HP Z800 Gaming Computer Blog
The HP Z800 Workstation has all the base components to be converted in to a solid gaming computer. HP Z800's are a dual socket Xeon based workstations. The Z800 supports up to 192GB of DDR3 memory and 4 Internal SAS/SATA Hard Drives. It is important to note that it has an optional 1100W Power Supply, which gives you endless options for high end Graphics Cards. Let us show you how you can build an effective HP Z800 Gaming PC.
Where to buy?
If you haven't already acquired a HP Z800 Workstation we'd recommend checking out a company called Serverworlds. They sell the Z800's cheap and they provide free ground shipping to the lower 48 states. You can custom configure an HP Z800 using this link: HP Z800. You can also try to snag them cheap on Ebay. However, Ebay can be a bit of a gamble because you never know what you are going to get.
The goal is to purchase the Z800 with a good processor(s) and memory already installed and then you can source the graphics cards, hard drives, and other optional components from other sources.
What Processor(s) should I get?
High Clock speed cpu's are the way to go.
In most cases you can get by with a single processor listed below. If you plan to stream your gaming on youtube or twitch, we recommend getting 2 processors.
Recommended Processors:
Up to 2 x QC Xeon X5667 3.06Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs Processors | 3.46 Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVA)
Up to 2 x QC Xeon X5677 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs Processors | 3.73 Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV9)
Up to 2 x QC Xeon X5687 3.6Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs Processors | 3.86Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVY)
Up to 2 x 6C Xeon X5680 3.33Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs Processors | 3.60Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV5)
Up to 2 x 6C Xeon X5690 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs Processors | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVX)
How much Memory should I get?
The base line should be a minimum of 16GB of memory. However, 16GB to 32GB would be ideal.
Memory PNs:
4GB PC10600R 2Rx4 ECC Reg Shielded (NN876)
4GB PC10600R 2Rx8 ECC Reg (7H8J8)
4GB PC10600R 2Rx8 PC3L ECC Reg (9J5WF or H5DDH)
8GB PC10600R 2Rx4 PC3L ECC Reg (P9RN2)
8GB PC10600R 2Rx4 ECC Reg Shielded (X3R5M)
16GB PC10600R 2Rx4 PC3L ECC Reg (MGY5T)
*12800r modules will work as well, they will just clock down to 1333Mhz depending on the CPU speed*
Recommended Memory configurations:
4 x 4GB PC10600 ECC Reg Modules (16GB)
6 x 4GB PC10600R ECC Reg Modules (24GB)
4 x 8GB PC10600R ECC Reg Modules (32GB)
6 x 8GB PC10600R ECC Reg Modules (48GB)
It's very important to use 10600R modules because they will run at the max speed supported by the system board and processor.
What Hard Drive should I get?
Ideally you would want to have a Solid State Drive as your boot device as well an NVME.2 SSD to store your game libraries/large programs on. If you are limited on budget you could go with a small SSD for your boot device and a larger capacity 7.2K SATA drive to hold your larger files/programs/games.
Recommended SSD Drives:
Samsung 860 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E1T0B/AM)
Samsung 860 Evo 500GB 2.5 inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E500B/AM)
Recommended large Capacity SATA Drives:
Seagate 2TB BarraCuda SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (ST2000DM006)
*NVME.2 Drives cannot be used as a boot device with this model workstation*
NVME.2 PCIe Adapter (You need this if you plan to install an NVME.2 Drive in to this system):
NVME.2 SSD Adapter *Required to Install NVME.2*
Recommended NVME.2 SSDs:
WD Black 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe NVME SSD (WDS512G1X0C)
Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E500BW)
Samsung 960 EVO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW)
What Graphics Card should I get?
The HP Z800 has a 1100W Power Supply. This means you can install pretty much any Graphics Card that you want depending on your budget.
Recommended Graphics Cards:
NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA GTX1660 Ti 6GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA GTX 1070 TI 8GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA GTX 1080 8GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA GTX 1080 TI w/11GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA RTX 2080 w/8GB Graphics Card
Graphics Card Power Adapters:
What type of Monitor should I get?
Ideally it would be nice to get a monitor with a 144Hz or 244hz refresh rate or better monitor. However, it really depends on the games you play. If you play first person shooter games a 144hz or 240Hz or better monitor is a must. If you play other games that do not require quick response time then a 60hz monitor should work fine.
Recommended Monitors:
ASUS PG248Q Full HD 144Hz 1MS 24" Gaming Monitor
ASUS VG278Q Full HD 1080P 144Hz 1MS 27" Gaming Monitor
ASUS XG258Q ROG Strix 24.5" 1080P 240Hz 1MS Gaming Monitor
Recap:
Using the criteria above you can build a good to borderline high end gaming system using a HP Z800 Workstation.
Sample Configuration:
HP Z800 Workstation
1 x 6C Xeon X5690 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs
32GB PC10600R (4 x 8GB)
Samsung 256GB 6GBPS SSD + Samsung Evo 970 NVME.2 SSD
GTX1080 w/8GB Graphics Card
1 x 10/100/1000 Network Port
1100W Power Supply
DVD-RW
10 Pro 64Bit
We have tested this system with games like Dota 2, CS Go, PubG, and The Division. The frames can range from 60FPS to 200FPS depending on the game and settings that you choose. The system was tested using a 144Hz 27" Acer Monitor.
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Thanks I was looking to do casual gaming with my hp z800 but after grabbing 2 gpu cards and they weren't compatible now I'm seeking gpu that work with this pc
I haven't changed anything with pc besides adding more ram grabbed 4 Samsung 8gb
Actually just looking for a descent 4gb gpu atm I'm stuck don't know which ones to get I also have this gpu I'm stuck with cause pc wasn't compatible
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti this gpu gave me errors beeped 6 times and power button was red once I removed it was fine
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Eric djNOS What mfg graphics card did you install? We recently installed an EVGA GeForce 1660 Ti 6GB Graphics Card in to a Z800 Workstation. It worked well for us.
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Jbigticket23 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti it was the 4gb version there seems to be many types of this model never knew that gpu was specific for board even though it has pci 2 and card was pci 3 should work I'm clueless as to why I'm getting this error code
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Eric djNOS
Sorry was gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and other variant requires power connector while this one doesn't
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these are the pics of gpu
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Eric djNOS
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Oded Hi Steve GIGABYTE GTX1050 TI should have 6 pin power connector on top.
Did you get the card used? if yes looks like someone scammed you if it's on eBay and it's not over 30 days yet complain to eBay you can get your money back.
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Oded Did you try this card on another PC and did it worked?
It could be that the second hand card is faulty.
Can you try a different card on the HP to see if it's happened as well?
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Oded Oded Ok looked it up on this youyube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKkDfZDN2PU I think the problem is that this card don't have power connectors sorry require PCI Express Gen3 x16 slot for power and HPZ800 have PCI Express Gen2 x16 slot maybe it doesn't get enough power.
The video say also that older PC will need a powerful power supply to give efficient power and HP Z800 have lots of this.
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Found this gddr3 radeon at a good price is this one compatible as well
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can anyone tell me where I can download the HP performance advisor for workstations
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Thanks for the link.
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Steve Not a problem. Hope it helps!
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I saw the video with 384GB of RAM. Wow. I'm not a gamer, more into design and engineering, simulation. Just got a Z800 and was trying to figure out how to effectively and cheaply configure the RAM. From the HP config. guide it looks like 12x16GB 1333MHz cards will only run at 800MHz. Your 32MB cards did the same in the video. For now I am opting for 12x8GB 1333MHz cards that will run at 1333MHz. Cheap. The 8 cards I needed were USD130. Cheers from NZ. Gregg.
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Gregg MacPherson The 12 x 8GB 10600R aka 1333Mhz modules should be a good fit for you. Make sure you are using processors that will support 1333Mhz memory before making the investment.
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Jbigticket23 I've got two X5675 3.07GHz 6 core CPUs. CNET Quickspecs show them with 1333MHz RAM. I'll double check what the existing four 8GB modules are running at. Is there a way to get your 12x32GB modules running faster than 800MHz..? Cheers.
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Gregg MacPherson The X5675 cpu's do support 1333Mhz memory. The issue with the 32GB modules appears to be their rank. They are quad rank as apposed to dual rank. I plan to do some more testing to see if less 32gb modules will run at 1333Mhz. Stay tuned...
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Hi guys, loved the Z800 guide an video, right now I'm upgrading mine with faster CPUs and a 1080Ti. I just wanted to point out, there might be different mainboards on Z800 machines. The older ones do not support the 56 series Xeon processors and I guess that should be included in the Blog post. Here's some more info on the topic: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktops-Archive-Read-Only/Will-HPZ800-take-Intel-Xeon-X5690-CPU/td-p/5084614
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Alexander Bischel Hello before you spent money on a GTX1080ti view this YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9Uj0sgLR4&t=816svideo
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Oded Thanks for the video, the used 1080 Ti I wanted to buy is gone already and I was looking into a RTX 2060 8Gb instead...better choice? I wanted to use my Z800 for som triple screen sim racing @ 3x 1080p
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Alexander Bischel
Sounds nice have fun.
I have both Z800 and Z600V2
Both have GTX 1060.
The Z800 have a 10603G and the Z600 with 10606GB work mint.
I Bought t the Z600 in 2015 for $795aud it came with 2 x Xeon X5660 and 24GB RAM Quadro4000 and 2 x 160GB Intel ssd .
I bought the Z800 in 2019 for $500au it came with 2 x X5675 48GB RAM and a Quadro 6000 and 256G Intel SSD.
Before I got the Z800 I upgraded the Z600 to Xeon X5676 and 48GB RAM I’m using 2T Seagate Firecuda.
When I was looking to upgrade I did looked at the X5690 and almost got it until I came across a forum say that Z600 can run up to X5675 the Z800 can go all the way to X5690.
The X5675 sell on EBay for about $45aud each and the X5690 sell for about $150aud and more each the performance deference is not a great deal it’s up to you but I think spent $45 is enough.
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Oded I ended up ordering a RTX 2080 since GPU will be more important for my racing sims. My z800 had 2 6 core CPUs which I am switching for two 4 core X5687 since the individual higher clock rate seems to do more for the sims than the additinal cores. Apparently the standard Z800 CPU heatsinks are good up to 95W TDP. Tried to find the high performance ones or even the dual liquid cooling from HP but had no luck. I orderd two of these now: https://www.bequiet.com/de/cpucooler/pure-rock/795 but I guess I will have to modify the memory cooling fans unit.
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If you have enough money to buy RTX 2080 why didn’t you got the Z620/820 or Z640/840 series? They come with the Xeon E5 series they have USB3.0The Z640/840 have the PCIE GEN3 and DDR4 which make your RTX run much more better.
Any how this Xeon X5687 can be found cheap on eBay about $35.
This high performance fans on eBay are very expensive you can buy a new system with the price they asking for.
I never actually thought about it and not sure what are the fans in my Z800.
I saving my buck for Z840 in few years time they going to be sell for much cheaper.
Which part of the world are you?
I wonder how much RTX2080 Sell in your country?
Over here in Australia is double the price from the US I watching Tech deal video say you can get RTX2060 for $350us when here the starting price is $578AUD and the RTX2080 start from $1099aud.
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Oded The full story is I already had the Z800 workstation from when I was a freelancer and it was basically not being used since then. I got more and more into simracing the last years and by now the consoles simply aren't enough. So I started looking into the possibility of making it a "gaming PC". I got the two X5687 for 80€, the RTX 2080 for little over 500€ new and got myself another used 27" Samung monitor for 100€ matching the ones I still had from work. I'm from Germany btw. and I have to use the Tor browser to get on greenpcgamers.com (that's what we get with the GDPR). So for a around 700€ I now have a pretty solid triple screen racing setup.
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Alexander Bischel
Sounds you all setup and ready looking up on system recommendations for sim racing racing its look like you got more than enough.
I not really into sim racing I play most of time Fortnite.
I’m probably the worst Fortnite player out there but I love this game it have all elements game needs and it’s free.
I also play Fallout 4, Borderlands, Bioshok, PUBG and other like this.
I love to take Tech deal advice and get RTX 2060 but it’s so expansive here I decided to wait few years and get Z840 and by than I will be able to pickup RTX 2060 on gum tree for cheaper like I got the GTX1060 6G.
The system works quite well and I love the industrial look of it.
Have fun.
Kind regards
Oded
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Hello Guys, I'm wondering If I can install the RTX 2070 in the HP Z800, although it says that it is only compatible with PCI 3.0?
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Martin We tested an EVGA RTX 2070 in a Z800 workstation. It worked fine.
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Jbigticket23 Thank I decided to go with the 1660 STRIG and I'm installing it this weekend :)
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Thank God I went with the 1660TI card my Z800 only have an 840w power supply and there were no extra Molex cables to convert for the additional power.
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Strange when I got my Z800 it came with Quadro 6000that have 8 pin and 6pin.
The Z800 had 2 6pin and one had a converter of 6 pin to 8 pins.
Is your Z800 have 2 6pins?
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Oded Mine only came with 2 6 pins one is already in use, and the other one was being used by a fan for the Hard drives, which I disconnected to use it for 1660 TI.
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Martin 1660Ti should be plenty I have an ex Alienware 1060 6vbr require only 6pin that I got on Gumtree works mint.
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