HP Z6 G5 A Makes For An Incredibly Powerful AMD Workstation For Creators & Developers

[phoronix]

Phoronix: HP Z6 G5 A Makes For An Incredibly Powerful AMD Workstation For Creators & Developers

Since the release of the Threadripper 7000 series on 20 November I've carried out and published many benchmarks of these new HEDT/PRO CPUs including the flagship AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7995WX featuring 96-cores / 192-threads. All of my Threadripper PRO 7995WX benchmarks have been carried out using an HP Z6 G5 A workstation and it's proven to be an outright beast for creators, software developers, and others needing immense multi-threaded capabilities at your finger tips. Here's more about my experience with this new high-end HP workstation.

https://www.phoronix.com/review/hp-z6-g5-a

[thomasjkenney]

I chuckled when I saw the photos, and had to explain the ATX-B form factor to my wife.

Otherwise, looks like a nice beast!

[GraysonPeddie]

A rack-mounted Threadripper workstation... That is something I would like to have for use with Blender Cycles workload. I do like the look of the computer case. No tempered glass side panel which is a big plus for me.

If I just want a standard Ryzen CPU for gaming and Blender use, I'll go with Silverstone RM51 5U rackmounted chassis.

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Rackmount-Capability-SST-RM51/dp/B0BVZ8BTNH

That rackmount chassis is in the pricey side, but I do not mind paying for it just to hide my computer in a rack-mounted enclosure.

Update: Okay, this CAPTCHA that I saw in my post is weird! (if only there's a laughing emoji...)

[schmidtbag]

That is one of the most bizarre desktop motherboards I've ever seen. It makes sense, it's just so weird seeing PCIe slots both above and below the CPU. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some server boards configured this way, though, I've never seen one like that either.

[Michael]

That is one of the most bizarre desktop motherboards I've ever seen. It makes sense, it's just so weird seeing PCIe slots both above and below the CPU. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some server boards configured this way, though, I've never seen one like that either.

Thermal benefits for multi-GPU systems is how HP played it up at the AMD event with better separation/distribution.

[pWe00Iri3e7Z9lHOX2Qx]

That is one of the most bizarre desktop motherboards I've ever seen. It makes sense, it's just so weird seeing PCIe slots both above and below the CPU. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some server boards configured this way, though, I've never seen one like that either.

This is actually pretty common in higher end workstations and goes back many years. E.g. the Haswell / Broadwell era Dell T7910 here...

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/precision-t7910-workstation/precision_t7910_om_pub/system-board-components?guid=guid-6ee3ff83-7940-43e3-a4a6-be34eecc59cc&lang=en-us

[schmidtbag]

This is actually pretty common in higher end workstations and goes back many years. E.g. the Haswell / Broadwell era Dell T7910 here...

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals...9cc&lang=en-us

Interesting - didn't know they were that common. Granted, I've never really been in the market for such things. I'd say that board is even weirder, for it's large proprietary power connector and awkward protrusion from the motherboard.

[gexdigital]

16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage are very small for a 96-core CPU!.

[pWe00Iri3e7Z9lHOX2Qx]

16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage are very small for a 96-core CPU!.

That's why you can order it with 1TB of RAM and 88TB of NVMe storage .

[Paradigm Shifter]

I can't help but feel like that looks cheaply constructed. Maybe it's the way the panels are attached, or how the USB front panel section looks like they barely tried to align it, or how thin the metal looks in some of the angles, or just how a little attention to detail (pop rivets either painted or powder coated to match the external colouration of the panel they are holding in place) would do wonders for it. Yes, yes, I know it's a workstation, but workstations can just as easily be constructed in a case which doesn't look like they don't care. Also the power connector means that you're completely stuffed when HP decide to stop supporting it as finding spares will be a headache (although I acknowledge this isn't just an HP thing).

Curious how the CPU temperatures/clocks hold up as well at full load (particularly if the system is stuffed to the gills with hardware) as while the split GPUs will be getting direct airflow from the front intakes, the CPU is left choking on nothing. Unless that central rear fan is an intake, which will make internal airflow interesting... although I don't dislike the concept of splitting the PCI-E slots for better heat distribution in concept... I hope it works as well as they are suggesting.

edit:

Maybe they're doing some sort of region locking by IP, but that "configurator" that the article links to is utterly, abysmally useless. No configuring allowed, just 10 "configurations" to purchase. None of which have more than 32GB of RAM, or more than a 7955WX, or more than a single A4000 GPU. Clicking through the options doesn't give the ability to customise, just to purchase - and most of which are out of stock!

edit 2: Going to one of the "In Stock" click throughs gives a 4-6 week lead time. That is not in stock! "In stock" for a pre-built which cannot be customised means we can ship to you today (tomorrow latest).

edit 3: So while 7995WX, 1TB RAM, 88TB SSD, triple A6000s etc are allegedly an option, there is zero information regarding price of such, or whether you get any nasty surprises with the board (e.g.: triple A6000s means some NVMe slots non-functional, or filling all NVMe slots disables a NIC, or whatever).