They paid for the shipping of the unit to and from my office.įor this review I wanted to make sure that the HP z420 could handle a typical AutoCAD load (meaning complicated 2D work) as well as 3D modeling and rendering. They provided much insight on their Workstation philosophy as well as details on the z420. They also gave me a presentation of the HP Z Workstation line with specific emphasis on the z420. HP also provided me with a machine that was designed to fit the needs that I pointed out to them. They were gracious enough to allow me the time needed to really take a good look at the unit. The HP z420 Workstation comes in six standard configurations ranging in price from $1169 to $2199 (U.S.D.) The retail price from HP’s website for the machine I reviewed at the time of writing this is $1829 (U.S.D.) The higher priced models beef up the cache, cores, memory, and internal storage.īefore you read the in-depth portion of the review, keep in mind that HP sent me this Workstation at no cost of my own. I plan on using this as my standard in which I will compare all others to, including price point. Not to mention the larger internal hard drive (renderings can take up a lot of room.) For me, right now, this is the CAD Workstation to beat. If you are creating heavy 3D models/renders then definitely get the higher video card and more RAM. If you are running a data based CAD system or BIM solution (Revit, Civil3D, etc.) I would recommend beefing up the RAM and maybe even bump up the processor spec a bit (but I always want more power). I would recommend this workstation to any design company. įor a standard “workhorse” workstation on a company network, running AutoCAD (or similar design program) it is the machine you want. It is quiet, cool (temperature), and is certified to run several products from Autodesk, Bentley, Dassault Systemes, Aveva, Siemens, and more. The ECC memory and latest Intel chip sets make it a solid machine. It is well built, performs well, and is easily expandable. HP has designed the z420 to run a three year lifespan and it should do that. That’s not a practical price point for design firms. These benchmarks are compared to extremely high end machines (often gaming machines that serve a different role than a Workstation) that will cost near to or even over $4000. I would like to see the price come down a bit but wouldn’t we all? I tested this z420 with several benchmark programs and thought it would score higher. Boot time was very short nonetheless, but in all of the benchmarks that I ran, the lowest scoring aspect of the machine was the read/write speed of the hard drive. I was glad to see the USB 3 ports (some in front and some in the back.) The machine also ran very quietly. The no-tool case made it easy to inspect the machine, remove/replace internal hardware and it had room to expand. The computer itself never crashed or failed during my review.
NOVABENCH SCORES MEANING FULL
I was able to use this unit for a week in a full production environment using AutoCAD Civil3D 2011. HP said that what they sent me was amongst their most common specifications for AutoCAD based workstations. This unit was not maxed out by any means.
NOVABENCH SCORES MEANING SOFTWARE
NOVABENCH SCORES MEANING SERIES
Brief Overview I had a chance to review one of HP’s Z series workstations, the HP z420 Workstation.
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