HP’s drool-worthy workstations are insanely powerful and upgradeable
Mind-boggling specs for VR development and other professional tasks.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
You are probably not considering a workstation for your next gaming PC (nor should you), but if you're curious what some game developers will be using to create next-generation experiences, feast your eyes on HP's new line of workhorses.
HP unveiled three new models today—the Z8, Z6, and Z4. These are HP's most powerful models to date, which is usually the case when introducing a new generation of machines, but what's impressive is how much performance users can cram into one of these things. They're also incredibly upgradeable.
Sitting at the top of the performance stack is a the Z8. This thing allows buyers to pair up to two Intel Xeon processors for up to 56 cores, with up to 3TB of RAM spread out across 24 DIMM slots. Professionals can also opt for dual M.2 solid state drives and dual Nvidia Quadro Pro graphics cards. All this (and more) is powered by up to a 1,700W power supply.
These are nice looking setups configured in a tool-less chassis to make upgrading and servicing quick and easy. They also feature a built-in handle in case work requires relocating one of these beasts.
As for connectivity, users get dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, 10 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C ports, and Thunderbolt 3 (optional). On the inside, there are seven full-length, full-height PCI Express slots (nine expansion slots total).
HP says the Z8 will be available in October with prices starting at $2,439, though for buyers looking to deck this thing out, the price tag can easily balloon to around $40,000.
A little less insane is the Z6. It dials back the top-end hardware configuration with support for 384GB of system memory instead of 3TB. It also features fewer expansion slots, though buyers can still run with dual Xeon processors and two M.2 SSDs.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Pricing on the Z6 will start at $1,919 when it becomes available next month.
Finally, the Z4 is the next-generation of HP's best selling workstation, and like the other two models, it's been redesigned from top to bottom. This one can be configured with up to 256GB of RAM via eight DIMM slots, paired with up to a 10-core Xeon W2155 processor and up to a Quadro P5000 graphics card.
Users interested in the Z4 will have to wait until November, with prices starting at $1,239.
Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).


