The HP ZBook Ultra G1a marks another step forward for mobile workstations, distilling desktop class performance into a compact 14 inch system. It uses AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 (Strix Halo) APU, combining a high core count Zen 5 CPU and a RDNA 3.5 GPU into a single package. In practice, this allows workloads like complex 3D modeling, rendering, and AI assisted applications to run on a machine that is almost an ultrabook mobile workstation.
Small and beautiful mobile workstation
At about 1.57 kg and roughly 18 mm thick, it is HP’s thinnest Z series workstation. None-the-less, it can be configured with up to 16 CPU cores, a large integrated GPU with discrete class performance, up to 128 GB of fast LPDDR5X memory, and multiple terabytes of NVMe storage. The goal is to let engineers, designers, and video professionals take desktop level performance on the road (or to the sofa!).
The integrated GPU with a 256 bit LPDDR5X 8000 interface delivers GPU performance well above typical integrated GPUs. Shared memory bandwidth is higher than conventional APUs. This is important for workstation and GPU compute applications.
The ZBook Ultra G1a lets you work in the most cramped spaces while on the road
If you are looking for specs, please go straight to the source at HP for the ZBook Ultra G1a spec sheet. Ignoring the specs, I simply took this ZBook on the road.
140W power supply drives the ZBook Ultra G1a
The size works great for train and plane – my option was the German ICE with its miniscule fold out tables that make the G1a appear to be giant. The ZBook worked great throughout the journey and the 140W power supply took what it could get from the train’s 100W power outlet.
The integrated Radeon 8060S is not a typical integrated GPU; it is a large RDNA 3.5 implementation with many compute units and substantial clock speeds. It shares the high bandwidth LPDDR5X memory with the CPU and can tap into this very large memory pool. This unified memory model makes it possible to handle projects that would exceed the fixed memory limits of some mid range discrete GPUs.
The GPU supports graphics and compute APIs (DirectX 12, Vulkan, etc.), hardware accelerated ray tracing, and media engines for encode/decode of current codecs. In the office and on the road, this GPU delivered fine performance on Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve.
NPU for AI workloads
Alongside CPU and GPU, the XDNA 2 class NPU provides dedicated acceleration for AI processing. This certainly seemed to be the case with DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Neural Engine although it’s difficult to precisely measure how the application workloads are distributed between the GPU, NPU, and CPU. The key takeaway is this – the performance is great.
A Final Perspective
The main take-away is this: the ZBook Ultra G1a is a slim, lightweight, 14 inch mobile powerhouse with all the features needed for mobile professionals. The GPU, NPU, CPU, memory, and certifications combine in a small package that can deliver professional performance in the office, on the train, in the plane, or on the couch.
Don’t hesitate to check it out.
Take this workstation to the couch
