Dead Z820 - black screen then shuts down.

[EV_000]

Hi all,

I have a HP z820 with dual CPUs that suddenly died. It was working just fine then one morning when turned on the screen was black and every fan in there (a lot BTW) kicked in full belt. This stayed until I pulled the power - the button did nothing.

So I went back to normal trouble shooting - removed everything and tried to boot up with just one ram stick (also did this with two - one for each CPU in case this made a difference). Now what is happening is at least a little calmer - the PC is turning on - still a blank screen but at least the fans seem to run normally but after about 20 seconds the system powers off.

I would suspect something thermal but it it is turned on immediately after the shut down it takes the same 20 seconds to shut down so it it was something overheating I would expect the second shut down to be much quicker.

I have swapped the graphics card (but not had a chance to test the old one in another PC yet so suppose this could be the issue). It seems like the system thinks something is not there and shutting down but I can't figure out what.

Any one got any ideas?

Ev

 

[bambiboom]

Hi all,

I have a HP z820 with dual CPUs that suddenly died. It was working just fine then one morning when turned on the screen was black and every fan in there (a lot BTW) kicked in full belt. This stayed until I pulled the power - the button did nothing.

So I went back to normal trouble shooting - removed everything and tried to boot up with just one ram stick (also did this with two - one for each CPU in case this made a difference). Now what is happening is at least a little calmer - the PC is turning on - still a blank screen but at least the fans seem to run normally but after about 20 seconds the system powers off.

I would suspect something thermal but it it is turned on immediately after the shut down it takes the same 20 seconds to shut down so it it was something overheating I would expect the second shut down to be much quicker.

I have swapped the graphics card (but not had a chance to test the old one in another PC yet so suppose this could be the issue). It seems like the system thinks something is not there and shutting down but I can't figure out what.

Any one got any ideas?

EV_000

This is a coincidence. About two hours ago a friend rang up and told me an identical sequence: system that worked perfectly the day before > powered on > full on fans> black screen. The difference In this example was that there was no automatic shutdown. If it were thermal shutdown my surmise was that the system would not remain running, so it seemed trying another GPU was the best idea. However, there was not one on hand.

It doesn't seem as though memory would be the cause as memory errors should have beeps.

It still seems more likely that the problem is thermal. Are you certain the that the fan on the 2nd CPU riser / assembly is also running? A thermal shutdown can happen from cold in 20-30 seconds or less as I saw on a Core2 Quad Dell Precision 390.

Two odd ones in a day,..


Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 ( E5-1660 v2, 32GB, K4200, Intel 730 480GB/ WD Black 1TB)
Dell Precision T5500 ( 2X Xeon X5680, 48GB, K2200, PERC H310 > Samsung 840 250GB, WD RE4 1TB )

 

[EV_000]

It still seems more likely that the problem is thermal. Are you certain the that the fan on the 2nd CPU riser / assembly is also running? A thermal shutdown can happen from cold in 20-30 seconds or less as I saw on a Core2 Quad Dell Precision 390.

Two odd ones in a day,..


Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 ( E5-1660 v2, 32GB, K4200, Intel 730 480GB/ WD Black 1TB)
Dell Precision T5500 ( 2X Xeon X5680, 48GB, K2200, PERC H310 > Samsung 840 250GB, WD RE4 1TB )

Hi Bambi

on the 820 the CPUs are both on the mother board. They don't have fans just some small water coolers with radiators on top. The air flow is then provided by the case fans and shrouds. They are all spinning and seem to be working.

The thing puzzling me is that if it is thermal then the BIOS should still show something until it cuts out. I am starting to think it may be a dead motherboard - which is about £300 to replace. I would like to rule everything else out before spending the cash.

Ev

 

[bambiboom]

"Hi Bambi

on the 820 the CPUs are both on the mother board. They don't have fans just some small water coolers with radiators on top. The air flow is then provided by the case fans and shrouds. They are all spinning and seem to be working.

The thing puzzling me is that if it is thermal then the BIOS should still show something until it cuts out. I am starting to think it may be a dead motherboard - which is about £300 to replace. I would like to rule everything else out before spending the cash.

Ev"



EV_000,

Yes, it's the z620 with the riser bits.

Were you able to verify that the graphics cards is working? If the GPU going in another system, and given the lack of error beeps on startup, you may be correct about the motherboard.

However, it's also possible that the problem is the power supply. the fans can run but as soon as the GPU and CPU loads are adding in, the system shuts down. When the power is on are there any lights on the motherboard lit?

Let us know what happens.

Cheers,

BambiBoom


PS> You're exactly right about the cost of a new motherboard:

A new one on Ebay US:

NEW Sealed HP Z820 Workstation System board Motherboard LGA 2011 708610-601 > $331. (£228) + $32 Post + $76 Import = $440 or £303

 

[EV_000]

Hi Bambi,

I will have the chance to check the graphics cards tomorrow. I'll let you know.

<Update>

I had some time tonight and did more swapping. First off the monitor and graphics card are fine. I put them in another PC and it booted no problem. So I got to wondering if one of the memory channels had failed so I put the ram on a different channel (HP kindly color the ram slots). It did not boot but interestingly I did get 5 flashes from a red LED at the back near where the power plugs in. As far as I can see 5 flashes is a RAM problem. I put them back in the recommended 1 and 2 positions and the flashes are stopped. Still nothing happening on the screen but it is pointing to the board at least being somewhat functional.

I am not 100% convinced on the RAM (it was some I had from a 420 that I thought was the same). I will collect the original ram tomorrow and try different sticks in different places.

But apart from that - does this throw any more light on the issue do you think?

I am willing to spend the £300 on a motherboard but will be totally gutted if I get it and find that was not the cause of the problem. If you don't have any other ideas I suppose it could be CPU (but no CPU blinks) so I could take out CPU 1 and try it - then if no joy take out CPU 0 and put CPU 1 in there. This would rule out a CPU fault (unless both went at the same time) and also rule out CPU 1 socket but not CPU 0 socket. I don't think a CPU in socket 1 and none in socket 0 will boot so probably not try that.

Ev

 

[bambiboom]

Hi Bambi,

I will have the chance to check the graphics cards tomorrow. I'll let you know.

<Update>

I had some time tonight and did more swapping. First off the monitor and graphics card are fine. I put them in another PC and it booted no problem. So I got to wondering if one of the memory channels had failed so I put the ram on a different channel (HP kindly color the ram slots). It did not boot but interestingly I did get 5 flashes from a red LED at the back near where the power plugs in. As far as I can see 5 flashes is a RAM problem. I put them back in the recommended 1 and 2 positions and the flashes are stopped. Still nothing happening on the screen but it is pointing to the board at least being somewhat functional.

I am not 100% convinced on the RAM (it was some I had from a 420 that I thought was the same). I will collect the original ram tomorrow and try different sticks in different places.

But apart from that - does this throw any more light on the issue do you think?

I am willing to spend the £300 on a motherboard but will be totally gutted if I get it and find that was not the cause of the problem. If you don't have any other ideas I suppose it could be CPU (but no CPU blinks) so I could take out CPU 1 and try it - then if no joy take out CPU 0 and put CPU 1 in there. This would rule out a CPU fault (unless both went at the same time) and also rule out CPU 1 socket but not CPU 0 socket. I don't think a CPU in socket 1 and none in socket 0 will boot so probably not try that.

Ev

EV_000

As the z820 is dual CPU, the RAM may be ECC registered whereas the z420 RAM is unbuffered. Registered and unbuffered can not be mixed and this may well be the problem.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[EV_000]

EV_000

As the z820 is dual CPU, the RAM may be ECC registered whereas the z420 RAM is unbuffered. Registered and unbuffered can not be mixed and this may well be the problem.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hello again Bambi

I had a go with the ram that was in the PC originally - no joy. There were a total of 8 strips so I fitted a pair - no difference - then a different pair (in case one or both of the pair were damaged) and so on. It's the same every time - Blue light on at the back if ram is in - 5 red flashes if it's not. I am now thinking this is not thermal though. If there is no ram in and it does the 5 blinks the PC does not turn it's self off. As I understand it thermal will shut the PC down no matter what and the fact that it stays up with no ram means it can't be thermal. Not sure if that is good news or not.

So I guess we have eliminated RAM, Graphics card, Screen and thermal issues.

We are left with Motherboard, PSU and Processor(s). Do you think there is any value in taking out a processor and swapping etc to see if it is a processor or processor socket fault or are we looking down the nasty end of a motherboard replacement?

Thank you for your help so far - it really is appreciated.

Ev

<Update>

So - still not got a working system but I found that the PSU has a self test (remove it form the case and plug it in). If the light on the back comes on and the fans work then the PSU is good. At least I know I won't be buying a system board only to find out the PSU was at fault all along.

So before splashing out £300 I have bought a POST board from e-bay. It's only £3.40 and has LEDs to give detailed error information when a PC won't POST properly. It should arrive in a day or two and we will see what it has to say for it's self.

EV

 

[bambiboom]

EV_000

As the z820 is dual CPU, the RAM may be ECC registered whereas the z420 RAM is unbuffered. Registered and unbuffered can not be mixed and this may well be the problem.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hello again Bambi

I had a go with the ram that was in the PC originally - no joy. There were a total of 8 strips so I fitted a pair - no difference - then a different pair (in case one or both of the pair were damaged) and so on. It's the same every time - Blue light on at the back if ram is in - 5 red flashes if it's not. I am now thinking this is not thermal though. If there is no ram in and it does the 5 blinks the PC does not turn it's self off. As I understand it thermal will shut the PC down no matter what and the fact that it stays up with no ram means it can't be thermal. Not sure if that is good news or not.

So I guess we have eliminated RAM, Graphics card, Screen and thermal issues.

We are left with Motherboard, PSU and Processor(s). Do you think there is any value in taking out a processor and swapping etc to see if it is a processor or processor socket fault or are we looking down the nasty end of a motherboard replacement?

Thank you for your help so far - it really is appreciated.

Ev

Ev,

Sorry you're still having the the troubles.

You've been thorough and the situation does seem to be narrowing down to the Motherboard, PSU and Processor(s).

The descending order or probability of failure is probably: PSU, Motherboard, and lastly, Processor(s). It not impossible that it's the CPU, but I've had perfect reliability with Xeons new and used the last twelve years. I've had many Xeons over the years, including a Xeon X5460 for $25 that arrived in bubble wrap in a plain business envelope that has worked flawlessly in a Precision T5400 for more than six years.

From this point, I'd suggest:

1. As there has been some fuss in the memory department, before testing, consult the manual and check the RAM placement according to the layout sequence.

2. Have a complete check of all connections to and from PSU, motherboard, drives. < See page 126

3. Test the CMOS battery and because it's been out, this will simultaneously clear CMOS to reset the BIOS

4. Test the power supply.

5. Remove both CPU's and try one at a time. Make sure that the RAM is configured accordingly

6. If you do have a spare Xeon E5, give it a go, but nothing of value.

This is a right old bastardesqueitorial situation.

A couple of days ago I've bought a Xeon E5-2687w for the second z420, but now I'm thinking it's too nice for it and so it shall go back on Ebahhh.

By the way, for what are you using the z820?

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[EV_000]

Hi Again Bambi

I have had some more time and worked through a few things suggested

> 1. As there has been some fuss in the memory department, before testing, consult the manual and check the RAM placement according to the layout sequence.

All 64GB Ram has now been tested in a Z420 I had kicking about - all is working fine. As far as I can tell the ram placement is also correct.

> 2. Have a complete check of all connections to and from PSU, motherboard, drives. < See page 126

Done. All cables removed and re-seated.

> 3. Test the CMOS battery and because it's been out, this will simultaneously clear CMOS to reset the BIOS

Done - Battery is fine and was left out for 30 minutes

> 4.Test the power supply.

The Z820 PSU has a build in self test - remove it and plug it in. The light comes on and the fans start. According to HP this means it is o.k.

> 5. Remove both CPU's and try one at a time. Make sure that the RAM is configured accordingly

I will have time to do this next week.

> 6. If you do have a spare Xeon E5, give it a go, but nothing of value.

I have a 2687W in the Z420. I was thinking (as the Z820 is also on a pair of 2687Ws rather than put the Z420 CPU in there and maybe kill it I could put the ones from the Z820 in the Z420 (one at a time obviously). If there is a fault I Think it more likely that a system board will kill a CPU than a faulty CPU kill a mother board so I recon the Z420 will be o.k.

> This is a right old bastardesqueitorial situation.

To say the least - but things are getting eliminated. After testing the CPUs - if they are fine then it's motherboard time. At least I will be quite confident that it's nothing else and feel happy splashing out the £300.

> By the way, for what are you using the z820?

I do contact CAD at a largish company. Once I.T. declared the Z820 dead and out of warranty (by a couple of months) then the box was valued a £0. I was then able to come to a deal involving the Z820 - a couple of deadlines and a bit of overtime that would not be claimed for. Rather a sweet deal.

I intend to drop a GTX 970 (Maybe 980) in there and it will be used as a gaming PC. I will also be doing some Photoshop, video editing and coding.

Once again thanks for all your help. I think this might be grinding to a conclusion...

Ev

 

[bambiboom]

Hi Again Bambi

I have had some more time and worked through a few things suggested

> 1. As there has been some fuss in the memory department, before testing, consult the manual and check the RAM placement according to the layout sequence.

All 64GB Ram has now been tested in a Z420 I had kicking about - all is working fine. As far as I can tell the ram placement is also correct.

> 2. Have a complete check of all connections to and from PSU, motherboard, drives. < See page 126

Done. All cables removed and re-seated.

> 3. Test the CMOS battery and because it's been out, this will simultaneously clear CMOS to reset the BIOS

Done - Battery is fine and was left out for 30 minutes

> 4.Test the power supply.

The Z820 PSU has a build in self test - remove it and plug it in. The light comes on and the fans start. According to HP this means it is o.k.

> 5. Remove both CPU's and try one at a time. Make sure that the RAM is configured accordingly

I will have time to do this next week.

> 6. If you do have a spare Xeon E5, give it a go, but nothing of value.

I have a 2687W in the Z420. I was thinking (as the Z820 is also on a pair of 2687Ws rather than put the Z420 CPU in there and maybe kill it I could put the ones from the Z820 in the Z420 (one at a time obviously). If there is a fault I Think it more likely that a system board will kill a CPU than a faulty CPU kill a mother board so I recon the Z420 will be o.k.

> This is a right old bastardesqueitorial situation.

To say the least - but things are getting eliminated. After testing the CPUs - if they are fine then it's motherboard time. At least I will be quite confident that it's nothing else and feel happy splashing out the £300.

> By the way, for what are you using the z820?

I do contact CAD at a largish company. Once I.T. declared the Z820 dead and out of warranty (by a couple of months) then the box was valued a £0. I was then able to come to a deal involving the Z820 - a couple of deadlines and a bit of overtime that would not be claimed for. Rather a sweet deal.

I intend to drop a GTX 970 (Maybe 980) in there and it will be used as a gaming PC. I will also be doing some Photoshop, video editing and coding.

Once again thanks for all your help. I think this might be grinding to a conclusion...

Ev

Ev,

By process of elimination, this does seem as though the motherboard is at fault.

[Optional extra content !: The two E5-2687w's is both extremely good news and slightly less good news: E5-2687w's are extremely valuable and have among the highest clock speed for 8-core dual Xeons. Hpwever, as Adobe software doesn't like dual CPU's, seems to have the maximum efficiency at 5-6 cores, and the single threaded performance of the E5-2687w is not ideal for games. Given the redirection of use, and E5-2687ws are so valuable here's a wild idea: buy a good used motherboard, get the z820 in good order, sell it for as many Cameronrands as possible- (£4000-5000?) and buy a used z440 with an E5-1650 v3 (6-core @ 3.5/ 3.8GHz. £2000?) and Samsung SM951 M.2.( £2000?). Add a Samsung 850 Pro as scratch drive, GTX 1070, and other nice things. The net results will be a Passmark CPU single-threaded rating of 2122 instead of the 1873 of the E5-2687w, one of the fastest GPU's ever made- and the upper end GTX's are known for video editing, and an incredibly fast disk system. Probably a few shillings left over and hereby the value of the z820 has been redirected to the new uses and with two generations newer technology. Just a thought.]

Let me know what happens.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[EV_000]

[Optional extra content !: The two E5-2687w's is both extremely good news and slightly less good news: E5-2687w's are extremely valuable and have among the highest clock speed for 8-core dual Xeons. Hpwever, as Adobe software doesn't like dual CPU's, seems to have the maximum efficiency at 5-6 cores, and the single threaded performance of the E5-2687w is not ideal for games. Given the redirection of use, and E5-2687ws are so valuable here's a wild idea: buy a good used motherboard, get the z820 in good order, sell it for as many Cameronrands as possible- (£4000-5000?) and buy a used z440 with an E5-1650 v3 (6-core @ 3.5/ 3.8GHz. £2000?) and Samsung SM951 M.2.( £2000?). Add a Samsung 850 Pro as scratch drive, GTX 1070, and other nice things. The net results will be a Passmark CPU single-threaded rating of 2122 instead of the 1873 of the E5-2687w, one of the fastest GPU's ever made- and the upper end GTX's are known for video editing, and an incredibly fast disk system. Probably a few shillings left over and hereby the value of the z820 has been redirected to the new uses and with two generations newer technology. Just a thought.]

Let me know what happens.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hi,

First one bit of super news ... I found a recon motherboard for £212 delivered and duty paid - that's really tempting. I just wish I had time to do the CPU swap and tests as it may go before I can get round to ordering... But then if one pops up - so will another. I have the 420 with the same CPU so probably will not notice too much difference.

I was tempted to sell the Z820 as you suggested but the thing is I love the Z8xx systems so much. They have massive PSUs - plenty of space, a crap load of disk sockets and will take loads of RAM. I have 128GB Ram in a box that I can drop in there and I'm not going to get that anywhere else. I know it's not perfect for gaming but I currently use a Z400 with a w3870 and the CPU never seems to be an issue so I figure this will only be better.

I know the 128GB Ram seems overkill but I run several VMs so the extra ram will be nice there. I was also thinking of setting up something like a 90GB ram drive and running windows from there. A simple program copies backwards and forwards at boot up/ shut down so as long as nothing crashes nothing is lost. I could hold several different images at that size and select at boot up. One for Win-7, and Win-10, apple os (hate apple but my daughter loves them). I can even have a crash test for searching less scrupulous parts of the internet. This is kinda what I use VMs for at the moment but this would be even better. There are supposed to be some good performance gains to be had.

I have a good lump of drives available to use (500 and 256 GB SSDs as well as a few 2 and 3 TB traditional) With raid then I am thinking 2 of 3 TB SSD in RAID 5 and 10-15 tradition in raid 5 as well. With a GTX 970 (bought today) I figure this will keep me going for a while. I can then use the 420 as my "downstairs" PC in the living room for more casual gaming/video editing/Photoshop with the GTX670 I have in my current Z400.

This will leave the Z400 (upgraded to 600W PSU) as a spare. I'll probably see if I can dig up a half decent graphics card and sell that. Should get £250-£300 for it all set up and ready to go.

It looks like this will be sorted in a few days and I'll have all my new toys up and working. Then I just need to get my OSVR working and I'll be set up for a while.

And before anyone comments - Yes - all my cash goes on PCs and no I don't need to get a life - I have one and am very VERY happy with it.

Cheers Bambi.

 

[bambiboom]

"Hi,

First one bit of super news ... I found a recon motherboard for £212 delivered and duty paid - that's really tempting. I just wish I had time to do the CPU swap and tests as it may go before I can get round to ordering... But then if one pops up - so will another. I have the 420 with the same CPU so probably will not notice too much difference.

I was tempted to sell the Z820 as you suggested but the thing is I love the Z8xx systems so much. They have massive PSUs - plenty of space, a crap load of disk sockets and will take loads of RAM. I have 128GB Ram in a box that I can drop in there and I'm not going to get that anywhere else. I know it's not perfect for gaming but I currently use a Z400 with a w3870 and the CPU never seems to be an issue so I figure this will only be better.

I know the 128GB Ram seems overkill but I run several VMs so the extra ram will be nice there. I was also thinking of setting up something like a 90GB ram drive and running windows from there. A simple program copies backwards and forwards at boot up/ shut down so as long as nothing crashes nothing is lost. I could hold several different images at that size and select at boot up. One for Win-7, and Win-10, apple os (hate apple but my daughter loves them). I can even have a crash test for searching less scrupulous parts of the internet. This is kinda what I use VMs for at the moment but this would be even better. There are supposed to be some good performance gains to be had.

I have a good lump of drives available to use (500 and 256 GB SSDs as well as a few 2 and 3 TB traditional) With raid then I am thinking 2 of 3 TB SSD in RAID 5 and 10-15 tradition in raid 5 as well. With a GTX 970 (bought today) I figure this will keep me going for a while. I can then use the 420 as my "downstairs" PC in the living room for more casual gaming/video editing/Photoshop with the GTX670 I have in my current Z400.

This will leave the Z400 (upgraded to 600W PSU) as a spare. I'll probably see if I can dig up a half decent graphics card and sell that. Should get £250-£300 for it all set up and ready to go.

It looks like this will be sorted in a few days and I'll have all my new toys up and working. Then I just need to get my OSVR working and I'll be set up for a while.

And before anyone comments - Yes - all my cash goes on PCs and no I don't need to get a life - I have one and am very VERY happy with it.

Cheers Bambi."


Ev,

I've ended up with too many PC's: Precisions 390, T3500, T5400, T5500 and the two HP z420s, Dell Dmension E520 (run television machine. My problem is I make a sport of upgrading for the maximum effect at the minimal cost. For example, the Precision T3500 cost only $53 + $24 shipping= $78 or £53. I bought an X5677 for $60, RAM for $43 and had a Quadro 4000, PERC 6i controller and 300GB 15K SAS drive sitting around, so a good secondary workstation for a modest cost- about £130. The second z420 was going to have the E5-2687w, but I've decided I'd be having a system too similar to the other z420 which has an E5-1660 v2. That has a much higher single-thread rating anyway so for CAD modeling the 1660 is better. I upgraded the T5500 as a rendering engine- 12-cores @ 3.33 / 3.6Ghz and Quadro K2200, but I've not really needed it as the Z420 runs a rendering in less than 8-9 minutes. I'll sort it out and may well go back to focus on the E5 1660 v2 z420 system and the secondary system can be the Precision 390. This was a gift from an architectural office that was closing. Originally:

Precision 390 (2007) (Original): Core2 Duo 6300 dual-core @ 1.86GHz, 2GB DDR2 667 > Quadro FX550 > 2X WD 320GB . Windows XP Pro 32-bit
[ Passmark system rating =397, CPU = 587 / 2D= 248 / 3D=75 / Mem=585 / Disk = 552 ]

And revised:

Precision 390 (2007) (Revised): Xeon X3230 quad-core @ 2.67GHz > 8 GB DDR2 ECC 667 >Firepro V4900 (1GB) > 2X WD 320GB >Linksys WMP600N WiFi > Dell 24" > 1920 X 1200 > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1458, CPU = 3699 / 2D= 431 / 3D=1350 / Mem= 885 / Disk=552]

-Thereby winning the "most improved" prize. I can't help liking this one as it's just immaculate- like new. I've bought a PERC H310 6GB/s RAID controller for $35 and with an SSD and modern HD could be my secondary system.

The T5500 cost $190 including shipping:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Original): Xeon E5620 quad core @ 2.4 / 2.6 GHz > 6GB DDR3 ECC Reg 1333 > Quadro FX 580 (512MB) > Dell PERC 6/i SAS /SATA controller > Seagate Cheetah 15K 146GB and 300GB > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1479 / CPU = 4067 / 2D= 520 / 3D= 311 / Mem= 1473 / Disk= 1208]

And Buying two Xeon X5680's- $220 and $170, the CPU riser - $75, RAM- $140, PERC H310 ($60), WD RE4 1TB- $70 and using the Quadro K2200 and Samsung 840 left over from HP z420 No. 1- makes a very good system for a cash outlay of about $800 (£550):

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Revised) > 2X Xeon X5680 (6-core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz), 48GB DDR3 1333 ECC Reg. > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z313 > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (27", 1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = Revised / CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3550 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)

This one is also so tidy I'm loath to part with it.

BY coincidence to your purchase, just before checking in here, I was looking at GTX 970 and 780 Ti as I've thought of trying GTX again after years of Quadros.

But, I need to rationalize the PC collection first.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[EV_000]

"Hi,



Ev,

I've ended up with too many PC's: Precisions 390, T3500, T5400, T5500 and the two HP z420s, Dell Dmension E520 (run television machine. My problem is I make a sport of upgrading for the maximum effect at the minimal cost. For example, the Precision T3500 cost only $53 + $24 shipping= $78 or £53. I bought an X5677 for $60, RAM for $43 and had a Quadro 4000, PERC 6i controller and 300GB 15K SAS drive sitting around, so a good secondary workstation for a modest cost- about £130. The second z420 was going to have the E5-2687w, but I've decided I'd be having a system too similar to the other z420 which has an E5-1660 v2. That has a much higher single-thread rating anyway so for CAD modeling the 1660 is better. I upgraded the T5500 as a rendering engine- 12-cores @ 3.33 / 3.6Ghz and Quadro K2200, but I've not really needed it as the Z420 runs a rendering in less than 8-9 minutes. I'll sort it out and may well go back to focus on the E5 1660 v2 z420 system and the secondary system can be the Precision 390. This was a gift from an architectural office that was closing. Originally:

Precision 390 (2007) (Original): Core2 Duo 6300 dual-core @ 1.86GHz, 2GB DDR2 667 > Quadro FX550 > 2X WD 320GB . Windows XP Pro 32-bit
[ Passmark system rating =397, CPU = 587 / 2D= 248 / 3D=75 / Mem=585 / Disk = 552 ]

And revised:

Precision 390 (2007) (Revised): Xeon X3230 quad-core @ 2.67GHz > 8 GB DDR2 ECC 667 >Firepro V4900 (1GB) > 2X WD 320GB >Linksys WMP600N WiFi > Dell 24" > 1920 X 1200 > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1458, CPU = 3699 / 2D= 431 / 3D=1350 / Mem= 885 / Disk=552]

-Thereby winning the "most improved" prize. I can't help liking this one as it's just immaculate- like new. I've bought a PERC H310 6GB/s RAID controller for $35 and with an SSD and modern HD could be my secondary system.

The T5500 cost $190 including shipping:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Original): Xeon E5620 quad core @ 2.4 / 2.6 GHz > 6GB DDR3 ECC Reg 1333 > Quadro FX 580 (512MB) > Dell PERC 6/i SAS /SATA controller > Seagate Cheetah 15K 146GB and 300GB > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1479 / CPU = 4067 / 2D= 520 / 3D= 311 / Mem= 1473 / Disk= 1208]

And Buying two Xeon X5680's- $220 and $170, the CPU riser - $75, RAM- $140, PERC H310 ($60), WD RE4 1TB- $70 and using the Quadro K2200 and Samsung 840 left over from HP z420 No. 1- makes a very good system for a cash outlay of about $800 (£550):

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Revised) > 2X Xeon X5680 (6-core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz), 48GB DDR3 1333 ECC Reg. > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z313 > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (27", 1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = Revised / CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3550 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)

This one is also so tidy I'm loath to part with it.

BY coincidence to your purchase, just before checking in here, I was looking at GTX 970 and 780 Ti as I've thought of trying GTX again after years of Quadros.

But, I need to rationalize the PC collection first.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hi,

that's quite the stable you have there.

So anyway - I got time tonight to play CPU merry go round. All 3 are working fine (Z420 back together and working). So I'm calling it - dead mother board. In the spirit of putting my money where my mouth is - New motherboard on it's way. £227 including delivery and duty. Brand new in box. I'll let you know when the new one arrives and is installed, hopefully with some good news.

Thank you so much for all your help through this - it really is appreciated.

Ev

 

[EV_000]

Hi Bambi,

thought I would update you. After what seemed like forever the mother board arrived. Total swine to fit but it's in there and I almost have a working system. The remaining issue is when it powers up (which it now does) there are 6 messages regarding non detected fans (CPU and memory fans). As far as I can see they are all the fans in the removable shroud (it has 6 fans and and dont seem to be spinning). I am guessing I have missed a cable somewhere but can't for the life of me see what.

The struggle continues and I will let you know if I ever get an OS on it.

Once more - thank you for all your help through this long and painfully process.

Ev

Update -

It was a bit of plastic I had not clipped in correctly. This meant the power adapter for the fans was not seating properly. It's now working wonderfully.

Now - do I keep this and see what delights unRaid has for me of do I go with your idea and sell it with a few 500GB SSDs and a K5000 card to fund an outright gaming build.

 

[bambiboom]

Hi Bambi,

thought I would update you. After what seemed like forever the mother board arrived. Total swine to fit but it's in there and I almost have a working system. The remaining issue is when it powers up (which it now does) there are 6 messages regarding non detected fans (CPU and memory fans). As far as I can see they are all the fans in the removable shroud (it has 6 fans and and dont seem to be spinning). I am guessing I have missed a cable somewhere but can't for the life of me see what.

The struggle continues and I will let you know if I ever get an OS on it.

Once more - thank you for all your help through this long and painfully process.

Ev

Update -

It was a bit of plastic I had not clipped in correctly. This meant the power adapter for the fans was not seating properly. It's now working wonderfully.

Now - do I keep this and see what delights unRaid has for me of do I go with your idea and sell it with a few 500GB SSDs and a K5000 card to fund an outright gaming build.

EV_000,

Thanks for the update- and even better- good news.

As you're a CADista I hadn't realized your goal was eventually to have a gaming system, but if I remember rightly, the z820 had dual E5-2687w's? If there is also a Quadro K5000, that would of course be a fantastic CAD system, but as brilliant as they are for 3D CAD and multi-threading simulation, scientific analysis, and etc., version 1 E5-2687w don't have the level of single-threaded performance if the games are serious and played on all the highest settings. Quadros insist on finishing every frame at higher AA and higher color depth, so they'e not optimized for games.

A few weeks ago, I tried Occulus Rift VR when I was at the local particle research facility, and I thought it was very impressive- as long as my stomach could take the contrary motion- my very first experience of motion sickness since "Avatar". If you're thinking of a pure gaming system, you might take VR into account as I think it's going to be a big deal for a lot of uses: games and movies certainly, video conferencing, scientific, education, military, but also, instead of architectural renderings- they'll be VR walk throughs and VR car adverts will make Diesel Astras seem like Ferraris. How about those excitingly dramatically, dynamic, semi-autonomous, toasters?

OK- first idea for the gaming system that can also run video editing based on the possible sales value of the revived z820 with K5000:

i7-6950X 10-core @ 3.0 /4.0GHz or i7-6900K 8-core @ 3.2 /4.0GHz
ASUS X99-A II
64GB DDR4-3000
2X GTX 1070 (8GB) in SLI or single GTX 1080 if the video editing is Premiere- which doesn't recognize multiple GPU's
2X Samsung 950 Pro M.2 256GB NVMe plus a couple of storage drives

i7-6900K: Passmark average CPU mark: 16389 and / single-thread mark of 2076
i7-6950X: 20837 / 2170

For comparison an E5 2687w : dual 21296 / 1872

On Passmark, an I7-6950X / ASUS X99 Deluxe II / 32GB/ Samsung 950 Pro M.2 256GB NVMe system:

Rating: 7855
CPU: 23785 (@4.2GHz)
2D: 1077
3D: 15866
Mem: 3385
Disk: 13192

The system rating puts that system as No. 72 in the Passmark "Top 100" systems.

In that example, the 10-core i7-6950X produces a higher calculation cycles /sec rate of the average dual E5-2687w, and with a +20% single-threaded rate. A single CPU seem to have a better efficiency than dual CPU's as there is some kind of latency introduced for the thread synch over the separate processors and ram designation. A pair of GTX 1070's or single GTX 1080 will run games in 4K or along with 16 or 20 CPU cores, all those CUDA cores can process video /animation in a hurry. It's possible then that changing the z820 to this system will actually improve performance in every parameter and for a similar value, thanks to a single CPU that can out-perform a pair of earlier ones.

Just a thought.

Congratulations on the z820 -the patient lived! If you're so inclined, you might have a free trial of Passmark and see what the performance is doing.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

PS> In my news, I've added a Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI to the z420 and the Passmark disk score went from 4555 (Intel 730 480GB) to 11559. The system rating changed surprisingly from 5064 to 5581- the highest rated z420.

 

[EV_000]

Hi again Bambi,

the CAD is a work thing - home is games. As it was just as it was available for a little OT it was a case of grab first - work out later. I am thinkig of selling - time will tell. However I first of alla have to get an OS on the bloody thing. It's playing hard to get. Booting from a Win7 or Win 10 pen seems to work for a bit (does the inital load and logo comes up etc) then it just reboots. I am thinking BIOS as the new board is on 1.14 (2005) and I figure something more recent is needed (I had a 1TB drive in there - were they even out in 2005). Problem is I can't get an os on there so flashing it proving a hassle. I know there is a way to flash from a usb pen in the BIOS it's self but when I try that it reports "pen not found or contains wrong files" or some such.

I don't have any more time to play with it for a few days so will try later. I am assuming as it boots up and starts to work then there cannot be any faults with the new mother board or anything else and I just need to fight through this last hurdle.

One thing I do think it will be good for (if I keep it ) is running unraid. I have 8 screens in my gaming rig so it would kinda fit well there .

I'll report back when I get further.

EV.

 

[bambiboom]

Hi again Bambi,

the CAD is a work thing - home is games. As it was just as it was available for a little OT it was a case of grab first - work out later. I am thinkig of selling - time will tell. However I first of alla have to get an OS on the bloody thing. It's playing hard to get. Booting from a Win7 or Win 10 pen seems to work for a bit (does the inital load and logo comes up etc) then it just reboots. I am thinking BIOS as the new board is on 1.14 (2005) and I figure something more recent is needed (I had a 1TB drive in there - were they even out in 2005). Problem is I can't get an os on there so flashing it proving a hassle. I know there is a way to flash from a usb pen in the BIOS it's self but when I try that it reports "pen not found or contains wrong files" or some such.

I don't have any more time to play with it for a few days so will try later. I am assuming as it boots up and starts to work then there cannot be any faults with the new mother board or anything else and I just need to fight through this last hurdle.

One thing I do think it will be good for (if I keep it ) is running unraid. I have 8 screens in my gaming rig so it would kinda fit well there .

I'll report back when I get further.

EV.

EV_000,

Thanks for the update. It does seem the BIOS is the problem. The thing is, the z820 did not exist in 2005. I wonder if somehow- it seems unlikely a system with a different chipset would accept it- the BIOS loaded is from the HP xw8200. That was current for 2005 and does include the numerals "820" in the designation, so it;s possible it would appear in a numerically ordered list next to z820 stuff.. However I could be off the mark as the last BIOS update for the xw8200 was 2006: 2.10 Rev. a(11 Oct 2006) sp33818.exe (5.9 MB)

You could try to get to BIOS by pressing F10 repeatedly as soon as the power button is pressed and then try to reset to load factory defaults. But if the BIOS has been back-dated to 2005, and BIOS is inaccessible, depending on the boot order, I would say load WinPE to flash drive or DVD- whichever is primary in the boot order, have the correct BIOS on the drive or disk, and run the BIOS EXE.

I think you did this previously but again take the CMOS battery out and the motherboard will revert to it's original BIOS.

It's mysterious!

Cheers,

BambiBoom