Dell, HP, and Fujitsu are ready on Day One with new workstations; Lenovo and Apple will be along shortly.

[Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a two-part series on next-generation CPUs from Intel. Yesterday’s article (Intel launches next-generation Ivy Bridge-EP), introduces the new CPUs; today’s article introduces the first workstations and servers to include Ivy Bridge-EP.]

By Alex Herrera

Just as we knew the Ivy Bridge-EP CPU family was coming, we also knew new model launches from every major workstation OEM would follow on its heels. Sure enough, current market leader HP, and current #2 and former leader Dell, as well as a host of second-tier vendors like Boxx were all at the ready with press releases on new deskside workstations based on Ivy Bridge-EP. The two companies practically co-announced their new workstations … in different places.

Meanwhile Fujitsu and Lenovo are following up, making their own announcements and creating their own spotlights for new workstation products. Apple hasn’t published specs, but it’s a foregone conclusion the company will be tapping Ivy Bridge-EP in its release of the overhauled Mac Pro. We assume the company will allow two of the higher end, 10 or 12 count SKUs.

As anticipated, HP announced an Ivy Bridge-EP upgrade to its existing line of deskside Z workstations: the Z420, Z620, and Z820. But Dell was there, too, as its press release hit the wire at the same time, highlighting Ivy Bridge-EP enhancements to its similar trio of Precision workstations: the T3610, T5610, and T7610.  Number four worldwide, Fujitsu added Ivy Bridge-EP SKUs to its deskside Celsius R and Celsius M series. And while we haven’t seen number three, Lenovo, launch upgrades to its ThinkStation S and D series yet, we expect that any day.

Workstation market segmentation has matured to the point that the product lines from top-tier vendors all tend to converge on the same basic price points, form factors, and capabilities. However, that doesn’t mean they’re all alike, and the launch of Ivy Bridge-EP gives us an opportunity to compare the models from the top two vendors. First up, let’s take a look at the entry deskside offerings, HP’s Z420 and Dell’s Precision T3610. Now, this class of machine puts price at a priority, so they’re exclusively single-socket. The specs on both systems read similarly, with a few notable differences:

• Dell’s highest core-count Ivy Bridge-EP SKU is 6, where HP allows for the new octal core.
• Dell’s Precision maxes out at 128 GB, versus HP’s 64 GB (both ECC, though the capacities may change as higher-density DIMMs become available)
• HP offers a couple of ultra-high end options Dell doesn’t, namely the Quadro K5000 and 6000, as well as a Tesla-brand GPU compute options. Dell’s omissions aren’t a big deal at this level, however, because most customers looking for a GPU of this capability (and price) will typically be shopping for a higher-end box.
• HP offers higher-capacity storage options, at least for now
• Dell offers higher-wattage power supplies
• Dell offers a lower starting-at price. Of course, keep in mind the usual caveats … few workstation buyers purchase with the ultra-minimalist configurations usually quoted in starting-at prices.

Comparing HP and Dell’s entry, single-socket deskside models with Ivy Bridge-EP (Source: HP/Dell)

Taking a step up to the dual-socket capable mid-range, we have the HP Z620 and Dell Precision T3610 convertible mini-towers (CMTs). Again, configurations are very similar, but not quite the same:

• Tables are turned on memory size, as the Z620 can populate 50% more of the ECC capable 1866 MHz DDR3 memory. But again, remember the fraction of the market that would want to configure more than 128 GB of memory in a mid-range model is extremely low.
• Core counts on available processor SKUs go up, but HP still shoots a bit higher, with a 12-core SKU available, while Dell tops out with a 10-core Xeon E5 v2 SKU
• In this case, the Dell’s starting-at price is substantially higher than HP’s. But on closer inspection, we find Dell’s starting-at configuration quite burly (with 16 GB memory and a Quadro K4000).  Configuring the Z620 similarly (online), we find Dell’s price substantially lower than HP’s.

 

 Comparing HP and Dell’s mid-range dual-socket deskside models with Ivy Bridge-EP. (Source: HP/Dell)

Finally, we’ve got the top end of both workstation lines in HP’s Z280 and Dell’s Precision T7610. Again, we find some differences in configuration options, but nothing too dramatic.

• While both offer SSD options, Dell throws in a PCI Express SSD option (this is true for all models, not just the T7610). What’s the advantage of an SSD on PCI Express? Well, assuming the rest of the system and SSD card are engineered accordingly, interfacing the SSD via PCI Express versus SATA will bring a decided boost in bandwidth.  Now keep in mind, HP’s machines all have slots that can accommodate a PCI Express SSD. The only difference is that Dell’s machine can ship with one, where HP’s would require one be added after-market.
• Dell’s power supply again edges HP’s, providing a potential advantage for a heavily-loaded system, primarily GPUs (both for graphics and compute).

 

Comparing HP and Dell’s high end dual-socket deskside models with Ivy Bridge-EP. (Source: HP/Dell)

Note that not all of the new models tapping Ivy Bridge-EP went with the 12-core option. Why wouldn’t Dell, for example, want a 12-core option on its mid-range Precision T5610? Aren’t more cores always better? Well, all else equal, more cores are better, but in the case of the new Ivy Bridge Xeon E5, all else is not equal.

There’s good reason for that, as the 12-core SKUs drop the clock speed substantially. So while a 12-core option naturally makes sense (price aside) for a server juggling lots of processes, it’s not a no-brainer for a single-user workstation. Many desktop applications struggle to take advantage of more than a few cores, making the 10-core’s higher frequency more valuable.

Given that, then why are 12-core processors in there at all? Well, there are some workstation applications that may be more high-core-count friendly, and there are some (like HP’s Z820) that double as rackmount server nodes. And don’t forget marketing purposes, where touting 12 cores per socket is “better” than 10.

Fujitsu and Lenovo also jumping on Ivy Bridge-EP

While Dell and HP are the worldwide market leaders, we can’t forget the other two of the four Tier 1 players in workstations: Lenovo and Fujitsu. Number four Fujitsu maintains a strong presence in EMEA, and number three Lenovo (at 12.3%) is growing fast. Fujitsu added Xeon E5-2600 v2 series SKUs to its single-socket M series and dual-socket R series, spawning the Celsius M630 and Celsius R630, respectively. As of this writing, we haven’t seen Lenovo do the same with its single-socket ThinkStation S and dual-socket ThinkStation D series, but we believe that’s a matter of when, not if.

Superior workstation platform … and it better be

So no, with 10 or 12 cores in a big die (despite the higher density of 22 nm) available at high clock rates, Ivy Bridge-EP performance in a workstation isn’t going to be undercut by the current Haswell processors SKUs, with their relatively scant dual and quad core SKUs. And coupled with the new, mostly-synchronized launch of new generation GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, this Ivy Bridge-EP platform will provide the highest performing options for multi-process server and multi-thread workstation workloads for a while. It’s going to have to.

Because more than any other consumers of computing, workstation customers like platform stability, which means their vendors really like platform stability. So when it comes to these deskside lines—which remain the backbone of the workstation market—what we have now is pretty much what we’re going to have for the next 12-15 months. What will eventually push Ivy Bridge-EP to the side and stoke another workstation refresh? Haswell-EP.