SSHD

[42OZ]

I have just resently purchase a  HP Z420 liquid cooled with a 2.20GHz E5-2660 Quadro 2000 from zBay.

The workstation came with no HDs, I was doing a little searching for HDs and ran across a HP Z420 pdf.

In the pdf it states that I can use certain drives only, is this true?

Pretty sure I have 3 SATA connection's, well 6 in total I guess, 3 data and  3?.

I was thinking on buying seegayt SSHD 1tb just to start out with, can anyone tell me if that will be compatible?

I will be installing W7 with a flash drive, from what I understand that is the only way it can be done.

Thank you very much for any advise you can pass my way.

It is my hope that I didn't get in over my head with this workstation.LOL

[42OZ]

Product Number E3F75EC#ABA

[MtothaJ]

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@42OZ wrote:

I have just resently purchase a  HP Z420 liquid cooled with a 2.20GHz E5-2660 Quadro 2000 from zBay.

The workstation came with no HDs, I was doing a little searching for HDs and ran across a HP Z420 pdf.

In the pdf it states that I can use certain drives only, is this true?

Pretty sure I have 3 SATA connection's, well 6 in total I guess, 3 data and  3?.

I was thinking on buying seegayt SSHD 1tb just to start out with, can anyone tell me if that will be compatible?

I will be installing W7 with a flash drive, from what I understand that is the only way it can be done.

Thank you very much for any advise you can pass my way.

It is my hope that I didn't get in over my head with this workstation.LOL

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A SATA drive is a SATA drive - yes it will be compatible. On the SATA side you have 2x SATA3 connectors and 4x SATA2 connectors.

I would say definietly get a SSD for your OS, either a SATA one or if funds permit something like the Samsung 960 Evo.

The Seagate drive would be fine as a data drive, FYI I am using a 1TB WD Blue drive for data and for a mechanical drive the performance is pretty good.

SATA SSDs will benefit when plugged into the SATA3 ports.

[42OZ]

Hey, thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.

Question, what format options do i have , can I install M.2, mSATA, what is the best way to to go?

I don't see a slot for M.2, would I need a Pcie adapter card for that?

I have a Quardro 2000 in it now, I was contemplating adding another one, (worth while?) and would that not be possible if I used a Pcie adapter card for ssd M.2 EVO?

[MtothaJ]

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@42OZ wrote:

Hey, thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.

Question, what format options do i have , can I install M.2, mSATA, what is the best way to to go?

I don't see a slot for M.2, would I need a Pcie adapter card for that?

I have a Quardro 2000 in it now, I was contemplating adding another one, (worth while?) and would that not be possible if I used a Pcie adapter card for ssd M.2 EVO?

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Yes, you would need a m2 to PCIe adapter for the m.2 drive.

If you put this in slot 4 you would still have room in slot 2 and 5 for two double width GPU's - just make sure whatever cards you are getting are certified to work in SLI on the machine.

[42OZ]

OK, so, I have limited funds, I don't think I can purchasee a 960 EVO NVME at this time.

I see the 951, for a little less cash , but looks like installing it PCIE in win7 sp1 is a nightmare.

So, I'm wondering if it would be less complex to use just a Old school SSD SATA 3 drive, or will that be a headache also.

No matter what drive I use it will be light years faster then my, T5400. The most demanding programs I run are smithmicro, MOHO 12, Hitflim 3, the T5400 handels them pretty well.

So, I guess, all I can do, is ask for more sugestions.

I'm looking at a  Micron/HP M500 256GB Solid State Drive SSD, 2.5", SATA III?

Will the Z420 reconise the micron as a boot drive?

If not, where do I get a list?

Thanks

[gabornico]

the only difference between a standard SATA SSD and the HP M500 is the firmware.

Part numbers are A3D26AA or A3D26AT.

To make the drive bootable you need to perform a clean install of Windows 7.

[42OZ]

Ok, excuse me for having to ask, but , does that mean, I should buy the one with firmware already on it, or, that I can buy any SSD, and download the firmware to it?

[42OZ]

Correct...even if I buy an SSD with the firmware, it wont do me anygood, because, the Z420, did not support Win 7 pro 64bit?

[gabornico]

The Micron M500 with 256 GB capacity is afaik an OEM product.

I think you should buy the HP SSD kit.

It contains not only the drive but also a toolless 3,5" adapter and a high quality SATA cable.

As already mentioned, the disk has a proprietary HP firmware which is optimized for the Z series Workstations.

Your workstation supports Windows 7, here's a link.