HP Z4 Workstations Get Xeon W and Core X, 18-Core
by Joe Shields on February 5, 2018 9:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- HP
- Workstation
- Enterprise
- Professional
- Skylake-SP
- Skylake-X
- Xeon-W
Today, HP has released information on the update to its Z4 workstation line. The Z4 workstation is now available with both Xeon W and Core-X based processors for the new generation, both based on Intel's latest high-performance Skylake-SP core. Options for Xeon W, which will enable RDIMMs to be used, include the range of eight on-roadmap processors, from the quad core W-2123 ($294) up to the flagship W-2195 offering eighteen cores ($2550) in a 140W envelope. The Z4 lineup is also able to support the Intel Core X (Skylake-X) processors from the consumer high-end desktop line.
Access to the Skylake-X processors will give customers the ability to step into the workstation platform at a slightly lower price point than with the Xeon W based systems. The W series offers a bit more security and lifecycle management with vPro enablement, while the X-series is more affordable and offers higher clock speeds in many SKUs. There are a few other differences in system configurations, such as ECC RDIMM memory and network/storage differences which will also contribute to a difference in cost.
The Core X-based Z4 systems will have a single gigabit ethernet port and a single M.2 slot, while the W-series machines offer dual gigabit ethernet ports (supporting teaming NIC) and dual M.2 slots. Both systems use professional video cards, are able to use up to dual NVIDIA Quadro P6000 GPUs or AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 GPUs.
HP anticipates their indutrial clients, particularly in the Healthcare, Civil Engineering, and AEC, will use the Xeon W systems for the processor and memory reliability, expandability, manageability, and security reasons. The Core X variants are expected to be aimed at clients from the PC space, such as those in game development, rendering, and VR development.
| HP Z4 G4 Workstation | |||||
| Xeon-W | Core-X | ||||
| CPU Support | Xeon W series | Core X series | |||
| Core Count | From Xeon W-2123 (4C/8T) to Xeon W-2195 (18C/36T) |
From Core i7-7800X (6C/12T) to Core i9-7980XE (18C/36T) |
|||
| Memory | Up to 256GB ECC RDIMM | Up to 128GB Non-ECC UDIMM | |||
| NVIDIA Graphics | Up to Dual NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (3840 CUDA Cores, 24GB GDDR5X) | ||||
| AMD Graphics | Up to Dual AMD Radeon WX9100 (4096 SPs, 16GB HBM2) | ||||
| Intel vPro | Yes | No | |||
| Network | Dual 1 GbE ports w/teaming | Single 1 GbE | |||
| M.2 Slots | Dual M.2 | Single M.2 | |||
The Z4 Workstation is available now. Pricing will start at $1499.
Related Reading:
- Lenovo Details Its Standalone DayDream VR HMD, The Mirage Solo at CES 2018
- Vive Pro VR Headset with Higher-Res displays, Two Cams, Headphones
- HTC Announces Standalone Vive Focus with 6DoF Tracking, Cancels Daydream VR Headsets
Source: HP
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Samus - Monday, February 5, 2018 - link
If base price with a Xeon-X is $1500, max spec is probably around $5000 depending on storage. Not terrible for a production PC. HP's are usually a decent value given the support and discounts available in bulk purchases and for educational institutions. I've been recommending Elitebooks for years since Lenovo effectively tanked the Thinkpad nameplate by putting it on what are essentially Ideapads, and Dell has been all over the map with pricing, sometimes just totally unreasonable.Samus - Monday, February 5, 2018 - link
Correction, Core-XCrazyeyeskillah - Monday, February 5, 2018 - link
I agree 100% about the lenovo comments. They bought out IBM's namesake and sell complete garbage with high failure rates (confirmed personally). HP and Dell still deliver solid support and products, compared to what else is out there in mainstream business sector. Not a lot of companies are willing to go out on a limb and buy boutique builds that may or may not offer support in the long term.HStewart - Monday, February 5, 2018 - link
I would agree about Lenovo, with possible exception is ThinkPad notebooks that I used for work. But things may have change since my T530.As for HP I would never get one again, it been a while (over a decade), but I remember sticking a normal USB drive into and it fried the laptop. Nothing to mention all junk software they put on it.
By far my Dell XPS 13 2in1 is the one with most quality. I like the idea of up and coming XPS 15 2in1 but only thing I wish Dell / Intel had option of NVidia GPU in same form factor. But the latest reviews I seen of sounds amazing especially that CPU is not U processer - but higher performance 45watt. Plus if the rumors of 15 hour battery life are true - it would be amazing - if it had only Integrated it could be past 20 hours battery life.
Spunjji - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
The AMD graphics are powered down when they're not in use, so having "only" integrated would make near-0 difference unless you're doing something that actually uses the graphics, in which case having only integrated would be a massive downside. That it's not using nVidia seems hardly relevant from any practical aspect.Samus - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Everything after the T420/520 is real crap. Workstations are entirely hit or miss. I’ve always had a soft spot for the mini’s like the M90’s but working on them is hell, even worse than the unreliable 70 series models with motherboards missing a ground plane (the only boards in the industry like this)Odds are your hp that fried a decade ago was a victim of the capacitor plague hitting the entire industry back then. Everyone was affected, especially Dell (this is why they fell THREE places in overall sales) and you’d be hard pressed to get a better corporate machine for the money than an HP starting around 2011.
I don’t dislike Dell, though. Their support is top notch. Always has been. But that era of utter shit they went through still lingers through many IT departments, and you just need to learn to get over it. My real problem with Dell is simply price. They are completely out of touch with their brand image trying to charge what they charge for their equipment.
techadmin - Thursday, February 8, 2018 - link
Lenovo has partitioned the Thinkpad line into 2 segments. The volume line, which is an IdeaPad with a black case and TP logo. This line is for the volume buyers (like corporate USA) and typically sells for less than $1k USD. Then there is the feature line which sell for above $1k USD, and come with the newer capabilities, like carbon fiber cases, light weight, workstation class laptops, titanium frames, etc.All the OEM brands come with their issues, nuances, benefits and failures, and many occur over a particular timeframe or generation of products, HP and the planar failures, Dell and the cracked hinges, Lenovo with pre-warranty failures, it goes on ad inifinitum.
Typically we have traced many of these issues to the contract firm who either designed it or who manufactured it. For example Quanta on the design side or Flextronics and Acer on the fabrication & assembly side.
This is not a recent thing. In 1992 we had problems with the IBM PS/2 Model 90. It was the only PS/2 fabricated and assembled by Mitsubishi. Many never made it to their warranty date and we would swap parts with the Model 70 to keep them going. Fortunately that generation was extremely modular.
Ytterbium - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
It's intresting HP is able to support CoreX and Xeon on the same platform I though this was blocked?Elstar - Wednesday, February 7, 2018 - link
Maybe the case supports two different motherboards, thus sidestepping the "same platform" ruletechadmin - Thursday, February 8, 2018 - link
I agree, 10GbE on copper should be the standard on these now. For those who can't wait for the switches to come down in price, you can still create an Infiniband ring and bridge into a 1GbE network for the internet link.