Picked up a (cheap) HP z620 motherbaord for a dual e5-2670 build. Now what...? (PSU/CASE)

[MWJT42]

I haven't built a PC for 20 years, so I'm completely out of touch with modern standards and need some help.

I need a new PC and got excited about the price of the e5-2670 and decided to go for that. The dual motherboards are super expensive, so was looking at just upgrading a HP Z620 workstation. Then a motherboard came along for £140 and I've gone for it.

So, I need a case and PSU - but I cannot find what fits this board. (Initially I'll go for a single CPU build, but would like the option to upgrade to dual if a CPU riser comes along at a reasonable price)

Looking at the dimensions of the board, I guess it's ATX(?), but I can't be sure that it's not proprietary. I've also seem some PSU 24-18pin adapters on ebay, so I'm guessing that's needed.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for starting this build based around a used HP-z620 board please?

Thanks

 

[bambiboom]

I haven't built a PC for 20 years, so I'm completely out of touch with modern standards and need some help.

I need a new PC and got excited about the price of the e5-2670 and decided to go for that. The dual motherboards are super expensive, so was looking at just upgrading a HP Z620 workstation. Then a motherboard came along for £140 and I've gone for it.

So, I need a case and PSU - but I cannot find what fits this board. (Initially I'll go for a single CPU build, but would like the option to upgrade to dual if a CPU riser comes along at a reasonable price)

Looking at the dimensions of the board, I guess it's ATX(?), but I can't be sure that it's not proprietary. I've also seem some PSU 24-18pin adapters on ebay, so I'm guessing that's needed.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for starting this build based around a used HP-z620 board please?

Thanks

MWJT42,

The HP z620 motherboard has several very speicialised differences that make using a z620 case necessary. The principal one is that only way to use the 2nd CPU is to install it on a CPU / Heatsink / RAM./ Fan daughterboard. Sorry to say, that board will quite expensive:

HP Z620 Riser Board incl. Xeon E5-2620 CPU and Radiator Fan and Tray 689471-001 > £212.63 or offer

As the cooling and clearances rely on an intricate special design, a z620 is necessary. There are almost constant offerings of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Z620-Workstation-PC-Case-Chassis-with-Front-Panel-800W-PSU-644311-005-/231803418146?hash=item35f88f7622:g:ZVsAAOSwT~9WlYWz > £180 + £60 post + $59 import charge.

And:

HP Z620 Workstation / Computer Case Chassis with Front Panel 800W PSU 644311-005 > £175.78 / offer + £60 post + $59 import charge. <Tthis is new

There may a few small parts needed to complete either of these, but in general, with this kind of case /chassis purchase, the motherboard goes in and is wired to the PSU and drives.

It is very often less expensive to buy a complete, low specification system and upgrade the CPU's, RAM. GPU, and drives:

HP Z620 Workstation,Xeon E5-2620,8GB RAM,256Gb SSD Drive,ATI FirePro V3900 Gfx > sold for £255.00 ( pickup London)

I recently decided to replace my Dell Precision T5500 and purchased a z620 for $270 (with cosmetic problems):

HP z620 (Original) Xeon E5-1620 4-core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz) / 8GB (1X 8GB DDR3-1333) / AMD Firepro V5900 (2GB) / Seagate Barracuda 750GB + Samsung 500GB + WD 500GB
[ Passmark System Rating= 2408 / CPU= 8361 / 2D= 846 / 3D = 1613 / Mem =1584 / Disk = 574 ] 7.13.16

And after about $1000 in upgrades (CPU's = $310, RAM = $128, GPU = $250, Drives = $150 +$60, Set new plastic case panels: $56:

Analysis / Simulation / Rendering:

HP z620 (2012) (Rev 2) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 / 3.8GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1600 ECC reg) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB) _ Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB / 800W > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > HP 2711x (27" 1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5675 / CPU= 22625 / 2D= 815 / 3D = 3580 / Mem = 2522 / Disk = 12640 ] 9.25.16

As it happens, that is currently the highest rated system of the 189 tested on Passmark.

A good feature of the above method is that the Xeon E5-1620 and the Firepro V5900 are worth together about $150, so the net original system cost to me was only about $120.

These are very good systems and the recent price drop on E5-2670 / 80 /90 is an amazing bargain. The z620 performance is excellent and it's the quietest system I've ever had.If you're using 3D applications,consider using the E5-2680 as the single- thread performance is so much improved on the E5-2670.

So, first thing, add up the costs in building around the motherboard and compare to starting with a complete system. With the correct choice, a complete system might be good enough to use as is an upgrade over time.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

CAD / 3D Modeling / Graphic Design:

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559] [6.12.16]

 

[MWJT42]

BambiBoom

Thank you for your reply, this is the information I needed. Much appreciated.

If I don't go for a dual CPU daughterboard, can I use therefore this motherboard in a standard ATX case? Are there other considerations apart from the 24-18pin adaptor?

Many thanks,
MWJT42

 

[bambiboom]

BambiBoom

Thank you for your reply, this is the information I needed. Much appreciated.

If I don't go for a dual CPU daughterboard, can I use therefore this motherboard in a standard ATX case? Are there other considerations apart from the 24-18pin adaptor?

Many thanks,
MWJT42

MWJT42,

You might like to download the HP z620 User manual and have a look at the motherboard diagram and compare to a standard ATX motherboard. Then googlize "images z620" and see photos of the open case. It doesn't look like anything else inside- except the z820.

I'm not really sure if the motherboard is a standard format but there are a few special features . The spacing of the PCIe slots is conventional so it may be ATX or E-ATX but. there is a space allocated to the sockets that connect the 2nd CPU board and that appears to push he 2nd PCIe x16 slot very near the case bottom so a double height GPU is perhaps 15-20mm from the bottom- air cooling would be nominal. I've been thinking of adding a Tesla coprocessor to the z620, but I'm very worried about cooling a 225-300W GPU in that position properly. Still. it's done as HP offered Teslas when the system was new..

Also, the z620 CPU1 has a special fan shroud and the integral CPU fan and the two memory fans have special power connections integral to that shroud- pushing the shroud into place connects the fan power. The shroud designs fro the two CPU's are also responsible for efficient cooling with being very quiet. If you are using an aftermarket CPU / heatsink / fan a way to connect the power could be arranged, but then the memory cooling would have to be arranged.

Using a low specification z620 case to me just seems a great reduction in research decisions, and some customized installations to a proprietary motherboard. If the bare MB was £140, a proper fan / heatsink is £40-50, case £90, 900W power supply £120-140, the total is already £400 and includes much more work and the possibility as in my example, that the system could be used while upgrading and would have some usable RAM, and possibly CPU and GPU to reduce costs.

If I were using a single CPU, anyway, I'd have a 6 or 8 core Xeon E5- 1600 or 1600 v2 as the single thread rates will can be so much better. For 3D modeling I use a z420 with an E5-1660 v2 with a top clock speed of 4.0GHz and a Passmark single thread mark of 2049 whereas the z620's E5-2690 8 core- 3.8GHz in top gear single thread mark is 1873 and the total computational density is very high- 22625 to 14046 for 1660 v2. A single E5-2670 has marks of 12493 and 1616.

Also, if you don't need very high core count- I think 8-core is the best choice these days:

HP Z420 Workstation 2.90GHz 8 Core E5-2690 8GB RAM No HDD No OS > £413.35 -but in the US.

What applications /programs are you using and what are the file sizes?

Cheers,

BambiBoom