The HP ZGX Fury G1n and the MSI XpertStation WS300 run the same NVIDIA software base out of the box. HP adds its own tools on top; MSI does not. Both ship with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and NVIDIA's AI Developer Tools: drivers, CUDA, TensorRT-LLM, vLLM, RAPIDS, DCGM and container tooling. On top of that, the HP ZGX Fury G1n ships with HP Z Runtime, a preinstalled command-line tool for pulling, serving and managing models, and works with HP Z Toolkit, a free Visual Studio Code extension for discovery, pairing, remote access and SSH. The MSI XpertStation WS300 listing names no MSI software. Instead it relies on NVIDIA's own tools and a standard Redfish-capable management controller. Both are price on request at SourceIT. The difference is in day-one convenience and fleet tooling, not in what the GB300 can compute.
What software comes with each system?
| Layer | HP ZGX Fury G1n | MSI XpertStation WS300 |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (arm64) with NVIDIA AI Developer Tools; HP lists it as Red Hat Enterprise Linux certified | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with NVIDIA AI Developer Tools; NVIDIA certified and Ubuntu certified |
| Vendor model tools | HP Z Runtime, preinstalled CLI to pull, serve and manage models | None named on the listing |
| Client-side tools | HP Z Toolkit: free VS Code extension for an x86 Windows 11 or Ubuntu 24.04 client; discovery, pairing, remote access, SSH | None named; NVIDIA tools (below) apply |
| Fleet scope | Same Z Toolkit also manages the GB10-based HP ZGX Nano G1n | Listed on MSI's Enterprise Platform Solutions catalogue; Redfish integrates with standard data-centre tooling |
| Out-of-band management | Partner BIOS and BMC firmware, 1 GbE BMC port | AST2600 BMC, IPMI 2.0, Redfish, TPM 2.0 |
| Windows | "Windows support is coming"; HP Japan says December 2026 or later | Listing notes NVIDIA's separate DGX Station for Windows SKU "for a later release" |
| NVIDIA AI Enterprise | Separate subscription | Separate subscription |
Sources: SourceIT listings for both systems (4 Nov 2026); HP ZGX AI Stations software page; HP Japan press release, 26 Oct 2026; NVIDIA DGX Station development guide (updated 30 Oct 2026). We have not tested either system's software ourselves.
What do HP Z Runtime and HP Z Toolkit actually do?
They shorten the first week. HP Z Runtime is already on the machine, so a developer can pull a model and serve it from the command line without assembling a serving stack first. HP Z Toolkit lives on the developer's own laptop as a VS Code extension. It finds ZGX systems on the network, pairs with them, sets up SSH and gives remote access from inside the editor. HP's software page describes it as free and open source, with integrations such as MLflow and Ollama, and with discovery and sync across ZGX systems.
Two details matter for planning. First, the Toolkit client must be an x86 Windows 11 or Ubuntu 24.04 machine, per HP's listing, so a team on Macs or Arm laptops should check. Second, the same Toolkit manages the HP ZGX Nano G1n, a GB10 desktop system. A team can prototype on a HP ZGX Nano G1n 128GB/4TB (S$11,499.00, listed 4 Nov 2026) and move the same project to the Fury without changing tools. Our ZGX Nano vs ZGX Fury post covers when that step makes sense.
Is the MSI WS300 harder to set up without vendor tools?
Somewhat, but less than the gap suggests, because NVIDIA's tools work on any DGX Station. NVIDIA Sync, NVIDIA's tray app for Windows, macOS and Ubuntu, supports DGX Station over SSH on the local network or through Tailscale, though not through bastion or jump hosts. NVIDIA's build.nvidia.com site publishes DGX Station playbooks for vLLM, SGLang, ComfyUI, NVFP4 quantisation, MIG partitioning, two-node clustering and agent sandboxing with OpenShell. NVIDIA also documents registering a Station with Brev as "a shared GPU workspace your team can access from anywhere".
So an MSI buyer starts from NVIDIA's documented path rather than a vendor shortcut. For a team with Linux skills, that is often fine, and some prefer it because nothing vendor-specific sits between them and the NVIDIA stack. For a team that wants a model serving on day one with minimal Linux work, HP's tools do more of the work.
HP sells a smoother first week. MSI sells the plain NVIDIA platform. After setup, both run the same CUDA, the same containers and the same models.
How do updates and remote deployment differ?
For the AI software, they don't much. NVIDIA updates the Ubuntu-based stack through repository-based over-the-air updates on every DGX Station. NVIDIA's documentation says firmware updates follow "an OEM-established process", with BMC and UEFI capsule updates delivered over Redfish. So HP and MSI each control their own BIOS and BMC release cadence. Neither publishes a schedule that we could find, so ask how firmware updates are announced and delivered.
For remote deployment, HP has a slight edge in convenience: Z Toolkit handles discovery and pairing, and the Fury ships with rack rails for a 5U position. MSI's advantage is standards. Its listing stresses IPMI 2.0 and Redfish on an AST2600 controller, which plugs into the same monitoring and provisioning tools many data centres already use for servers. ServeTheHome reports OpenBMC on its review unit, while MSI's listing and StorageReview name AMI MegaRAC, so confirm which firmware ships with your unit.
Red Hat is another split. HP lists the ZGX Fury as Red Hat Enterprise Linux certified, which matters if your organisation standardises on RHEL. StorageReview reported in September 2026 that HP's Red Hat AI Factory plan for the Fury was still "planned". MSI's listing names Ubuntu certification only.
What about Windows?
Neither system ships with Windows today. NVIDIA announced DGX Station for Windows with Microsoft on 31 May 2026, with OEM availability promised for Q4 2026. HP Japan says Windows support for the ZGX Fury is planned for December 2026 or later. MSI's listing describes Windows as a separate SKU "for a later release". If Windows matters to your team, read NVIDIA DGX Station Is Coming to Windows. Is Linux Losing Its AI Crown? and Breakthrough or Another Compatibility Headache? before you order a Linux unit expecting to switch later.
How do HP and MSI present their GB300 systems?
Each vendor's own launch video shows how it positions the same GB300 platform: HP around its Z software and workstation ecosystem, MSI around the hardware itself. Both are manufacturer marketing, so treat them as the vendor's pitch rather than an independent review.
Which software experience should you choose?
- Choose HP if your developers work in VS Code on x86 laptops, if you already run or plan to buy ZGX Nano systems, or if you need RHEL certification.
- Choose MSI if your team is comfortable with Ubuntu and NVIDIA's own tooling, or if the Station will be managed like a server with existing IPMI and Redfish tools.
- Either way, check the support and quotation side too: who picks up the phone and what the quotation includes differ more than the software does.
For how the two vendors' wider approaches compare over a multi-year life, see HP's AI Workstation Ecosystem vs MSI's Hardware Approach.
Buying in Singapore
SourceIT lists the HP ZGX Fury G1n and the MSI XpertStation WS300, both price on request, together with the HP ZGX Nano and other GB10 systems in the NVIDIA DGX Spark & DGX Station collection. Our ASUS ET900N G3 vs HP ZGX Fury vs MSI WS300 comparison covers the hardware side. For a quotation, use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502, email Sales@sourceit.com.sg or use our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Do the HP and MSI DGX Stations run different software? The base is the same: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with NVIDIA AI Developer Tools. HP adds HP Z Runtime and HP Z Toolkit; MSI's listing names no MSI software tools.
What is HP Z Toolkit? A free Visual Studio Code extension, run on an x86 Windows 11 or Ubuntu 24.04 client, that discovers and pairs with HP ZGX systems and handles remote access and SSH. It also manages the HP ZGX Nano G1n.
Can I use NVIDIA Sync with the MSI WS300? Yes. NVIDIA documents NVIDIA Sync support for DGX Station over SSH on the local network or via Tailscale. Bastion and jump hosts are not supported.
Who provides firmware updates? The OEM. NVIDIA's documentation says BIOS and BMC updates follow an OEM-established process, delivered as capsule updates over Redfish, while the AI software stack updates over the air from NVIDIA's repositories.
Do either of them run Windows today? No. Both ship with Ubuntu. NVIDIA announced DGX Station for Windows for Q4 2026, and HP Japan says ZGX Fury Windows support is planned for December 2026 or later.
