When I first got my HP Z series computer in 2023 I praised it. A bit of new toy syndrome to be sure. As long as I just wrote books and surfed the Web on it, was fine. Sleek looking and quiet. But you know me. When I’m not using my computers I like them to help save the human race. First it was BOINC, now it is Folding@Home.
I’ve added a rear exhaust fan. I’m waiting on fan extension cables so I can add a front pusher fan.
Don’t remember where I bought that. It was sitting on one of my parts shelves so that is what I will use. I’ve even ordered a brand new 310W (biggest you can get) power supply. When I tried to install an NVS 510 along with a 6TB WD Black spinning disk it just wouldn’t boot. Previously it ran an NVS video card with that very 6TB drive. Today’s power supplies aren’t polite enough to “just fail,” instead they get weak so stuff acts up.
Starter Cartridges
No matter how many qualified engineers HP hires, they cannot fix shit management. I really thought when Carly got kicked out the “starter cartridge” mentality would finally be gone. When it comes to the HP Z series it is on full display.
These are machines designed to do nothing.
Before you get up in arms about that statement, let me tell you that it is accurate. Here’s why. Consider for a moment what most corporate office workers do.
- Check email
- Schedule a meeting
- Write some documents with a word processor
- Surf the Web
- Work on a spreadsheet
From a computer perspective, this is nothing. HP and Lenovo have now focused on the nothing market. They don’t just cut corners, they ignore the road.
I don’t remember what model the Lenovo is at the bottom of my recycling box and I’m too lazy to dig it out. It had the same problem. When running BOINC the cooling fans would race to peak volume and be completely annoying.
Adding Insult to Injury
With the HP Z series they deliberately put undersized CPU coolers in the machines. There is a 95W cooler but good luck finding it new. I won’t buy from eBay! You shouldn’t either. Back when it was “The World’s Garage Sale” it was good. When eBay switched to “We have everything” they became scam central.
No, you can’t use a commodity cooler. HP starter cartridge mentality used a proprietary backing plate to prevent that. You see a lot of queries online asking for CPU coolers that don’t need a backing plate. You also see people doing this.
They made a screen for the otherwise solid top. Notice all of the blanks have been removed from the card slots. Looks like he also somehow hacked in a modified power supply.
Just Re-paste it
Lots of knee-jerk responses tell you to “just re-paste it.” If your system is two years old, that’s great advice. Good thermal paste is just a few dollars per tube. Odds are high a commodity producer like HP used the cheapest stuff they could buy.
Once you are past roughly five years in age though, this is high risk advice. That AMD 6-core Athalon I blog about needed a new heat sink and fan combination a few years back. Y’all know the Athalon has been out of production for a long time. There was no way to just replace the fan for the cooler that was on it and I was having some heat issues long with the fan noise.
Pulled the damned CPU out of the socket. After a certain point in time the cheap thermal paste becomes becomes a cross between brick mortar and crazy glue. None of the “loosening” tricks worked either. Running the motherboard to let things get good and hot before putting on a glove and trying to twist the heat sink off, nah. Looked up all of the wiggle this, twist that advice.
Of course, once I had ripped it out of the socket I had lots of other search results that didn’t work. Using a heat gun most definitely didn’t work. Ultimately I broke several cheap plastic handled razor blade knives getting them apart. Of course the only thing that would get the baked on stuff off the CPU was Turtle Wax Label and Sticker remover. I do not recommend using this. I replaced the CPU with a slightly better newer Athalon and a high end CPU cooler.
Moral of the story? Don’t “just re-paste it” on an old machine unless you are okay with replacing the heat sink along with the CPU when it all goes sideways.
More to Come
I found one place I trust with used L13265-001. I won’t buy from junk vendors on eBay. Found one “new” vendor on AliExpress. Since they don’t turn up in searches anymore I highly suspect I will be glad I used PayPal! Even if they do ship it, every China made HP knock-off I’ve ever purchased has not been right. Usually about 60% there. That’s why I ordered the other one from the UK. I have repeatedly purchased HP parts from UK vendors and always gotten the correct thing.
Yes, I made the decision to “just re-paste it” but I’m going to have the parts. Worst case, I will upgrade to an i9.
HP Z series Summary
If you are someone who actually does something, avoid the entire HP Z series line. These are not the EliteDesk machines which are tanks. I gave this EliteDesk to a kid that helped me work on my Jeep. (Yes, I paid him too! He just didn’t have a computer.)
It was an i5-gen3 system with an NVS 510 video card that was still running BOINC right up until the time he left with it. Never maxed out a fan. Never died.
The Dell 7070 I bought used on the Walmart website has been crunching BOINC, now switched to folding@home without ever squawking. If I buy anymore SFF machines to help make the human race better, you can guess what brand they will be.
