HP Z440 Wont Take any other video card than what came with it?

IceDigger

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I have a really odd issue with 2 hp z440 workstation computers. They came with Quadro 310 video cards and I would like to upgrade them. The problem is any time I put a different video card in it it will not boot. I don't even get a bios/uefi screen.

I have tried quadro 2000, AMD RX480, NVidia 970, etc... but same issue. As soon as I turn on either computer i just get a blank screen.

Any ideas?

I do have the latest bios/uefi in there too.

I have never had a desktop with this issue before, and 2 of the same issues.
 
have you tried and tested with a PCI-E powered-only GPU?. IIRC that machine uses two types of proprietary custom PSU, and only the 700W one have a single PCI-E power cord, you will have to use adapters to get the second PCI-E power cord if not then your GPUs will not work.

at work we had couple of older Z420 that even didn't had a single PCI-E power cord and to upgrade we always needed to use SATA to PCI-E adapters.
 
That's weird. I have an HP Z820 and I've swapped a few cards on it. The HP workstations have 6-pin molex power cables. You will need a 6-pin to 8-pin adapter for NVIDiA GTX cards. Also, make sure your computer power supply has enough power to run the new cards. Other than that I'm a bit stumped as to why the Quadro 2000 wouldn't work: unless it cannot get enough power.
 
That's weird. I have an HP Z820 and I've swapped a few cards on it. The HP workstations have 6-pin molex power cables. You will need a 6-pin to 8-pin adapter for NVIDiA GTX cards. Also, make sure your computer power supply has enough power to run the new cards. Other than that I'm a bit stumped as to why the Quadro 2000 wouldn't work: unless it cannot get enough power.
Its a 700w power supply and the quadro does not require extra power connectors. The other 2 cards do but connected them and still nothing.

Yes I have tried resetting the cmos after installing them also.
 
Its a 700w power supply and the quadro does not require extra power connectors. The other 2 cards do but connected them and still nothing.

Yes I have tried resetting the cmos after installing them also.

Sorry to be of no help whatsoever! :p I'd give HP a call: all of your cards should work.
 
On the HPe side, and not necessarily on the workstation side, HP has been known to check for "their stuff" only. This practice isn't unique to them, I first saw this with Sun Microsystems. Hoping that isn't the case here, but HP's practice of "checking" is a current practice and it's evil.
 
You need to try another monitor on the system to see if the card works for sure. Outside of that, it could be a specific EDID issue with that monitor and video card combination. That's normally something I've seen from AMD cards and not NVIDIA cards, but it's not impossible.
 
Did you guys actually read the post. I have tried all that you stated already?
 
Did you guys actually read the post. I have tried all that you stated already?
missed that in op, see it in a re-read.
do you have another psu to test with? I see one yt vid with a 980ti working with a sata-8pin adapter.
also, do any of the gps you tried have a bios switch on them? try flipping that if they do
 
I have many many psus and computers I tested it with.

Just these 2 NEW z440 computers no other video cards work with them.
 
I have many many psus and computers I tested it with.

Just these 2 NEW z440 computers no other video cards work with them.
does the pc still work with the original cards if the other cards are installed? Its is strange you cant even post/boot just because the new cards are inserted? very weird indeed...nothing in the bios setting wise that could effect this?
 
Have you tried it with something other than the quadro 2000 card? I know my z600 is very picky about how much power each pcie slot can draw (the "gpu" slot can draw 75w and the others can handle 25w) without external power.
 
Have you checked to see if secure boot is turned on? HP systems will fail to boot if you change the video card with secure boot enabled. You may also have to enable legacy support.
 
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I can only add to the shots in the dark here, but the Quadro 2000 is a 65W GPU, and the NVS 310 is 20W. HP might cap the PCIe slot on that model at 25w or so, similar to some SFF configurations (including the HP I'm typing this on) - even though a PCIe slot is technically capable of up to 75w on its own. If such is the case, your only upgrade paths might be limited to 25w or so, even if you're able to provide PCIe power via PSU connectors.

My knowledge of how GPUs request power at startup is limited, but it's possible that a card, even when they get most of their juice from the 6/8 pin connectors, might want more from the PCIe slot than it is able to provide at startup. I've also heard it said that some cards only request enough power from the slot to initialize BIOS but maybe someone else can chime in. Sorry I don't have any solutions but it might help troubleshoot.

I suppose it's possible to test this in a looney sort of way, by using another PC to reflash the Quadro 2000 with significantly lower voltage and clocks, and see if it'll start then. I don't know how low you'd have to go to hit HP's target wattage, or if that's even what's going on here, but I'm crazy enough that it's probably something I'd try.
 
I've seen OEM GPUs with altered hardware IDs in the past. But it was over 10 years ago. I didn't know the purpose of it, But I had to edit the inf files in drivers to match the altered ids to be able to install reference drivers for such cards.
 
Sounds like a BIOS flash is a needed workaround? This reminds me of having to flash the BIOS of my old lenovo laptop to a custom one to allow 3rd party hardware.

But for a desktop? That is frustrating...
 
I just tried the Quadro 2000M from my Lenovo Thinkstation in the HP Z820 and it works fine. I normally have a GTX 1070 in the HP. Hope HP tech support gets things get sorted out for you.
 
I had an Acer from my partner's workplace that would not accept the 660 I dropped in. The original PSU didn't have the power connectors, so I changed that and it would turn on, but would not boot. Replacing the original AMD card would let the PC boot. I had no idea this was a thing, lol.
 
I can only add to the shots in the dark here, but the Quadro 2000 is a 65W GPU, and the NVS 310 is 20W. HP might cap the PCIe slot on that model at 25w or so, similar to some SFF configurations (including the HP I'm typing this on) - even though a PCIe slot is technically capable of up to 75w on its own. If such is the case, your only upgrade paths might be limited to 25w or so, even if you're able to provide PCIe power via PSU connectors.

My knowledge of how GPUs request power at startup is limited, but it's possible that a card, even when they get most of their juice from the 6/8 pin connectors, might want more from the PCIe slot than it is able to provide at startup. I've also heard it said that some cards only request enough power from the slot to initialize BIOS but maybe someone else can chime in. Sorry I don't have any solutions but it might help troubleshoot.

I suppose it's possible to test this in a looney sort of way, by using another PC to reflash the Quadro 2000 with significantly lower voltage and clocks, and see if it'll start then. I don't know how low you'd have to go to hit HP's target wattage, or if that's even what's going on here, but I'm crazy enough that it's probably something I'd try.
This.
I've heard of this on Dell before.
The PCIe slot is probably power limited.
 
I have a z400 that I've put like 10 different cards in and it has worked fine (even a crossfilre R9 270 setup).
 
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