HP Z800 With HD4 (TDM)

[Rattleshock]

Greetings!

I have a question that I cannot seem to find a clear answer for. I currently am running HD3 on an Avid Qualified HP Z800 workstation. It says in one of the avid qualified system documents that QTY4 accel cards can be installed internally on the HP Z800, however, in the accompanying "Slot Order Configuration Guide" for the HP Z800 it only shows where to install QTY3 accel cards. With the price of current cards so low I was thinking of scooping one up and adding it to my system but I don't want to purchase it only to find out it doesn't work as I currently do not have an expansion chassis. It seems the 2 documents from Avid sort of contradict themselves, or at least it doesn't clearly show how to configure 4 cards internally, even though the literature says it is supported.

Does anyone have an answer or experience with running 4 HD cards in a Z800 with Pro tools 10HD? Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Much thanks!
Glenn

[albee1952]

Are your cards PCI or PCIe?

[Third Eye Studios]

Hey Glenn,

I still use a Z800, but with HDX, not Accel. When I did use the Z800 with Accel, I used a Magma expansion chassis with 6 HD cards. I still have it for my backup rig.

I see what you mean, the two documents do contradict themselves.

It seems the only slot you could try a 4th Accel card would be slot 2. If that is taken by your graphics card, you'd have to move graphics to slot 7 or maybe slot 1.

With the prices so low on the used cards, you could buy one and try it. If it doesn't work, you'd have a backup card if ones of yours broke down the road.

[Rattleshock]

Thanks guys. They are PCI-E. 1 Accel core, and 2 Accel cards. I may take your suggestion and just buy one and try it. I always have followed avid qualified systems to a tee, just to minimize potential issues. It would be awesome if I could add a 4th card as indicated on one of the release notes. But as stated, it doesn’t show this configuration is the slot configuration guide. Worst case, I could always try to find a used magma EB7 and could potentially get up to a 7 card system.

I appreciate the replies. Thanks!

Glenn

[Third Eye Studios]

I have a Magma PE6R4 expansion chassis that works great with our Z800, but all my Accel cards are PCI. Good luck!

[Rattleshock]

Glad to hear the chassis works great! I’m really considering starting to watch for the PCI-e Magma Chassis (EB7) and buying 4 more Accel cards. Hopefully it works as good as your system and there are no issues with it.

[Rattleshock]

Just wanted to close the loop on this thread in the event any other HP Z800 users run into this issue. I purchased another Accel card and after some head scratching, decided on the following as my first attempt:

Slot 1: Empty
Slot 2: Accel card (this is the slot the graphics was in before)
Slot 3: Accel card
Slot 4: Accel card
Slot 5: Accel Core card
Slot 6: empty
Slot 7: Nividia Quaddro FX 580 graphics card

I hooked it all back up, turned it on, ran Digitest which passed everything and then rebooted.
Opened up protools 10.3.10 HD and everything worked. I did a full mix to see if having the graphics card in a different slot would interfere with the PCI bus in a weird way. No issue at all. I then stress-tested the system arming 64 tracks of audio with enough plugins to max out the HD4 cards and let it go for a few hours. Again, no issues.

Thanks to all who responded to my question. Any other HP Z800 users on windows 7 SP1 could follow this and have 4 accelerator cards installed internally in the tower. Works a treat! I am so in love with the TDM system. I know it’s older, but for me it is a match made in heaven.

Cheers!

[albee1952]

Hmmm, 2 things to think about:
1-on the compatibility pages, if the z800 is still listed, clicking on it will take you to another page where they explain what slots can be used for what cards(I know they were very specific when I bought my Z820 for HDN a few years back).
2-If your cards are PCI/PCI-x, I have a full PCI Digidesign chassis available in excellent shape. That would allow HD7 while using a single slot in the tower. Of course, if your cards and slots are PCI-e, then it would not help you.

[Rattleshock]

I have read every article from AVID regarding the Z800. The issue is, in one document it states that QTY4 (HD4) cards can be installed internally in the Z800. The slot configuration document, however, does not show this configuration at all. I have been running for almost a week straight without issue, as noted in my previous post. Works awesome!!

I have all PCI-e cards so that chassis would not work for my setup. After seeing the increase with HD4 from HD3 I don't think I need any more DSP anyway. I did a 90 track mix yesterday and barely used a quarter of the available DSP power. Such an incredible system! Even using this today, it does everything that I personally require, and more.

[Third Eye Studios]

Originally Posted by Rattleshock

I have read every article from AVID regarding the Z800. The issue is, in one document it states that QTY4 (HD4) cards can be installed internally in the Z800. The slot configuration document, however, does not show this configuration at all. I have been running for almost a week straight without issue, as noted in my previous post. Works awesome!!

I have all PCI-e cards so that chassis would not work for my setup. After seeing the increase with HD4 from HD3 I don't think I need any more DSP anyway. I did a 90 track mix yesterday and barely used a quarter of the available DSP power. Such an incredible system! Even using this today, it does everything that I personally require, and more.

Glad you got it going!