?  Just says "Puer" -- whatever that means, lol.

N08715-001

NVM, looks like it's a USB bracket

https://partsurfer.hp.com/partsurfer?searchtext=M82495-001

[EastoftheBay]

Thank you for the part number for the Quadro T1000.  I was planning to search through the quickspecs or email HP to ask if they supply the PCIe bracket for the card. I must say that 30 USD is a bit steep for a low profile PCIe bracket, when a standard low profile PCIe bracket on eBay is about 2-10 USD.  I was sucked into purchasing several of HP's Z workstations, and I regret that decision every single time I have to upgrade those units.  I think "Puer" stands for poor, as in owning HP's workstation will drain one's bank account.