I’m truly impressed with the new HP Z series workstation. It was announced today.

The Z workstation receives a substantial speed increase from the latest generation of Intel Xeon 5500 series processors. The 5500 has a new integrated memory processor that allows more memory than before (192GB in the case of the Z800). It also features the new Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which boosts the performance of a single processor core when an application doesn’t require multi-core performance. You’ll see those same features in competing desktop computers that are switching to Intel’s Nehalem microarchitecture.

HP has moved beyond the competition, however, by rethinking how a workstation should be configured. With the Z series (Z400, Z600, and Z800), just about every component is contained in a module you can add or remove with your bare hands. No tools are needed.

Even more remarkable, you don’t have to attach or reattach any wires. The fan and power supply slip in and out of the chassis without your having to deal with plugs or wired connections. In fact, you have to look really closely inside to see any wires at all.

How powerful is a Z series workstation? According to HP, the fastest supercomputer in 1993 could perform about 8 gigaflops, or eight billion floating-point operations per second. A Z workstation tops out at about 10 gigaflops. Prices start at $969 for the Z400, $1,679 for the Z600, and $1,999 for the Z800.