HP 820 Tower - RED EDITION

[L. Langer]

SSD update... Samsung 830 is a no-go in the Z820 as well... WTF? Spent over an hour talking to a couple different "support" people at HP. Not real happy. Their "solution" to the problem was to forget the SSD and replace it with an officially supported storage device. I'm seriously beginning to wonder if certain devices or types of devices are being intentionally crippled here. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I'm just about out of ways to explain this.

Looking for a solution or resolution or work-around here. I find it curious that the OCZ SSD worked fine with the older version of its firmware. Talked to OCZ again and got a bit further and they relaxed a bit after I explained the same thing was happening with the Samsung unit. I can't roll-back to pre v1.4 on the firmware as it was a destructive update. They have already sent me a new SSD yesterday to try, but they offered to send me another one that will have the older v1.3 firmware (in case the other does not). Not sure if that's the best solution, but it may be until I figure out WTF HP's problem is.

Here's some shit you need to know...

1. HP does break SSDs and other things through BIOS whitelisting on their computers so that you can only use their parts and it protects their profits. From a support standpoint it does make some sense even though it sucks donkey balls. Don't ask me for any specifics about this machine because they keep stuff to themselves but this is how they choose to do things now (they have been doing it for the past several years) and the only way around it is to break down the BIOS and compile a new one that does not restrict your choice of hardware components. I don't suggest you do that but I'm just gonna tell you about it because you want an answer. Once a parts ordering page is available in the HP part ordering database for this model, you can use the SSDs listed on there as a list for what works. I can't say for sure with this machine but I do know that HP uses Crucial and Intel SSDs in most if not all of their currently shipping products, so that may be why you had no problems using them if the BIOS has locked out others. If you want to try an internal SATA card, the machine might boot to your unapproved SSD from that but that's another BIOS specific option that may or may not be locked out depending on what HP has done. They don't make documentation about engineering stuff and the parts ordering lists along with whatever you can gleam from other people's experiences in forums like this are the only way to know for sure what works without trial and error.

2. The chipset used in the 820 is brand-spanking new and like many of Intel's chipsets, it will take some time to eradicate the bugs and it's most likely going to work best with Intel SSDs because that's what they test reference designs on. Intel will make updates to the chipset firmware to fix problems through the BIOS updates that HP will release once they have been tested. Anyone who has any problems with the onboard SATA or anything else related to the board needs to ride HP's ass so that they keep pumping out BIOS updates to fix whatever problems come up.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

1. HP does break SSDs and other things through BIOS whitelisting on their computers so that you can only use their parts and it protects their profits. From a support standpoint it does make some sense even though it sucks donkey balls. Don't ask me for any specifics about this machine because they keep stuff to themselves but this is how they choose to do things now (they have been doing it for the past several years) and the only way around it is to break down the BIOS and compile a new one that does not restrict your choice of hardware components.

Yes, the ever-present conspiracy theory.... I've got HP engineers on the case now, we'll see what they say. And a big thanks to the guys at RED for this. Their support never ceases to amaze me when they can help a guy out with a product from yet another provider.

2. The chipset used in the 820 is brand-spanking new and like many of Intel's chipsets, it will take some time to eradicate the bugs and it's most likely going to work best with Intel SSDs because that's what they test reference designs on. Intel will make updates to the chipset firmware to fix problems through the BIOS updates that HP will release once they have been tested. Anyone who has any problems with the onboard SATA or anything else related to the board needs to ride HP's ass so that they keep pumping out BIOS updates to fix whatever problems come up.

New chipset, sure... Not really an excuse though. Both the SuperMicro X9DAi and the ASUS dual E5 motherboards use the same chipset and they work fine with these SSDs.

 

[Jarred Land]

Fusion IO FX just showed up. O my...

 

[Bob Gundu]

Fusion IO FX just showed up. O my...

Show-and-tell-time!!!!

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

+1 do tell!

 

[Eric Z]

Fusion IO FX just showed up. O my...

Hubba hubba!!! Amazing things are happening these days. Wonder what speeds Jarred & RED team can squeeze out of this one...
Jarred, Let an EPIC roll on your machine and show us the marvel.

 

[Steve Sanacore]

What amazes me is that we are stuck with only two poor options. What happened to a version of Unix like Linix? Why can't someone come out with a new OS that is built just for high end graphics the way SGI or SUN used to do? I would go with PC hardware but I don't want to deal with Microsoft and Windows ever again. I built PC's for gaming while my kids were growing up and they are real performers but very troublesome because of Windows - albeit that was with XP. Maybe the newer versions are more stable? Apple really did so much for the graphics, photography and movie world - it's a shame that they put it on the back burner now.

 

[Jarred Land]

What amazes me is that we are stuck with only two poor options. What happened to a version of Unix like Linix? Why can't someone come out with a new OS that is built just for high end graphics the way SGI or SUN used to do? I would go with PC hardware but I don't want to deal with Microsoft and Windows ever again. I built PC's for gaming while my kids were growing up and they are real performers but very troublesome because of Windows - albeit that was with XP. Maybe the newer versions are more stable? Apple really did so much for the graphics, photography and movie world - it's a shame that they put it on the back burner now.

If Adobe made a creative suite for Linux.. that would probably make a huge difference. Until then, Linux in the middle creative world is not gonna do much other than the specialty boxes at the very high end. They had a small window there when netbooks came in to have some traction.. but now that IOS and Android have taken over that bottom market i don't see much play for linux in the low end either.

Windows 7 is a lot better than XP. But it probably is still not as good as OSX. I mean even just seeing bloody folder sizes when you open a folder.. you can't do that on windows....and I don't know why.

But if Windows got a good built in file explorer.. . and an email program that was actually good ( postbox is as close to good as it gets i think ) everything else really is transparent when you are in a program.

I haven't crashed my windows machine in a very long time. But the same thing i love ( expandability and power ) sometimes gives problems.. just like Jeff is going through. Get a new bleeding edge something and put it in and sometimes it takes awhile to get it to work. But after it does work.. 99% of the time i feel like the effort was well worth it for the gain.

 

[Jason Diamond]

Fusion IO FX just showed up. O my...

pics or it didn't happen

AND Benchmarks... How many did you get? They scale linearly so a few of those bad boys would be pretty nuts.

 

[Steve Sanacore]

I'd love to see some benchmarks between the new HP and the latest Mac Pro's. I realize you may be driving 4K monitors but that is probably not an option for many of us, so just driving 30" displays would be a good comparison. Nice to see you guys working on these solutions for your customer base. I think it's also great that Apple may have some competition again and I hope they take notice.

 

[Peter Chang]

I just got a quote from ProMax for the Z820 "Visionary" model and let's just say that you could almost buy an Epic for the same price.
One could build the same system with better hardware components in certain aspects (and not be restricted by the bios when it comes to SSDs) for about half the cost, even factoring in the Red Rocket.

 

[Rob Anderson]

I just got a quote from ProMax for the Z820 "Visionary" model and let's just say that you could almost buy an Epic for the same price.
One could build the same system with better hardware components in certain aspects (and not be restricted by the bios when it comes to SSDs) for about half the cost, even factoring in the Red Rocket.

Peter, that was our conclusion. We went with Main Gear.

 

[Jarred Land]

Heh heh heh the Fusion is pretty quick. I put it in a 4x slot just because that was the slot that was readily available.. and its reading just below a GB/s.

 

[Bob Gundu]

Time to enter the contest!


https://www.facebook.com/FusionioFX

Jarred. did it come in a case like this?

New Fusion ioFX memory tier bridges the gap between creative potential and application performance in the professional production pipeline
ioFX accelerates leading creative applications to free visual artists to explore more ideas, even under today’s tight deadlines.

• Tuned for sustained performance in multithreaded applications
• Work on 2K, 4K and 5K content interactively, in full resolution
• Manipulate stereoscopic content in real-time
• Accelerate video and image editing and compositing
• Speed video playback
• Powerful throughput to maximize GPU processing
• Simplify and accelerate encoding and transcoding as well as other data-intensive activities in contemporary digital production

 

[Jarred Land]

It looked a lot like that.. but i can't really remember. It was one of those " so-damn-excited-rip-the-box-open-and-get-it-out " kinda moments. I don't even remember where the box landed. Did need the USB key though.

 

[Mike Halper]

It's hardware, why would you need a dongle?

 

[Eric Santiago]

How fitting that it has a red plastic trim on it

Now is that unit similar to the Ice cards (DSP chips) back in the day?
I guess I better read up on it

 

[Jarred Land]

Not a dongle.. It is a usb key with the drivers on it .

I refuse to use anything with a Dongle... I wont do it. refuse. I passionately am opposed to even the concept. If for some reason I am not paying attention and RED ever releases something that requires a dongle.. feel free to drive to the studio and shoot me in the back of the head

 

[Mike Halper]

I just got a quote from ProMax for the Z820 "Visionary" model and let's just say that you could almost buy an Epic for the same price.
One could build the same system with better hardware components in certain aspects (and not be restricted by the bios when it comes to SSDs) for about half the cost, even factoring in the Red Rocket.

Peter, that was our conclusion. We went with Main Gear.

It's pretty pricey through any of them. Not saying overpriced, but a lot of money. A lot of people say Apple's computers are overpriced, when they really aren't. A fairly equivalent featured, performing, and quality-built PC will cost about the same price. At this time it's just that Apple's hardware is fairly outdated and you have the ability to get a screaming PC with the absolute latest hardware. It's just going to cost a lot of money and you can't run OS X on it (legally or fully stable). Hopefully all this will be resolved sometime next year, but even if it's not I think I'd still be happy with Apple's hardware offerings for my needs. I know that won't work for everyone, but it will work for many.

 

[Mike Halper]

Not a dongle.. It is a usb key with the drivers on it .

I refuse to use anything with a Dongle... I wont do it. refuse. I passionately am opposed to even the concept. If for some reason I am not paying attention and RED ever releases something that requires a dongle.. feel free to drive to the studio and shoot me in the back of the head

hahahahaha