HP thinks it can beat Apple - HP Z2 Mini G9 Review
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Get up to 30% off Jackery products during Prime Day 2022 at amazon.com HP is making some BOLD claims about their Z2 Mini G9 workstations, but can HP’s new workstation match the performance and the equally bold claims of the Mac Studio? Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group. ► GET MERCH: lttstore.com ► SUPPORT US ON FLOATPLANE: floatplane.com ► AFFILIATES, SPONSORS & REFERRALS: lmg.gg ► PODCAST GEAR: lmg.gg FOLLOW US --------------------------------------------------- Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: @LinusTech Instagram: @linustech TikTok: @linustech Twitch: twitch.tv MUSIC CREDIT --------------------------------------------------- Intro: Laszlo - Supernova Video Link: youtube.com iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com Artist Link: soundcloud.com Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High Video Link: youtube.com Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi Artist Link: youtube.com Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa @mbarek_abdel Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us CHAPTERS --------------------------------------------------- 0:00 Intro 1:10 Meet Z2 Mini G9 2:50 Z2 vs Mac Studio 5:21 Thermal Problems 7:46 Trying to Fix It 8:55 Z2 vs 12700k 9:28 HP things 12:34 Outro
HP positions the Z2 Mini G9 as a benchmark for power in a tiny workstation form factor, directly challenging apples Mac Studio. The video opens by framing the Mac Studio as a high bar for performance in a compact chassis, then pivots to HP’s claim of the Z2 Mini G9 being the world’s most powerful mini workstation. The host immediately questions cooling and reliability, signaling a pattern of bold claims met with technical skepticism. The first segment dissects the Z2 Mini G9’s feature set, noting a Core i9 12900K and NVIDIA A2000 GPU, while also highlighting what HP touts as flexible I/O and a compact 3.5 liter enclosure. Throughout the early part, the comparison to the Mac Studio frames expectations around performance, thermals, and real-world usability. The host establishes a theme that HP’s claimed performance must survive real workloads and not be a numbers game, setting up a deeper dive into cooling, power, and throttling later in the review.
Topics · hardware · technology · computer_review · workstation
Questions answered
- What is the HP Z2 Mini G9 claimed as by HP, and how does it compare to the Mac Studio?
- HP claims the Z2 Mini G9 is the fastest mini workstation, but the review finds it throttles under load and generally loses to the Mac Studio in multiple benchmarks.
- What cooling problems were identified in the Z2 Mini G9 during testing?
- The GPU cooler has insufficient clearance and the case design leads to thermal throttling, with the CPU throttling more than expected and the GPU hitting high temperatures that cause performance drops.
- Is there a workaround to improve cooling or performance in the Z2 Mini G9?
- Adjusting fan curves or performance profiles is limited by HP software and BIOS, and even with aggressive fan settings, throttling persists, indicating a fundamental cooling design issue.