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HP Z210 CMT Workstation
25 Nov, 2011 By: Art LiddleFirst Look Review: Desktop system offers upper-midrange performance for an entry-level price.
Editor's note: This article was originally published in the Fall 2011 issue of Cadalyst magazine.
In spring 2010, Cadalyst Labs reviewed HP's then-new Z200 entry-level workstation. At the time, we wrote, "The HP Z200 has a lot going for it" and "is certainly worth your consideration." When HP offered us a chance to review the next-generation Z210 CMT, we jumped at it. And we were not disappointed; the Z210 CMT proves to be an excellent value.
The HP Z210 CMT entry-level workstation offers a wide range of configuration opportunities. CMT stands for convertible minitower, meaning you can configure the workstation to sit flat or stand up by rotating the hard drives 90°. For our review, we asked for an upscale configuration — in particular, a fast processor, extra system memory, lots of hard drive storage (RAID 0 enabled), as well as an upper-midrange 3D graphics card. As inexpensive as our review system is, we know that some of you may be on an even tighter budget. Be assured that HP offers a full range of options for your personally configured Z210 CMT, starting at $759. HP also offers a small–form-factor version, the Z210 SFF, which might appeal to those who don't need expansion capacity or don't work with 3D models.
System Features
At the heart of our HP Z210 CMT was an Intel 3.3-GHz Quad- Core Xeon E3-1240 CPU that offers a 3.7-GHz turbo mode when running a single-core operation. The Xeon series of CPUs supports error-correcting code (ECC) memory, which the Core i5 and i7 series processors do not. ECC memory is typically used for calculation-intensive applications, such as 3D modeling, and offers an extra layer of protection against random memory errors. Our review system was equipped with 8 GB of DDR3 1,333-MHz ECC memory using two 4-GB DIMM chips. This left two DIMM slots open for upgrading. The system supports a maximum of 32 GB of memory in a 4-GB x 8-GB configuration.
Our graphics card was the NVIDIA Quadro 2000, a midrange 3D GPU that offers very good value. It includes 1 GB of GDDR5 memory with 128-bit interface and supports a maximum resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. It supports multiple monitors with its one DVI-I and two DisplayPort connections, with any two active simultaneously. (As this article went to press, HP told Cadalyst that it no longer supports the NVIDIA driver due to customer complaints.)
Our operating system was Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
We rounded out our review system with a pair of 500-GB SATA (7,200-rpm) hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration. (RAID 0 splits file operations between two striped drives, which dramatically increases performance.) Designed to reduce total energy consumption, the Z210 includes a relatively large 400-W (90% energy-efficient) power supply and meets the Energy Star 5.0 TEC specifications, drawing a mere 0.5 W in off mode and about 25% less power, compared to previous models, in idle mode. A 16x DVD+/-RW dual-layer SATA optical drive, standard HP USB keyboard, and USB optical three-button mouse complete the hardware configuration.
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