HP Z600 workstation upgrades

[Imaoddjobman]

In reference to memory it was interesting to hear standard non-ECC worked  in early Z600s since 10600e memory costs a fortune.

Question I have is motherboard compatibility. I have a couple of Z600s one is a later C2 /03 board which is fine since that takes CHEAP 10600R server memory but the other is a Z600 B2/02 board date stamp 09. From the official documentation it states 10600E only, so will this take 10600R also???? 

I have also read that some Z800 02 boards with the latest bios will also accept the later 56xx Xeons? Is this true also of some Z600s?

Finally I have read that the Z600 boards do not like AMD HD7970 graphics cards? So what can I use that has more than 1Gb memory or will this simply be trial and error?

These are still great machines even for 2017 and my dual 5620 with 10600r beat on benchmark my AMD 8350 !!! thats some going. Only draw back is the SATA2 and USB2 and the fact the Z600 only has 2 hard drive slots without bodging and using expansion bays in the 5.25 spaces.

[SDH]

You need to use the search box near the top left, which will search this forum only by default.  Many don't know that, and it works quite well.  Just use some key words from below.

The version 2 you have works with the registered memory because it has that newer stepping of the chipset.  The older version 1 chipset does not support registered memory.  Regarding ECC.... I would not personally forgo that, especially given the server memory you mention (ECC, registered, as fast as the Z600 top speed, and cheap).  That stuff, by the way, works fine in my Z620 but runs at its top speed which is one step down from the top speed the Z620 can support.

The most reliable way to know the version is from its boot block date in BIOS.... 2009 versus 2010 is version 1 versus version 2 is an easy way to remember it, but BIOS gives also the month and date.

Both the Z600 and the Z800 version 2 motherboards (2010 boot block date) have that same chipset stepping upgrade so both support registered memory and both support the later 56XX Xeons.  Find the latest QuickSpecs version for those and you'll see the latest HP supported processors.  For the Z600 the last QuickSpecs version was v51, and probably the same for the Z800.

Don't know about the card question.... I only use Quadros.  For our work more than I need is provided by the Quadro 2000, 2000D, and the Quadro K2000 or K2000D cards.  W7Pro64 and W10Pro64 for both.  The K2000/K2000D are 2GB cards, and run great.  I don't even need that level of performance for our medical software.  W10 does not like two different generations of the Quadro cards in place, by the way, and for me has forced the newer generation's drivers onto the older generation card.  W7 does not do that if you pick your Quadro driver set properly.

I've posted in HERE on how to use the Kingston Predator M.2 SSD/PCIe interface card, and that works fantastic in these workstations.  I only need the 256GB version, and use that as my boot/applications drive and a SATA generation II 500GB SSD as my documents drive.  The M.2 goes in the top PCIe slot (above the top video card slot) and runs significantly faster than the fastest SATA generation III 2.5" form factor SSD.   Use that search box....  The key is using the correct storage controller driver, as explained.

I also have posted in  HERE how I use the Texas Instruments based HP USB3 PCIe card in the lower of the two video card slots and run the two front USB3 ports to the 5.25" bay via a specific HP 3.5 to 5.25 adapter so I have 2 up front and the two on the backplane.  Even have pictures for you there of my Z600 built up that way.......    When I am running 4 monitors/2 Quadro cards I'll forgo the USB3 card but always want the Predator in place now.  It is a great upgrade to have versus USB3 for me is a luxury that I can live without.

Agree on these being great machines, especially the version 2 with those two mods.