Z400 with Non-ECC memory?

[mew905]

believe me I know, some stellar prices on ebay for Registered DDR3, but they go cheap I imagine because they're a hard sell as most people who would need registered DIMMs, buy them new, the average consumer wont need or want them. I saw a 16GB kit for $40 on ebay but it's Registered RAM and I was literally seconds away from purchasing it when I dug a little deeper and found the Z400 wouldn't work with it.

[SDH]

EDIT:  I have to retract what I posted below.  Here is my 4/19 up-to-date understanding, and please know that I try very much to go by what HP recommends for memory on these workstations.  Memory is not something I want any uncertainty about so I go by the book on this:

1.  The version 1 Z400 and Z600 HP recommended memory was all ECC and all unbuffered.

2.  The version 2 Z400 and Z600 HP recommended memory is all ECC also, and the Z400 version 2 still is supposed to stick with unbuffered memory.  It is the Z600 version 2 that can officially shift on over to include ECC buffered in addition to still being certified to use ECC unbuffered.

3.  The "memory controller" for these workstations supposedly is on the processor.  So, I thought that if I could take a nice processor from a version 2 Z600 and get it to work in a version 2 Z400 then I'd be able to run ECC buffered HP memory that worked in the Z600 version 2 also in a Z400 version 2.  I tried that and it did not work.  The processor (X5675) worked fine in the Z400 version 2 but the ECC buffered memory that was official for the Z600 version 2 would not work in that Z400.  ECC unbuffered still would.  So, there is another factor on the Z400 version 2 motherboard that kept the HP ECC buffered memory from working.  I took that same processor and memory back to the Z600 version 2 and they worked perfectly together again.

That cheap used HP server memory that is talked about in this post works great in the Z600 version 2 and is ECC/buffered.  It can be a great buy, runs at 1333MHz speed max, and that is also the max these two version 2 workstations can run at if they have 1333 rated processors installed.  

So, ignore the information below from me:

Only the older version 1 of the Z400 cannot use them.  That has a boot block date in BIOS that ends with 2009.

The later version 2 of the Z400/Z600 has a boot block date that ends with 2010, and both those can run ECC Buffered (registered) memory.  That is what I'm running in some of my Z400 and Z600 workstations, which are all version 2 motherboards with that later boot block date.

It is so easy to check BIOS and know what you have.........  less than one minute.  If you have a version 2 I'd recommend trying out those RAM sticks.  I have even used them on some Z620 workstations successfully.

FWIW a few of my W7Pro64 MS Windows Experience Index memory performance scores are 1 point higher with ECC buffered than with ECC unbuffered.

[Noahc]

I recently purchased the 6 DIMM HP z400 with the intent of using it mainly for gaming. It was only a hundred bucks but came with 4 gigs of ECC memory. I needed more so I went ahead and tried to install some Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333mhz NON-ECC memory (3x2gb).  I  placed each one in the black slots as the z400 memory configuration guide suggests to do and it works flawlessly. 

[Rspsta]

Hi All,

Z640 seems to be compatible with registered RAM :

10

Only Registered and LR ECC DIMMs are supported. Do not install memory modules into memory slots if corresponding processor is not installed. Dual processor configurations with memory modules installed for only one

processor is not supported. RDIMM (Registered) and LRDIMM (Load Reduced) memory cannot be mixed. All memory installed in the system must be either RDIMM or LRDIMM

Can I remove all ECC RAM and put only register RAM (non ECC) ?

Thanks for yours adivces

[Ro808]

"Can I remove all ECC RAM and put only register RAM (non ECC) ?"

A HP Z640 won't work with non-ECC memory =  synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) > memory for  "regular" pc's .

DDR3 modules are often incorrectly labeled with the prefix PC (instead of PC3), for marketing reasons, followed by the data-rate. Under this convention PC3-10600 is listed as PC1333

Here's some info on different types of RAM (from wiki):

In addition to bandwidth designations (e.g. DDR3-800D), and capacity variants, modules can be one of the following:

1. ECC memory, which has an extra data byte lane used for correcting minor errors and detecting major errors for better reliability. Modules with ECC are identified by an additional ECC or E in their designation. For example: "PC3-6400 ECC", or PC3-8500E.
2. Registered or buffered memory, which improves signal integrity (and hence potentially clock rates and physical slot capacity) by electrically buffering the signals with a register, at a cost of an extra clock of increased latency. Those modules are identified by an additional R in their designation, for example PC3-6400R.
3. Non-registered (a.k.a. "unbuffered") RAM may be identified by an additional U in the designation.
4. Fully buffered modules, which are designated by F or FB and do not have the same notch position as other classes. Fully buffered modules cannot be used with motherboards that are made for registered modules, and the different notch position physically prevents their insertion.
5. Load reduced modules, which are designated by LR and are similar to registered/buffered memory, in a way that LRDIMM modules buffer both control and data lines while retaining the parallel nature of all signals. As such, LRDIMM memory provides large overall maximum memory capacities, while addressing some of the performance and power consumption issues of FB memory induced by the required conversion between serial and parallel signal forms.

Both FBDIMM (fully buffered) and LRDIMM (load reduced) memory types are designed primarily to control the amount of electric current flowing to and from the memory chips at any given time. They are not compatible with registered/buffered memory, and motherboards that require them usually will not accept any other kind of memory.

[SteveCoops]

Hi all,

I have a 6-DIMM slot Z400 with 2x8GB Kingston KTH9600B/8G PC3-12800U DDR3 1600 Mhz Non-ECC Desktop PC Memory and 4x2gb mixed non ECC PC3-10600 RAM and it works fine at 24GB.

Cheers,

Steve

[Uky]

Odd. All my Z400's has BIOS version 3.61 Rev A. I cannot find any with a later date. The BIOS is "786G3 3.61 - 11/10/09".

Tried PC3-8500R-7-10-HP (P/N 50024-061) in all six slots. Got a red light and a lot of beeps back.

It did accept a Xeon E5640 however...

[SDH]

The Boot Block Date is not the date of your BIOS.  It is a date listed by that name in the first tab of BIOS about 1/2 way down.  That is a date that is pretty much written in stone, and will not change with BIOS updates.  For the Z400 there is a very simple way to know if you have a version 1 or a version 2 workstation.  Only the version 2 Z400s have 6 memory sockets. 

This does not hold true for the Z600... both versions have 6 memory sockets.

Finally, both the version 1 and the version 2 Z400s can run the latest BIOS version from HP, 3.61, released 3/6/18.  Always update your BIOS from within BIOS for safest transition.  I'd never update from within Windows 10.

[Uky]

Re-flashed the Z400 using last .BIN file on a USB-stick. It did not (as expected) accept registered DRAM's.

This machine is a V2 with 6 memory slots.

I have an unused V1 MB tucked away somewhere (3 + 1 memory slots). I have seen somewhere that Z400 MoBos needs a reconfigured  PC PSU. I have an "adapter" cable somewhere for this purpose.  It may be worth trying to update the BIOS on that MB and see wether it can use non-ECC memory sticks.