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Z400 workstation in an aftermarket case

InertiaSelling

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Spoiler

The first part of this build log has been previously posted under the title "failed attempt at rebuilding a z400 workstation in an aftermarket case". Now that it works, I decided to make a fresh, definitive topic, rather than continue with the "fail" in the title (or editing it and creating confusion).

 

Hi. I have finally managed to understand what went wrong when swapping the z400's case. Glad it's finally done, since I've wanted to do that for a while now.

 

Build log video

(starts at 3:40 if you've already watched the first one)

 

Traditional build log

 

First part (useless if you saw the first topic)
 

Spoiler

 

The parts I used came from my secondary computer, a z400 with a xeon w3565 with 12GB of RAM and a firepro 2270 running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Everything was tested before being taken apart.

 

Since the Z400's original PSU was taller than a standard ATX unit, I modded another one to replicate HP's proprietary 24 pin connector pinout.

1507886809-z400-final-moment.jpg

 

I then took the workstation apart, and noticed that the motherboard's I/O shield was part of a metal plate on which it was mounted.

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I decided to keep it, and mounted the assembly to the masterbox 5's motherboard tray using bolts and nuts.

1507886812-z400-final-moment-5.jpg

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1507886836-z400-final-moment-7.jpg

 

Since it worked, I installed the modded PSU, plugged everything in, added the system drive as well as the graphics card, and attached two fans.

1507886845-z400-final-moment-9.jpg

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I plugged the new tower where the original z400 workstation used to be.

1507886873-z400-final-moment-14.jpg

 

I didn't expect it to work, but I wasn't expecting the fans' PWM to reach 100% in a few seconds. The workstation complained about not having its front USB and 1394 connectors plugged in, and said DIMM 5 no longer worked. Since I had no trust in my modded PSU and the fans were getting extremely loud, I quickly shut it down.

1507886867-z400-final-moment-15.jpg

 

I then replaced the PSU with the z400's stock unit. Even though it was too tall, I managed to secure it in place with two screws.

1507886866-z400-final-moment-16.jpg

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Unfortunately, the 24 pin connector was too short, so I had to ghetto-mount it on its side, to the bottom of the case.

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After plugging in the peripherals and turning it on, I got the exact same errors.

1507886892-z400-final-moment-22.jpg

 

 

Since the fans yelled "overheating", I wanted to know whether I had damaged something with my ghetto PSU, or HP's motherboard required something from the original case to be plugged in in order to work properly. So I plugged every connector from the stock case in the motherboard, and it worked just fine.

1507918060-z400-success-moment.jpg

 

I tried it again with only the front panel connector, and got the same result. I therefore removed said connector from the case and inspected it. There was a little thermal sensor on it, and suddenly, the fans ramping up made sense.

1507918058-z400-success-moment-3.jpg

 

So I wired the power button and power LED to the stock connector, and plugged it in.

1507918056-z400-success-moment-4.jpg

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Everything worked except for the power LED, because I had inverted the connectors, but it was easy to fix.

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Overall, I think it looks much nicer than the original, especially since I can't see the insides because of its position.

1507918769-20170824-174719.jpg

 

But even if I could, it wouldn't be so bad. I'm starting to like how janky it looks. Glad I've found a use for my old case. Here's the gif again, in case you're not already tired of it.

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Make the gif your pfp :) 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

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 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

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  • 7 months later...

I used this guide as inspiration to do similar. I used a CiT venom case, primarily as it had the PSU position on top, same as the Z400. I had two holes line up with the Z400 power supply and drilled the case to attach another two, I also had to bend the little shelf that supports the PSU due to the size of the Z400 PSU.

 

The motherboard was an extremely tight fit, I found I could retain the original motherboard "tray" and still managed to screw motherboard screws in to the case stand offs, again it was a bit tight.

 

I purchased a 2 pin thermal sensor in the hope it would substitute for the original HP one, however this didn't work. Rather than wire the new case front panel connectors to the HP plug, I used a junior hacksaw to cut the existing HP front panel connector at the thermal sensor pins and placed it back on the motherboard with the new front panel case pins connected directly to the motherboard header. Thankfully it worked fine first time!

 

Finally, I used the original 92mm exhaust fan at the rear, although the aperture is 80mm, so a little more drilling was required. Overall aesthetically the result is fairly pleasing and the system seems to perform fine with temperatures similar to before

 

I still require to do a little cable management though and consider if I want to install the optical drive.

Z400 case swap.jpg

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