Lenovo ThinkStation P300 Workstation Review: Haswell plus Quadro
by Ian Cutress on November 4, 2014 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
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Lenovo ThinkStation P300 Conclusion
When we reported on Lenovo’s Haswell-E range of ThinkStations, the P500, the P700 and the P900, the visual aspect of those produced a substantial wow factor. The P300 takes a slightly different tack due to its lower price point stance away from HPC workstations and supporting the Haswell processor range instead, but the product itself looks right at home as an under the desk workstation.
However, there are certainly a few critiques to level at the feet of the P300.
First of which is the DRAM situation. In 2014 it is difficult to imagine a dual-channel capable system being shipped with only one module of memory. It cripples any memory related transaction. To put this into perspective, even the iMac recently released by Apple comes with two 4GB modules as the default option. To alleviate the situation currently via Lenovo's ordering interface requires a $395 upgrade for a $70 stick of 8GB DDR3-1600 C11 memory. That goes beyond some of the surprise when mobile manufacturers announce NAND upgrades. The other option would be to offer a 2x4GB option, however on the US website from my location this does not seem possible, let alone the default option. If a user purposefully wants one DRAM module, they should have to select it, ideally with a disclaimer indicating a potential loss of performance. It is worth noting that a user could add in their memory into the system, although that typically violates most warranties or direct support requests. At this point I would implore Lenovo to offer a 2x4 GB option at the same cost as the 1x8 GB option and it would receive a lot better press.
Secondly is the upgradability. The motherboard designed for the P300 has at least three free SATA ports and an x16/x1 arrangement on the full length PCIe lanes. This is fine if you have no plans for future upgrades, but it puts a spanner in the works if anyone wants to add more internal storage or a second workstation level PCIe card. The SATA ports are arranged in such a way that any long PCIe device will be blocked by the SATA ports. The PCIe lane arrangement also favors the top card in all situations, whereas an x8/x8 arrangement would give each PCIe device equal billing (given that all PCIe coprocessors such as Quadro, FirePro or Xeon Phi will work at x8). The motherboard is a micro-ATX size, indicating that more function can be added, otherwise one might have seen a mini-ITX be used instead. To add to the upgrade issue, there is only default space for two storage drives, so users wanting more than two SATA devices alongside their ODD will need to re-purpose one of the large ODD bays.
The power supply is right on the money in terms of power and rating, although the lack of extra connectors for PCIe devices should be noted. The 24-pin ATX power connector is also split into several parts due to the motherboard layout, making a simple replacement difficult. If you want something bigger, Lenovo would have to supply it. Another issue is the storage itself, where Lenovo included in our system a 1 TB SSHD from Seagate. While this might seem the best of both worlds in terms of SSD and space, I would argue that a workstation that costs $2150 should get an OS SSD and a 1-2 TB storage drive, even if in a caching arrangement.
One thing I liked about the P300 is actually related to the Quadro selection. The build we received had a Quadro K4000 3GB, which retails for $800. This is a professional grade GTX 650 Ti for all intents and purposes with 768 CUDA cores at 810 MHz. When we received the system, Lenovo offered an upgrade to the K4200, or the equivalent of a GTX 660. This means a rise to 1344 CUDA cores (+75%) at 780 MHz for only an extra $175 (16%). For anyone that uses software that can be sped up by a Quadro card, this is an example of a no-brainer upgrade. At the time of this review going live, Lenovo has now placed the K4200 as the default option, making everyone take advantage of the faster card. If a user wants more though, Lenovo suggests moving up to the P500.
The option to offer Windows 7 with disks to upgrade to Windows 8 is commendable. While Windows 8/8.1 is the default for many pre-built systems, many users still like Windows 7 depending in their use scenario. This costs nothing extra when choosing the system.
Overall performance of the P300 system we were sent came in line with a Haswell i7-4770 albeit with only a single memory channel equipped. This had repercussions on our memory intensive software, especially fluid dynamics and OpenSSL.
If you went out and built this system today, it would cost around $300-400 cheaper than what Lenovo is offering, although Lenovo’s system comes with their extended ThinkStation support and all that entails. If you upgraded to dual channel memory, that difference between Lenovo and self-build expands to over $600. Even in terms of warranty and support, that is a financial pill to swallow, especially as this workstation focuses on the entry level producer whose budgets might be lower than expected. I would ask Lenovo to offer a 2x4 GB memory option and place it as default, with 1x8 GB as the next option while giving a disclaimer. The next update would be the SSD/storage drive combo, either as is or in a Smart Response arrangement. If all this can be done at the same price, we are on our way to a nice little system.
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edzieba - Tuesday, November 4, 2014 - link
I recognise that Al heatsink! Lenovo plonk them on the secondary CPU in the C20 and C30 too.I really wish Lenovo would invest in backplanes for their drives, but at least the sideways mount with connectors facing you is better than the horrific mess at the bottom of the C20/30.
TETRONG - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
Completely pointless system especially if it's non ECC memory.The truth is that you could build a system that would crush this with an overclocked i5 and a 970 for half the price + it would be upgradeable and running DDR4.
There's nothing magical about Xeons and Quadros..total bullshit unless you absolutely need DP.
Anandtech should build the aforementioned system to embarrass all these clowns.
They could even hackintosh it to piss on the Mac Pro.
TETRONG - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
Sorry, DDR3 with i5 or DDR4 with a 5820Knwai2208 - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
A Xeon E3 system with non-ECC memory means it is just a i7 machine with a Xeon label on it.NanoTube1 - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
To sum it up: a poor, ugly, cheap build...Dr.Neale - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
I would use 2 or 4 sticks of Samsung 8GB DDR3L-1600 1.35V ECC UDIMM, model M391B1G73BH0-YK0, which go for $90 at oemPCworld.But then again, I would also roll my own using an ASUS P9D WS motherboard (Intel C226 chipset, ATX, supports ECC, unlike ASUS Z97 WS) and an AMD FirePro W7100 (K4200 level: 256-bit 4GB) or W8100 (K5200 level: 512-bit 8GB) GPU. Although the recently-released W7100 isn't listed on NewEgg just yet, right now you could get the W8100 instead, at roughly the same cost, by taking advantage of AMD's current half-price FirePro promo (which ends Jan. 15, 2015).
Also, I'd use a SeaSonic SS-520FL2 fanless 520W 80+Platinum PSU, and put AeroCool DS Dead Silence Case Fans (available at FrozenCPU) in a Fractal Designs Arc Midi R2 mid-tower ATX case (which has a tinted window).
I'd stick with the Intel Xeon e3-1276 v3 CPU, but cool it with a ThermalRight Archon IB-E X2 single-tower cooler (also available at FrozenCPU). Using the double-tower ThermalRight Silver Arrow IB-E instead would run maybe 2° C cooler, but 2 dBA louder, according to reviews I've read, but using the Archon IB-E X2 guarantees zero clearance issues on the motherboard.
For an SSD, the pro-sumer Samsung 850 Pro (used in a UPS-backed system) or the enterprise Samsung 845DC Pro are both viable options. Both use next-generation MLC V-NAND, with all its advantages.
But all this is only IF you happen to need an entry-to-mid-level Work Station RIGHT NOW. Broadwell 14nm Xeon e3-1200 v4 series Socket 1150 CPUs are about 6 months away (everything else could stay the same), and Skylake 14nm Xeon e3-1200 v5 series Socket 1151 CPUs are about 12 months away (but they would need a next-generation motherboard with an Intel C236 Greenlow chipset, which requires DDR4 2133 1.20V ECC RDIMM memory). However, this setup could use PCIe NVMe SSDs, and could (probably, assuming LGA isn't supplanted by BGA) be later upgraded with a Cannonlake 10nm Xeon e3-1200 v6 series CPU.
Also, by waiting, you could buy Windows 10 instead of Windows 7 for your OS.
Anyways, just my thoughts on a decent bang-for-the-buck, near-silent Work Station build.
P.S. A WASD Code backlit mechanical keyboard might be a nice cherry-on-top touch.
akula2 - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
I build my own hi-end (X79/Z97) and ultra (Xeon) workstations because of hardware choice, saving on prices and cutting off vendor costs. Each custom-build workstation costs a lot, hence a lot of saving considering the number of builds.Dr.Neale - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
The Intel Z97 chip set does NOT support ECC memory. Only Haswell motherboards with an Intel C220 series chipset support ECC memory, and then only with a Xeon CPU.For example, ASUS P9D WS (C226) motherboard supports ECC memory (with a Xeon CPU); whereas, ASUS Z97 WS (Z97) does NOT (even with a Xeon CPU). I'm not sure whether or not it will accept ECC UDIMMS, but I am sure the ECC function is disabled, using Z97 chipset.
otherwise - Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - link
When I saw that the ASUS Z97 WS supported ECC I also found that incredibly odd, and wrote an e-mail to their support address. They got back to me a couple days later and assured me it did support ECC with a Xeon. I still don't really trust them, and if I was to go that route I would just get a C226, but I'd love to see someone test their claim.Scalarscience - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
Of course it's possible to beat prebuilt computers in terms of component choice, price or both. But why waste your breath? Do you think people out there are going to read this article, then read the comments and go "OH WOW I HAD NO IDEA??!!". Rather, this is like an echo chamber...the IT & purchasing people this article is aimed at will probably never even read the comments as they're parsing multiple reviews to make a purchasing (NOT building) decision.Ie, systems like this are built for entry level systems for office situations where there's either no IT or it's not worth the time to roll a custom solution. And it's been that way since...oh about 1988...
I see the same thing in Apple Mac reviews, and it just boggles the mind. Fwiw I've run custom built XEON hardware since the PPro era (and before that I had a serverworks dual P133, which was very oddball). I used to use SGI & HP workstations at 'work' and Xeons at home, then I used Xeons at work running NT, then Linux, and now Linux & OSX on Macs...so yea obviously this review system wouldn't be my first choice for Autodesk Smoke, After Effects or Maya. But on a time crunch if I needed an intern or two to pick up some slack a short lease might just help finish a project....