I provide tech support at a research university and we are evaluating the Z820 as an option for our researchers who's requirements are above the capabilities of a standard office-grade PC. I've been very impressed with the build-quality and quietness of this machine! Considering the number of fans and the server-grade hardware I'd expected it to sound like a vacuum cleaner. But when I loaded up the processor cores (I got them up to 70 degrees C according to the on-board diagnostics) the machine was surprisingly quiet. This rig is definitely not for gaming (just take a look at the video card offerings: Nvidia Quadro and AMD Fire-GL) and for the money I could put together a machine that would put out faster frame rates and have enough left over for a large flat-screen or two. But for down and dirty number crunching sessions that can run for weeks, I think this would be a winner.

- Snuffy -

Feeding the trolls since 1989.