The HP Z400 Case Mod! AKA PCB_Master ruins a perfectly good workstation! This will be the progress log for my latest PC mod. It will be a little slow, mostly because I actually use this computer and it takes forever to disassemble (and I'm lazy).

First things first, the old 475W PSU has to go. Now HP, in all their wisdom decided to go with a non ATX-compliant power supply. I found this out when I hooked everything up and it wouldn't power on (scared me half to death). For an HP Z400 PSU, 4 pins have to be changed (todo: diagram). After getting the PC up and running, I found the stock heatsink to be lacking. So I ordered a LGA1366 heatsink and slapped it on. I had to trim the plug a little to get it to fit on the five pin connector. I booted up the PC and the BIOS alerted me that I was using a "low-power" heatsink on a high power CPU. Turns out, the fifth pin needs to be grounded for the heatsink to be a "high power" one. So I swapped the connectors.



The old heatsink makes a great backdrop Razz
After all that, the new heatsink was ready to go!

Unfortunately, the heatsink was too big for the side of the case to go back on. Not a problem, we have a dremel!

Next, I'm thinking of giving the case a paintjob and a window. That's all for now!
This machine is absolutely still worth the money. I think there is an easier way for swapping the CPU cooler though. Mine is upgraded with Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 LE and no hardware cutting was needed. Now this triple boot HP Z400 (Mac OS X - Linux - Win7) runs very cool, about 12 degrees Celsius less than stock cooler. Intel Xeon W3680 6-core.

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I chose that heatsink for two reasons: 1. Because my local computer store had it in stock 2. I didn't want to put a whole lot of money into a PC that I got for pretty cheap. The large 120mm fan also runs pretty quietly too, in addition to lowering the overall temps.
Hi. I bought this one for cheap too as I wanted to buy a Mac Pro, but the used Mac it was 3x the price of this HP with the same hardware..... Can you tell me about Bios version of your Z400? Thank you.
Hey pcb_master, found this thread through the intergoogles.
Could you post the diagram of the psu 24pin mod? I am dying to put something more powerful in my Z400, these 1366 chips are thirsty!
PM'ed you also
jakethesnake438 wrote:
Hey pcb_master, found this thread through the intergoogles.
Could you post the diagram of the psu 24pin mod? I am dying to put something more powerful in my Z400, these 1366 chips are thirsty!
PM'ed you also


Probably. The old PSU was gutted and is being used to power my mining ASICs, but I think I still have the 24 pin connector lying around somewhere...
I found the 24 pin connector. Here is how the two connectors are wired. You'll have to move some pins around and add new ones. It helps to have a donor connector for wire and connectors.
Cheers mate! Saves me heaps of time!
After figuring out how to get a stable overclock on the HP mobo, it was pretty apparent that the Thermaltake heatsink wasn't gonna cut it anymore, idling around 50C. Instead of trying to get a different heatsink to fit or trying to cram a dual 80mm radiator in there, I simply got a case that could fit a 240mm rad. The Z400 board is almost ATX compliant, the top left corner and the center mounting hole are incorrect. Other than that, the board fits fine. I put the board in a NZXT H440 case and got a Corsair H100i for the CPU cooler.


Hello pcb_master,
how did you connected the 12V to pin 12 and 23? can i get the 12V just from a other 12v pin?

currently i m running 2 PSUs on my z400... now i want to reduce it to 1 PSU.

..and sorry for my bad english.

greetings
equa
Hi equazion,

The infos you're looking for to run your Z400 on 1 psu can be found here:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=80091&highlight=z400


And SpaceCat that's a sweet a Z400 setup you got yourself there. If I may ask, how did you get to overclock the thing? Any link/guide? What are your settings to get it stable?
I just used setfsb. I'll have to figure out where I saved the settings.
Alright thanks
@SpaceCat Can you please tell me which PLL Clockgen you used in setfsb for your Z400? I'm still wrestling with all those clockgens in the menu but the machine freezes and needs a hard shutdown.
Thank you
SpaceCat, I found this post googling z400 and overclocking. I recently adapted a z400 6dimm Xeon system into a bit of a gaming PC in a corsair carbide case and am interested in all the information you can give regarding your overclocking experience with this board. Also, if you know the PLL, what might that be? Thanks
Hey, first - i am sorry for my bad english.

So, i have HP Z400 and i need new cpu cooler ( i would like to buy Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Limited Edition ).But i have question - can i plug the 4pin fan to the 5pin of the motherboard without problems, e.g. damage the board?Please, how to do it the right way..... thank you so much.
Gen83 wrote:
Hey, first - i am sorry for my bad english.

So, i have HP Z400 and i need new cpu cooler ( i would like to buy Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Limited Edition ).But i have question - can i plug the 4pin fan to the 5pin of the motherboard without problems, e.g. damage the board?Please, how to do it the right way..... thank you so much.


Yes. Plug it in to the furthest right 4 pins.
Thanks mate, i´ve got it !
SpaceCat! Come onnnn, i want to know moreeee
  
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