Comparison of the Z400 and xw4600 Architectures

The HP Z400 is a new Intel? Xeon? based entry workstation, positioned above the HP xw4600 Personal Workstation. Itsarchitecture introduces significant improvements, including processor microarchitecture, memory controller architecture, and performance.Processor Technology: The Z400 uses the Intel? X58Express chipset to support the latest Quad Core Intel?Xeon? processor W3500 Series (Nehalem), includingprocessors up to 130W. These 45nm processors incorporatean integrated 3-channel memory controller, microarchitectureimprovements and large L3 cache to provide significantlybetter performance than the previous generation (Penryn).The Z400 uses the Intel? QuickPath Technology to connectthe processor and I/O controller with speeds up to6.4 GT/s, significantly increasing peak aggregate databandwidth over the xw4600.Memory Technology: The Z400’s unbuffered DIMMs(UDIMMs) are based on DDR3 1333MHz technology, andare still ECC-protected. Three direct attach memory channelsenable low latency accesses and fast data transfer, providingsignificant performance advantages over the xw4600architecture, which has two memory channels. Systemmemory sizes up to 16GB1 (using 4GB DIMMs) aresupported, a signicant increase over the 8GB system limit ofthe xw4600. DIMMs should be distributed across all threememory channels for optimal performance.Graphics: The Z400 continues support for PCIe Gen2(PCIe2) bus speeds and can support dual PCIe Gen2 graphics cards in PCIe2 x16 slots. The Z400 allocates a total of 150W for graphicscards. A single graphics card of up to 150W can be supported in the primary graphics slot, to enable cutting edge graphics. If theprimary graphics card consumes less than 150W, a second graphics card may be supported in the second Z400 PCIe2 x16 slot, subjectto the overall 150W system limit for graphics.I/O Slots: The Z400 implements an Intel? X58 I/O controller toprovide a total of six high-performance Graphics and I/O slots. Inaddition to the two full x16 PCIe Gen2 slots, two additionalPCIe x8 (4) slots (x8 mechanically, x4 electrically) on the Z400provide extra I/O bandwidth for high speed I/O cards. Openended PCIe x8 connectors allow the user to install x16 physicalsize cards in the x8 (4) slots. Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives aresupported via a plug-in card.Other Features: SATA RAID modes 0, 1, 5 and 10 aresupported. eSATA (3.0 Gbps) is supported using an optionaladapter. The Z400 provides 8 external and 4 internal USB 2.0ports. The 475W power supply is 85% efficient and enablesENERGY STAR v5 qualified configurations. HP WattSavertechnology enables support of the European Union EuP power limitof 1W in off mode. HP Quiet Fan Technology enables quiet systemoperation. The Intel Xeon W3500 Series workstation processorsprovide several benefits over Core i7 desktop processors, includingsupport for ECC memory for increased system reliability and Direct Cache Access2 for network performance.

graphic display comparison test, z400 and xw4600 architectures comparison, z400 and xw4600 graphic card user guide, xw4600 user manual esata, xw4600 vs z400