It’s been a few months since HP launched their Z400, Z600 and Z800 workstations, and we’ve finally got the company’s mid-range Z600 on the SlashGear test bench. A dual-processor monster that HP envisage being used in midrange CAD, financial modelling and even high-end DCC, the Z600 would also make for a storming video editing workstation; HP also claim it’s environmentally friendly. That’s the theory, anyway: can the Z600 really deliver performance in a home or small-office friendly way?
HP have announced two new graphics enhancements for their Z-series of workstations, including an optional Elemental Accelerator for use with NVIDIA’s Quadro that will see Adobe CS4 gain access to the CUDA processing. There’s also the option for up to two NVIDIA Tesla GPUs in HP’s flagship workstation, the Z800.
Earlier this year we covered the launch of HP’s latest Intel Nehalem-based workstations, and soon enough HP had a Z400 test unit for us to try out. The entry-point to the new range, the Z400 misses out on some of the more innovative design features of its bigger siblings, but arguably the most important thing – the Xeon processor – is there front and center. Read on for our benchmarks and impressions.
HP have announced their latest workstation, and if you’ve been disappointed with the power on offer in past models then this one might just do the trick. The HP xw9400 Workstation can now be specified with the six-core AMD Opteron 2400 series processors, giving a total of 12 cores overall when two of the processors are paired together.
Fujitsu Siemens have announced three new workstations under its Celsius brand, all using Intel’s latest Xeon processors. The Celsius M470, R570 and R670 are all multi-core capable, support up to 24GB, 48GB and 96GB of RAM respectively, and dual graphics.
Lenovo have announced a pair of new workstations, the Lenovo ThinkStation D20 and S20, intended for CAD and digital content creation. The blocky towers are fitted with Intel Xeon 5500 and W3500 series processors with optional Turbo Boost, together with NVIDIA Quadro or ATI FirePro graphics. Buyers can also specify the NVIDIA Tesla C1060 GPU platform.
The custom PC maker known to built powerful gaming gig for PC enthusiasts, has announced a new breed of next generation workstations for professional graphic and image designers, or the likes of advanced audio and video specialists in needs of a durable and high performance tool.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad W700ds may have been around for a few weeks, but CES has been the first opportunity we at SlashGear have had to play with the dual-display behemoth. Based on Lenovo’s original W700, complete with a Wacom graphics digitizer integrated into the palm rest, the W700ds adds a pull-out 10.6-inch LCD display that slides from the main 17-inch panel. It’s an interesting concept, but our hands-on impressions leave us wondering if the compromises are worth it.
Buried in eWeek’s article about the Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds there’s a photo gallery of live shots of the dual-display mobile workstation. You’ve seen the screen in pop-out action; now ignore the glossy press shots and check out a whole 10.6-inch sub-screen packed full of Photoshop tools.
More shots of the Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds after the cut
While I know Lenovo’s ThinkPad W700ds dual-screen workstation would likely break my weak blogger’s back should I actually try to lift it, that still doesn’t end its appeal. A video of one of Lenovo’s prototypes has shown up, showing the mechanism by which the second, 10.6-inch LCD display slides out and then back into the W700ds’ lid, behind the primary 17-inch display.
Check out the video after the cut
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