SSD drive on DC7900 USDT

[sarton]

I have a Dc7900 USDT and would like to know if can replace the normal 2.5"  drive by a SSD drive and install windows 7 .

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You should be able to.

On an older PC like that, I would suggest you get an Intel 535 SSD.

They have come down in price recently.

If you are going to install W7 from the HP recovery disks, you should get a SSD that is around the same size as the one you currently have.

If you are going to install W7 from a plain W7 installation disk, then it doesn't matter what size SSD you get.

Note:  A SATA III SSD will only run at the drive controller's maximum rate of 3 GBPS on the dc7900.

[SDH]

EDIT:  The post below has been corrected to remove discussion on memory used for the larger two of the three versions of this computer.... the Ultra-Slim uses a different type of memory, as Paul points out in his post to follow.

The answer is yes.

Here is what I would do, and I will be brief.  I have posted about all this under my xw6400/xw6600 work.  Depending on your skills you may have quite a bit of homework to do:

1.  The HP drivers for this are updated for W7Pro64.... you are in luck in that HP has a W7 section for the drivers for your box.  Go to the drivers Enterprise 64-bit section, and your first step needs to be to get latest ROM (v01.27 2015.11.27).  Latest microcode will be included inside the upgrade.  Ideally install that from within BIOS, and it is a very good sign that the latest BIOS just came out late last year.

 http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/readIndex?sp4ts.oid=3785044

2.  Get Technical Reference Guide HP Compaq dc7900 Series Business Desktop Computers.  Google for that.

3.  Here is the fastest processor yours will run, and search eBay for used one, and install it using Noctua thermal paste.  These are so cheap used that you really do need to do that unless you are just one processor below the best.  I have virtually never bought a bad used processor off eBay for these projects:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 processor, only 1 sSpec code Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 (20.00 with shipping 3/16 from eBay, and search eBay specifically for "SLB9L") 3.33 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, 1333 MHz FSB featuring Core 2 Processor with vPro Technology.

Others with the 2 larger versions of that workstation can use a quad core, but not you.

4.  Yours has a max of 8GB memory for its 2 slots... get 2 4GB sticks.   I prefer used HP RAM for that.... make sure to get what HP sells for that box.  If you're sticking with your current processor/memory then this is a non-issue.  Good resource:

http://images10.newegg.com/UploadFilesForNewegg/itemintelligence/HP/c015161231411782880620.pdf

You really can do fine with 4GB on W7Pro64, instead of 8GB..... I always like to run 8 or even 16 but have settled for 4 in some cases to keep costs down.

5.  Get a Display Port to DVI adapter, HP brand, BizLink OEM, off eBay.  Use that instead of the VGA port on the back, to get digital video out.

6.  Your box is a SATA Gen II box.  I will be dogmatic here..... only buy an Intel 320 series 300GB SSD off eBay.  If you want to get that in a 160GB version you can do that too.  Use the latest Intel Toolbox software to update firmware of it and optimize it, if needed.

7.  Only get a 64-bit version of W7Pro..... 32-bit is a waste of your potential.  Key point:  critical to make sure in BIOS you have SATA emulation set to "RAID + AHCI" or "RAID" if that is what is offered in your BIOS (because that gets you the RAID and AHCI drivers also).  Intel and HP both recommend this, and I have been doing it for years on all my builds.  If you have things set incorrectly you will not get the benefit of SSD/AHCI.  I buy the W7Pro64 system builder DVD kit.

8.  There are ways to optimize a build for SSD smaller size where you have docs on a second HDD, and keep OS and programs on SSD.  With the Intel I recommend it is big enough to usually take care of both.  Always keep about 15% of a SSD empty for breathing room.  Use the Toolbox to TRIM the SSD about once a month.  If you have lots of docs you may wish to have a second 2.5" HDD in there, such as the Momentus XT, with latest firmware upgrade.

9.  Get the latest QuickSpecs for your box..... the latest I found is v29:

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04287292.pdf?ver=29

So, now you are off and running..... Please post back including some pics through this process so others can benefit too.

[sarton]

Brief...???

Thank you both for your valuable information and suggestions .

I 'll give it a try.

Regards.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[SDH]

Happy to help.  No, that was not brief!

The reason for the recommendation to use the Intel 320 series SSD is that it is a SATA II rather than SATA III drive.  The Intel 535 is a SATA III drive, and HP has put out specific communication documents warning against using SATA III drives in its SATA II workstations due to potential for significant intermittent issues.  Those topics have been posted about in detail in this forum.  The point was that doing that was not a guarantee of problems to come, but that there was a significant risk.

The exception HP provided then was to use SATA generation III drives that are HP branded.  It appears that HP engineers figured out the solution to the issues, and apply a HP firmware update to those HP gen III drives so they can work without concern in the older SATA Gen II workstations such as yours.  In my work with the xw and early Z workstations I have followed this advice and never have seen an issue.  So, if you want to use an Intel 535 I'd suggest making sure it is from HP.  I've done exactly that, and it worked fine.

Finally, a SATA Gen III drive used in a SATA Gen II workstation will not go any faster than SATA Gen II speeds.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @sarton :

@SDH is correct about that.

Here is the link to the document that describes the problem...

http://h20566.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=3718645&docId=emr_na-c02711513&lang=en&c...

I have a dc7800 CMT and bought a WD Caviar 500 GB SATA III HDD and when I restarted the PC, I would consistently get a drive not found error.

I returned it thinking I got a bad HDD, and the new one did the same thing.

I also have an 8200 Elite CMT which runs SATA III drives at the SATA III speed.

It came with a SATA III Seagate 1 TB HDD

Since it came that way from the factory, I put it in the dc7800 and it has worked great ever since.

Now the reason I suggested the Intel 535 SSD is because I have an 8000 Elite CMT, and it is the same in every respect as the dc7900, except that it uses DDR3 memory (has the same chipset, etc).

SDH is not correct about the memory though.  The dc7900 only supports DDR2 (PC2-6400) memory.

That does create quite a bottleneck between the memory and the processor, but there is nothing you can do about it.

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c04287292.pdf  (see page 13).

I put a Sandisk Plus 240 GB SATA III SSD in the 8000 Elite PC (runs at the SATA II) speed, and it has worked just fine right from the get-go.

IMO, the Intel 535 is a better drive, but I got the Sandisk for only $40 bucks ($65 off, plus I had a $25 gift card), so I couldn't pass that up.

I have 3 HP business notebooks that I put the Intel 535's in.

That way, you can move your SATA III SSD to a newer PC that runs the drives at 6.0 GBPS, and not be stuck with a SATA II one running on a newer PC.

But like SDH wrote, there is some risk attendant in doing what I did.

[SDH]

Paul,

Thanks for catching that mistake on the memory.... the Ultra-Slim uses a different smaller form factor type of memory (SO-DIMM) than the two larger versions of the DC7900 (DIMM). 

A quote from the DC7900 QuickSpecs:  " The HP Compaq dc7900 business desktop supports non-ECC DDR2 PC2-5300 (667-MHz) and PC2-6400 (800-MHz) memory."  If I were buying new SO-DIMM memory for an Ultra-Slim DC7900 I'd go for the faster version, personally.

I corrected my post above, and here is a screen capture regarding the SO-DIMM type of memory that the Ultra-Slim needs.  This also is from the QuickSpecs for the DC7900:

[sarton]

Very interesting and thorough information.

Thanks a lot !

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

None of the dc7900 models (CMT, SFF or USDT) use DDR3 memory.  They all use DDR2 memory.

The 8000 Elite model series uses DDR3 memory, and can only run it at 1066 MHz.