HP's new super-small PC packs Intel Xeon, M.2 SSD, more

HP has just unveiled its new mini PC that features workstation-class hardware, with the new Z2 Mini packing an Intel Xeon CPU, NVIDIA Quadro mobile M620 graphics, and M.2 SSD - which all fits into a 2.3-inch-high case, that HP says is "90 percent smaller than a traditional business-class tower".

With the maxed out configuration, HP's new Z2 Mini is twice as powerful as any competing mini PC on the market, and will work with six displays in its stock form. HP is aiming for CAD, design, graphics and 3D users - but gamers shouldn't be swayed away from it, either.

HP's new Z2 Mini is 63% quieter than their own business-class mini PCs, thanks to the company deploying a custom cooling system. HP explains that the engineering of the Z2 Mini as "the octagon form of the Z2 Mini is the most uniquely designed workstation in HP's 35 years of workstation history".

As for the specs, we're looking at up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and an HP Z Turbo Drive which slots into the M.2 port and offers up to 1.5TB of storage with over 1GB/sec of read speeds. You can configure the HP Z2 Mini with an Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 or even an Intel Xeon E3-1200v5 family processor, something that's normally reserved for workstations and servers.

On the graphics side of things, HP is offering NVIDIA's mobile M620 Quadro GPU with 2GB of VRAM - it's not the greatest, but it'll do for workstation use.

USB-C makes the cut, but Thunderbolt 3 doesn't - so this is a big limitation to video editors. HP has included 3 x DisplayPort ports, but not HDMI (what the hell, HP) - even though you can use a USB-C to HDMI adapter, that's not the same as a pure HDMI port.

HP starts the price of its new Z2 Mini at $699, which throws the Intel Core i3 processor into the mix, but right now there's no price on the higher-end configurations packing the Intel Xeon processor and NVIDIA Quadro graphics.

HP is expecting the Z2 Mini to reach the market in December.