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HP Recommended
HP Z400
Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)

ok so i bought a computer from a local thrift shop for around 30$ i was able to boot it up in the shop to see it work before buying it, its an HP Z400 Workstation Desktop Xeon 3520 2.67GHz 6GB RAM 240 GB HDD Windows 7. stock power supply from what i can tell which would be, the 475 watt power supply ok so i have 2 questions

 

#1 whats the best xeon cpu tthat this PC can support and what bios version do i need to support said CPU?

 

ok now onto the second question ok so i know that this is not a gaming machine i know its for cad and 3d stuff but i need you guys to recommend me a decent gaming GPU that does not require any external power and can run star trek online with decent settings not sure how many amps are on the rails of the psu as i dont have the pc with me right now so what cpu do u recommend and what gaming gpu do u recommend i should not that id prefer an nvidia gpu over amd if possible but as long as the card can run star trek online all is well

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

kurt459,

 

Go into the BIOS F10 setup and look at the boot block date under System Information.

If the boot block date is 01/30/2009, the system supports only the Xeon 35xx processors. 

If the boot block date is 11/10/2009, the system supports both the Xeon 35xx and 36xx processors.

 

If your system has the later boot block date, then you can install a 6 core Xeon 36xx processor, which will give you more performance.

 

If you have the older boot block, it is not possible to update it to support the 36xx processors.  There are several threads in this forum about attempts to update the boot block, but HP does not support it and does not provide tools to do it.

I am an HP Employee.
My opinions are my own, and do not express those of HP.

Please click "Accept as Solution" if you problem was solved. This helps other forum readers.

View solution in original post

16 REPLIES 16
HP Recommended

Hi 

 

Available Processors for this unit

 

Intel® Xeon® Processor W3503 2.40 GHz, 4MB cache, 1066 memory, 4.8GT/s QPI, Dual-Core
Intel Xeon Processor W3505 2.53 GHz, 4MB cache, 1066 memory, 4.8GT/s QPI, Dual-Core
Intel Xeon Processor W3520 2.66 GHz, 8MB cache, 1066 memory, 4.8 GT/s QPI, Quad-Core, HT, Turbo
Intel Xeon Processor W3550 3.06 GHz, 8MB cache, 1066 memory, 4.8 GT/s QPI, Quad-Core, HT, Turbo
Intel Xeon Processor W3565 3.20 GHz, 8MB cache, 1066 memory, 4.8 GT/s QPI, Quad-Core, HT, Turbo
Intel Xeon Processor W3670 3.20 GHz, 12MB cache, 1066 memory, 4.8 GT/s QPI, Six-Core, HT, Turbo
Intel Xeon Processor W3680 3.33 GHz, 12MB cache, 1333 memory, 6.4 GT/s QPI, Six-Core, HT, Turbo
Intel Xeon Processor W3690 3.46 GHz, 12MB cache, 1333 memory, 6.4 GT/s QPI, Six-Core, HT, Turbo

 

Graphics cards :

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 295 256MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA NVS 300 512MB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 450 512MB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 400 512MB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 600 1GB Graphics
AMD FirePro V3900 1GB Graphics
AMD FirePro V4900 1GB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 2000 1GB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 2000D (Spec DVI only card)
AMD FirePro V5900 2GB Graphics
AMD FirePro V7900 2GB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 4000 2GB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 5000 2.5GB Graphi

Let us know how it goes!
"I work for HP."
****Click the (purple thumbs up icon in the lower right corner of a post) to say thanks**** ****
Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem
Regards Sridhar
HP Recommended

thanks for the reply but the cards u listed in ur reply arent for gaming there for 3d art and cad i need a decent gaming card with out external power that will run in my machine

HP Recommended

The professional graphics cards listed above are the ones likely certified for the Z400 but any gaming card should work.

Just like any professional graphics card can be used for gaming...

 

If you haven't got an auxilary graphics power lead to connect to the PCIe graphics card, any 75 watt or less gaming card should be OK. Even if it's a PCIe gen 3 gaming card, it should work in an old gen 1 slot ao buy one and try it out. They are not expensive.

 

Unless someone who has a z400 has installed a gaming card lets you know their experiances trying one yourself will be the only sure way to know :Wink:

HP Recommended

i dont have the pc yet so how to i find out if the power supply has a 6pin pcie lead?

HP Recommended

Hmm, I don't have a Z400 so how to find out info about the z400 :smileyembarrassed:

 

You could always Google HP Z400 manuals which will get you to this HP page for your Z400, then click on "View all documents" and read a few of them. You should also click on Advisories, bulletins & notices in the left pane of the above page as there is some interesting info contained within (which you should also read as it may save you some upgrade grief). Do the same for Perform maintenance in the left pane. Basically HP provides a wealth of info on these pages for you to learn all about the Z400 you have just bought. The more you read, the more you'll know :Wink:

 

Unfortunately, it seems the z400 Maintenance and Servies Guide is a little harder to find and I don't know why. Luckily Google search can come to the rescue as it has no difficutly in locating this doc :OpenSmile:

 

This Z400 Maintenance and service guide is a must read docs so spend the time and read it. In particular the Power connections section and the Connector pin section are great as it clearly shows the two graphics auxilary connectors that the z400 has just waiting to be pluggerd into a graphics card for choice. Read and understand the first few pages of the  Expansion card slot identification section will highlight how powerful a graphics card you can use in your Z400 based on which power supply you have installed.

 

As for the type of graphics card, NVS and Quadro are certified for use while Geforce is not but any NVIDIA (or AMD equivalent) card should function withiout issue. Just make sure you use the corret drivers (again reading the driver realse notes will tell you lots).

 

All the info is avilable if you care to look :TongueOut:

 

Good luck and go buy a nice card to play with.

 

Update: the maintenance and services guide link is for the first edition of the doc but there are later additions. These later additions describe the use of a 475W or 600W power supply which limits the power of the graphics card to either 150W or 250W depending what is in your system. I'll let you find the later edition of the M& S Guide.

HP Recommended

kurt459,

 

Go into the BIOS F10 setup and look at the boot block date under System Information.

If the boot block date is 01/30/2009, the system supports only the Xeon 35xx processors. 

If the boot block date is 11/10/2009, the system supports both the Xeon 35xx and 36xx processors.

 

If your system has the later boot block date, then you can install a 6 core Xeon 36xx processor, which will give you more performance.

 

If you have the older boot block, it is not possible to update it to support the 36xx processors.  There are several threads in this forum about attempts to update the boot block, but HP does not support it and does not provide tools to do it.

I am an HP Employee.
My opinions are my own, and do not express those of HP.

Please click "Accept as Solution" if you problem was solved. This helps other forum readers.
HP Recommended

thanks for all the help i think im going to wait till the pc arrives and see what its actual specs are before i buy anything

HP Recommended

Some of the Geforce GTX 750 ti cards dont require extra power and will play most games at 1080p on lower settings. I'd Go for one of those.

HP Z800 - 2 x Xeon X5672 cpus - 48GB Memory, GTX 970 Reference / HP EliteBook 8560w - i7-2760QM - 32GB memory.
HP Recommended

Thanks man. This helped alot. I am a HP guy. I have HP Monitors & 2 Workstations. I kinda like both Z's Workstations ;-). One is a Z400 w/W3530 w/12gb Mem, w/FX-3800 GPU 1GB. My other Z is a ZBook14 Standard,  w/8 GB Mem, w/4400 GPU. My Z400 I will buy one of the 2GB NVIDIA's you suggested.  Again, thanks man...U stay kool, ...Dave

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