HP EliteDesk 8 G1i Jack Black 2025

A 24-core monster with a ton of RAM that's perfect for heavy CPU work and a total dud for gaming. Find it for under two grand and it's a steal.

What surprised us most is just how much raw CPU power is on tap here. The Core Ultra 9 285 sits in the 93rd percentile in our database, which means it chews through heavy all-core workloads like a champ. We're talking near top-of-the-charts performance for anything that hammers the processor. The 64GB of DDR5 is also a standout, landing in the 97th percentile. That's more than enough to keep a ridiculous number of browser tabs, Docker containers, and Adobe apps open simultaneously without a hiccup. The obvious letdown is the integrated Intel Graphics, which is painfully average and makes this a non-starter for any GPU-accelerated tasks.

The most direct comparison is the Apple Mac Studio M4 Max. The Mac Studio will obliterate the HP in GPU tasks and single-core snappiness while sipping power, but it's a closed box you can't upgrade and it costs a lot more. The HP fights back with user-accessible storage bays, more RAM out of the box, and a lower entry price. A gaming rig like the MSI Infinite ZS is the opposite story: it'll run circles around the EliteDesk in any 3D application but can't touch this 24-core monster in a pure CPU render. If your work is 99% on the processor, the HP is the smarter, cheaper pick.

Pricing is all over the map, with a wild $2679 spread between vendors. At the low end around $1665, this is a screaming deal for a 24-core workstation with 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. At the high end over $4000, you're getting ripped off. If you're buying, hunt for the best deal and don't pay a premium for this specific config. It's absolutely worth it if you find it at the right price and need the CPU grunt.

The HP EliteDesk 8 G1i is a weird beast. It's a business tower that HP stuffed with a monster 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 285 and 64GB of RAM, then paired it with a dinky 280W power supply and integrated graphics. The one thing to know is this: it's an absolute multitasking brute for code compilation, data crunching, and running a dozen VMs, but it completely falls on its face if you even think about gaming. This isn't a machine for everyone, but for a very specific kind of power user, it's a quiet, expandable sleeper hit.

If you're looking for a gaming PC or anything that relies on a GPU, this isn't it. Go get a pre-built from MSI or CLX instead. Even a budget gaming desktop with a dedicated card will run circles around this in any 3D application.

The HP EliteDesk 8 G1i is a niche champion. If you're a developer, data scientist, or run a home lab and need a quiet, expandable tower with best-in-class multi-core performance, buy this immediately, but only if you find it near the lower end of its price range. For anyone else, especially if a GPU matters at all, look elsewhere. This is a specialized tool that's brilliant at its job and useless outside of it.