HP Also Refreshes Its Z Workstation Series

When it launched its EliteBook 8740w mobile workstation, HP also refreshed its lineup of desktop workstations, namely the Z Series. Specifically, the company decided to take advantage of the latest processors to raise the performance bar on its HP Z800, Z600 and Z400 workstations. In addition, HP released a new Z Series model, known as the HP Z200 SFF, that, besides performance, brings the benefits of compactness and affordability.

The HP Z200 SFF is almost two thirds smaller than the Z200 minitower workstation, but still manages to pack an Intel Core i3/i5 or quad-core Xeon 3400-series chip, up to 2TB of storage, up to 16GB of ECC memory and professional 2-D or 3-D graphics. The configuration also boasts a tool-less chassis, USB ports on the front panel and an optional FireWire 1294a card. This system should become available in April and will have a starting price of $739.

The existing HP Z800, Z600 and Z400 workstations have been upgraded with the new Intel Xeon 5600 series, which, through the Hyper-threading and Turbo Boost technology, allow for up to 24 threads to run at a time when using two 6-core CPUs. On the HP Z800, these chips are combined with 192GB of ECC memory, up to 10TB of storage and the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 graphics.

The HP Z600 is not as powerful, having only a maximum of 48GB of ECC memory, 6TB of storage and NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 or dual NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 graphics. Lastly, the HP Z400 has up to 24GB of ECC memory, 8TB of storage and NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 or dual NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 graphics.

“The new Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series runs multithreaded workstation applications up to 45 percent faster than its predecessor, the Intel Xeon Processor 5500 series,” Anthony Neal-Graves, general manager, Workstations, Intel, said. “Workstations powered by the new Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series give application developers the reliability, capacity and performance to help them bring innovative ideas to life faster than ever before.”

All HP Z workstations are ENERGY STAR 5.0 qualified and EPEAT Gold certified. The Z400 has a starting price of $929, whereas the Z600 and Z800 cost $1,579 and $1,799, respectively.