Z4 G4 Processor upgrade

[Argomaniac]

Hello all, first post here so be kind please.. 

I have an ex business Z4 G4 workstation with an i7-7820x and I've been looking to upgrade the processor to an i9-10920x but everything I read seems to tell me that I can't upgrade it and I'm stuck with the i7. Then I found an answer on a similar post from Nonsequitur777 that infers I can unless I'm reading it wrong. Could anyone give me a definitive yes or no to my problem please

[resistencia]

Hi @Argomaniac 

very strange that it has an i7-7820x this PC is marketed with these processors

Intel® Xeon® W-Series CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2295 3.0 2933 18C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2275 3.3 2933 14C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2265 3.5 2933 12C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2255 3.7 2933 10C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2245 3.9 2933 8C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2235 3.8 2933 6C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2225 4.1 2933 4C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2223 3.6 2666 4C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2145 3.7 2666 8C CPU
Intel® Xeon® W-2133 3.6 2666 6C CPU
Intel® CoreTM X-Series CPU
Intel® Core™ i9-10980XE 3.0 2933 18C CPU
Intel® Core™ i9-10940X 3.3 2933 14C CPU
Intel® Core™ i9-10920X 3.5 293312C CPU 
Intel® Core™ i9-10900X 3.7 2933 10C CPU 
Intel® Core™ i7-9800X 3.8 2666 8C CPU

see page 9  , Manual

HP Z4 G4 Workstation

[Argomaniac]

Thanks for the reply,

According to the specs for mine it was supplied with this CPU as standard and it doesn't mention any compatible processors,

Which is why I'm not sure about any upgrade.

This is what it says in the spec.

[Argomaniac]

Thanks for the reply,

According to the specs for mine it was supplied with this CPU as standard and it doesn't mention any compatible processors,

Which is why I'm not sure about any upgrade.

This is what it says in the spec.

Product specifications

Operating system

Windows 11 Pro

Processor family

7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7-7820X (3.6 GHz base frequency, up to 4.5 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, 11.0 MB cache, 8 cores)

Chipset

Intel® C422; Intel® X299

Sustainable impact specifications

Low halogen

Memory

128 GB DDR4-2666 MHz RAM (8 x 16 GB) Transfer rates up to 2666 MT/s.

Memory Slots

8 DIMM

Internal drive bays

Two 2.5" or 3.5"

External drive bays

Two 5.25"

Hard drive

512 GB SATA SSD 1 TB SATA SSD

Additional storage

HP SD 4 Media Card Reader (optional)

Storage controller

Integrated SATA 6.0 Gb/s supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, 10; Optional SAS controller supporting RAID, 0, 1, 10 for SAS drives

Optical drive

9.5 mm Slim DVD-Writer

Compatible displays

All HP Z Displays and HP Dream Color Displays are supported.

Graphics (discrete)

NVIDIA® Quadro® P620 (2 GB GDDR5 dedicated)

I/O Port location

Front (Premium version)

Ports

1 headset connector; 4 USB 3.1 (1 charging)

I/O Port location

Rear

Expansion slots

1 PCIe 3 x16; 2 M.2 PCIe 3 x4

Power

1000 W internal power supply, up to 90% efficiency, active PFC

Software included

Z Central Remote Boost

Pointing device

HP USB optical mouse

Security management

Full volume encryption; HP Keyed Cable Lock Kit; HP Secure Erase; HP Sure Start Gen3; Kensington lock slot; Secure authentication; TPM 2.0 certified; HP Device Access Manager; HP Sure Click; HP BIOS Gen3; HP Client Security Manager Gen3; HP MIK/SCCM Gen2; Self Encrypting Drive (SED); HP Wolf Security Pro Edition

Manufacturer Warranty

On-site limited warranty and service with 3 year limited warranty and service offering delivers on-site, next business-day service for parts and labor and includes free telephone support 8 am - 5 pm. Global coverage ensures that any product purchased in one country and transferred to another, non-restricted country will remain fully covered under the original warranty and service offering. 24/7 operation will not void the HP warranty.

[DGroves]

this system came with two different motherboards using different chipsets and cpus are not interchangeable between motherboards

https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/c05527757.pdf

your system motherboard in your computer is the non xeon one and your currently installed cpu is a Skylake-X series

 https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/123767/intel-core-i77820x-xseries-processor-11m...

for Xeon based cpu's the Intel® C422 chipset is used supporting the  w-22xx series cpu's

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/126691/intel-c422-chipset/compatible.html

for non Xeon (your motherboard)

The X299 chipset is used which supports the Intel Core X-series processors, that are codenamed Skylake-X, Kaby Lake-X and Cascade Lake-X.  All supported processors use the LGA 2066 socket.

[Argomaniac]

So basically I can use any i9 cpu as long as it ends with an X  even though my system was supplied with an i7, is that right ?

Thanks for the reply...

[SDH]

From the Z4 G4 QuickSpecs link posted above I only see 4 i9 cpus listed, all at 165W max TDP. The earlier QuickSpecs would show processors that were less expensive, and ran cooler. Look on page 32 of that QuickSpecs and note the section talking about less than or equal to 140W and greater than 140W. Those hotter processors result in the motherboard demanding a special "Premium" heatsink/fan that also is used for any W-series processor running over 140W max TDP. The two different motherboards can only run their particular approved processors.... you can't switch back and forth between a W motherboard and a X motherboard. You can, however, upgrade your X processor in your current motherboard.

Those special "Premium" heatsink/fan and wiring adapter kits are very hard to find via HP, and very easy to make.  About 15.00 USD for the heatsink/fan off eBay and about 12.00 for the wiring adapter from respected source in China, or make your own. I've posted on that here. You buy a stock Z440 heatsink/fan which has about double cooling capacity and also buy a little fan wiring adapter that runs tacho signal from pin 3 over to pin 5. It is all in here including pictures and links. Go search for Premium heatsink/fan, which is 2 steps up from the HP Mainstream and 1 step up from the HP Performance type. 

Get back in touch if you need links. Also, check your memory. Slow memory will slow down your faster processor to the same slower speed. You may already have fast memory. You want DDR4-2933 (or faster) for that processor you want to use, and there is help available on that issue too.

Were we nice? 🙂

[SDH]

In case I was not clear enough... the answer to your question is a definite yes.

Be aware that if your Z4 G4 is running very old BIOS then the BIOS might not know what to do with a newer processor. It is best to update the BIOS before upgrading to your newer processor. Some processors have more than one "stepping" and you'd always want the latest stepping in that case. Not so for the one you want... its single stepping can be found on eBay by searching for SRGSJ in addition to i9-10920X. They are not inexpensive but if you're getting the workstation for gratis your cost will be very reasonable.