When you have a lot of work to do and standard microcomputers won’t cut it, a workstation is one of your best options– assuming you don’t want to build your own PC— because they have CPUs with more cores as well as significantly more RAM than a regular mainstream computer.
In the real world, heavy workloads such as CPU arithmetic loads, video editing, server hosting, and a lot of other tasks can’t be controlled with a regular, mainstream computer, hence why workstations were invented.
In this article, we are going to discuss some of the best workstations of all times. So read on!
Products at a Glance
Best Workstation In 2021 – Top Picks for Business Desktop
HP does not need an introduction; it is one of the elite computer companies. The HP Z8 G4 is the company’s latest flagship workstation that is designed for extreme (by extreme we really mean “EXTREMELY EXTREME”) workloads. No doubt this is the most powerful workstation computer of all time thanks to its many features.
It uses the latest LGA-3467 socket for its processors; there are two of these sockets on the motherboard. This lets the user install up to two physical processors, where the workstation supports up to the Intel Xeon Platinum 8280, a 28-core processor. So effectively, this machine can host as many as 56 cores and 112 threads. This is more than enough for most of the individual computational workloads.
As far as memory is concerned, the HP Z8 is the world’s first workstation to feature as much as 3TB of DDR4 RAM. The workstation works with ECC memory and has a total of 24 RAM slots. This workstation’s storage capacity is also impressive and the user can install tons of storage devices, leading to a maximum capacity of 48TB.
The graphics capabilities of this workstation are similarly impressive as it can support a maximum of three graphics cards where the maximum supported GPU is the Nvidia Quadro P6000, a 24GB HBM-2 memory based graphics card. This ensures that even the most complicated graphical tasks are done with ease. The power supply on this machine is therefore very powerful and can easily provide power to these power-hog components.
Overall, this workstation is the best work computer you can find no matter what your needs are… Well, unless you need to save money, I guess, since even the cheapest configuration of this workstation costs a lot of money. As such, we can only really recommend it if you have extreme needs, like server hosting.
Apple is a unique company that provides its own range of powerful products. Apple’s iMac Pro is the company’s flagship product as of now and it comes in an all-in-one form factor.
This product is mind-blowing in terms of looks; in fact, it’s impressive that they managed to integrate such high-end specifications in such a slim computer. The iMac Pro has a 27-inch display, having a resolution of 5120 x 2880, which is more than enough for any kind of graphical use. The color space on this screen is also very impressive and it fully supports the DCI-P3 color space.
The motherboard on this computer supports the LGA-2066 socket. You can install any of the Intel Xeon series processors from the 8-core processor to the 18-core version. The RAM capacity of this machine is also much higher than most of the mainstream Windows-based workstation computers at 256GB.
There are three choices for the graphics cards: the AMD Radeon Vega 56, Vega 64, or Vega 64X in this computer. The maximum storage capacity of iMac Pro is limited at 4TB, which is a bit lower than we’d like to see, honestly, considering what this machine is supposed to be used for. Assuming you are using this for some heavy duty work, then you might need something like their AirPort Time Capsule.
The Microsoft Surface Studio 2 was recently released and it has overcome most of the issues of the first Surface Studio (to a degree, at least). This time, Microsoft has used a better processor in this all-in-one computer and it can boast up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM.
The screen is quite similar to the Apple iMac Pro, although it is a touch-screen and is an inch bigger. It does utilize a strange aspect ratio– 3:2– which leads to a resolution of 4500 x 3000. It supports the DCI-P3 color space as well.
The processor used in the Surface Studio 2 is an Intel Core i7-7820HQ, which is a quad-core processor. This is certainly an improvement over the dual-core processor used in the previous model but still, it is much slower than similarly priced all-in-one computers. There are two graphics card variants in the Microsoft Surface Studio 2: the Nvidia GTX 1060 and GTX 1070. Both of these graphics cards are enough for most of the nominal graphical workloads these days.
Ultimately, while the Surface Studio 2 has taken a step forward, it still suffers from the same problems of the previous model. You can get more power building your own PC– and at a much lower price point– so the main plus is the admittedly great touch screen display.
The Apple Mac Mini was released back in 2018 and its small form-factor provides a great advantage to users who prefer portability and elegance.
It supports eighth generation Intel Core-series processors all the way from the Core-i3 in the low-end configuration to the Core-i5 in the high-end configuration. The i3 processor is a quad-core processor while the i5 processor is a hexa-core processor. The lower-end model comes with 128GB PCIe based SSD and the high-end model hosts the 256GB SSD. Honestly, you’re going to want some sort of external hard drive for this.
Both of the models provide 8GB of RAM and Intel UHD Graphics. The integrated graphics should be fine, as not a lot of people require high-end graphics when it comes to Macs. However, the RAM support is really disappointing and Apple should have provided at least 16GB of RAM.
The Lenovo ThinkStation P320 Tiny is a great small workstation that hosts 7th generation Intel processors. The small design lets you carry this PC easily and its performance is better than many pre-built PCs.
It can host a maximum of 32GB DDR4 memory, which is enough for most regular workloads and the included Nvidia Quadro P600 2GB is quite better than the Intel integrated graphics. It uses NVMe based SSDs, with a maximum capacity of 2TB, which is honestly pretty nice.
We believe that if you want a Windows-based PC with a small form-factor, then this computer will prove to be one of the best business computers out there.