HP Workstations Owners Club

[PiPo-Sido]

Hello HP Workstation users,

I have question and a bit of a problem.

Last week my HP Z400 was rebooting and it shows that the internal battery was empty. So i change the battery (duracell) and did a reboot. Of course it was asking to set time+date, i also did. I also notice that it was showing a lot of info during reboot. So i think it has lost all my settings i changed in the bios.

After that Windows 10 Pro was loading and when i started my Speedfan program it was saying that i have only 2 cores and 4 threads. This is strange because im using a Xeon E5620 that have

• # of Cores 4.
• # of Threads 8

Also before the empty battery i was able to select in msconfig 8 processors but now it only shows 4. Also when i start CPU-Z it is saying i have Cores 2 Threads 4.

What can i do in my BIOS to have the 4 cores & 8 threads back, i have be looking in the bios and i have activate Hyper-Threading after reading on the HP website "Provides processor parallelization such that the operating system treats one processor as two" but did also did not worked for me.

Im running BIOS v3.61 03/05/2018

If someone can help me with this please. Because im thinking also to upgrade my CPU to a X5670 2,90GHz and that one has 6 cores and 12 threads and hope i can use all of those.

Thanks from the Netherlands

 

[unclewebb]

Clear the Number of processors box in msconfig and reboot so Windows can find all of your CPU.

Consider replacing your CPU with a W3680. These can be overclocked in your HP400. They can run all 6 cores and 12 threads fully loaded at 4000 MHz. The X series cannot be overclocked like this.

 

[PiPo-Sido]

Clear the Number of processors box in msconfig and reboot so Windows can find all of your CPU.

View attachment 209945

Huh is that the issue? When i got this workstation (i bought it second hand and is converted to a desktop) the old owner did the setting in MSCONFIG on to use al 8 threads. So what you are saying is clear / unmark the setting reboot windows and then i would be seeing in MSCONFIG 8 threads?

 

[unclewebb]

is that the issue?

This is the issue 99.9% of the time. It never hurts to try this.

There is never a need to screw around with this setting.

 

[PiPo-Sido]

For me the cpu is not meant to overclocking. I using it more the time for my BaseStation SBS-3 radar program and it is using a lot of cpu, i also want to upgrade the ram to 48gb maybe because the airplane logo's (80x20 BMP files) are over the 5000 and takes a lot of time to load

This is the issue 99.9% of the time. It never hurts to try this.

There is never a need to screw around with this setting.

Other question, when i upgrade the cpu and go to higher RAM, do i really need Workstation RAM or can i also use Desktop RAM?

 

[unclewebb]

Did you find the missing threads after rebooting?

Use whatever memory your motherboard supports. The manual should show this.

I have a similar Dell T3500 Workstation. It uses DDR3 unbuffered ram. It can be ECC or non ECC.

 

[PiPo-Sido]

Did you find the missing threads after rebooting?

Use whatever memory your motherboard supports. The manual should show this.

I have a similar Dell T3500 Workstation. It uses DDR3 unbuffered ram. It can be ECC or non ECC.

I di remove the marker in MSCONFIG and reboot windows, when going to MSCONFIG it is still when i mark it sowing 4 threads not as before the empty batttery 8. Dont know what i can do in the bios to fix it

Did you find the missing threads after rebooting?

Use whatever memory your motherboard supports. The manual should show this.

I have a similar Dell T3500 Workstation. It uses DDR3 unbuffered ram. It can be ECC or non ECC.

Where in one of these F10 settings i can select it is going to use the 4 core & 8 threads? HP Z400 F10 Bios-Settings

 

[silentbogo]

I di remove the marker in MSCONFIG and reboot windows, when going to MSCONFIG it is still when i mark it sowing 4 threads not as before the empty batttery 8. Dont know what i can do in the bios to fix it


Where in one of these F10 settings i can select it is going to use the 4 core & 8 threads? HP Z400 F10 Bios-Settings

If msconfig did not help, go to BIOS, open Advanced -> Processors. Set "Active Cores" to All cores, and check if HT is enabled.
Save, reboot, check msconfig again.

 

[PiPo-Sido]

If msconfig did not help, go to BIOS, open Advanced -> Processors. Set "Active Cores" to All cores, and check if HT is enabled.
Save, reboot, check msconfig again.

Thanks for the post, i did all of that and it did not worked at all, i can tr it again tomorrow.

 

[nootkabear]

I have been searching everywhere trying to find information about Z400 and slow internet with wired Fiber Optic. Download speed without VPN on is less than 100, and upload around 350. I pay for 1000 download, but have never managed to get anything above 150, and that was early on. After a year, with the VPN connected, I get less than 50.
Does anyone have any ideas? My contract with ATT just expired, and they sent tech out to try to figure out the problem, I guess hoping to keep me a customer. Tech dude said that he could not figure it out. Said that it has to be something with my processor? I thought maybe the ethernet card, and he insisted the processor. HELP!
Any ideas?

 

[Caring1]

I have been searching everywhere trying to find information about Z400 and slow internet with wired Fiber Optic. Download speed without VPN on is less than 100, and upload around 350. I pay for 1000 download, but have never managed to get anything above 150, and that was early on. After a year, with the VPN connected, I get less than 50.
Does anyone have any ideas? My contract with ATT just expired, and they sent tech out to try to figure out the problem, I guess hoping to keep me a customer. Tech dude said that he could not figure it out. Said that it has to be something with my processor? I thought maybe the ethernet card, and he insisted the processor. HELP!
Any ideas?

Not the Processor, look at your modem or ethernet card.

 

[nootkabear]

Not the Processor, look at your modem or ethernet card.

I hate to sound like an idiot, how do I check the ethernet card? And what am I looking for?

 

[Caring1]

I hate to sound like an idiot, how do I check the ethernet card? And what am I looking for?

See if it is marked 10/100
or 10/100/1000, that is it's capability in speed.
Likewise if you have an old modem, it could be limited.

 

[nootkabear]

See if it is marked 10/100
or 10/100/1000, that is it's capability in speed.
Likewise if you have an old modem, it could be limited.

It is ATT's modem, I rent it.

 

[ModemJunki]

I didn't realize there was an owners club thread and posted this in the main board.

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/hp-z820-upgrade-cpus-or-not.285557/

 

[nootkabear]

See if it is marked 10/100
or 10/100/1000, that is it's capability in speed.
Likewise if you have an old modem, it could be limited.

Yes, it is marked 10/100/1000
I ordered another modem, it came, I tried it. Got the same slow results.
Anyone have any other ideas, I greatly appreciate everyone's assistance in this matter!

 

[lexluthermiester]

I ordered another modem, it came, I tried it. Got the same slow results.
Anyone have any other ideas, I greatly appreciate everyone's assistance in this matter!

Network cable might have hidden kinks? Cable integrity is important to bandwidth stability.

 

[nootkabear]

Network cable might have hidden kinks? Cable integrity is important to bandwidth stability.

I thought that at first myself, and since all of the internet providers first point that out, I went ahead and tried different cables, I have some cat 7 cables, and cat 6 as well, so I tried different cable early on.
While ATT was here troubleshooting the issue, we tried moving the connection to the modem, into different position, I have two workstations, 2 internet capable DVD players (rarely turned on), and a Roku player; so we moved all the cables around trying to see if maybe it was in the modem, or one of the components, and nothing seemed to matter.

Thanks, any more suggestions? I am ready to get this figured out, need all the suggestions anyone has, and thank you so much!

See if it is marked 10/100
or 10/100/1000, that is it's capability in speed.
Likewise if you have an old modem, it could be limited.

It is marked 10/100/1000

See if it is marked 10/100
or 10/100/1000, that is it's capability in speed.
Likewise if you have an old modem, it could be limited.

It is marked 10/100/1000

 

[ModemJunki]

Thanks, any more suggestions? I am ready to get this figured out, need all the suggestions anyone has, and thank you so much!

Make sure it's connected at gigabit full duplex and have a look for "MTU tuning" in your favorite search engine.

 

[imrazor]

A local seller has a Z400 for sale with a W3520 and 24GB of Unbuffered ECC. I have an X5687 left over from a dead Dell T5500. If I drop this Westmere chip in the Z400 v2 will a) the memory controller on the new CPU be able to talk to registered ECC DDR3 DIMMs and 2) would I be able to expand the RAM beyond the manufacturer's stated limit?

 

[lexluthermiester]

A local seller has a Z400 for sale with a W3520 and 24GB of Unbuffered ECC. I have an X5687 left over from a dead Dell T5500. If I drop this Westmere chip in the Z400 v2 will a) the memory controller on the new CPU be able to talk to registered ECC DDR3 DIMMs and 2) would I be able to expand the RAM beyond the manufacturer's stated limit?

Yes that CPU will work. As a precaution make sure your BIOS is up to date before the switch to be sure your system has the proper CPU microcode. You're going from a Bloomfield based CPU to a WestmereEP based CPU, so the microcode is essential.

 

[imrazor]

I thought it probably would. What I'm curious about is the RAM. Any idea if Registered ECC DIMMs will work with a server-class CPU?

 

[lexluthermiester]

I thought it probably would. What I'm curious about is the RAM. Any idea if Registered ECC DIMMs will work with a server-class CPU?

According to the following page, no, registered DIMMS will not work.

HP Z400 Workstation Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

support.hp.com

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

Building another Z400 to ATX desktop conversion for my niece's and nephew's Christmas this year...they need something for school with a side of Fortnite and Minecraft. I had some parts lying around so figured I'd make use of them. I recently got myself a W3680 (and that last 2GB of RAM...finally lol) for my Dell T3500 based build, and they are going to get my W3570 for now.

So the list so far -

- Xeon W3570 (3.86-4GHZ with Throttlestop)
- HP Z400 motherboard (only the dual channel one though this time) $47
- DIYPC DIY-S08-W (tempered glass ATX case) $55
- 8GB DDR3 1333 $15
- 3x120mm green LED fans, 1x120mm fan white blades
- 1TB 3.5" HDD

Still need to order -

- cheap PSU + 24-pin extension (to adapt to Z400 pinout without modifying PSU) $40ish
- OEM Radeon R7 350 (or similar) $40ish
- cheap SATA SSD $20ish
- maybe a cheap cooler (already have a few OEM Z400/T3500 ones for now) and some RGB fans to replace the green ones $30ish

I have a "busted" 290X that still works fine downclocked. Might just modify the BIOS with the downclock and give them that card. I'm disabled, so my budget is very limited. I'll post some pics once more parts arrive.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Might just modify the BIOS with the downclock and give them that card.

This could work well.