Howdy
Something a little different
HP Z640 Tower
Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 3.50Ghz 6C/12T
16Gb DDR4 ECC Ram
240Gb SSD
Quadro M6000 12Gb
Win 10 Pro
All units also have the HP 4 Bay 2.5" STORAGE DRIVE CAGE installed too
If this goes well, we have a very large batch that I should be able to do again before the end of the promo period.
Oh also,
I have been trying to get ESXI 7 to run on the Z640 but I haven’t been successful.
If anyone knows how to get ESXI running on this machine please let me know
Proxmox
Most likely this workstation is NOT designed for ESXI.
But for homelab, I think it CAN run esxi. Check CPU & NIC
Haswell CPU is still supported at ESXI 7, I suppose. But do check you have enabled CPU virtualisation options at BIOS.
Not all intel NICs work at ESXI 7. Swap NIC which is compatible to ESXI 7. There is NO workaround at ESXI 7 for incompatible NICs.
ESXI OS just seems to blue screen when i type the web server address into web browser
some general ideas based on own experiences (not certified vExpert)
0. Bios setting for Vitrulisation options.
1. have you log on Direct Console ESXi Interface, not on web browser?
2. If you can log on Direct Console ESXi Interface, try to do initial ESXi configuration and troubleshooting.
3. If your network setting is not right and can't be fixed, try ESXI 7.0 compatible NIC card (2 RJ45 ports, <$30)
4. Try both HP customer ISO and generic ISO images to install esxi, generally newer is better, i.e. 7.03
5. Normally graphic card has nothing to do with esxi installation, but you can try different card if you have spare card;
@harryozz: Good luck, mate. my final comments:
for homelab, I strongly recommend ThinkCentre M700. It is inexpensive and works out of the box. Also very quite and energy efficient.
@MYOB AO: Oh I've got a lots of servers in my home lab. my main ESXI server is a R740xd2 but I thought id use the Z640 as a test before deploying to the R740 server.
@MYOB AO: I fixed it.
HP had the storage in RAID mode by default, i changed to AHCI and its working no issues now.
ESXI 8.0 works and is supported with Xeon V4 CPU's
Did you enable hardware virtualization in the BIOS/EFI?
Make for a good CAD server
Would the quadro be good for video editing/rendering on its own or alongside an RTX 2000 card?
Not for vShpere 8. CPU is too old.
what is the purpose of xeon? would like to get one of this just as a computer at work which needs to be on pretty much 24x7
They support ECC RAM, so are very reliable.
Would this be good for parts? Ideally would like a to build a ITX gaming PC.
If you're building itx, this is not the place. You'll need to look for parts specifically designed for itx.
as parts there is almost nothing which could be used in an ITX build.
Damn would have got this alone for the GPU. I use a lesser model as a Hyper V box and works well. Opted for RGB fans to give it some speed.
Supposedly OP is going to have stock again at some point.
This could be my old work machine I had for 7 years lol, they are rock solid PCs actually still faster then then new laptops and desktops we replaced them with sadly.
They are also super reliable the ECC memory should be standard in desktops and laptops by now. If you have ever had bad memory you know how frustrating and have to diagnose it can be.
Any other similar machines in stock OP?
Another batch will be realised later in the week.
F
Hi, will this still be the case?
Mate not today the guys are slammed with orders at the moment. Will do a post mid Monday morning
I received my Z640 today. So far so good. The unit was well packaged and in clean condition.
On first boot up I got 6 beep error which is related to GPU. But this was easily fixed by reseating the GPU once. (this issue often happens during shipping so nothing to worry about)
The system is fast and fan are about as audible as a gaming laptop in performance mode (i.e. not too loud)
How many sticks of ram does it have?
1x 16gb Samsung ECC 2133MHz
Thanks for the update. I also received mine yesterday. Lots of bubble wrap and in good condition. Hardly any dust inside.
Will be interesting to see how the Quadro M6000 goes.
As OP mentioned, it came with a 4 Bay 2.5" Storage Drive Cage. Its an Icy Dock similar to this https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/133895802854
The 2 little 40mm fans in the Icy Dock were making a racket so disconnected those and now the PC is fairly quiet (minor issue).
Also minor issue, looks like the right side feet are missing so will be adding some rubber pads.
Thanks Aust. Comp. Traders. Will be happy to purchase from them in the future.
@PainToad: Hi @PainToad, I think its the right side plastic bottom guard rail thats missing so yes there's a small slant - didn't notice it at first.
Thinking of using rubber feet as a workaround.
And also same 1 stick of 16GB ram
@hsf: Oh yes, disconnecting the two fans from the 4-bay drive cage made a big difference in noise. I recommend everyone to do this. I had to open the unit to disconnect fans header from pcb.
@OldSchoolHarry: Mine just arrived, is there any chance you can link to me a guide to disconnect these fans?
@Kikkoman56: Took me a few minutes to figure out but here is how I did it.
Caution: Ensure power is removed from the PSU before proceeding.
@OldSchoolHarry: Awesome, worked a treat. Amazing how noisy those little fans are.
I can barely hear a thing from it anymore.
@hsf: Mines stuck in "Delayed – waiting to be processed for delivery" yay AUPost!
Does it have all the caddies for the 2.5" drive bay?
Also what is the SSD form factor?
@stumo: Yeah it has provisions for 4x 2.5 inch drives. I think someone else has linked to the exact product in either this deal or the other one but seems like you can fit regular 2.5in hard drives in just fine.
@hsf: Thanks for sharing. Was about to order some ear plugs from Amazon yesterday lol. will try it out tonight.
There was a question asked earlier about the output ports. Can you please tell which ones are available?
On the M6000 GPU, there are 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1 DVI-I port.
How is the fan noise and power consumption? Looking to buy as a cheap gaming pc.
power consumption is not too bad see here
Fan noise initially is somewhat noisy but once you disconnect the two 40mm fans in the 4-bay drive cage (these are not needed for SSDs), it is very acceptable in terms of noise.
Thanks mate appreciate the reply. Have you tried any gaming on it?
@Quotationz: Yeah, I am using it for gaming and streaming. Comfortably get 1080p60 on High in Forza Horizon 5, 250fps in Valorant, 200+fps in CSGO (medium or high can't remember) and 60fps MS Flight Simulator at medium.
Just recieved mine and I'm getting 5 beeps. Worried it's ram related and don't have have any other sticks to try.
If you haven't already, check HP guide on beep codes. Your first attempt at fixing should be to re-seat the component giving the error. If that does not work then reach out to seller.
Appreciate the reply after reading your comments I resat the GPU and its working now. A bit noisy but will try disconnect the front fans as you said. Appreciate the help. Any other tips? Appears it has a fresh Windows 10 install so not needed to reinstall?
@Quotationz: Sounds good! Yeah I didn't have to do much else - one thing - if the HP z640 BIOS has Fast boot disabled, make sure it is disabled in Windows too; otherwise you won't be able to go past initial Windows loading screen unless you press and hold the power button to do a force shutdown (to get windows out of fast boot friendly shutdown state, forcefully, each time).
Other than this, I am having a blast gaming and streaming.
@Korban Dallas: Thanks but it's all working fine now. It was beeping a few times after I fixed it. I secured all cables again and works fine now.
Would anyone have a link for recommended ram to fill this up? Probably 3 more sticks of 16gb?
Did anyone else get a fibre card in their machine? Mine came with a fibre card in the next slot over from the M6000. Haven't looked into it's capabilities yet but bonus.
Yes. its basically E-waste.
Mine has a card that Windows identified as Allied Telesis at-2911xx Gigabit Fiber Ethernet
Mine didn’t have the card but still had the slot brackets installed.
![[Refurb, eBay Plus] HP Z640 TWR Xeon E5-1650 V3 3.50 16GB 240GB SSD Quadro M6000 Win 10 $350.22 Deliver @BNEACTTRADER eBay](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/83/733683.jpg?h=7b8d7ec4)
2x N36L here.