The 3ds Max Tests
As evident from the test results below, the more processor-intensive the scene, the better the results, with the Displacement & DOF test completing nearly a full minute faster than it did on the xw8600 system. While the increased RAM may have helped, it's clear that the new architecture is also a benefit to the Z800. 3ds Max was more responsive in general, and took more effort on my part to bog it down. Chalk that up to the increased RAM and improved memory handling as well, but the bottom line is that this is one fast machine.

Time is Money: All Clichés Aside
Spending money during an economic downturn may seem counter-intuitive, but if you think about it a little bit, it starts to make a lot of sense. By increasing productivity and cutting down on power consumption, a new Z series workstation can pay for itself in one to three months. The Z800 boasts 85% and 89% efficient power supplies, and the new Xeon processors can run at just under 1 Watt in Hibernation mode.

More Than Just a Pretty Face
With the Z800, HP has managed to work with Intel's new architecture to take advantage of each and every improvement, and to produce a system that's a sure bet in its class, with a sense of style that's also unmatched. With such a sleek new system design, I'd really like to see HP work with Designworks to create a mouse and keyboard update that complements the new system. I had to find one thing to complain about, and that's the best I could muster.

Bryan Hoff is a web designer, digital artist, writer and animator. His credits include movie and television effects, online games, 3D corporate animation, Flash and traditional website design. His writing credits include articles for LinuxWorld, Element K Journals and InformIT, covering such topics as Photoshop effects, Linux 3D graphics applications, web and HTML design, RSS feeds and painting with a graphics tablet. Hoff has also written e-books on blogging and website creation for beginners and co-authored the book, Moving from Windows to Linux.