Best consumer card in an HP Z420

[vbuggy]

I plan to repurpose a couple of HP Z420's for general purpose / entertainment duties and I was wondering what was the best non-Quadro/Firepro GPU I could put into it.

I know it's a 600w supply, and the machines have E5-1650's with Asetek (OEM?) coolers. The machines will be running with one or two 2.5" SSD's if that's any further help.

 

[Jaydip]

Are you gonna use ECC ram? as for the graphics a 650 ti boost/7850 2 gb would suffice.

 

[Broheim]

as long as it physically fits you should be good, the 400s use a standard ATX PSU if I remember correctly so swapping it out if it only has 1 6-pin for the GPU shouldn't be a problem. (the 600s use a [constrained] PSU that only has 1 6-pin which really limits what you can use).

but honestly, as long as it's not for heavy gaming any lower-end mainstream GPU will be plentiful.

 

[vbuggy]

Are you gonna use ECC ram? as for the graphics a 650 ti boost/7850 2 gb would suffice.

Not asking what would suffice - asking what is the best GPU I can fit with the PSU power available.

 

[Jaydip]

Not asking what would suffice - asking what is the best GPU I can fit with the PSU power available.

Up to 7850/660

 

[Phynaz]

Up to 7850/660

This.

 

[vbuggy]

Newer cards wouldn't be any better?

 

[KingFatty]

Not asking what would suffice - asking what is the best GPU I can fit with the PSU power available.

This question makes me think it's along the lines of "what's the best car that I can fit in my garage?"

Dude, all kinds of crazy cards should fit, physically and within the power envelope. What is the best card? Well, what is the best car, or the best flavor of ice cream?

Can you perhaps rephrase the question, without using the word "best"?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Titan.

 

[vbuggy]

This question makes me think it's along the lines of "what's the best car that I can fit in my garage?"

Dude, all kinds of crazy cards should fit, physically and within the power envelope. What is the best card? Well, what is the best car, or the best flavor of ice cream?

Can you perhaps rephrase the question, without using the word "best"?

It's not self-evident? Fastest, most capable within the power envelope that the PSU on the Z420 - which I know nothing about except for what I've listed above - is able to provide, safely / for everyday operation.

 

[Jaydip]

Newer cards wouldn't be any better?

You have to do with a 150W power envelope so only few performance cards fit the bill.

 

[KingFatty]

It's not self-evident? Fastest, most capable within the power envelope that the PSU on the Z420 - which I know nothing about except for what I've listed above - is able to provide, safely / for everyday operation.

The PSU is a 600W right? You can use adapter cables to provide any 6-pin or 8-pin power connectors as-needed (in addition to the 6-pin you may already have native), so I'm trying to think of what video cards won't work on a 600 watt power supply...

 

[KingFatty]

Actually, this article might be helpful.

I think even a Titan, the most powerful video card, needs a 550 W power supply. So I think you can use any modern video card under the sun:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_titan_review,9.html

 

[KingFatty]

Also, if you are willing to spend lots of money on a very fancy video card, you have to ask, are you also unwilling to upgrade the power supply, or are you wedded to the very specific one due to some constraint? In the grand scheme of things, the cost of upgrading your power supply is negligible compared to buying the fastest video card available. But regardless, your 600 Watt PSU should be plenty.

 

[Yuriman]

Considering you aren't going to be overclocking the CPU, I'd say a 7950 would probably be a good match, but as others have said, a 750w + Titan would definitely be your best option. Seeing as the Z420 has 2x PCI-E 16x slots, you could perhaps go with a 850w and a pair of Titans in SLI for about $2250 per machine.

Here's your approximate power usage:

So you have maybe 250w to play with. (I wouldn't recommend going above 75-80% of a power supply's rated capacity for long-term use)

 

[vbuggy]

Also, if you are willing to spend lots of money on a very fancy video card, you have to ask, are you also unwilling to upgrade the power supply, or are you wedded to the very specific one due to some constraint? In the grand scheme of things, the cost of upgrading your power supply is negligible compared to buying the fastest video card available. But regardless, your 600 Watt PSU should be plenty.

I can't be bothered to build, and we have these machines lying around. Plus, these are under on-site warranty. I really hate building /futzing with PC's with a passion so the less of that the better.

Thanks everyone for the above graphs / etc it was pretty helpful - I'll file the GPU-power list for future reference. A Titan isn't necessary (but then again I also have a few of those lying around doing not a lot right now) but I wanted something which would not stress the PSU long-term while delivering the best general entertainment all-purpose experience - as I expect these Z's to be in this role for a while. I guess I'll play it a little conservatively and go for the 7950-ish, or a 680 on the outside - I might have a couple of those around as well, apart from the ones in my Mac 'Pro'(ha)s.