HP z840 TWP

Technical white paper
HP Z840 Workstation
More power to you
Push your computing boundaries with the HP Z840 Workstation that helps you
keep up with your biggest projects. Built for high-end computing and
visualization, it delivers outstanding performance in one of the industry’s most
expandable chassis.
Table of contents
Chassis and system highlights ......................................................................................................................................... 2
System architecture ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
I/O slot optimizations............................................................................................................................................................... 8
Storage configurations and RAID........................................................................................................................................ 11
High-density storage option................................................................................................................................................20
Memory configurations and optimization..................................................................................................................... 22
New UEFI BIOS and features/legacy support....................................................................................................................25
Technical white paper | HP Z840 Workstation
Chassis and system highlights
Extreme expandability without the extreme size. HP is proud to introduce the

ultimate in high-performance computing—the Z840 Workstation. Building on
the award-winning design of its predecessors, the HP Z840 delivers an
enhanced feature set without an increase in size.
Mobility and flexibility

With integrated front and rear full-grip carrying handles and slick foot pads, the HP Z840 can be easily moved to a new
location or to gain better access. The flexible HP Z840 design can be used in desk-side installations, or rack-mounted
using HP’s enterprise-class, fully extendable rails. To help eliminate bottlenecks with external devices, HP Z840 also
provides eight easily accessible SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports. Four USB 3.0 ports can be found on the front and four on the
rear of the system. In addition, a convenient landing tray has been integrated into the top surface for accessories, such as
a mobile device being charged by the front charging USB port.
The HP Z840 has the power and features needed to quickly get the job done. The dual CPU architecture features sixteen
memory slots, with support for the latest DDR4 memory, and up to seven high-performance expansion slots. With four
internal storage bays, dedicated 9.5 mm height slimline optical bay, and two standard 5.25" external device bays—the
HP Z840 delivers flexibility for storage and accessory options. The internal storage bays feature tool-free drive trays
which have been designed to minimize drive vibration, ensuring quiet operation. The drive trays are compatible with
industry standard 3.5" storage devices, and can be easily adapted to accept the smaller 2.5" form-factor. And now, the
HP Z840’s flexible design accommodates eight 2.5" drives in the existing internal bays using an advanced high-density
storage carrier option. HP also offers a rich portfolio of external bay adapter options including optical drives, media card
readers, and internally and externally accessible HDD carriers.
Interior design
The streamlined interior is very organized with a consistent user access strategy. All user-serviceable components are
identified with consistent green touchpoints, and the removable service panel is laser-etched to provide users with
a clear layout of the system board, which also provides quick and easy access to diagnostics information. Cables are
hidden or efficiently routed, providing better component access and airflow management.
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Designing the experience

HP Workstations have long represented industry leadership in designing for the best user experience. With
groundbreaking innovations in tool-free design, the HP Z840 continues to make servicing a snap. Whether it is adding
hard drives, expanding memory, or upgrading graphics capabilities—the HP Z840 provides tool-free access to most
internal components.
Due to the tool-free ease of use, HP understands system and component security may be a concern; therefore, several
security features have been incorporated. The side access panel key lock and a security slot are included standard, and a
system intrusion switch is available as an optional accessory.
Quiet and reliable

Acoustic performance is essential to HP and our customers because a noisy environment increases user fatigue and
reduces productivity. HP continues to innovate and lead in the area of thermal and acoustic management and efficiency.
As with all our workstations, the HP Z840 hard drives are mechanically isolated to reduce vibration and noise—
improving the customer experience. For the utmost in quiet, the HP Z840 also supports the HP Z Cooler, which delivers
acoustic improvements under even the most extreme processor workloads using cutting edge cooling technology.
In order to address the ever-increasing demand for power, the HP Z840 has taken a comprehensive approach to
maintaining thermal performance. With internal fans distributed throughout the system, airflow is targeted at the
high power-density components. HP’s advanced algorithms control fan speeds instantaneously based on system
configuration and workload, providing users with industry-leading acoustics and uncompromising reliability and
performance.
While acoustic and thermal performance is paramount, it is also important that the HP Z840 operates dependably
under extreme workloads and in harsh environments. Rigorous climatic and dynamic testing helps to ensure that
HP Workstations are highly reliable in a wide variety of demanding conditions, while delivering uncompromising
performance. The HP Z840 is designed to withstand severe shock events and high vibration environments.
Designed with the environment in mind

HP is committed to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. To reduce energy consumption, HP offers ENERGY
STAR® qualified workstation configurations and the HP Z840 features a 90% efficient power supply. The HP Workstation
design team has taken a proactive approach (beyond just industry regulations) to recyclability and selecting materials
that reduce the risk to the environment. HP Z840 configurations are available with low-halogen materials.1
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System architecture
The HP Z840 is the successor to the HP Z820 personal workstation. Its

architecture introduces several new functionalities and technologies. These
include DDR4 memory architecture, Intel®-integrated USB 3.0, I/O slot
improvements and better performance.
New technologies
New Intel® Processor micro-architecture
The HP Z840 Workstation uses the Intel® C612 chipset to support up to eighteen-core Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 processor
series (Haswell, 22 nm), including processors of up to 160 W. Intel® Haswell processors feature a new
micro-architecture and a new instruction set including AVX2 (Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0) and FMA (Floating-point
fused Multiply Add instructions) that help deliver faster compute performance, with low energy consumption. The
integrated 4-channel DDR4 memory controller and dual QPI processor interconnect at up to 9.6 GT/s and increase peak
data transfer and bandwidth over the HP Z820.
HP Z840 Workstation also supports the latest Intel® Xeon® E5-2600v4 (Broadwell, 14nm) processor family.
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0 (Intel® AVX2)

The new Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0 (Intel® AVX2) extends the Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (Intel® AVX)
with 256-bit integer instructions, floating-point fused multiply add (FMA) instructions, and gather operations. The 256-
bit integer vectors benefit math, codec, image, and digital signal processing software. FMA can improve performance
in face detection, professional imaging, and high-performance computing. Gather operations increase vectorization
opportunities for many applications. In addition to the vector extensions, this generation of Intel® processors adds new
bit manipulation instructions useful in compression, encryption, and general purpose software.
Intel® Data Protection Technology with AES-NI (Intel® AES-NI)

The Intel® Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of Single Instruction Multiple Data
(SIMD) instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption based on the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES). Intel® AES-NI is valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, such as applications that perform
bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption. AES is broadly
accepted as the standard for both government and industry applications, and is widely deployed in various protocols.
Next generation Intel® Active Management Technology

New features for Intel® AMT 9.1 include:
• The Intel® AMT network can now be enabled and disabled.
• Any configuration software can now synchronize the Intel® AMT network time to coordinate with UTC.
• The ability to configure a headless platform remotely without the need for local user-consent has been added.
• Graceful shutdown support
––Earlier versions only supported hard power operations, which can cause unpredictable system behavior. AMT 9.1 adds
support for graceful power operations that include Shutdown/Reset/Sleep-deep/Hibernate to improve system stability.
Memory technology
The HP Z840 Workstation introduces support for DDR4 2400 MHz Registered DIMMs. The speed that the memory runs
is determined by the processors and is limited to 2400 MHz for the Broadwell processor generation. DDR4 LR DIMMs
(load-reduced DIMMS) are also supported and enable a total system memory size up to 1 TB with 64 GB2 DIMMs. NUMA
and Non-NUMA modes are supported and dynamic power saving is enabled.
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Intel® USB 3.0

The Intel® C612 PCH has an integrated USB 3.0 controller which provides the four rear, one internal, and four front USB
3.0 ports on the HP Z840 Workstation. The Intel® C612 USB 3.0 controller provides cost-effective support for greater I/O
bandwidth than was provided by the HP Z820 solution. More information on the USB 3.0 Technology and Performance
measurements can be found in the “Resources, contacts, or additional links” section below.
USB charging ability

The HP Z840 Workstation equips the top-most of the front USB 3.0 ports with power charging ability. The port is able to
provide fast charge (up to 1.5A) to a portable device in the following states: System On, System Sleep, System Hibernate
and System Off. It does not support charging in the ErP (Max S5 Power Savings) state. The port supports USB Battery
Charging Specification 1.2. The port is marked by the battery charging icon shown here. More information on USB
Charging technology can be found in the “Resources, contacts, or additional links” section below.
Thunderbolt™ 23 technology
The HP Z840 Workstation provides Thunderbolt™ 2 technology via the optional HP Thunderbolt™ 2 PCIe 1-port I/O card.
The HP Thunderbolt™ 2 PCIe 1-port I/O Card uses the Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt™ 2 controller and provides a single
Thunderbolt™ 2 port.
Each Thunderbolt™ 2 port provides:

• 20 Gb/s data in each direction
• 12 W of power (2 W for cable, 10 W for bus-powered device)
• DisplayPort 1.2 capability with Multi Stream Transport (MST) support that enables the transport of multiple A/V streams
over a single connector
––Maximum 4096 x 2160 resolution at 60 Hz (8-bit display) or at 30 Hz (10-bit display) to a single display
––Maximum 3840 x 2160 resolution at 60 Hz (8-bit display) or at 30 Hz (10-bit display) across four displays
• Each of the four displays can support a 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 4K video file capture and display simultaneously
• Full backward compatibility with Thunderbolt™ 2 devices
For more information on Thunderbolt™ 2 technology, benefits and installation, please refer to the “Resources, contacts,
or additional links” section at the end of this document.
I/O and storage

Internal I/O
The HP Z840 provides a total of seven high-performance graphics and I/O slots. An additional bulkhead allows for an
eighth mechanical-only I/O card (e.g. SDI card).
In a single processor configuration the HP Z840 provides two PCIe3 x16 and one PCIe3 x4, and one PCIe2 x1 dedicated
electrical slots. In a dual processor configuration, the HP Z840 provides an additional PCIe3 x16 and PCIe3 x8 electrical
slot. In addition to the dedicated slots there is another slot which serves as a PCIe2 x4 in a single processor configuration,
but is automatically upgraded to a PCIe3 x8 slot when a 2nd processor is present.
The HP Z840 provides an internal 1-port USB 3.0 connector and an internal 2-port USB 2.0 header.
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Storage
The HP Z840 has an embedded LSI 2308 SAS controller which supports eight 6 Gb/s SAS/SATA ports, and SW RAID
modes 0, 1, and 10. The C612 chipset supports two SATA AHCI controllers, sSATA and SATA. The sSATA controller supports
four 6 Gb/s ports and RAID modes 0, 1, 10 and 5. The SATA controller supports two 6 Gb/s ports and RAID modes 0 and 1.
Ports from both controllers can be routed to the rear panel with an eSATA bulkhead option. Note that it is not possible to
RAID across the two SATA controllers.
The optional HP Z Turbo Drive featuring a PCIe connected SSD is supported on this platform and provides performance
levels greater than 1 GB/s. Up to two Z Turbo drives can be configured in the factory. Data RAID is supported through
Microsoft Windows Disk Manager.
External I/O
On the front I/O area, the HP Z840 provides four USB 3.0 ports (the top-most supports battery charging), combo headset
and separate microphone connections.
In the rear I/O area, the HP Z840 provides four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, two gigabit ethernet LAN ports, audio
Line-In, audio Line-Out, PS/2, and a serial port. Additional rear I/O ports can be added via PCIe add-in cards.
Graphics
With the standard 850 W power supply, certain system configurations can support up to two cards totaling 150 W. With
the optional 1125 W supply, certain configurations can support up to two 225 W, or a single 300 W, cards.
Other features
• 850 W power supply, 88% efficient
• Optional 1125 W power supply, 90% efficient
• Rear panel power on/off switch and LED for easier rack maintenance
• ENERGY STAR® qualified configurations, China’s Energy Conservation Program (CECP) configurations, European Union’s
ErP LOT6 2013 power limit of 0.5 W in off mode
• Intel® vPro™4 manageability with support both for DASH and Intel® AMT (Advanced Manageability Technology) on all
the Xeon® processors. IT managers now have increased flexibility in optimizing their Enterprise manageability strategy
across HP’s Commercial Notebooks, Desktops, and Workstations.
HP Z840 vs HP Z820 feature comparison

Table 1. HP Z840 vs Z820 feature comparison
HP Z840 HP Z820
Operating System Windows 8.1 Professional 64-bit* Windows 8 Professional 64-bit*
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit* Windows 7 Professional 64-bit*
Windows 7 Professional 32-bit*
Processors Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 v3/v4 Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 v2
New instruction set AVX2 AVX

AES-NI AES
Memory technology DDR4: Registered and LR-DIMMs DDR3: Unbuffered ECC, Registered, and LR-DIMMs
Up to 2400 MHz Up to 1866 MHz
USB enhancement USB charging port on top-most front port N/A
USB 3.0 ports 4 Rear, 4 Front, 1 Internal 2 Rear, 2 Front, 0 Internal
Manageability Intel® ME 9.1/AMT 9.1, Intel® vPro Intel® ME 8.1/AMT 8.1, Intel® vPro
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HP Z840 supported CPU line-up

Name Clock Speed Cores Cache (MB) Memory QPI Speed Hyper Featuring Intel® TDP (W)
(GHz) Speed (MHz) (GT/s) Threading Intel® vPro™ Turbo Boost
Technology Technology*
INTEL® XEON® E5-2699 v3 processor 2.3 18 45 2133 9.6 YES YES 5/13 145
INTEL® XEON® E5-2687W v3 processor 3.1 10 25 2133 9.6 YES YES 1/4 160
INTEL® XEON® E5-2609 v3 processor 1.9 6 15 1600 6.4 NO YES N/A 85
INTEL® XEON® E5-2603 v3 processor 1.6 6 15 1600 6.4 NO YES N/A 85
INTEL® XEON® E5-2699 v4 processor 2.2 22 55 2400 9.6 YES YES YES 145
INTEL® XEON® E5-2687W v4 processor 3.0 12 30 2400 9.6 YES YES YES 160
INTEL® XEON® E5-2609 v4 processor 1.7 8 20 1866 6.4 NO NO N/A 85
INTEL® XEON® E5-2603 v4 processor 1.7 6 15 1866 6.4 NO NO N/A 85
* The specifications shown in this column represent the following: (all core maximum turbo steps, one core maximum turbo steps). Turbo boost stepping occurs in 100MHz increments.
Processors that do not have turbo functionality are denoted as N/A.
Intel® Xeon® processors E5-2637v3, E5-2643v3, E5-2670v3,E5-2680v3, E5-2683v3, E5-2667v3, E5-2687Wv3, E5-2690v3, E5-2695v3, E5-2697v3 and E5-2699v3 REQUIRE the
1125W (1450W at 200V Input Voltage) Power Supply Option.
Intel® Xeon® processors E5-2637v4, E5-2643v4, E5-2680v4, E5-2683v4, E5-2667v4, E5-2687Wv4, E5-2690v4, E5-2695v4, E5-2697v4 and E5-2699v4 REQUIRE the 1125W
(1450W at 200V Input Voltage) Power Supply Option.
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HP Z840 Block Diagram

Figure 1.
Slot 1: PCIe3 x4 Slot 3: PCIe3 x8

Slot 4: PCIe3 x16
Slot 2: PCIe3 x16 x4
sSATA PCIe3 x4
Slot 6: PCIe3 x16 Slot 5: PCIe2 x4 /PCIe3 x8
PCIe2 x4 x4 x4
Intel MUX
C612
SAS
Slot 7: PCIe2 x1
SATA
Intel
LAN
LSI
SAS
Intel
LAN
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I/O slot optimizations
The HP Z840 Workstation utilizes PCI-Express 3.0 technology. This section

provides guidance on optimizing the performance of your system when using
PCI-Express cards.
Integrated PCI and PCI-Express 3.0

The HP Z840 uses the Intel® Xeon® processor E5-1600 v3 and E5-2600 v3 series, with integrated PCI-Express 3.0
controllers delivering a peak bandwidth of 16 GB/s per direction. PCI-Express 3.0 is backward compatible with 1.0 and
2.0, and slots will train to the highest common speed. PCI Express 3.0 slots will initialize at 1.0 and then transition to 3.0
through a training sequence that involves four adaptive training phases. It is recommended to carefully evaluate and
validate PCI-Express 3.0 devices that are not available or supported from HP.
See Figure 1 in previous section for the HP Z840 Workstation Block Diagram
PCI-Express performance
The HP Z840 integrates PCIe 3.0 controllers within the processor, DMA caching in the CPU, an integrated 4-channel
memory controller, PCIe 3.0 speeds, and a dual QPI processor interconnect at up to 9.6 GT/s. This produces excellent
performance in I/O bandwidth, remote bandwidth, and latency.
Figure 2. x16 Peak Bandwidth per Direction—Gb/s
16
12
0
Gen 1.0 Gen 2.0 Gen 3.0
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I/O slot options

The HP Z840 provides a total of up to seven high-performance graphics and I/O slots, including support for up to three
PCIe 3.0 graphics cards in PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. In a single-CPU configuration, slot 5 is connected to the chipset at PCIe 2.0
speed with four lanes. A PCIe mux allows a second CPU to connect directly to slot 5, increasing performance to PCIe
3.0 with eight lanes. With the standard 850 W power supply, certain system configurations can support graphics cards
totaling up to 150 W. With the optional 1125 W supply, certain configurations can support graphics cards totaling up to
600 W. In single processor configurations, slot 3 and 4 are not available.
Figure 3. PCIe Single Processor slot layout Figure 4. PCIe Dual Processor slot layout
Slot 1 PCIe3x4 Slot 1 PCIe3x4
Slot 3 Not available Slot 3 PCIe3x8
Slot 4 Not available Slot 4 PCIe3x16

c612 PCH Connected CPU0 Connected CPU1 Connected
Recipe for optimizing PCI-Express I/O performance

For high I/O bandwidth applications, the choice of slot loading, CPU, and memory configuration can be optimized to
ensure maximum bandwidth available. Applications and cards sensitive to I/O latency may benefit as well from some of
the tips below.
Recommended configuration steps

1. Place GPU and graphics cards first, following the slot order listed in Table 3.
2. Place I/O cards next, from highest bandwidth to lowest, following the slot order listed in Table 3. This is the optimal
load order for most applications.
3. If the onboard SAS controller is not used and there is an I/O card in slot 1, then disable the SAS controller (BIOS setup
menu -> Advanced -> Device Configurations -> SAS Controller = Disable).
4. For single CPU configuration only, if PCIe 2.0 I/O cards fail to train at full Gen2 speeds (5 Gb/s) in Gen3 slots, then try
slot 5 which only trains up to PCIe Gen2.
5. Additional I/O bandwidth refinements may be possible. If necessary, refer to the tips below.
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Table 3: HP Z840 I/O slot recommended load order
Load order (depending on slot availability)

Slot 0 Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3* Slot 4* Slot 5 Slot 6 Slot 7
CPU0 Mechanical PCIe3 x4 PCIe3 x16 PCIe3 x16
CPU1 slot only PCIe3 x8 PCIe3 x16 PCIe3 x8
Load
priority Card description Chipset PCIe2 x8 (4) PCIe2 x1
1 1st GPU Only
2 2nd GPU (requires Only
1125 W PSU)
3 1st Graphics 1st 3rd 2nd
4 2nd Graphics 2nd 1st
5 3rd Graphics 2nd 1st
(requires 2nd CPU)
6 4th Graphics Only
(requires 2nd CPU)
7 NIC - 10 GB 6th 2nd 4th 3rd * 1st
8 HP Z Turbo Drive/ 6th 2nd 4th 3rd * 1st
PCIe storage
9 8-port RAID LSI 4th 1st 3rd 2nd 5th
9270-8i SAS 6 GB/s
10 Thunderbolt™ 23 Only
11 NIC < 10 GB 1st 4th 2nd 5th 3rd 6th
12 Audio 1st 2nd 3rd
13 1394b Firewire x x x x x 2nd x 1st
14 eSATA (Cable)** 1st
15 MiniSAS-4x Cable 1st
(PCI Bulkhead)**
16 Serial Port 1st
(cable)**
* Only available with 2nd CPU.

** No electrical connection to PCI and PCIe slots, use any free mechanical slot location.
x Card is not supported in the slot.
Additional tips
• For applications doing direct bus Peer-to-Peer transfers between cards, load the corresponding cards in slots located
behind the CPU. For instance, load cards in slots 2, 4 and 5.
• For very high bandwidth applications in dual CPU systems, select CPU models with the highest QPI frequency (9.6 GT/s).
• Make sure all I/O cards are loaded in slots that have a PCI-Express Lane Width at least as wide as the card (see Table 3).
• For predictable latencies, try disabling NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) mode (BIOS setup menu -> Advanced ->
Bus Options -> NUMA = Disabled).
• For cards that are latency sensitive, load these cards in CPU slots.
• Ensure Idle Power Savings BIOS setting is set to Normal (BIOS setup menu -> Power -> OS Power Management -> Idle
Power Savings = Normal).
• Use the latest BIOS version available on hp.com.
• Check for updates in the latest performance optimization white papers (link below).
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Storage configurations and RAID
The HP Z840 Workstation includes a 2 port, 6 Gb/s Intel® SATA RAID controller
(SATA) and a secondary 4 port, 6 Gb/s Intel® SATA RAID controller (sSATA). The
HP Z840 additionally includes an 8 port 6 Gb/s LSI® SAS RAID controller
Storage Features
Controller interfaces and supported drive types
The controllers support the following drive types and max link speeds:
Controller Number of ports Max link speed Interface type Drives supported**
SATA 2 6 Gb/s SATA SSD, SED, HDD, and ODD
sSATA 4 6 Gb/s SATA SSD, SED, HDD, and ODD
SAS 8 6 Gb/s SATA or SAS* SSD, SED, HDD, and ODD
* RAID arrays can only be created with drives of the same interface type. Mixed SAS and SATA RAID configurations are not allowed.
** Some encryption software used with SED drives requires that SATA emulation mode be set to AHCI.
RAID Levels
The RAID levels supported are shown in the table below:
Controller Number of ports RAID levels Max RAIDs

SATA 2 0, 1 1
sSATA 4 0, 1, 5, 10 2
SAS 8 0, 1, 1E, 10 2
Option ROM Launch Policy

In the Pre-OS environment, HP Workstations can use either Option ROM (OROM) or a Unified Extensible Firmware
Interface (UEFI) driver for configuration and management of the RAID controllers. The default shipping configuration is
set to All Legacy OROM. This can be changed in BIOS Setup under Advanced > Option ROM Launch Policy. Select the
desired Option ROM Launch Policy from the pull down menu.
The OROM or UEFI driver is not available when the SATA or sSATA controllers are set to AHCI.
When the Option ROM Launch Policy is set to All Legacy, the SATA and sSATA OROM will only display at power on if
there are two or more RAID capable devices attached to the controller, or a single device is attached that contains RAID
metadata. In the later case, the OROM will show that the RAID is failed or degraded.
The LSI SAS OROM will always display when the Option ROM Launch Policy is set to All Legacy.
When the Option ROM Launch Policy is set to UEFI, the legacy OROM will not display and management of RAID can be
performed in 3rd Party Option ROM Management from the BIOS Startup Menu.
Controller Enable/Disable
The SATA, sSATA, and SAS controllers can be Disabled or Enabled individually from the BIOS menu under Advanced
> Device Configurations. Select Enable or Disable from the pull down menu for the controller that you would like to
Enable or Disable.
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Per Port Enable/Disable of SATA ports (SATA and sSATA controllers only)
Individual SATA and sSATA ports can be Disabled or Enabled individually from the BIOS menu under Advanced > Device
Configurations. Select Enable or Disable from the pull down menu for the Port that you would like to Enable or Disable.
Per Port Enable/Disable of SAS ports [Z840 only]

Individual SAS ports cannot be disabled.
External SATA (eSATA)

External SATA (eSATA) is supported on the SATA and sSATA controllers with an optional eSATA bulkhead adapter.
Ports can be configured individually as eSATA in the BIOS under Advanced > Device Configurations > eSATA Port n
under the SATA or sSATA controller. When a port is designated as eSATA, the port link speed may be limited to 3 Gb/s.
An option to eject the drive will be available from the Windows Taskbar Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media
applet. Disks included in a RAID array will not be visible in the Eject applet. The current OS disk may be visible in the Eject
applet but cannot be ejected. External drives can be hot plugged if the drive is compatible with hot plugging.
Hot plug or Hot unplug and surprise removal/insertion of internal drives is not recommended.
SATA Emulation Modes

• The SATA and sSATA controllers are capable of being set to three different SATA emulation modes. Separate controls are
provided for SATA Emulation Mode in the BIOS under Advanced > Device Configurations > SATA Emulation Mode and
Advanced > Device Configurations > sSATA Emulation Mode.
• RAID1 (Default; ACHI + RAID capability with greatest flexibility for most users)
• AHCI (Required when using SEDs)
• IDE (Legacy mode, limited functionality - Not recommended)
The SAS controller on the HP Z840 is always a RAID controller and does not support SATA Emulation Modes.
TRIM Support for SSDs

TRIM keeps track of files that have been deleted but not erased on the drive to improve performance and help extend
the life of the SSD. TRIM is not an acronym, but is a command specific to SSDs and is typically represented by TRIM in all
upper case. TRIM is supported on individual non-RAIDed SSDs on all controllers and is supported on RAID 0 and 1 on the
SATA controller and RAID 0, 1, and 10 on the sSATA controller. TRIM is not supported on SSDs in RAIDed configurations on
the SAS controller.
AHCI and RAID5 Technology

The default SATA emulation mode on HP Workstations is RAID (RAID + AHCI) unless SEDs are installed. If SEDs are
installed, the SATA emulation mode will be set to AHCI. The SATA emulation mode can be changed in BIOS setup under
Advanced > Device Configurations, but changing the mode is not recommended and can result in boot failure6 or data
loss if the SATA emulation mode is changed after the OS is installed or if a volume already contains data. Always back up
your data before making any storage system changes.
RAID+AHCI
RAID+AHCI provides all of the benefits of AHCI with the added flexibility of RAID for configurations needing performance
or data redundancy. Even if you don’t use RAID today, setting the SATA mode to RAID (RAID+AHCI) makes your system
RAID ready for the future. RAID (RAID+AHCI) is the preferred mode and default storage configuration SATA mode set in
HP Workstation BIOS.
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AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface)

AHCI is a technical standard developed by Intel for the hardware mechanism that allows software to communicate with
SATA (Serial ATA) devices. It is enumerated as a PCI device and transfers data between system memory and SATA devices.
AHCI provides many benefits over the legacy IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) hard drive interface. Some of the benefits
include:
• Elimination of master/slave handling.
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ) that allows a SATA device to internally optimize the order of command execution for
increased performance.
• TRIM command support for SSDs which keeps track of files that have been deleted but not erased on the drive. This
improves performance of the drive and helps extend the life of the SSD by preventing unnecessary writes.
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)

RAID provides a method of combining multiple disks into a single logical volume to increase performance or create data
redundancy.
RAID0 – Creates a single volume that has data striped across two or more drives on the same controller. The size of the
volume is based on the size of the smallest capacity drive times the number of drives in the RAID0 configuration. RAID0
is typically used to improve performance or create a larger volume from smaller drives. There is no data redundancy or
parity in a RAID0 configuration.
RAID1 – Creates a single volume that is a mirror image of identical data on two physical drives on the same controller.
The size of the mirror is limited by the smallest drive used in the RAID1 configuration. This configuration provides data
redundancy protection against a single drive failure, does not use parity, and does not improve performance. If a drive
fails, the drive can be replaced by a drive of the same capacity or larger capacity to rebuild the RAID array.
RAID5 – [sSATA controller only] Creates a single volume from three or more physical drives on the same controller. RAID5
uses striping with parity data in distributed blocks across all member disks. A RAID5 volume is tolerant of a single disk
failure. RAID5 has performance attributes similar to a RAID0 and reliability of RAID1, however parity calculations can
reduce the performance relative to a RAID0.
RAID10 – [sSATA and SAS controllers only] Creates a mirror of pairs of drives, and then stripes the data on the mirrored
pairs. A RAID10 must contain two or more drive pairs, with a four drive minimum. A RAID10 is fault tolerant to one drive
per mirrored pair.
RAID1E – [SAS controller only] Creates a mirror of a stripe on an adjacent drive such that if any one drive fails, there is
a copy of its stripes on one of the other drives. A RAID1E requires an odd number of physical drives with a minimum of
three drives.
Hot Spares – [SAS Controller only] On the SAS controller, two additional drives can be designated as hot spares that will
automatically replace a failed disk in a mirror. The hot spare must be the same capacity or greater than the largest disk in
the array. Two hot spares can be designated for one array, or two different arrays can each be designated one hot spare.
The RAID array must be created before designating hot spares.
14
Creating RAID Arrays on the SATA and sSATA controllers

RAID arrays on SATA and sSATA controllers can be created through Option ROM (OROM) at power on, UEFI driver within
3rd Party Option ROM Management from the BIOS Startup Menu, DOS utilities, EFI shell utilities, Windows command
line utilities, or from a graphical user interface (GUI) within the Windows OS.
1. Pre-OS RAID creation through the Option ROM (OROM)

In order to use the OROM for configuration of RAID arrays, the Option ROM Launch Policy in BIOS must be set to All
Legacy. This is the default as shipped configuration and can be changed in BIOS Setup under Advanced > Option ROM
Launch Policy.
To access the OROM, press Ctrl-I as soon as you see Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise - <controller name>
Option ROM, where controller name is the name of the controller (either SATA or sSATA) where you want to set up the
RAID array.
The OROM will only display at power on if there are two or more RAID capable devices attached to the controller, or a
single device is attached that contains RAID metadata. In the later case, the OROM will show that the RAID is failed or
degraded.
Once in the OROM, you can Create RAID Volumes, Delete RAID Volumes, Reset Disks to Non-RAID, or Exit. The keys
available for use are listed at the bottom of the screen.
Example: RAID volume creation on the SATA or sSATA controllers through OROM.
a) Use the Up/Down arrows to navigate to “1. Create RAID Volume” if not already selected.
b) Enter the desired volume name and press Tab or Enter.
c) Use the Up/Down arrows to scroll through available RAID levels. A description of the level will appear in the “HELP”
box. Select the desired RAID level and press Tab or Enter.
d) Press Enter to open the “SELECT DISKS” window.
e) Use the Up/Down arrows to highlight a desired disk and press Space to select the disk. Press Enter after you have
selected all of the disks that you want to be included in the RAID.
f) If you are creating a RAID array that is striped, you can use the Up/Down arrows to change strip size if desired. Press
Enter when done.
g) Capacity will be automatically calculated for you based on the RAID type. The capacity shown may be around 95%
of the actual available capacity. In a mirrored array, the reserved space helps to ensure that a failed drive can be
replaced with another drive of the same listed capacity even if the actual capacity is slightly less than the listed
capacity. Press Enter to accept the default capacity.
h) Press Enter to create the volume.
Similarly a user can Delete RAID volumes or reset disks to Non-RAID status by following the on screen prompts and using
the keys listed at the bottom of each screen.
15
2. RAID creation using the UEFI driver within 3rd Party Option ROM Management in
BIOS setup
In order to create RAID arrays using the UEFI driver within 3rd Party Option ROM Management in the BIOS, the Option
ROM Launch Policy in BIOS must be set to All UEFI or All UEFI Except Video. This can be changed in BIOS Setup under
Advanced > Option ROM Launch Policy.
The UEFI driver interface can be reached in BIOS in the following ways:
• Press Esc when powering up the system to enter the BIOS Startup Menu and select 3rd Party Option ROM
Management. This will take you directly to the Drivers screen where you can select the controller that you want to
configure RAID on. If a controller does not have devices attached, it will not show up in the menu.
• Press F3 when powering up the system to enter the Drivers screen directly.
• Press F10 when powering up the system to enter BIOS Setup, navigate to UEFI Drivers and select 3rd Part Option ROM
Management. This will cause the system to reboot and directly enter the Drivers screen.
Use the Up/Down arrows to select the Intel RSTe SATA Controller or Intel RSTe sSATA Controller where your drives are
connected. From here you can create a new RAID volume or view existing configurations.
Example: RAID volume creation on SATA or sSATA controllers using the UEFI Driver interface.
a) Use the Up/Down arrows to select Create RAID Volume and press Enter.
b) Use the Up/Down arrows to select Name and press Enter to pop up a box for editing the volume name. Change the
name if desired and press Enter to close the edit box.
c) Use the Up/Down arrows to select RAID Level and press Enter to show available RAID levels. Use the Up/Down
arrows to select the desired RAID level and press Enter to accept.
d) Use the Up/Down arrows to navigate to “< >” behind the drives you want to include in the array. Press Enter to open a
selection box and use Up/Down arrows to change from blank to “X”. Press Enter to accept. Continue selecting drives
until you have selected all of the drives that you want to include in the RAID array.
e) Arrays that use striping, will have an option to select strip size. You can accept the default by navigating past it or press
Enter and make a selection.
f) Leave the capacity as default.
g) Use the Up/Down arrows to select Create Volume and press Enter to create the array. This will take you back to the
main screen for the current controller where you can create an additional RAID array (up to 2 arrays) or view already
created arrays.
3. RAID creation from a DOS or EFI shell.

RAID arrays can be created in a DOS or EFI shell by using the shell specific Intel® RAID Utility for the controller. This is
useful in a deployment environment where an organization wants to configure multiple systems identically. The utilities
can also be run from a DOS or EFI bootable USB key.
The utilities are specific to a particular driver version and are available with the driver package downloadable from
hp.com.
The utilities are:
DOS Shell
• RCfgSata.exe (For the SATA controller)
• RCfgsSata.exe (For the sSATA controller)
EFI Shell
• RCfgSata.efi (For the SATA controller)
• RCfgsSata.efi (For the sSATA controller)
16
For the latest commands use “/?” option when executing the command.
Example:
> RCfgSata.exe /? Press Enter
Results in:
Intel® RAID Utility for Serial ATA - vn.n.n.nnnn
RCfgSata.exe [/?] [/Y] [/Q] [/C:vol_name] [/SS:strip_size] [/L:raid_level] [/S:vol_size] [/DS:disk_id] [/D:vol_name] [/X]
[/I] [/P] [/U] [/ST] [/V]
/? Displays Help Screen. Other options ignored.

/Y Suppress any user input. Used with options /C, /D, & /X.
/Q Quiet mode/No output. Should not be used with status commands.
COMMANDS - Only one at a time.
/C Create a volume with the specified name.

/S, /DS, /SS, & /L can be specified along with /C.
/SS Specify strip size in KB. Only valid with /C.
/L Specify RAID Level (0, 1, 10, or 5). Only valid with /C.
/S Specify volume size in GB or percentage if a ‘%’ is appended.
Percentage must be between 1-100. Only valid with /C.

/DS Selects the disks to be used in the creation of volume.
List should be delimited by spaces.

/D Delete Volume with specified name.
/X Remove all metadata from all disks. Use with /DS to delete metadata from selected disks.
/I Display All Drive/Volume/Array Information. /P can be specified.
/P Pause display between sections. Only valid with /I or /ST.
/U Do not delete the partition table. Only valid with /C on RAID 1 volumes.
/ST Display Volume/RAID/Disk Status.
/V Display version information.
4. RAID creation from a Windows Administrator Command Prompt.

RAID arrays can be created by using the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (RSTe) Command Line Interface
(RSTCLI) for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems. RSTCLI is included in the Intel® RSTe driver package for
your system, downloadable from hp.com. The RSTCLI must be executed from an administrator command prompt. If
you attempt to execute the RSTCLI utility from a non-administrator command prompt, you will receive the following
message: “Could not obtain system information to display middleware version.”
See the RSTe CLI Specification included with the RSTCLI for specific usage instructions.
17
5. RAID creation from within the OS using the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
enterprise GUI.
The RSTe GUI provides an easy method for creating RAID arrays. The RSTe GUI is pre-installed on systems shipped from
the factory, and can also be installed from the latest driver package available on hp.com.
Launch Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise GUI by navigating to it from the start menu, or press the Windows
key and then start typing “Intel” in the Box that appears. A short list should appear that contains “Intel Rapid Storage
Technology enterprise”. Click this item with the mouse to launch the GUI.
Click the “Create Volume…” button to start the guided RAID array creation process. Additional help is available on each
page of RAID creation process by clicking on “More help on this page” at the lower right corner of each page. A balloon
with a question mark inside will be displayed if help or suggestions are available for a specific topic. Click on the balloon
to display the help on the item in a new page.
Creating RAID Arrays on the SAS controller

RAID arrays on the SAS controller can be created through Option ROM (OROM), from EFI and Windows command line
utilities, or from a graphical user interface (GUI) within the Windows OS.
1. Pre-OS RAID creation through the Option ROM (OROM)

To access the OROM, press Ctrl-C as soon as you see “LSI Corporation MPT SAS2 BIOS” with a status of “Initializing”.
After the controller initialization, the OROM will launch. You can navigate through the OROM using the keys listed at the
bottom of the screen. A “/” between key options means any of the keys listed will perform the action.
To create a RAID volume on the SAS controller:
a) Use the Up/Down arrows to select a controller if more than one controller is shown and press Enter.
b) Use the Up/Down arrows to select “RAID Properties” and press Enter.
c) If you are presented with a screen showing “Manage Volume” highlighted, you have already created the maximum
number of RAID volumes with the drives available.
If you are presented with a screen showing “View Existing Volume” at the top with options for creating RAID volumes
listed below, you already have one RAID existing on the controller and can create another.
Use the Up/Down arrows to select the desired RAID type and press Enter.
d) Use the Up/Down/Right/Left arrows to navigate to RAID Disk Column and line corresponding to the drive you want
to include in the array and press Space to change from [No] to [Yes]. Continue the process to select all drives that you
want included in the array.
e) After you have selected all desired drives, press c to create the volume, and use the Up/Down arrows to select “Save
changes then exit this menu” and press Enter to confirm creation of the array.
f) After the array is created, you will be returned to the Adapter Properties screen. At this point you can use the Up/
Down arrows to select “RAID Properties“ again to view or modify existing volumes or create a new volume if
only one was originally created. If you are done, you can press Esc until you reach the screen with the “Exit the
Configuration Utility and Reboot” option. Use the Up/Down arrows to select “Exit the Configuration Utility and
Reboot” and press Enter.
18
To add hot spares to an existing volume on the SAS controller:
After creating a volumes consisting of mirrored disks you can optionally add hot spares (up to a maximum of 2 hot spares
on the controller) that will automatically replace a disk that has failed.
a) From the Adapter Properties screen use the Up/Down arrows to select “RAID Properties” and press Enter.
b) Use the Up/Down arrows to select “View Existing Volume” and press Enter.
c) “Manage Volume” will be highlighted. Press Enter.
d) Use the Up/Down arrows to select “Manage Hot Spares” and press Enter.
e) Use the Up/Down/Right/Left arrows navigate to the “Hot Spr” column and line of the desired drive to add and press Space.
f) Press c to commit the changes and use the Up/Down arrows to select “Save changes then exit this menu” on the
next screen and press Enter.
g) You will be returned to the Manage Volume screen. Press Esc until you reach the screen with the “Exit the
Configuration Utility and Reboot” option. Use the Up/Down arrows to select “Exit the Configuration Utility and
Reboot” and press Enter.
2. RAID creation using the SAS-2 Integrated RAID Configuration Utility (SAS2IRCU)
The SAS2IRCU command line utility for creating and managing RAID arrays is available for DOS shell, EFI shell, Windows
command line and a variety of other operating systems. The SAS2IRCU utility is available with the SAS driver package on
hp.com.
Instructions for using SAS2IRCU can be found in “SAS-2 Integrated RAID Configuration Utility (SAS2IRCU) User Guide”,
document DB15-000933-01 which can be downloaded from LSI.
3. RAID array creation using the LSI Logic MegaRAID Storage Manager for LSI
MegaRAID SAS Controllers.
The LSI Logic MegaRAID Storage Manager for LSI MegaRAID SAS Controllers is primarily intended for use with LSI
MegaRAID SAS controller. or additional information on how to use this application, see the documentation and help
menus for the application.
Performance considerations
Power settings
The default “Balanced” and “Power Saver” plans in Windows Power Options may result in power management settings
that may adversely affect performance of your applications. If the workstation is being used for a high demand
application, consider choosing the “High performance” power plan or choose custom settings that better fit your use model.
SSDs used in RAID configurations and TRIM support

TRIM keeps track of files that have been deleted but not erased on the drive to improve performance and help extend the
life of the SSD. As the SSD is used, the controller within the SSD distributes data across the available FLASH on the SSD
until all FLASH is used. After the FLASH has been used up, a block erase is required before subsequent writes can occur.
The TRIM command normally frees up memory prior to being needed for the next write. If the TRIM commands are not
sent to the drive and no unerased FLASH is available for writing, the SSD controller must erase a block of memory prior to
writing. This can slow performance in applications that perform a lot of file write and file delete operations. One example
is in compiling code where the compiler generates many intermediate files that then get deleted.
The table below shows which RAID arrays support TRIM:
Controller TRIM supported TRIM not supported

SATA 0, 1
sSATA 0, 1, 10 5
SAS 0, 1, 1E, 10
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Storage Caching Options

HP Workstations ship with default storage cache settings that balance performance with data protection. The balance of
performance and protection can be adjusted by changing one or more of these settings.
Create a backup of your data before attempting to change any storage related settings.
Windows Write-caching policy (Disk Properties in Disk Manager)

Write caching on the device:
DEFAULT: Enabled
Improves performance by enabling write caching on the disk; however, a loss of power may result in loss of data
that has not been committed to the storage media.
Windows write-cache buffer flushing:

DEFAULT: Enabled
When enabled, Windows will periodically instruct the storage device to commit data in the devices cache to the
non-volatile storage media. These periodic commands result in decreased overall system performance.
Note: If Windows write-cache buffer flushing is enabled, Intel® RSTe write-back cache is disabled. To enable write-
back cache on volumes, you must disable Windows write-cache buffer flushing.
A user can choose to disable Windows write-cache buffer flushing to restore system performance, allowing the Intel®
RSTe driver to handle all write-cache buffer flushing.
Intel® RSTe write-back cache [for RAID volumes] (Intel RSTe GUI, Volume Properties)
DEFAULT: Disabled
When enabled the read and write performance of a RAID or recovery volume is improved. In write-back cache mode,
the RAID controller acknowledges write I/O requests immediately after the data loads into the controller cache. The
application can continue working without waiting for the data to be physically written to the hard drives.
Enabling Intel® RSTe write-back cache will enable Write caching on the device if not already enabled and will disable
Windows write-cache buffer flushing.
LSI SAS Disk Write Caching Policy (Set by firmware and RAID level)
DEFAULT: Disabled for mirrored volumes; Enabled for striped volumes
By default, the Integrated RAID firmware disables disk write caching for mirrored volumes to make sure that the write
journal entry stored in nonvolatile memory is always valid. This setting is not cannot be changed by the user. When a
mirrored array is configured, Write caching on the device is disabled. When a striped array is configured, Write caching
on the device is enabled.
Deleting a mirrored array does not re-enable Write caching on the device.
20
High-density storage option
HP has developed an innovative SAS/SATA storage solution for the

Z840 Workstation.
The features
• Transforms the four standard internal 3.5" form factor drive bays into eight 2.5" bays
• Compatible with industry standard SAS and SATA 2.5" drives (HDD and SSD)
• Supports drives up to a 9W power level (e.g. 15K SAS)
• Operates at 6 Gb/s and is compliant with industry specifications SAS 2.1 and SATA 3.1
• The solution consists of 2 drive cage modules, each converting two 3.5" bays into four 2.5" bays
• Full tool-free design: drive installation, drive carrier installation, and drive cage installation
• Independent drive access (no need to remove the drive cage module)
• Blind-mate (direct) drive connections (no cables)
• Drives may be secured via the lockable side access panel
Standard four 3.5" bays Eight 2.5" bays
21
The details
Each drive cage module includes four drive carriers, a backplane printed circuit assembly, and two data signal cables.
The signal cables are pre-connected to the backplane and get routed and connected to the system board or an add-in
SAS adapter card. Once the signal cables are routed through the existing system drive cage, the drive cage modules
blind-mate or connect directly to the existing 3.5" bay signal/power connectors during installation. The existing four 3.5"
bay connectors provide power to all eight 2.5" drives and data signals to four 2.5" drives. The data signals for the other
four drives are established through the four signal cables provided with the drive cage modules. The port identification
on the four standard 3.5" bays is 0, 1, 2, and 3. With the high-density storage solution installed the bays/ports become
0A, 0B, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B.
Drive cage module
Conclusion
HP is excited to extend the leadership position of the Z840 Workstation. With the high-density storage solution, the
HP Z840 offers an unprecedented level of capability and configurability.
22
Memory configurations and

optimization
The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of the memory

configurations for the HP Z840 Workstation and to provide recommendations to
optimize performance.
Supported memory modules

Types of memory supported on an HP Z840 are:
• 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB PC4-2400R 2400 MHz DDR4 Registered DIMMs supported on Intel® Broadwell (v4) processors
• 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB PC4-2133R MHz DDR4 Registered DIMMs supported on Intel® Haswell (v3) processors
• 64 GB and 128 GB PC4-2400 2400 MHz DDR4 LR DIMMs supported on Intel® Broadwell (v4) processors
• 32 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB PC4-2133R 2133 MHz LR DIMMs supported on Intel® Haswell (v3) processors
• Single and dual rank 4 GB and 8 GB based DIMMs are supported
• Quad and octal rank 4 GB and 8 GB based LR DIMMs are supported
Types of memory NOT supported on an HP Z840 are:

• Unbuffered DIMMs
• Non-ECC DIMMs
• DDR, DDR2, or DDR3 DIMMs
See Memory Technology White Paper for more memory module technical information.
Platform capabilities
Maximum capacity
• Single processor: 512 GB
• Dual processors: 1 TB
Total of 16 memory sockets

• 8 memory sockets available per CPU
• 4 channels per processor and 2 sockets per channel
Speed
• 2400 MHz, 2133 MHz, 1866 MHz, and 1600 MHz memory speeds are supported in this platform.
• Memory will operate at the speed of the slowest rated installed processor or DIMM.
Registered and LR DIMMs cannot be mixed in a system
Dynamic power saving is enabled
NUMA and Non-NUMA modes are supported and user configurable
23
Memory features
ECC is supported on all of our supported DIMMs
• Single-bit errors are automatically corrected.
• Multi-bit errors are detected and will cause the system to immediately reboot and halt with an F1 prompt error message.
• Non-ECC memory does not detect or correct single-bit or multi-bit errors which can cause instability, or corruption of
data, in the platform. See Memory Technology White Paper for more information.
Command and Address parity is supported

• Command and Address errors are detected and will cause the system to immediately reboot and halt with an F1 prompt
error message.
Optimize performance
Generally, maximum memory performance is achieved by evenly distributing total desired memory capacity across all
operational channels. Proper individual DIMM capacity selection is essential to maximizing performance. Refer to Optimal
configurations table below for more information.
Table 4: Optimal configurations for the HP Z840 (Note: The following tables do not include all available orderable configurations)
CPU0
Notes DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM5 DIMM6 DIMM7 DIMM8 Rating
4 GB * 4 GB Fair
8 GB 4 GB 4 GB Good
8 GB Fair
12 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB Better
16 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB Best
8 GB 8 GB Good
32 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB Best
8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB Best
16 GB 16 GB Good
48 GB ~ 8 GB 4 GB 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB 8 GB 4 GB 8 GB Best
~ 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB Best
1 TB ~ 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB Best
* For 32-bit operating systems, there is a memory limit of 4 GB.

~ Although supported, these configurations are not orderable at this time.
24
CPU0 CPU1
Notes DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM5 DIMM6 DIMM7 DIMM8 DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM5 DIMM6 DIMM7 DIMM8 Rating
8 GB 4GB 4GB Fair
16 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB Good
~ 8 GB 8 GB Fair
32 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB Best
8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB Good
~ 16 GB 16 GB Fair
64 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB Best
8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB Best
96 GB ~ 8 GB 4 GB 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB 8 GB 4 GB 8 GB 8 GB 4 GB 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB 8 GB 4 GB 8 GB Best
~ 32 GB 32 GB 32 GB 32 GB Good
~ 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB 16 GB Better
~ 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB Best
1 TB ~ 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB 64 GB Best
~ 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB Best
2 TB ~ 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB 128 GB Best
Loading rules
• Load the memory modules in order of size, starting with the largest module and finishing with
the smallest module.
• Each channel includes two DIMM sockets; black and white connector pairs represent a channel.
For a single processor configuration, the DIMMs should be loaded first in the black sockets and
then in the white sockets. The DIMMs should be loaded starting with the DIMM furthest from the
CPU, with the first DIMM loaded in the bottom most socket and alternating sides of the CPU.
• For a dual processor configuration, follow the loading order above, but alternate between the
2 processors.
• See figures below for loading order
Figure 5. Loading order for single CPU configurations Figure 6. Loading order for dual CPU configurations
25
New UEFI BIOS and features/

legacy support
This section describes the new features of the HP firmware (BIOS) installed on
the HP Z840 Workstation. Additional information is available in the Maintenance
and Service Guide for this workstation.
New BIOS core

The HP Z440, Z640, and Z840 Workstations all share the same BIOS image, for which the family name is M60. The M60
BIOS is the first to use a new common core that will be shared with HP Commercial Desktops and Notebooks.
Compatibility
The M60 BIOS implements UEFI 2.4, Platform Initialization (PI) 1.3, ACPI 5.0, and SMBIOS 3.0.
The M60 BIOS is capable of running both UEFI and legacy operating systems (what the UEFI Forum calls “class 2
firmware”), without reconfiguration to switch from one to the other. However, when Secure Boot is enabled, only UEFI
operating systems that comply with Secure Boot can be launched.
New BIOS tools

The new BIOS core will require the following new tools:
• UefiBiosConfig.efi – Captures/sets BIOS features from the EFI shell (replaces Repsetup.exe)
• Hp-repsetup – Captures/sets BIOS features from Linux
• HPBIOSUPDREC.exe – Updates BIOS from Windows
• hp-flash – Updates BIOS from Linux
• CustomLogoApp.efi – EFI custom logo tool
The tools will be available via SoftPaqs from hp.com under the HP Z840 Workstation support page.
26
New Computer Setup graphical interface

The Computer Setup (“F10 Setup”) user interface is now graphical, with variable-width text, drop-down boxes for item
selection, and mouse support.
Figure 7 - Main screen in HP Computer Setup
Main Security Advanced UEFI Drivers

HP Computer Setup
System information
System Diagnostics
Update System BIOS
Set Machine Unique Data

System IDs
Replicated Setup
Language Options
Save Custom Defaults

Apply Custom Defaults and Exit
Apply Factory Defaults and Exit
Ignore Changes and Exit
Help
Save Changes and Exit
Copyright © 2013-2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P.
Computer Setup is available in 14 languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Danish,
Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese. The keyboard layout can now be
configured independently of the language.
Boot modes
The M60 BIOS has separate grouped enable settings for UEFI boot options and legacy boot options.
Legacy support and Secure Boot are now combined in a single setting, in the Advanced menu.
The option ROM launch policy has also been combined in a single setting, with the following options: “all UEFI”, “all
legacy”, and “all UEFI except video”. The last option is useful for running Windows 7 in UEFI mode.
NVMe support
The M60 BIOS natively supports booting from NVM Express (NVMe), which allows PCI-Express-based Solid-State Drives
(SSDs). NVMe provides greatly improved performance compared to AHCI, the interface used by SATA drives.
Network BIOS update

Network BIOS update allows users or administrators to download and install BIOS updates from remote servers, within
Computer Setup. It also allows administrators to set up automatic checks for updates at programmable intervals, e.g.
weekly. Administrators can set up their own update servers and update policy.
Details on network BIOS update are available in appendix B of the technical white paper called “HP Business Notebook
and Desktop PC F10 Setup overview”, available at h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA5-2078ENW.pdf.
27
Resources, contacts, or additional links

New performance settings
This site includes white papers on USB 3.0
Technology, Battery Charging technology, Processor snoop modes
Thunderbolt™ 2 Technology, etc. The Xeon E5 v3 processor supports four different snoop modes: Early Snoop (also known as:
hp.com/go/whitepapers ES mode), Home Snoop (a.k.a.: HS mode, Broadcast Snoop), Home Directory Snoop (a.k.a.:
Directory Snoop, Directory Mode, HD Snoop), Home Directory OSB Snoop (OSB = Opportunistic
Snoop Broadcast) (a.k.a.: Directory OSB, Opportunistic Snoop). The M60 BIOS allows Early
hp.com/support/Z840_manuals Snoop and Home Snoop.
Security defaults
Security settings have a separate default, accessed from the BIOS GUI under the Security menu.
New Secure Boot key

The Secure Boot key exchange key (KEK) used to sign HP UEFI applications has been updated.
HP-signed applications using the older KEK will not run when Secure Boot is enabled; this
includes older versions of HP offline diagnostics. The two KEKs common to all vendors
(Microsoft Windows and UEFI CA) are unchanged.
Changes to replacement motherboards

All motherboard replacements will prompt the user to enter specific information (e.g. the serial
number) upon first boot. The system will not accept BIOS passwords and will require user
intervention to boot to an OS until the requested information is entered by the end user.
The M60 BIOS also supports System Manufacturing Commands (SMC), which can be used to
modify settings normally accessible at the factory. SMCs can only run on predetermined units
for predetermined purposes and are digitally signed to prevent from tampering. There is a
Computer Setup option to disable SMCs.
* Not all features are available in all editions or versions of Windows. Systems may require upgraded and/or separately purchased hardware,
drivers and/or software to take full advantage of Windows functionality. See microsoft.com.
1. his product is low-halogen except for power cords, cables, and peripherals. The following customer-configurable internal components may not be low-halogen: 3.5” SAS HDDs,
T
LSI9270-8i SAS ROC RAID Card, and LSI 9217-4i4e SAS ROC RAID Card. Service parts obtained after purchase may not be low-halogen.
2. Maximum memory capacities assume Windows 64-bit operating systems or Linux. With Windows 32-bit operating systems, memory above 3 GB may not all be available due to
system resource requirements.
3. Thunderbolt is new technology. Thunderbolt cable and Thunderbolt device (sold separately) must be compatible with Windows. To determine whether your device is Thunderbolt
Certified for Windows, see thunderbolttechnology.net/products.
4. Some vPro functionality, such as Intel® Active management technology and Intel Virtualization technology, requires additional 3rd party software in order to run. Availability of
future “virtual appliances” applications for Intel vPro technology is dependent on 3rd party software providers. Microsoft Windows required.
5. SATA hardware RAID is not supported on Linux systems. The Linux kernel, with built-in software RAID, provides excellent functionality and performance. It is a good alternative to
hardware-based RAID. Please visit h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00060684/c00060684.pdf for RAID capabilities with Linux.
6. Advisory: HP Z-Series Workstation - Manual Windows 7 Operating System Installation May Fail. Document ID: c03255662 h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/
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Technical white paper

Chassis and system highlights

Extreme expandability without the extreme size. HP is proud to introduce the

Mobility and flexibility

Designing the experience

Quiet and reliable

Designed with the environment in mind

The HP Z840 is the successor to the HP Z820 personal workstation. Its

Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0 (Intel® AVX2)

Intel® Data Protection Technology with AES-NI (Intel® AES-NI)

Next generation Intel® Active Management Technology

Intel® USB 3.0

USB charging ability

Each Thunderbolt™ 2 port provides:

I/O and storage

HP Z840 vs HP Z820 feature comparison

New instruction set AVX2 AVX

HP Z840 supported CPU line-up

HP Z840 Block Diagram

Slot 1: PCIe3 x4 Slot 3: PCIe3 x8

I/O slot optimizations

The HP Z840 Workstation utilizes PCI-Express 3.0 technology. This section

Integrated PCI and PCI-Express 3.0

Figure 2. x16 Peak Bandwidth per Direction—Gb/s

I/O slot options

Slot 1 PCIe3x4 Slot 1 PCIe3x4

Slot 2 PCIe3x16 Slot 2 PCIe3x16

Slot 3 Not available Slot 3 PCIe3x8

Slot 4 Not available Slot 4 PCIe3x16

Slot 5 PCIe2x4 Slot 5 PCIe3x8

Slot 6 PCIe3x16 Slot 6 PCIe3x16

c612 PCH Connected CPU0 Connected CPU1 Connected

Recipe for optimizing PCI-Express I/O performance

Recommended configuration steps

Table 3: HP Z840 I/O slot recommended load order

Load order (depending on slot availability)

* Only available with 2nd CPU.

Storage configurations and RAID

Controller Number of ports RAID levels Max RAIDs

Option ROM Launch Policy

Per Port Enable/Disable of SAS ports [Z840 only]

External SATA (eSATA)

SATA Emulation Modes

TRIM Support for SSDs

AHCI and RAID5 Technology

AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface)

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)

Creating RAID Arrays on the SATA and sSATA controllers

1. Pre-OS RAID creation through the Option ROM (OROM)

3. RAID creation from a DOS or EFI shell.

The utilities are:

/? Displays Help Screen. Other options ignored.

COMMANDS - Only one at a time.

/C Create a volume with the specified name.

Percentage must be between 1-100. Only valid with /C.

List should be delimited by spaces.

4. RAID creation from a Windows Administrator Command Prompt.

Creating RAID Arrays on the SAS controller

1. Pre-OS RAID creation through the Option ROM (OROM)