Results: Adobe And Autodesk
Adobe After Effects CC
This is the same After Effects test you've seen us use in prior workstation reviews, slightly revised with its footage as PNG frame sequences rather than QuickTime files.
The Z1's additional memory and faster storage allow it to nearly double the speed of our baseline system in the HD version of this test. In the standard-def version, the Z1 is still 38% faster. The additional memory allows the Z1 to use all of its CPU cores for rendering, and its faster storage speed means that the system can keep the memory subsystem fed.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Despite the Z1's significantly faster GPU, our Premiere Pro results end up just slightly ahead of the baseline machine, since the CPU-based H.264 encode accounts for a majority of this test's overall processing time.
Adobe Photoshop CC
A slightly faster CPU, faster memory, and a faster GPU give the Z1 a slight edge over the baseline system. HP's workstation is 13 percent faster in the CPU-based test and 14 percent faster in the OpenCL-accelerated test.
Essentially, these benchmarks demonstrate that the well-integrated all-in-one is still competitive with a more conventional desktop system in Adobe's application suite.
Autodesk 3ds Max 2014
The Z1's faster CPU and greater memory bandwidth allow it to beat the baseline machine by 10 seconds.
Likewise, V-Ray opens up and makes better use of the Z1's processor cores, giving the all-in-one a 32 to 41 percent lead over the baseline workstation.
The Z1's better GPU renders V-Ray RT's Modena test almost twice as fast as our baseline.
In the iray chair scene, HP's Z1 is slightly slower. Perhaps this is the result of a slightly older driver. Right after our testing was completed, HP made newer software available for the Z1. Unfortunately, that was after the system had gone back to the company.
All of our 3ds preview tests are run at the monitor's native resolution and on a separate 1080p display.
At 1920x1080, the 3ds Max preview is 20 percent faster on HP's Z1. Stepping up to the workstation's native QHD resolution slows performance substantially.
Autodesk Maya 2014
In mental ray, at least within Maya, and given a very polygon-heavy scene, the two machines are very close, with the P500X actually finishing six seconds (1.2 percent) faster than the Z1. In reality, though, both workstations are within a margin of error when we execute the run multiple times.
Playblasting in Maya generates a preview of an animation to storage, which we render to the RAM drive, and run at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440. Unlike we saw in 3ds Max, HP's Z1 is 25 percent faster in the 1080p test. Even at 1440p, the Z1 still enjoys an 8.5 percent advantage over the baseline system at 1080p.
