Z820 - Is HP Z Turbo Drive Dual Pro compatible with non-HP M.2 drives?

[s1n34t3r]

Hi,

I've been trying to reach the Polish branch of HP support on that matter but sadly, without any luck. I've tried to install an AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD M.2 1TB drive (as a data drive, non-bootable) in my Z820 station (with newest stock BIOS on board) using a DeLock PCI Express x4 to NVMe adapter. Unfortunately, it didn't work at all, no matter which PCIe slot I've used for that.

While browsing these forums, I've learned that it can be tricky to find an adapter that will work fine with Z820 workstation, so to avoid any additional trouble, I came to a conclusion that it might be wise to use the HP Z Turbo Drive Dual Pro adapter for that matter. My question is though, will it work with third party, non-HP M.2 NVMe drives? I've noticed that it can work with Samsung drives, but I've sadly found no info on the compatibility with the AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 1TB drive.

Could someone provide me with any valuable information on that matter before I'll take the risk and buy another adapter that might or might not work with the forementioned drive in my Z820 workstation, please?

[DGroves · Accepted solution]

the hp z turbo M.2 card was designed by HP to work in select workstations (z820 is one such system) if the card is used in a non approved system it will not work due to HP deliberately designing the card this way

the card itself does not care what AHCI or NVME ssd is installed, however the firmware on said ssd does come into play, hp only guarantees their tested product lines to work,... all 3rd party product issues are the responsibility of the product maker

i've never come across a ssd that will not work on the z820, but it's possible as the z800 model does not like and will not work with the sm953 AHCI model ssd as a boot drive

keep in mind that the z820 has pci-e slots (white) that are only active if a second cpu is installed

the preferred ssd slot is the one just above the video card slot

[s1n34t3r]

Thank you for your reply, DGroves. All the aspects you've mentioned seem logical and self-explanatory, therefore I'll take the risk, test the HP Z Turbo M.2 card with the drive I've mentioned and then reply out here if it worked.

I've the drive installed in the slot above the GPU, plus, as I have two CPUs on board, I've managed to test the drive in basically all PCIe slots on the motherboard, with no luck at all, sadly. The drive seems to work, as it gets warm, but there's absolutely no signs other than that, that would prove the drive is recognized at all.

I