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Helping You Create Your Custom Gaming Computer

HP Z440 GAMING COMPUTER AND OTHER HARDWARE UPGRADES

The HP Z440 Workstation has all the base components to be converted in to a high end gaming computer.  HP Z440’s are a single socket Xeon based workstation.  The HP Z440 also supports DDR4 memory and NVME.2 Technology.  Ideally you’ll want to install the optional 700W Power supply before you start buying components.  Let us show you how you can build an effective HP Z440 Gaming Computer.

 

Where to buy?

 

If you haven’t already acquired a HP Z440 we’d recommend checking out a company called Serverworlds.  They sell the Z440’s cheap and they provide free ground shipping to the lower 48 states.  Custom configure an HP Z440 using this link: Customize a HP Z440.  You can also try to snag them cheap on Ebay.  However, Ebay can be a bit of a gamble because you never know what you are going to get.

The goal is to purchase the Z440 with a good processor and memory already installed and then you can source the graphics cards, hard drives, and other optional components from other sources.

 

 

 

 

 

Upgrade your Power Supply:

 

HP Z440 700W Power Supply PN: 758467-001

 

 

 

What Processor should I get?

 

High Clock speed CPU’s are the way to go.

 

Recommended Processors:

 

V3 Procs:

 

Up to 1 x QC Xeon E5-1620 V3 3.5Ghz 10MB Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR20P)

Up to 1 x QC Xeon E5-2637 V3 3.5Ghz 15MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR202)

Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-1650 V3 3.5Ghz 15MB Processor | 3.8Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR20J)

Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-2643 V3 3.4Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR204)

Up to 1 x 8C Xeon E5-2667 V3 3.2Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR203)

Up to 1 x 10C Xeon E5-2687W V3 3.1Ghz 25MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.5 Max Turbo Frequency (SR1Y6)

 

V4 Procs:

 

Up to 1 x QC Xeon E5-2637 V4 3.5Ghz 15MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P3)

Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-2643 V4 3.40Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P4)

Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-1650 V4 3.60Ghz 15MB Processor | 4.0Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P7)

Up to 1 x 8C Xeon E5-2667 V4 3.2Ghz 25MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P5)

Up to 1 x 8C Xeon E5-1660 V4 3.20Ghz 20MB Processor | 3.8Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2PK)

Up to 1 x 12C Xeon E5-2687W V4 3.0Ghz 30MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.5 Max Turbo Frequency (SR2NA)

 

 

How much Memory should I get?

 

The base line should be a minimum of 16GB of memory.  However, 24GB to 32GB would be ideal.

 

Memory PNs:

 

HP Z440 4GB DDR4 Module

HP Z440 8GB DDR4 Module

HP Z440 16GB DDR4 Module

HP Z440 32GB DDR4 Module

 

Recommended Memory configurations:

 

4 x 4GB PC19200R ECC Reg Modules (16GB)

6 x 4GB PC19200R ECC Reg Modules (24GB)

4 x 8GB PC19200R ECC Reg Modules (32GB)

6 x 8GB PC19200R ECC Reg Modules (48GB)

 

It’s very important to use 19200R modules because they will run at the max speed supported by the system board and processor(s).

 

 

 

What Hard Drive should I get?

 

Ideally you would want to have a NVME.2 Solid State Drive as your boot device as well as storage for faster read speeds.  If you are limited on budget you could go with a small SSD for your boot device and a larger capacity 7.2K SATA drive to hold your larger files/programs/games.

 

NVME.2 PCIe Adapter (You need this if you plan to install an NVME.2 Drive in to this system):

 

HP NVME M.2 SSD PCIe Adapter (741624-001)

 

YES, the NVMe.2 SSD is bootable on a Z440 Workstation

 

Recommended NVME.2 SSDs:

 

Samsung 980 EVO Series – 500GB NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V8V500B/AM)

Samsung 980 EVO Series – 1TB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM)

Crucial P5 NVMe M.2 1TB SSD (CT1000P5SSD8)

Samsung 980 EVO Pro Series – 2TB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/A)

 

Recommended large Capacity SATA Drives:

 

Seagate 2TB BarraCuda SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (ST2000DM006)

Seagate 3TB Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal HDD (ST3000DM008)

Seagate 6TB IronWolf SATA HDD 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5″(ST6000VN0033)

 

Recommended SSD Drives:

 

Samsung 870 Evo 500GB 2.5 inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E500)

Samsung 870 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E1T0B/AM)

Samsung 870 EVO 2TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E20B/AM)

Samsung 870 EVO 4TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E4T0B/AM)

 

 

Recommended Graphics Cards:

 

NVIDIA GTX1050 TI 4GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1660 Ti 6GB Graphics Card

 

Upgrade Power Supply to support the Graphics Cards below:

 

HP Z440 700W Power Supply PN: 758467-001

 

Graphics Card Cooling Fan  (J9P80AA)

 

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1070 8GB SC Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1070TI 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1080 SC 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1080 TI 11GB SC2 ICX Technology Graphics Card

 

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2060 6GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super Graphics Card

 

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 3070 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti 8GB Graphics Card

 

Expect Some Strong Bottle-necking if you install these Graphics Cards:

 

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2080 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti 11GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 3080 10GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti 12GB Graphics Card

 

What type of Monitor should I get?

 

Ideally it would be nice to get a monitor with a 144Hz or 244hz refresh rate or better monitor.  However, it really depends on the games you play.  If you play first person shooter games a 144hz or 240Hz or better monitor is a must.  If you play other games that do not require quick response time then a 60hz monitor should work fine.

 

Recommended Monitors:

 

ASUS PG248Q Full HD 144Hz 1MS 24″ Gaming Monitor

ASUS VG278Q Full HD 1080P 144Hz 1MS 27″ Gaming Monitor

ASUS XG258Q ROG Strix 24.5″ 1080P 240Hz 1MS Gaming Monitor

ASUS VG279QM TUF  27″ 280Hz (240Hz) Gaming Monitor

 

Recap:

 

Using the criteria above you can help you build a high end gaming system using a HP Z440 Workstation.

 

Sample Configuration:

 

HP Z440 Workstation

1 x 6C Xeon E5-2643 V3 3.4Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs (3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency)

32GB PC2400T (4 x 8GB)

Samsung 1TB EVO 860 NVME.2 w/Adapter

EVGA GTX 1080 SC w/8GB  Graphics Card

1 x 10/100/1000 Network Port

700W Power Supply

DVD-RW

10 Pro 64Bit

 

We have tested this system with games like Dota 2, CS Go, PubG, Overwatch, and The Division.  The frames can range from 90FPS to 200FPS depending on the game and settings that you choose.  The system was tested using a 240Hz 27″ Asus Monitor.

 

Videos:

 

HP Z440 Gaming Computer Build

HP Z440 Memory/Ram Install

HP Z440 Processor Install

HP Z440 3.5″ SATA 7.2K Hard Drive Install

How to Fix Hanging Black Screen after Reboot for HP Z440, Z640, and Z840 Workstations