HP Z1 G1i Black

The HP Z1 G1i is a CPU powerhouse with integrated graphics that belong in a budget office machine, making it great for编译 and terrible for everything else. Find it under $1800 and you have a deal, pay $2500 and you got played.

The CPU performance is the headline here, and it earns its spot near the top of the charts. Our database shows the Core Ultra 7 265 hitting the 90th percentile for compute tasks, which puts it in elite company for a workstation at this price. The 32GB of DDR5-5600 RAM is generous and future-proof enough that you won't be itching to upgrade in six months. The integrated GPU is the obvious weak point at the 58th percentile, and it shows. Gaming is basically off the table (the 18.5/100 score confirms this), and even some GPU-accelerated creative tasks will have you waiting. The 1TB NVMe SSD is solid but not exceptional at the 65th percentile. Port selection is excellent though, with USB-C, USB-A, DisplayPort, and HDMI 2.1 all present.

The most relevant competitors are the Apple Mac Studio M4 Max and the Lenovo Legion 90Y6003JUS. The Mac Studio will crush the Z1 G1i on graphics performance and efficiency, but it costs more and locks you into macOS. The Lenovo Legion is a gaming-focused machine that can double as a workstation, but it likely has weaker CPU performance than the Core Ultra 7 265. The HP Z1 G1i wins on pure CPU value if you can find it at the right price, but it loses badly on the GPU front against both alternatives.

At $1679 to $2679, this thing lives or dies on which vendor you buy from. The lower end of that range is reasonable for the CPU and RAM you get, but the upper end puts you in Mac Studio territory, and that is a fight the Z1 G1i cannot win on graphics. If you find it under $1800, it is a solid workstation buy. Anything over $2200 and you should be comparing it against the Mac Studio M4 Max or a proper gaming workstation with a real GPU.

The HP Z1 G1i is a workstation that knows exactly what it is: a CPU beast with middling graphics. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 20-core processor sits at the 90th percentile for compute performance, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM means you can have more apps open than you probably need. But that integrated Intel Graphics solution? It's along for the ride, not driving the bus. This is a machine for rendering, compiling, and spreadsheet marathons, not for playing the latest games. If you need a workstation that won't make you choose between tabs and sanity, this one delivers.

If you are looking for any kind of graphics performance, gaming capability, or a machine that can handle GPU-accelerated creative work, this is not it. Go get a machine with a discrete GPU like the ASUS ROG GM700TZ-BS978 or the Mac Studio M4 Max instead. The Z1 G1i is a one-trick pony, and that trick is CPU compute.

Buy the HP Z1 G1i if you need a workstation for CPU-bound tasks like code compilation, data analysis, or 3D rendering that does not require a discrete GPU. Do not buy it if you want any kind of graphics performance, gaming capability, or if you are comparing it against machines with real GPUs at the same price point. At the right price, it is a capable workhorse. At the wrong price, it is an overpriced office PC with a fancy CPU.