# RAM Specs for IBM Intellistation Z Pro 6223



## bd_viking (Sep 26, 2009)

I puchased a used IBM Intellistation Z Pro 3.6GHz, dual Xeon, model 6223 and and plan on adding memory when it arrives. However, the specs provided by IBM online (User Guide, Maintanence Manual, etc) all say "Install only 1.8 V, 184-pin, double-data-rate 2 (DDR2), PC2-3200, registered, synchronous dynamic random-access memory. " Well, all the memory spec's I've ever see say DDR2 memory is only in 240pin. The older DDR modules are 184pin. Can anyone verify what memory this machine really takes? Are the IBM spec's wrong??


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

4GB/32GB DDR2 Fully Buffered 667 MHz 

Manual in PDF:
http://www-07.ibm.com/servers/tw/intellistation/pro/zpro/download/IND02287USEN.pdf


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## bd_viking (Sep 26, 2009)

Yeah, I am getting convinced it uses 240pin DDR2 , but its hard to believe IBM makes such an error in their spec's.

Open the 110 page Installation Guide at ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/systems/support/system_x_pdf/88p8971.pdf
and go to page 32 of the guide (page 44 of the pdf). Third bullet starts "Install only 1.8 V, *184-pin*, double-data-rate 2 (DDR2), PC2-3200, registered,..."

Same incorrect information in the 134 page User Guide at
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/systems/support/system_x_pdf/88p8980.pdf
on page 54 (68 of pdf)

and in the 182 page Hardware Maintenance Manual and Troubleshooting Guide at 
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/systems/support/intellistation/49y0080.pdf
on page 41 (page 51 of pdf)

Makes me suspicious of the accuracy of the other information in these manuals if such a glaring error is repeated in three of the critical documents on this product.


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## LonnRodine (Oct 21, 2009)

I also just purchased a IBM Intellistation Z Pro / 6223-24U... and not clear what I've gotten myself into here. **Any assistance/advice would be greatly appreciated.

The actual item: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300309367261&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

No HDD but arrived as advertised. Planning on WinXP Pro, 64-bit

1. The Operations Manual states this PC can only use a 64-bit operating system, which I can obtain. ** However, will this system have any WELL KNOWN compatibility issues. I wanted it as my primary computer or run a new music system from it. >>> Will I have KNOWN issues with normal programs, MS office pro, A-CAD, SolidWorks, LabView, MS Media Player, Outlook and ten year old software that currently works with std. XP Pro. *Will this PC work for a standard computer?*
2. It did not come with a HDD. Is there anything specific I should be looking for in an SCSI hard drive? 

3. How difficult will this unit be to set up as a standard PC?... or should I be looking at reselling it? I do not have a clue how to reload the bios should it not be correct or how to change it. The Operation Manual is descriptive enough but there are a fair amount of manual settings that did not make a lot of sense. Any assistance here would be very much appreciated.

My knowledge: I set up a new computer for myself and another at work once every couple of years... one or the other. I've never configured a computer with SCSI HDD's. I've only set up IDE and SATA


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## bd_viking (Sep 26, 2009)

Shouldn't be nervious. It will be a great machine. Just quickly:
- SCSI is easy. Drives are fast. Can get 15k RPM and real transfer rates of 147Mbps. That's much faster than SATA. You can get a new (get a new one) SCSI drives on E-bay for less than $100. 73Gb or ~150Gb. More expensive than SATA, but if you need speed... I will be loading the operating the operating system and programs on this drive. Saving the SATA connections for 1Tb or greater drives for video / DVR functions. You might have to update the drivers, but they are on the IBM website.

- it will run a 32 bit OS, but will use only one of the processors. A waste. I dropped an old IDE drive in the machine to test the machine when it arrived and loaded XP Home without issue. Did need to install ethernet drivers to get that to work. (downloaded it on another machine, put it on a USB memory stick and transferred it to the IBM)

- I plan on putting Windows 7 on this machine. You may want to consider this as well.

- I have not done much more with this machine yet as I am waiting for the Win 7 to arrive. Lets stay in touch to compare notes. These are blazing machines and should be worth the money. Very well built.


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## LonnRodine (Oct 21, 2009)

Bd,… Super thanks for your reply. You made my day clearing up detail I needed to know all in the first paragraph. Yes, I saw the SCSI HDD’s on ebay and thought there might be more than one generation/type. “32-Bit OS” = using only one CPU makes sense. I work at the AF Academy and we just got an offers from MS and Dell for super buys from both for personal/home use, e.g. Win7 and a 24” monitor. I got the PC for $325 with Make an Offer. The PC came packaged with urethane foam packs in a much larger box, meaning the Seller is very thoughtful & careful. 

Staying in touch… DEFINITELY! [email protected]

Cereous, how did you connect an IDE HDD to your IBM? 

Background: _Eight years back I owned a manufacturing automation engineering business in Boulder and use to develop a lot of motion control stuff supporting semiconductor and PC peripheral manufacturing. Motion control hasn’t changed at all but at that time we had to develop our own controllers because NOBODY had controllers that were fast and to be fast they ALL relied on a dedicated or independent CPU based controller… like running two computers in tandem just to get a pretty user interface. I’ve developed a couple of three axis systems at work only to find out there’s been no advancements in eight years of any consequence in Motion Control. However. I am not current on PC development what so ever but I can catch up very quickly. Also, I use to design and build HDD track writers for Maxtor in Boulder as well. We developed everything up to the actual code they used to sector the drive, which they retained as IP. Everything I did for them was IDE. You get the picture… I have a lot of knowledge but most of it is focused and in unusable areas for setting up a PC. _

Sound System: I also wanted to set this computer up to run a sound system and to watch movies. I learned how to design speaker systems from the best person alive… still in Denver, the owner of Gold Sound. I am updating the system to be PC based for both music and watching movies. 

The IBM came with a nVidia Quadro FX1000 AGP Graphics Card, if I need to upgrade?? I was considering the ASUS Xonar D2 7.1 for a sound card?? I won’t use 90%of the bells and whistles but it is the quality I am after during processing. I am not sure this is the correct sound control for this. Sound editing I am completely in the dark. I work long hours so I don’t have time to remaster anything but I have issues as a gather my music in digital format… the volume and tone is all over the map. I would like to modify each song so I can flat-line music so I don’t have to adjust the volume for each song. I would also like to enhance the tone on the older music without manually dissecting each song. Any software suggestion would be appreciated. I’ve watched several YouTube demonstrations. There has got to be sound editing software that has enough automated features it will filter noise as the volume and select frequency tones are increased. 

Please feel free to correct or comment: I use commercial instrument amplifiers to power the speakers. The current sound system is set up for 2 channel sound, music not necessarily movies or gaming. I could add one or two additional channels but I would only use for movies. ** Is Win Media Player the best option for music and/or DVD playback or is there something better? I would really like an equalizer better than what Media Player offers and I am not sure if the Asus sound control comes with player SW.


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## HampTech (Nov 1, 2009)

Intellistations are great work horse machines. I own a 6221 and a 6223. Both machines have extensive upgrades in all components except the CPU. 
For audio I very highly recommend the HT | OMEGA CLARO 7.1 Channel 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface sound card. Best I've heard next to a pro M-Audio card.
High performance AGP cards are now hard to find retail. I'm using a Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT 512 MB in the 6221 that I purchased on eBay. Just checked, and you can still find them there for about $110..00.
If you are using a Windows operating system, consider these:
For audio editing, there are a couple of applications that I've used successfully. 
For free, Audacity is hard to beat. If you can stand the price, Adobe Audition is one of the best out there. Much more full featured without buying additional plug-ins than Sony Sound Forge.
For playback of your media, check out: VLC Media Player, K-Lite Codec Pack, Media Monkey, and Winamp. I've been able to play back every kind of media I've encountered with one of these four. K-Lite and VLC excel in video, the later two in audio. 
I am a daily user of Linux (Ubuntu), so if you would like program recommendations for Linux, let me know. 
Hope this helps.


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## dogtor (Nov 19, 2009)

HampTech said:


> I am a daily user of Linux (Ubuntu), so if you would like program recommendations for Linux, let me know.
> Hope this helps.


Thanks for all your valuable comments. I bought a 6221 Z Pro last fall and installed Ubuntu on it, runs nice !
Do you run Ubuntu on your 6221, too ? If yes, have you tried any TV card on this machine ? 
Do you have a comparison of Win 7 and Ubuntu on this machine ? 
Thanks a lot !


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## dshampton (Sep 29, 2008)

ooops


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## HampTech (Nov 1, 2009)

I do have Ubuntu 8.04 on the 6221. It dual boots Ubuntu and XP Pro SP3. I haven't installed a tuner card on this machine. But, I used to capture video through firewire from my HD DVR through a Caonpus ADVC 110. Worked great. 

I have Win 7 RC 64 bit installed on the 6223 with Ubuntu 9.10 running in VMware workstation. The 6332 is a dual Xeon 3.2 with 8 gigs of ram. I'm not a fan of Windows, but 7 is pretty good. Both operating systems run very well on 6223. Buy the way, Ubuntu had all the drivers for both systems. Didn't have to install any on both.


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## dogtor (Nov 19, 2009)

Thank you !


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## cyandan (May 17, 2010)

Hi i own an intellistation z pro 6221 and i have to re-flash the bios does anyone know how i can do this. i would need step by step directions.


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## HampTech (Nov 1, 2009)

Everything you need can be found here: http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/supp...ocdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-45279&brandind=5000004


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## daveojr77 (Aug 20, 2010)

Hello to all, I was recently given one of these sytems (Z Pro 6332). here are my specs:
-Dual 3.4ghz xeon's
-1gig PCI-E video card
-6gigs of ram
-two, 500gig sata hard drives
-And the rest is stock

My problem is that the system is running very hot. I installed speedfan and noticed that the CPU temps were running around 60-70 degrees. I have cleaned the box out completely (took everything apart down to the motherboard) cleaned off the processors and installed new thermal paste and re-seated the heat sinks. But nothing seems to work. I even installed an exhaust fan in the rear of the box. Is this the normal temp for the chips? Any help given will be greatly appreciated.


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## bd_viking (Sep 26, 2009)

SpeedFan results are not to be believed on these machines. In fact, I've tried SpeedFan, CoreTemp, and a few other more obsure monitoring programs and none work on these machines (I've tried on both of my 6223's). SpeedFan installs and appears to work, but gives me wild results (-128C on one CPU, 130C on another.) Does anyone know of a temp monitoring program that does work on these machines and, preferrably, with Win 7, 64bit? There are temp sensors in the machine. If you hit F1 at boot and go into set-up, there is a place where it reports CPU temperature.


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## mahoneyr1 (Mar 12, 2011)

HampTech said:


> I have Win 7 RC 64 bit installed on the 6223.


Can you tell me what SCSI driver that you used? I have tried the the OEM driver CD's and also tried to pull the latest from the IBM support site, but WIN7 does not seem to like any of them. Thanks in advance for your help.


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## HampTech (Nov 1, 2009)

Hello. The system now has Windows 7 Ultimate installed, but I'm using SATA drives only. Device manager shows two Adaptic AIC-7902B - Untra320 SCSI adapters installed. The drivers were included in the OS. Hope this helps.


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