HP Z840 36C/72T Workstation build (fully LOADED)

-HP Z840 core (supports up to two xeon v3 or v4 processors).
-Barebones unit cost: $350
-Two Xeon 18 Core E5 2696v3 processors (total will be 36C/72T)
-3.8 GHz turbo, perhaps can be turbo hacked
-Better than the flagship 2699 V3 due to higher boost / turbo speeds (3.6 vs 3.8)
-145 W TDP (each)
-8 Channel DDR4 memory kit @ 2400MHz (currently running 2133Mhz due to V3 limitation)
-Only V4 chips support the full 2400MHz. (64GB)
-Liquid metal being used as thermal paste, temps are well within limits







First of all, it's the culmination of HPs research and development of the premier market workstation in it's day, and I think the case is outstanding, with brushed aluminum sides, HP really knocked out of the park. It's built like a tank, looking forward to benchmarks and turbo hacking.

And possibly adding a 360 radiator if stock cooling system needs a boost. It will be very easy to do this if needed.

The build consists of two Xeon E5-2696 V3 CPUs, single core turbo of 3.8
- Cost was $300 for both CPUs in grade A condition

Yes, that's a whopping 20 DDR4 DIMM modules and two 2696 v3 CPUs

Can't wait to see how this is going to compete against a 5950X. Because I'm out for blood!





So I can run an 8 channel memory configuration (DDR4 @ 2400MHz)





Liquid coolers are rated for 150W each.




Sick case:

 

I like it a lot

 

I’ve had one downstairs for over year. Dusty, but still with plastic on the side covers. Low speced at the moment and was to be used as a TrueNas ZFS pool. Your progress may change my mind on the intended use. I’d flash the LSI controller to IT mode for possible use as software RAID and shorten boot times.

They are a beastly piece of kit. Glad I’ve got one. Where did you get 20 DIMM slots from? And the CPU shroud/funnel with its 6 fans is very effective.

 

Please forgive my potato phone

 

Liquid metal

 

You delidded the cpus?

 

No I just replaced the surface thermal paste with liquid metal for better heat transfer / lower temps.

 

Where did you buy the z840 bare chassis from?

 

Ebay... this is the seller:

digitalmind2000

(99.9% positive feedback)

 

Presume you are not an Ozzie .. shipping is almost as much as the parts

 

Yeah shipping would be a bear.

The barebones unit cost me about $350 and shipping was free in the United States.

 

You're US based?

 

Correct. I'll be moving to Sydney in about 6 months so I wanted to get a head start with fellow overlockers and computer enthusiasts.

 

Welcome

 

Proper jealous, US has sooo much good shit. But once your 90 days is up you'll get to see some of ours Out of curiosity- what are these 36 cores being used for? Video or serving users?

 

I have been massing parts for a GPU server. Wanted one for a long time... Specifically the C4130, which can hold up to 4 tesla video cards. This server combined with my Z840 will be a winning combination for my little cluster and at the end of the day it's also my daily driver. It wears many hats, including benchmarking something nearly every day. Sometimes I repurpose into a gaming role. But really, I haven't set it up yet for it's intended purpose because because I don't have the GPUs, they are to damn expensive now, so the z840 is just awaiting some extra hardware. My intent is for a GP-GPU cluster that would be purely experimental. Sort of an "if you build it they will come" approach. It will also give me time to learn more about this resource how clusters operate and cluster design. And I can do this more intensively because this is not going into a mission critical environment.

Just a crying shame there is no way to overclock. The heatsink / liquid coolers and shroud would make this a perfect candidate for overclocking, and not to mention it has active cooling on all 16 DIMMs and excellent airflow through the case.

 

I remember years ago reading a thread about some guy clocking/hacking a Z800 with FSB, was at a very strange forum, will take a look later.

At the time I had a Z420 that I was toying with, pretty sure I used ThrottleStop to adjust multipliers; albeit not sure if compatible with those Xeon E5 v3's but worth a shot?

 

Yes I have been experimenting with throttlestop, and it does support this CPU. However, the turbo values and TDP are hardlocked by HP so no chance of overclocking short of a custom bios.

EDIT: The only thing I can adjust with ThrottleStop is the NB frequency, that goes to 3.0GHz