Upgrading from 4th Gen to 5th Gen Xeon

[ryanavarisource]

Hi HPE Peeps,

We have an ML350 Gen11 with the 4416+ and customer asked if we could upgrade from the 4416+ to a 5520+.  I remember in Gen9 you could flash the system to upgrade from the old E5-2600 V3 to V4 and in Gen10 there was no issue updating an early Gen10 1st Gen Xeon to 2nd Gen Xeon as long as the memory was also updated but i can't seem to find anything for Gen11.  Does anyone know if there is a firmware update to make this happen?  Are the system boards the same SPS and just a firmware update needed or is it a completely different spare/board.

[Suman_1978 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Going by the ProLiant ML350 Gen11 Server Maintenance and Service Guide, there are two spare part numbers for System Board.
Intel Xeon 5520+, being a 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, the System board for both the 4th and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors should be compatible.
Check if you have a compatible system board.
There was a BIOS update back in Dec 2023 which said "Added support for the 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors." but I am not sure for which System board.

Here is the QuickSpecs for this server.

Thank You!
I work with HPE but opinions expressed here are mine.

[sdrake48]

April 2024 version of quickspecs state that field upgrade from gen4 to gen5 processors is not supported.....but there is no explanation why.  The system board pn differs by version number: P53214-001 and P53214-002.  Per Intel, the 5420+ (gen4) and 5520+ (gen5) use the same socket (FCLGA4677) and package carrier (E1B).  In my case the 6454s (gen4) uses a different package carrier (E1A) so maybe that's why I can't upgrade to gen5 processors.  

But the SKU numbers for CTO server that supports either Gen4 or Gen5 processors is the same as the SKU we ordered over a year ago, before Gen5 processors were released.  Makes no sense why same SKU would have different system boards.  

HPE should explain exactly what the technical difficulty is in upgrading gen4 to gen5 processors (besides replacing memory)..

[sdrake48]

HPE Support tells me that with latest bios and SPS firmware versions on Gen11 (ML350), Gen5 processors are supported.  In my case Gen4 6454S processor with 4800 MT/s Gen4 memory can be replaced with Gen5 5520+ processor.  Since 5520+ supports max mem speed of 4800 MT/s, Gen5 memory (5600 MT/s) is not required.

I haven't tried this yet.  Just trying to get info from HPE so I know what to order.  If we go ahead and purchase Gen5 5520+, I will test with the 4800 MT/s Gen4 memory that I have (and the original Gen4 only system board) to see it it works.

[sdrake48]

Performed this "upgrade" a couple months ago.  Works fine, no issues.