HP has launched a new range of entry-level, ISV-certified desktop workstations built around the new Intel Xeon E3-2100 processor.
The HP Z2 G4 family includes three different form factor models, each offering different levels of graphics performance and expandability – the Z2 Tower G4, the Z2 Small Form Factor (SFF) G4 and the Z2 Mini G4.
The Z2 G4 launch completes (we think, at least) HP’s transition from angular black box to a more modern chassis design with chiselled geometry. All HP Z workstations, desktop and mobile, now feature the same design language.
The big news is the inclusion of the new Intel Xeon E-2100 processor family, which features up to six CPU cores and clock speeds up to 4.7GHz.
Cross head
Four CPU cores has been the standard in entry-level workstation for over 10 years, so the move to six cores is a big step up for design, engineering and architecture firms that use CAD and BIM software as well as multi-threaded applications, such as rendering or simulation.
Intel is quoting up to 1.45x faster performance when comparing the top-end model Intel Xeon E-2186G to the 2017 Intel Xeon E3-1200 v6, which was almost the top-end CPU available on the Z240 SFF and Z240 Tower which the new HP Z2s replace.
Intel’s testing was done in Cinebench, a benchmark which is representative of most ray trace rendering applications.
Intel does not offer up any single threaded benchmark figures, which is what defines performance in CAD and BIM applications, but we expect the generation-on-generation performance increase to be relatively small.
