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BUILD | HARDWARE // WORKSTATIONS Power towers


Hardware manufacturers are starting to wake up to the fact that developers don’t want a one-size-fits-all workstation. Aaron Lee traces the latest hardware available to upgrade your games development muscle


BUYING AWORKSTATION is, by its nature, a proposition that prompts careful consideration. No doubt you will have a set of performance requirements in mind and strict budget. Perhaps your kit is struggling to run the new game


engine you recently forked out for? Or maybe you are bringing new staff on board and require hardware that can be easily tuned to suit their individual needs?


These problems are exactly what new, games


development-focused hardware lines from HP and Lenovo aim to solve. And if you’re the sort who has pushed your hardware


to its limits, replacing the fan, upgrading the GPU and generally giving it more tune ups than your parents’ 1980s Volvo, you’ll want to know what’s on offer should your tower not make it through another winter.


LENOVO: SMART THINKING


THE MARKET FORworkstations has evolved from the days when companies offered a one-size-fits-all box. Nowadays, the hardware comes in a variety of form factors, while still pursing data-crunching muscle. Lenovo’s software development


ThinkStation series aims to provide reliable and rock solid performance. Ashley Rolfe, workstation


technologist at Lenovo, tells Develop: “Before going on sale, all Lenovo ThinkStations go through a rigorous period of testing and certification. We don’t just test each component; we test all components together as a unified solution, to ensure the stability of all our solutions. “In addition, each ThinkStation goes through an additional round of certification by the various independent software vendors, such as Adobe, to make sure our hardware is fully compatible with their software to certify the best possible results.


42 | NOVEMBER 2013 “We also use error-correcting


code memory, which might not be typically used in a custom setup as it can detect and correct data from corruption, vital in environments where the integrity of data is everything.” Lenovo’s workstations come in


two main flavours: single-processor, such as the ThinkStation S30 and newly launched E32, and dual- processor, such as the D30 and C30. The recently launched E32


workstation is based on Intel’s Haswell architecture and slimmer design makes it suitable for studios that are tight on budget and on space. Rolfe says studios whether a studio invests buys one today or in 12 months time, it will be identical, helping them to simplify “management of the estate”. Expect to pay in the region of £800 (including VAT) for Lenovo’s ThinkStation series hardware. www.lenovo.com


HP: TOOLING UP


UNVEILED AT GDC, HP’s Z series workstations have been engineered especially for games developers, and have the likes of Epic Games and Autodesk to back them up. Sold in conjunction with Alt


Systems, HP provides its Game Developer Edition for Autodesk and Unreal Engine users on three platforms: the HP Z1, the HP Z820 and Z620. Alt Systems will work with you to configure systems to your needs, as well as grant any technical support you require to get the best performance out of the system. Ray Gilmartin, worldwide media


and entertainment segment marketing manager at HP, says: “HP’s highly tuned workstations


give customers a personal experience – much like having an engineer in the box – with HP’s special Performance Advisor software that automatically tunes the workstation, finding and installing the proper drivers.


“Each HP Workstation is passed


through HP’s quality assurance and testing process, which goes well beyond PC industry testing requirements.” Furthermore, HP’s workstations


come with pre-loaded with software that allow you and your team to collaborate on projects remotely, all in sync and with next to no loss in performance. Gilmartin says HP’s Z workstations alleviate the concerns that your hardware won’t stand up to the many demands placed on the system on a daily basis. “HP offers more choices than any


other vendor, with the broadest scope of options and the most specialised configurations, ranging from any graphics card, multiple display configurations, to any OS a customer selects.” Expect to pay in the region of £1,525 (including VAT) for HP’s Z series workstations for games. www.hp.com


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