Increased my memory capacity by two times.
Increased my memory capacity by two times.
These are HP Z820 exclusive CPU coolers. The design feels unusual with more failure points, but that’s okay. It’s worth it, especially since the smaller model with standard heatsinks performed well even after adding dual 12-core units.
I'm using it to help with your questions and tasks. Let me know how I can assist!
I didn't expect much change switching from standard HP heat piped coolers to the OEM liquid cooling setup, but you're right—I'm seeing a noticeable boost. My 12-core E5-2696 v2 chips now run more efficiently in higher clock speeds than before air cooling. It's surprising since water cooling only lowered temperatures by a few degrees. In fact, I've never reached over 168°F during any tests. For context, this system handles about 75% of Cinebench R15 stress tests before fans even start to slow down. This setup will support my virtual machines and serve as a home network gateway when working remotely. I also have a second z820 unit with eight cores (4.0GHz turbo) that I'll use for gaming and personal use at home.
I owned the Z620 dual CPU model until I sold it, using the proceeds for a Ryzen setup which felt more fitting. I also possessed two E5-2697 v2 chips that consistently stayed under 66°C (around 151°F) and always operated at their peak turbo speed of 3GHz during rendering tasks. A solid machine for the four to five years it was used. Slightly frustrating with the PCIe power connectors, but they were non-standard, allowing you to route one into two 8-pin connections thanks to the em’s significantly higher power requirements than usual.
I'm experimenting with the idea of assembling a 3950X with 16 cores just for its impressive value and noticeable speed gains. Although I currently have 24 physical cores, each one is far from the performance you'd expect from a 3950X. I've been testing COD Modern Warfare (2019) on this Z820 to gauge gaming performance with a RX 5700 XT GPU. At full graphics detail, CPU usage averages around 30-50%. Fraps doesn't seem to work well, but the frame rates are still acceptable and the game remains fun to play. I'm watching for a quad-core server setup—distinguishing it from a regular quad-core processor. I've noticed some Dell PowerEdge R910 units on Amazon with four CPUs already installed, so I might consider one of those: https://www.amazon.com/PowerEdge-Server-...905&sr=8-1
The main problem with multi-CPU setups is clear. Many CPUs, especially when running multiple applications, struggle to handle more than one at once because they aren't built for it. Even professional tools like Blender can manage it, but a 3950X would likely crash the whole system. That's why I upgraded to a simpler Ryzen 2700—it was about 85% of what I used to get when all my programs ran together instead of just a few.
I just completed the AIDA64 test report. The setup seems to improve performance noticeably across all metrics, particularly for PhotoWorxx where my score jumped over twofold from 22,149 to 51,785 MPixel/s. Clearly, the results are quite sensitive to RAM usage.
The liquid cooling setup has components that can fail, especially the CPU fans. It's possible to lose both 80mm fans at once while the z820 system still functions. I tested this by running benchmarks with both fans off—Cinebench 15 and R20—and temperatures stayed under control without throttling. The design includes channels that help airflow, keeping temps stable. Overall, the cooling performance is impressive for its quality and simplicity.