HP Z2 BN5K0UT#ABA 2025, Core Ultra 7 265, 64GB, 1TB SSD, Black

The HP Z2 G1i brings 64GB of DDR5 RAM at the 97th percentile and a 20-core Core Ultra 7 265 at the 89th percentile, making it a multitasking monster. But integrated Intel Graphics at the 51st percentile and a gaming score of 19.7 out of 100 mean this is strictly a CPU-focused workstation. Shop carefully, prices swing by USD 2,019 across vendors.

The Core Ultra 7 265 is the star here. Twenty cores at 2.4GHz base clock, and it ranks in the 89th percentile for CPU performance in our database. That's a standout for multi-threaded tasks like rendering or running virtual machines. The 64GB of 5600 MHz DDR5 RAM is even more impressive, sitting in the 97th percentile. You can upgrade to 256GB if you really want to future-proof, but 64GB is already overkill for most professional workflows.

The weak link is graphics. Integrated Intel Graphics puts this system at the 51st percentile for GPU performance, which is about average. For a workstation marketed toward modeling and rendering, that's a head-scratcher. The 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 SSD is fine, 63rd percentile, but nothing to write home about. You'll get fast boot times and quick file transfers, but this isn't a storage monster.

Against the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 or Dell Aurora Gaming, the Z2 G1i gets absolutely smoked in graphics performance. Those machines come with dedicated GPUs that would put this integrated Intel Graphics to shame. But flip the script to memory, and the Z2 G1i's 64GB of DDR5 at the 97th percentile beats most gaming towers out of the box. The Apple Mac Studio M3 Ultra is a different beast entirely, with Apple's silicon handling both CPU and GPU duties far more efficiently. The ASUS ROG GM700 and Horizon Pcs Autherium Dragon are gaming-focused, so they'll crush the Z2 G1i in gaming but likely fall behind in RAM capacity. This HP is a specialist: great for CPU-heavy, memory-hungry professional work, terrible for anything graphics-intensive.

Pricing is all over the place. We're seeing USD 2,363 to USD 4,382 across three US listings, and that USD 2,019 spread is wild. At the low end, you're getting a 97th percentile RAM machine with a strong CPU for a reasonable workstation price. At the high end, you're paying premium money for integrated graphics, which is a tough sell. Shop around before you commit. The cheapest listing is the one to target, because the specs don't change between vendors.

The HP Z2 G1i is a mid-tower workstation that puts its money where the multitasking is. With 64GB of DDR5 RAM, it lands in the 97th percentile for memory among systems in our database. That's more headroom than most people will ever need, and it's paired with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265 20-core processor that sits in the 89th percentile for CPU performance. On paper, this thing is built to chew through professional workloads without breaking a sweat.

But here's the catch: the GPU is integrated Intel Graphics, which lands at a dead-middle 51st percentile. For modeling, simulation, and rendering, that's a real bottleneck. The 1TB NVMe SSD is solid but unremarkable at the 63rd percentile. So you're getting a machine with a fantastic brain and tons of memory, but the graphics side is strictly business-class, not creative-class.

If you do any kind of graphics work, skip this. The integrated Intel Graphics sits at the 51st percentile, and the gaming score of 19.7 out of 100 is one of the weakest we've seen for a machine in this price range. Rendering, video editing, 3D modeling, even casual gaming, this thing will struggle. You'd be better off with a dedicated GPU workstation or even a gaming tower like the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10, which will trade some RAM for a massive graphics upgrade.

The HP Z2 G1i is a weird mix of impressive and frustrating. The 64GB of DDR5 RAM at the 97th percentile and the Core Ultra 7 265 at the 89th percentile make this a legitimate workstation for CPU-bound tasks. But the integrated graphics at the 51st percentile and a gaming score of 19.7 out of 100 mean this machine will choke on anything that needs real GPU power. If your work is all about data crunching, virtualization, or heavy multitasking, this is a solid buy at the low end of the price range. If you need to render 3D models or edit video, look elsewhere.