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
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!
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
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!