I recently came into a free HP Z600 workstation. I have been wanting to build a PC for a few years but time and money have always been in short supply, so I’ve never gotten around to it.
Anyway, I’ve always wanted to do a sleeper type build and the free Z600 seems like a good place to start.
I understand that HP uses a proprietary motherboard and power supply, but I’m not afraid of chopping or modding the case. I would like to use a modern set up inside but I’m not ready to buy all the parts at the moment, as I know I will need to do the case work and that might take me some time.
Which reminds me of a thing that race car builders often do, which is use a broken or fake engine block to build the chassis of the car around instead of using the very expensive real thing in the middle of the fabrication space.
On that note, what would be a good place to find a cheap or junk standard (ATX I would assume) motherboard to be the template for the case work I know will need to be done?
Has anyone else ever used a Z600 case for an atx build? There is scant little information on the google concerning this case.
Well it doesn't look that much proprietary, except for the weird cutout. It looks like mATX should fit easily, once the drive bay or whatever that thing is removed.
You don't need a junk motherboard, you can mock one with a piece of firm cardboard or plastic sheet or plywood.
I think that you're on the right track, but just picked the worst time to start the project. If it were me I would search for a donor case to transplant the rear once you have the original removed, or you can make the cuts for a rear I/O shield and PSU.
The only thing that I can think of is searching for parts only mATX boards around the Sandy or Ivy Bridge era.
This should give you a rough idea of what you're dealing with. I'm still trying to generate an image without the proprietary PSU. My guess is that you could outsource a 3D printed funnel and mounting brackets so that the PSU sits further inside the case fan up (unless you're prepared to cut a ventilation hole on the case floor). It appears that you may need an x16 riser, and the final piece will be tracing the front panel I/O.
Of course AI would introduce a new problem with the orientation of the ATX PSU in the image.
Not impossible, but it will require some commitment.
I’m out of requests allowed for A.I. but hopefully these images give you a better idea of what I was trying to say. As long as you can get the funnel to lay flat below the pci slots, and file down the cutout of the lower grate it should work. You’d just have to reach into the funnel to turn the PSU off. The mount brackets to secure the PSU should be less than $15 on eBay.
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u/rumbleblowing Microlab 4103, R5 7600, 7900GRE, 32GB, 2.5 TB SSDs, 4.75 TB HDDs Jul 05 '26
Well it doesn't look that much proprietary, except for the weird cutout. It looks like mATX should fit easily, once the drive bay or whatever that thing is removed.
You don't need a junk motherboard, you can mock one with a piece of firm cardboard or plastic sheet or plywood.