HP Z8 G4 workstation
HP has taken the wraps off a fleet of new workstations, including one which the company claims is the most powerful on the market.
The Z8 G4 sits at the head of a range of top-end PCs that are aimed squarely at workers with high computational demands, from digital creators to scientists who are working on computer modelling to financial traders.
At the heart of the workhorse is a pair of Intel Skylake-SP processors, the top of the range options being twin Xeon Platinum 8180 chips running at 2.5-3.8GHz and offering 28 cores, 56 threads and a 38.5MB cache apiece.
The machines can be configured to include various chips and memory modules. At launch, the machines will support a maximum 1.5TB RAM, with that figure doubling to 3TB next year with the availability of 8180M chips from Intel.
For greater number-crunching power the processors can also be combined with up to three Nvidia Quadro P6000 GPUs or AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 cards. According to HP, this hardware configuration will let you edit 8K video in real-time.
On top of raw power, HP says it has also focused on security features built into the workstations, including the company’s new SureStart system, which it describes as the industry’s first “self-healing BIOS with built in intrusion detection”.
The HP Z8 is supported by little brothers, the Z6 and Z4.
KEY DIGITS AND DETAILS
Price Starting at £4,100 Available Now in UK, H1 2018 for 3TB memory upgrade Ports Thunderbolt 3, 1GigE, USB 3, optional dual 10GigE Memory Up to 3TB in 24 memory slots Storage Up to 48TB Processing cores Up to 56