How Do I Add Sata Hd's To A Hp Z240 Tower Workstation

It may exist presented as an entry-level workstation, but HP'south new 'Skylake' desktop offers enough for fifty-fifty the almost demanding 3D CAD users. By Greg Corke

Optional handle fits in the summit 5.25-inch bay

HP Z240 Tower workstation It may be presented as an entry-level workstation, but HP'south new 'Skylake' desktop offers plenty for fifty-fifty the most demanding 3D CAD users. For years, desktop workstations came in three types — entry-level, mid-range and high-end — but in 2009 the major manufacturers threw another into the mix and the sub entry-level workstation was born.

This new class of machine was all about moving the designer with a limited budget away from a desktop PC and onto a workstation that is tested and certified to run CAD software.

The performance of the first machines was not earth shattering and in that location were trade-offs in storage and retention, but for just under $1,000 (£700) you could pocketbook yourself a decent workstation for AutoCAD and entry-level 3D CAD.

Over the years, the boundaries between sub entry-level and entry-level have blurred to the extent that there is now very little between HP'southward latest budget offering, the Z240, and the Z440.

Much of this is downwards to Intel'due south new generation Skylake CPU technology, which is at the heart of the Z240. We are not talking about processing power here though, as in that location has merely been a relatively small leap in performance over Haswell, the Intel CPU establish inside the Z440. Instead, Skylake has brought with information technology significant advances in storage and memory.

HP has jumped on these new developments, offer not one, just two new generation NVMe Solid State Drives (SSDs) inside the Z240's mini tower chassis. These high-operation drives are branded HP Z Turbo Bulldoze G2; i is mounted direct on the motherboard while the other is on a PCIe 10 4 add-in bill of fare.

The secondary HP Z Turbo Drive G2 uses the same NVMe SSD module, mounted on a PCIe x four add-in carte du jour

NVMe is a new native PCIe SSD engineering science that replaces SATA. A quick run through our AS SSD criterion shows the HP Z Turbo Bulldoze G2 to have approximately three times the sequential read operation and two times the sequential write operation of a SATA-based SSD. Copying 20GB of CAD information (19,000 files) between our examination motorcar'southward ii drives took just 20 seconds, which is quite incredible.

Day to solar day, withal, this infrequent bandwidth is only likely to benefit those with sure deejay-intensive workflows — huge datasets used in video editing, simulation or indicate cloud processing.

For mainstream CAD, where disk read/write operations usually come in bursts, the benefits are likely to be far less pronounced.

As a outcome, while having two 256GB HP Z Turbo Drives certainly shows off the extreme capabilities of this so-called entry-level workstation, it is probably overkill for most designers. Nosotros would recommend stripping out one of the drives and saving yourself a bit of cash.

vii: PCI Express x 4 port — location of the secondary HP Z Turbo Bulldoze eight: Onboard Thou.2 slot — location of the primary HP Z Turbo Drive ix: 2 3.v-inch bulldoze bays for HDDs 10: One 2.5-inch drive bay for SSDs

Our test machine also came with a 1TB Hd (HDD), which offers a much more cost-effective way to store the bulk of your CAD data. There is also room for three more 2.5-inch or iii.v-inch drives, so in that location is plenty of capacity if required. In brusque, in that location is zero entry-level virtually the HP Z240'southward storage capabilities.

Memory has also improved significantly. While there will likely exist a small performance do good of moving from DDR3 to DDR4 memory, it is in capacity where the HP Z240 shows its true aspirations.

Whereas its predecessor, the HP Z230, was restricted to 32GB DDR3 memory, the HP Z240 can host up to 64GB of DDR4.

Previously, this much memory was but available in the HP Z440.

64GB should exist more than plenty for even the most hardcore of CAD users and our test machine's 32GB (ii x 16GB DIMMs) is a much better fit for mainstream CAD. It too leaves two DIMM slots free should your needs abound in the hereafter.

With most processes in CAD software being unmarried threaded or lightly threaded (that is, they tin just take advantage of one or two CPU cores), the quad core Intel Xeon E3-1270 v5 (3.6GHz – four.0GHz) in our test machine is pretty top notch. It is only a tiny step downward from the much more expensive Intel Xeon E3-1280 v5 (3.7GHz – 4.0GHz).

There are a number of other processors to choose from, including diverse Skylake Cadre i5, Core i7 and Xeon E3-1200 v5 models. All of those on offer should serve CAD users well, only as they are limited to four cores, those heavily into simulation or rendering should look to the HP Z440, which offers Intel Xeon E5-1600 v3 series CPUs upwards to eight cores.

For 3D graphics, the Nvidia Quadro K2200 (4GB) is well positioned for mainstream CAD, backed upward past a practiced showing in our graphics benchmarks.

Beyond the core specifications, there are some nice enhancements to the Z240'due south chassis. An integrated handle, which was a hallmark of higher-cease HP Z Workstations, has finally trickled down to the sub entry-level. This means y'all can deport the Z240 with a single hand, which is bang-up for those that need their automobile to be portable.

The primary HP Z Turbo Drive G2 slots right onto the motherboard. It features a heat sink to keep it running cool and stop whatsoever performance throttling

With a smaller motherboard than the Z230, the Z240 is easier to service. Both retentivity and storage are within piece of cake accomplish. HP says acoustics has also improved thanks to an ambience temperature sensor on the motherboard, which helps optimise fan speeds, including ane on the power supply. The motorcar was incredibly quiet throughout all of our tests. Even when hammering the CPU and the GPU by running a 3ds Max render and a graphics criterion at the same time, fan racket never went above a barely audible hum.

To help ensure the motorcar remains this tranquility over its lifetime, HP has added a dust filter to the front, where air is fatigued in. Grit clogs fans and this can be a particular problem in sure environments, says HP — from under desks to manufacturing floors. The panel that holds the dust filter is uncommonly easy to remove, with a uncomplicated push and click. The filter can and then be washed or replaced.

The button & click dust filter panel comes off easily

Exploded view of dust filter forepart console. The filter itself can be washed or replaced

The front of the machine also gives piece of cake access to USB ports. At that place are two USB 3.0 and ii USB 2.0 (one e'er on), as well equally a slimline optical drive and headphone and microphone jacks. There are four more than USB 3.0 ports on the rear of the automobile, and then plenty of chapters for connecting fast external storage. Thunderbolt 2.0 is an optional extra via a PCIe add-in card.

Decision

With the Z240, HP has produced an infrequent workstation for CAD. With incredibly fast storage, mid to high-finish graphics and upwards to 64GB of memory, there really is very niggling reason for CAD users to look across this mini tower motorcar. Only those who mix CAD with simulation or design visualisation may need to move upwardly to the HP Z440 for more than CPU cores, more retentiveness or college-stop graphics.

Those with more mainstream requirements should as well check out the pocket-sized class cistron (SFF) version of the HP Z240. It is a little lighter on storage and graphics, but has the aforementioned CPU and retentiveness options. It looks to be a nifty footling machine for those that desire to salve valuable desk space.

HP as well offers a modest form factor (SFF) version of the HP Z240 which is a petty lighter on storage and graphics merely has the aforementioned CPU and memory options

Specifications

■ Intel Xeon E3-1270 v5 (iii.6GHz, Turbo to 4.0GHz) (Quad Core) processor)

■ 32GB (2 ten 16GB) DDR4 2,133MHz ECC retentivity

■ 2 x 256GB HP Z Turbo Drive G2 (PCIe NVMe SSD) + 1TB Western Digital blue HDD

■ Nvidia Quadro K2200 (4GB GDDR5) GPU (348.17 commuter)

■ Microsoft Windows seven Professional 64-bit

■ 399 x 170 x 442mm

■ 3 years parts, 3 years labour, and 3 years onsite service (3/3/3) standard express warranty

■ £TBC

hp.co.britain

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