Most Powerful Dual Processor Configuration for an HP z620

[DasClueless]

Hello there.

 My first post is I guess an unsurprising one: What is the most powerful processor that I can put into an HP z620 in a duel configuration? I found someone selling a low-end z620 for cheap with a pair of E5-2609 V2s in it from which I can deduce that it has the latest bootlock and a riser card. The problem is I do not know what I can actually stuff into there if I were to go for it. Furthermore, a few comments on the forums here seem to imply that the motherboard socket can support chips with a higher TDP than the riser card thus the higher end chips are technically compatible but not in a duel configuration.

 Ideally I would want to put in a pair of E5-2680 v2s in there "at least" but will the riser card actually support it?

 Thanks for any help.

 P.S. Not all that importan but to give some background as to why I am looking at such an old configuration; I have a big, hot, loud, and power-hungry custom 5930K PC with 4 GPUS which I use for 3D rendering in Redshift and would like to make a smaller and more power-efficient PC that I could do most of my 3D modeling, texturing, animating, and simulations on. I also want AMD TR 1920x levels of performance but without having to upgrade to Windows 10 which buggers with GPU rendering performance and steals VRAM. 

[Brian1965]

Hi DasClueless,

The HP Z620 quickspecs lists all the compatible CPU's for the Z620 workstation. Here's a link;

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c04111527

With regards to relative CPU performance, I would recommend you look at the Passmark website, specifically the dual CPU benchmark chart;

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/multi_cpu.html

However, if you are planning on GPU rendering, then CPU single threaded performance will be a more important factor. Again, the Passmark website has some good reference data regarding CPU single threaded performance:

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

NOTE: Only HP Z620 motherboards with a 2013 boot block date support the V2 Xeon CPU's

Hope this helps.

[DasClueless]

 I have already been through the quickspecs list before and I can find no reference to the riser card supposedly having lower TDP/Power than the motherboard as I have seen referenced a few times on these forums. This makes me nervous about buying 2 chips and finding only one of them works because only the motherboard can supply it with enough power/support the TDP output.

 Let me change the question; Does the riser card and motherboard both support the same TDP/Powerdraw?

 Secondly, I am already looking at a dual E5-2680 v2 configuration specifically because it slightly exceeds a TR 1920X in multithreaded tasks for a cheaper price (CAD) and yes, while GPU rendering generally benefits from strong single core performance I only intend to do IPRs on it while leveraging the CPU horsepower for running sims in Houdini. Leaving my primary computer, which already has decent single core performance, to do the actual batch rendering of final animations.

 Lastly, the computer is in another city and so I cannot check the boot block date but it already has a pair of  E5-2609 V2s. Does that mean since there are already V2s in there that it will support any Ivybridge processor on the quickspecklist or do earlier boot block dates allow for only "some" Ivybridge processors to work and not all of them (of course listed in the aforementioned quickspec list).

 In summary: Do the motherboard and riser card both support the same TDP/Powerdraw and is the boot block date an all or nothing deal whereby if the computer already has V2 processors in it, it will support any other V2s on the quickspec list? I have asked the dealer about the boot block date but have yet to hear back from them.

 Thanks!

[Brian1965 · Accepted solution]

HI DasClueless,

The answer is yes to both queries;

1.   The CPU riser will handle CPU's with a TDP of 135W (the same as the motherboard). The CPU riser is the same model regardless of whether you have 2x V1 CPU's or 2x V2 CPU's.

2.   If the Z620 has V2 CPU's installed then it is definitely a 2013 boot block date motherboard. It will support any V2 CPU listed in the quickspecs.

[DasClueless]

Thank you very much!