Lenovo Unveils ThinkStation P410/P510: Intel Xeon E5 v4 with Up to 8 Cores, NVIDIA Quadro M6000

Lenovo has unveiled its new ThinkStation P410 and P510 workstations, which are based on the recently introduced multi-core Intel Xeon E5 v4 processors with up to eight cores as well as NVIDIA’s Quadro M5000 or M6000 graphics. The updated workstations fully support capabilities of Intel’s latest CPUs and come equipped with special programs to take advantage of their features.

The new Lenovo ThinkStation P410 and 510 workstations are based on Intel’s C612 PCH as well as Intel’s Xeon E5-1600 v4 or E5-2600 v4 processors that belong to the Broadwell-EP family and feature up to eight cores as well as Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology, which identifies the core with the highest frequency potential and then directs important workloads to it in a bid to increase real-world performance. The machines support up to 128 GB (P410) or 256 GB (P510) of DDR4-2400 memory; multiple storage devices with M.2, PCIe, SATA and SAS interfaces; optional Thunderbolt 3; optional 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 module; a variety of PCIe add-on cards, an optional ODD (using the Flex module which can also add a 29-in-1 card reader, FireWire) and so on.

The Lenovo ThinkStation P410 is the smaller of the workstations. It supports up to NVIDIA Quadro M5000 graphics adapter (2048 CUDA Cores, 8 GB of GDDR5 ECC memory); up to two PCIe x16 cards, one PCIe x8 card and one PCIe x4 card; up to four 3.5” drives, up to four 2.5” SSDs/HDDs as well as up to one M.2 SSD. Meanwhile, the Lenovo ThinkStation P510 is the larger machine, it supports up to Quadro M6000 professional video card (3072 stream processors, 12 GB of GDDR5 memory), more storage devices and so on.

Both workstations support two important software features: the Lenovo Performance Tuner (LPT) as well as the Processor Affinity. The LPT offers BIOS management, graphics management, power management and resource monitoring. It also contains predefined application profiles that are optimized for particular professional programs (Adobe Illustrator CC, Autodesk AutoCAD 2017, ANSYS, etc.). Meanwhile, the PA allows to designate a program to run on a specific processor core(s), which is especially important because Intel’s Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology determines the fastest cores and it is now possible to take advantage of them. Alternatively, the PA prevents apps optimized for multi-core CPUs from taking all of the available resources.

As for operating systems, the new Lenovo ThinkStation P410/P510 workstations come with either Microsoft Windows 10 Pro or Ubuntu Linux.

Lenovo is set to start selling the new ThinkStation P410/P510 workstations in the coming weeks or months in various regions. The company does not touch upon their pricing other than saying that the P410 will be “affordable”. However, exact prices will naturally depend on particular configurations.

Gallery: Lenovo Unveils ThinkStation P410/P510: Intel Xeon E5 v4 with Up to 8 Cores, NVIDIA Quadro M6000

Additional from Ian: When we reviewed the new Intel Broadwell-E processors a couple of weeks ago, Turbo Boost Max 3 (TBM3) was in a state of disarray: while Intel supported it, it relied on the operating system having the relevant driver but also the motherboard manufacturer supporting it by default. At the time of testing, none of our motherboards had TBM3 enabled by default, instead saying that if the user wants it, they should enable it in the BIOS. Normally this is a recipe for obscurity, given so few users actually enter the BIOS (even more so in the enterprise segment). The fact that Lenovo is enabling it by default for these systems is a green flag for performance for sure. It will be interesting to see how it is implemented: on our initial software testing, the minimum polling rate for TBM3 was one second, which means it has a distinct variable effect on shorter benchmarks. If this has been somehow reduced by Lenovo, it would be a significant plus point in the design. However, we’re unsure if that one-second polling rate is an Intel or driver limitation at this point. It is certainly worth keeping an eye out for anyone that reviews Lenovo’s implementation.

ASRock DeskMini 110 mini-STX PC Review

Intel introduced the 5×5 mini-STX form factor late last year with the aim of creating a small form-factor PC between that of a NUC and a mini-ITX build. Compared to the NUC-type machines, the mini-STX allow the end-user to choose a CPU appropriate for the budget and requirements. We have already looked at mini-STX offerings from ECS and MSI before, but, their computing power was restricted by the use of low-power T-series (35W TDP) CPUs. ASRock’s first mini-STX machine, the DeskMini, is the first unit to have full support for 65W CPUs along with a stock Intel cooler. The DeskMini is quite affordable – $130 gives the end user a chassis, H110 motherboard and a power adapter. This review analyzes the DeskMini platform, its performance and value proposition.

ZOTAC MAGNUS EN980 Detailed – A SFF VR-Ready PC with GeForce GTX 980

Several months ago, ZOTAC introduced its ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 PC featuring NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 980 Notebook GPU. It was positioned as one of the world’s smallest VR-Ready systems. This week, the company disclosed the final specifications of the machine, and also gave some insight into the internal layout. The dimensions of the MAGNUS EN980 are larger compared to its predecessors. However, its performance should indeed be enough for modern VR games.

The ZOTAC ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 is equipped with an Intel Core i5-6400 processor (4C/4T, 2.7 GHz/3.3 GHz, 6 MB LLC cache, 65 W TDP) as well as a custom LGA1151 motherboard with two slots for DDR3L-1600 memory. NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 980 4 GB Notebook module, one M.2-2280 slot for a SATA SSD, a SATA connector, two Gigabit Ethernet controllers, a 802.11ac Wi-Fi / BT 4.0 module and a USB 3.1 controller make up the other important features. Zotac plans to launch three different versions – a barebones with just the CPU and GPU installed, a PLUS version with 8GB of DDR3-L and a 120GB M.2 SSD / 1TB 2.5″ HDD without OS, and a WINDOWS edition similar to the PLUS, but, with Windows 10 Home pre-installed.

From a performance perspective, the MAGNUS EN980 should meet the minimum requirements that Oculus VR has set for games compatible with the Oculus Rift VR headset: it has a quad-core CPU along with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 980 graphics card, which outperforms the AMD Radeon R9 290 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 – the minimum graphics cards recommended by Oculus VR. In addition, the PC can support at least 3 TB of storage (1 TB SSD + 2 TB HDD) and officially supports 16 GB of DDR3L memory. Besides, the socketed nature of the CPU means that users can potentially upgrade it, if desired.

The MAGNUS EN980 system has a fine set of external ports, including two HDMI (2.0?), two DisplayPort 1.2, two GbE, four USB 3.0, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C. In addition, the PC has a 3-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS II). The GeForce GTX 980 Notebook should support HDMI 2.0, so it is likely that the ‘HDMI 1.4’ specified in the product brochure is a typo. The user manual (PDF) also mentions HDMI 2.0 support. In any case, the system does support four simultaneous display outputs.

Oculus Rift users will utilize three USB 3.0 receptacles as well as one HDMI port to connect their VR gear. Moreover, while the EN980 system is equipped with 3.5 mm audio in/out jacks, it does not have multi-channel analog audio outputs, which means that those, who would like to use 5.1/7.1 speaker systems will have to add a USB audio solution. As a result, some consumers might run out of USB ports, and might wanto to make use of a USB hub.

In terms of size, the MAGNUS EN980 (225 mm × 203 mm × 128 mm) seems to be comparable to typical mini-ITX systems and is clearly larger than any Intel NUC-like PCs, or ZOTAC’s own ZBOX computers. To cool down the GPU (145 W TDP) and the CPU (65 W), ZOTAC has invented a special liquid cooling system (which slightly resembles Corsair’s low-profile H5 SF, but is clearly a different device) with a huge radiator and massive (likely 140 mm) fan. This cooling system as well as the GeForce GTX 980 module are the two primary reasons why the EN980 is a relatively large computer. To feed the PC, two external 180 W power supplies are required, which is something new in the world of SFF PCs.

The new ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 PCs is being demonstrated at Computex 2016 and will hit the market in the coming weeks. Pricing is still unknown, but, given the high performance and usage of sophisticated components, the EN980 is going to cost more than its predecessors.

Gallery: ZOTAC Finalizes Its MAGNUS EN980 SFF Desktop with GeForce GTX 980 Inside