GUIDE: Can You Get Cheap NVMe Storage? You can with this! HP Z8 G4 Personality Module Fitment

[@ricardostronsky4855]

RACERRRZ, At 7:20 I almost fainted. 😧 You showed the "HP Performance advisor". Never seen anything about it before during my +6 months search about intel for the Z8G4... Maybe I'm blind?😲 But I see that I'm not alone. Anyways... Tried it and... What a fantastically helpful tool that even showed the PCI-lanes in use and more. Amazing that HP don't push for it since it even gives the ability to go into the BIOS settings and not being stuck at the 1980's BIOS look and feel... So A BIG THANKS for letting me/us know about that app!!! 👏👏👏 About RAID, it´s on my to do list, I have to get back to you on that one. All the best!

[@racerrrz]

It's a touchy topic actually. I read up on HP's fine print because I had filmed a video on how to use HP Performance Advisor. Every company is different and what they allow is usually hidden somewhere within their terms of service etc. The HP fine print lead me to conclude it may not be wise to cover their software product in a dedicated video. I am guessing from the lack of coverage online from anyone other than HP that more or less cements the idea. I added a short section in the recent video because it was the only way for me to get decent footage of the BIOS (I have had trouble recording the BIOS screens - my capture card doesn't operate until it loads a driver and video camera footage has the screen flicker). But I am glad you found that useful. It is a really helpful software package if you enjoy HP workstations. Talking helpful, I may just as well start sharing this since it may have benefit. I had a vision of creating an interactive digital flow chart with useful software organized according to their purpose. I haven't quite got it to what I had envisioned, but through using draw.io I managed to create something resembling what I had in mind: racerrrz.com/software/ You'll find a file download at the bottom of the page. When you download the .svg file - open it in Edge - let it load - then zoom out massively. It should render a large workspace with useful software that are all hyperlinked. The .svg file can be moved around so it is portable map - great to get quick access to some common software packages. Oh and yes that means I am slowly working on building a website for the channel.lol

[@mbe102]

Damn, the way that connects and where it sits is pretty slick!

[@racerrrz]

I really can't complain because it is fully out of the way when mounted right up top - which frees up the lower PCIe slots for other expansions.

[@Fated_Speed]

I just watched your previous video, and it is really well done. I don't understand why more people don't watch these videos (probably because they are WT, but still they are amazing) I plan on buying a Z8 G4 with a single Xeon Silver 4116 for about 400$ and upgrading it. for now I will also wait for your CPU upgrade video

[@racerrrz]

Thank you for your feedback. For the most part my videos have been impression locked - thumbnail impressions appear to be linked to subscriber count from my analytics interpretation. As I have gained more subs I have been allocated more impressions - which results in more views if I don't botch the thumbnail (which is logical - but sub count appears to be coded in as a view multiplier.) I believe this content will appeal to several thousands if not millions of people but then I am biased as the creator lol. The HP Z8 G4 is stepping up as the Z840's replacement and prices are gradually coming down. I have seen several reports of the Z840 being able to run Win 11 which will boost it's longevity (I may need to cover that process in a video tutorial). It's still cheaper to get a top spec Z840 (dual Xeon E5-2699 V4's are cheap relative to the Z8 G4's equivalent cores - say dual Gold 6262's.) For comparison: www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5158.2vs2753.2/%5BDual-CPU%5D-Intel-Xeon-Gold-6262-vs-%5BDual-CPU%5D-Intel-Xeon-E5-2699-v4 But what I do like about getting the Z8 G4 now is that you get to enjoy half decent performance until CPU prices reach a point that you can get the high spec CPUs for a decent price. The HP Z6 G4 is also a decent option if you don't require dual CPUs. I have made good progress with the CPU fitment tutorial / guide video. It’s a little complicated because I have 4 hours’ worth of footage for ~3 tutorials (single CPU fitment process, dual CPU fitment, and dual CPU fitment with thermal paste removal and application). I am aiming to condense it down to ~ 30-40min.

[@Tatarusdesignpictures]

La meilleure vidéo sur la bifurcation, tu m'as fait découvrir ce supper logiciel hp performance advisor. grace à toi, j'ai pu faire la bifurcation, tous mes disques sur mon adapteur pcle sont désormais visible

[@racerrrz]

HP Performance Advisor est très utile et il facilite le travail sur votre BIOS à partir de votre système d'exploitation. Bravo pour obtenir votre configuration de piscine PCIe NVME! Quelle sorte de vitesses obtenez-vous? (Traduit avec Google Translate)

[@ruojautuma1]

Good stuff. I'll add that my initial experience with storage spaces was the same: when creating pool using the GUI tool it seemed that it just extended the drive rather than doing stripe. The performance I was getting was more in line with what to expect from single drive, but capacity was of two drives. I then re did the whole thing from PowerShell where I was able to set "Number of Columns" as 2 which then created a stripe. Supposedly there is an option for this in the GUI too (maybe "Optimize drive performance" or something) but I've not looked in to it any further.

[@racerrrz]

That makes sense. The GUI seemed a tad uninformative in terms of how the RAID was being set up but it's good to know there is a way to get a true stripe. I imagine the performance would be the same or at least similar if set up correctly. For something that can be quite simple it seems odd that it becomes so difficult to get it going in Storage Spaces. I don't mind Device Management - quick and easy and it gets decent performance.

[@westcovinadodge]

Thanks for the vid, I might try a pair of cascade lakes and some Optane persistent memory next.

[@racerrrz]

Nice. That's not a faint-hearted upgrade! Which Cascade Lakes are you eyeing up? I am keeping a watchful eye on pricing for several Cascake Lake Xeons. Thus far their prices have dropped a little but I am hoping for more of a shift before I commit. I have 256GB worth of DDR4 2933MHz ECC Reg. modules ready to drop in - I just need the CPUs to support them. Fitment of DCPMM memory modules would open up doors for some extra features - like RAMDisks and two-level memory architecture. What was your end-use application for the Optane persistent memory modules?

[@westcovinadodge]

@@racerrrz im looking a a machine with 2x4214 and a 1850w ps for 500, lowest price this week on ebay is about 100.00 for the 4214. I would be a big downgrade from the pair of 6140s I have now. The use case for me is more VMs and a large ram disk. and get rid of the vmware mitigations.

[@racerrrz]

Nice. The price is decent but yes the CPUs are not the brightest given that they peak at 2400MHz memory speeds and the lack of support for Optane persistent memory is a bummer on them. I suspect the Xeons that support the Optane DCPMM memory will still cost a small fortune (~$800 USD for x2, pending model). But more cores will always be better for VMs - allowing allocation of more overhead to a VM is nice.

[@rompstar]

just installed that HP Performance Advisor / to get familiar with it, my Nvme comes tomorrow :) also, doubled my RAM to 64 GB and still so many slots left, 24 total, crazy!!!

[@racerrrz]

Nice, solid progress. It's actually ridiculous to have 24 slots on hand. I have not had the need for more than ~230GB of RAM (that's the most I have ever used on a project), so I really can't justify spending a small fortune to fill all the slots. I did invest in 4x 64GB 2933Y ECC modules - but I have yet to be able to use them due to my Skylake CPUs. Once I sort a new pair of Cascade Lake CPUs I will be more than keen to get back to 256GB of RAM. Right now I am living on 96GB (6x 16GB).

[@amdintelxsniperx]

upodate your bios so you get resizable bar support

[@racerrrz]

I have updated the BIOS to the latest version - and I'll check out resizable bar. I had hoped to get a video out of the BIOS update but getting screen recording from the BIOS screen is a challenge - plus pointing a camera at a screen just doesn't look good.lol.

[@adibsadman4094]

​@@racerrrz would love to see a video on this!

[@racerrrz]

@@adibsadman4094 I will give it go! I'll have to get creative to see if I can get a capture card to function pre-OS. The last time I tried I just received a blue screen output until windows loaded. But maybe I can get a camera pointing at a monitor without it flickering away.

[@hectorlopezvelez]

Thanks for this video. It was very interesting. I would like to ask you about the speed. I installed one NVMe Samsung 980 PRO 1TB for my OS in my z8 using HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro. In my speedtest I cant get speed over 3.500MB. Is it posible to increse the speed with only one NVMe or is necesary a RAID 0 with two disks?. Thanks !

[@racerrrz]

Hi, I am glad you found the video useful. Unfortunately you have run into a speed limit that can't be broken on these systems. The theoretical maximum data transfer speed for PCIe 3.0 x4 is 3.5GB/s. With that said, can you go faster? Yes, but only by combining two or more NVMes into a RAID 0 pool. This type of RAID shares the storage space on each drive which allows, in theory, addition of the speeds of each drive. The best description is a motorway - currently you have 4 lanes for flow but you can only fit so many cars - causing a speed limit. Add in an additional 12 lanes to open it up to x16 lanes and you have in theory 4x the speed of a single drive (I netted ~ 8GB/s - 12GB/s using this method).

[@jacquesredmond]

It's been a month since your vid. I think everyone is going through Racerrrz withdrawl. Time for a new video, and your big REVEAL! LOL :)

[@racerrrz]

Sorry about the slow output haha, I need to blame life causing unexpected delays! But to at least give you an update: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXXUeIuhe9eilZY . The Z8 G4 CPU Guide is making strides but it's not ready just yet. I'll make a post when it's close!

[@whosscruffylookin95]

So for the personality slot cards, the one linked in your desctiption and found elsewhere for around $30usd is missing the release tabs but otherwise seems to be identical. Do you know if they still fit snugly even without the tabs? Buying with the tabs is a 5x price jump so I'd much rather avoid paying that much for a few plastic tabs.

[@racerrrz]

That's a huge price difference. If it's the same PCB / identical card minus the tabs it should slot in to the upper PCIe slots - it will just not latch it self into place. With some creativity you can find cheap methods to secure it. Likely it will just remain suspended but it will be exposed to gravity - something the X8 slot should be able to handle (it's not a heavy GPU lol). I would remove the plastic shroud and use double sided tape on the back of the PCB to secure it - saves a heap as you said. I'll look into that actually and update the listing in the video description with the cheaper DIY route.

[@gabakusa]

can you boot up from those NVME?

[@racerrrz]

I have not had success with booting from a RAID 0 because I am using software RAID. Windows needs to load before the RAID pool is activated - so it would not be possible to load an OS on this drive pool. If you used hardware RAID (e.g. Intel VROC module on the Z8 G4) then you could create a CPU operated NVMe RAID pool which should allow an OS to boot.

[@christopherwilliams3113]

I have the device but I am not using it in a HP computer. How do can I get both M.2 slots to work in an aftermarket computer?

[@racerrrz]

I have not tried this adapter in a non-HP workstations but generally HP hardware locks their adapters - usually through a modification of the PCIe pinout - creating a power loop when not fitted to an HP system. If you have one M.2 slot working this adapter might not be hardware locked. Do you have PCIe lane bifurcation on? Not all motherboards support it but you will need to split the PCIe slot into segments via a BIOS protocol (bifurcation) to have both M.2 NVMes detected in this system. The adapter also needs to be in a x16 or x8 PCIe slot to be able to bifurcate the lanes to x4 x4. I explain bifurcation in this video ~5min: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoOwiHymqMh3eck

[@ExpatKeith]

Dear Racerrz, I am a complete noob in the server game but was looking for a way to better handle storage and rendering for video editing. I came across your channel in the feed, and was inspired enough to purchase a z640 that was on sale Cambodia, where I live (American Expat). I was really excited about everything you showed that Unraid can do. Sadly, I can't even get Unraid installed. I get to a green "Root"command line, and even the "Slim" command just gives me a black screen and a blinking cursor. My Windows machine can see the server on my network, but I can't connect. No one responds in the unraid forum, or thier Discord. This is my introduction to servers and Unraid, and I am very disheartened. I thought Unraid and the community was where newbies could find support. Should I go Proxmox? Can you help?

[@racerrrz]

That sounds a whirlwind of emotions on your new machine. The Z640 is an absolute trooper and should give you incredible service. I have not actually tested my hand on Unraid yet but I have had a somewhat seamless experience with TrueNAS and Proxmox. From what you have described it sounds like you desire the Z640 to be an external storage NAS for your main PC? I did a full guide on how to convert the Z440 into a home server here (from the hardware perspective): kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWW1kp-XeseFf5Y What I have not yet done well enough is a tutorial on how to get TrueNAS and Proxmox (plus some VMs on Proxmox) set up (it's on my to-do-list, I promise!). I would offer two solutions: 1) Try to get Unraid running - here are some steps you could try to follow- if you have issues leave a comment here or consider making a post on our Reddit page: www.reddit.com/r/HSpecWorkstations/ Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try: Access the Unraid Web GUI: Open a web browser on your Windows machine. In the address bar, type tower or . Replace with the IP address assigned to your Unraid server. If this doesn't work, try tower.local. Check IP Configuration: At the root command line on the Unraid server, type ifconfig or ip addr to check if your server has a valid IP address. If no IP is listed or it looks unusual, you may need to troubleshoot your network connection. Ping Test: On your Windows machine, open Command Prompt and try to ping your Unraid server's IP. Use the command ping . If the ping is successful, your network is configured correctly, and the issue might be with the Unraid web GUI itself. Reset Network Settings: If network settings seem off, you can try resetting them. Log in as root on the Unraid console and run diagnostics. This will generate a diagnostics zip file that might help. You can also try restarting the network service with rc.inet1 restart or rebooting the server. Graphical Interface Issue (Slim command): If you're seeing a black screen when trying to start the GUI, there could be a compatibility issue with your hardware. Make sure your Unraid boot USB was prepared correctly, and consider trying a different USB port or recreating the boot drive. 2) Give TrueNAS a go - I can recommend the KZbin video on the topic from Novaspirit Tech: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZyuqqaCiNeaadk If you run into issues feel free to check in here or on Reddit - I respond when I get a chance.

[@ExpatKeith]

@@racerrrz Thank you!

[@rompstar]

got another question / so this workstation came with just two 8GB memory sticks / so I got two more for 32BG (4 total) and I just got another 4 more (8 total) so that I have 64GB all matching sticks, because I am trying out some bigger llama language models and I need more RAM to be able to fit the model... but I will still have some free slots as this computer has a lot... but for fastest RAM how should they be install, will 8 be good ?

[@racerrrz]

Sorry, slow response. The Z8 G4 in dual CPU configuration is ideally matched with 24 RAM modules. There are very specific RAM module configurations that are supported and you would need to refer to HP's technical whitenote documents to get the RAM loaded into the correct slots for your configuration (a brief guide here: h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/c05527763.pdf?ver=5 ). 8 Modules would require loading 4 modules per CPU (assuming dual CPU configuration). I would share a link to the memory load order but I can't track one in a quick search. I'll publish a video on RAM fitment for the Z8 G4 in good time.

[@rompstar]

@@racerrrz thanks for the reply, ya dual CPU configuration, I will do some research for the best access speeds :)

[@racerrrz]

Nice. It should serve you well. The extra RAM does make a difference. 16GB of RAM is decent but there will be times were you run short. 64GB of RAM opens up new possibilities. How are you planning to use the system?

[@rompstar]

@@racerrrz i been recently learning how to run AI on my local system, similar to ChatGTP but a model made by Meta called llama3.2 (open source model) and wanted to get extra ram... but in general just wanted the extra RAM ;) i don't do much video editing, but when i go, also wanted extra there too...

[@rompstar]

do you think this would work ? Samsung PM983a 1.88 TB NVMe PCIe M.2 22110 SSD - MZ1LB1T9

[@racerrrz]

Yes, from what I found in a quick search it's a Gen 3 M.2 NVMe - making it well matched to the Personality Module. Gen 4 M.2 NVMes could also work but they need to be backward compatible with Gen 3 PCIe to be supported. The newer PM9A3 may not work due to being Gen 4 only from what I read online.

[@rompstar]

@@racerrrz cool / there is one of ebay for $90 and almost 2TB, so I am going to buy it

[@rompstar]

@@racerrrz thank you !!! I did order it, later I might get another // you are taking a risk doing RAID 0, hoping nothing fails, but if these things are really as good as they say and not fail, I guess things would be twice as fast using RAID 0 ?

[@racerrrz]

Nice. Let us know how you find the PM983a NVMe's performance. In theory RAID 0 should be able to combine the speeds of each drive. So if a drive can manage 3500 MB/s read / write it should allow 3500MB/s x n number of drives. There are some assumptions and generally the system is only as fast as the weakest point. In my Z840 I obtained ~8200MB/s max when pooling four M.2 NVMe drives. Placing the same NVMes into the Z8 G4 (Asus Hyper M.2 V2 adapter) I obtained closer to 12000MB/s read. The benefit of speed is really only used if you transfer a large capacity of files regularly (4k /8k video editing etc.).