ThinkStation

Lenovo described the P330, available in three form factors, as "entry-level workstations". As the middle digit of the model number implied, these replacements for the 320 series represented a new generation of architecture and design language. The P330 series was available with 8th-generation (Coffee Lake) processors, including Xeon E Workstation CPUs.

The ThinkStation P310 is an "entry-level" workstation and replacement for the P300 ThinkStation. It comes standard with an Intel Xeon E3-1200v5 processor and an Nvidia GPU. It can accommodate up to 64 gigabytes of RAM, and supports Lenovo's FLEX drive system.[7]

The P700 was introduced in November 2015. It has simple black case with red accents that includes numerous places on its front for headphones, a card reader, USB ports, etc. The side panel includes a keyed lock and can be removed by depressing a steel lever. All internal components are modular and designed to be removed and replaced without tools. The P700 uses Intel Xeon processors. Nvidia graphics cards come standard.[8]

ThinkStation P900

Lenovo launched the P Series at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver, Canada. The P Series is designed for use in engineering, architecture, professional video, energy production, finance, and other computationally intensive industries. The series includes the P900, P700, P500, and P300 models. The P Series uses Xeon processors from Intel and Quadro video cards from NVIDIA in base. The P300 line uses Haswell-based Xeons and supports dual channel memory. The P500 uses single Haswell-E Xeons and quad channel memory. The P700 uses dual Haswell-E Xeons. The P900 is similar to the P700 but uses multi-PCIe and has enhanced IO. The P Series is ISV-certified for all applications.[9]

The P Series is based on Lenovo's "Flex" system of trays and connectors that are designed to enable toolless upgrades. The Flex Bay at the front of each unit can be configured with an optical drive or a variety of options such card readers and FireWire connections. Drives are installed using Flex Bays that come in 2.5" and 3.5" sizes. Each tray can handle one 3.5" drive or two 2.5" drives. The Flex Connector is a mezzanine card that links the motherboard via PCIe to SATA, SAS, and RAID devices without using up card slots.[10]

P500 — Hi-end single-socket solution. Official specs:[11]

• Processor: Intel Xeon E5-2699 v3 (18*2.67 GHz)
• RAM: Up to 512/256GB LRDIMM/RDIMM 2133 MHz (8 slots)
• Graphics: 2x PCI-e x16 slots, up to NVIDIA Quadro M6000 or Tesla K20 in base.
• Storage:
• PSU: 490 or 650 watt, proprietary[12]

The Lenovo ThinkStation S30 was introduced in 2013. It features Intel Sandy Bridge chipsets and processors and was later upgraded to Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5\i7 and Intel Xeon processors from four cores (e.g. Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2) up to 12-cores such as the high-end model Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2).[13]

On August 21, 2013 Lenovo introduced the ThinkStation E32 series professional workstation that is available in either a tower or 12.9L small form factor chassis. The E32 incorporates the latest Intel Haswell chip set and supports the Intel Xeon E3 and 4th generation processors as well as the Intel Core i7 and Core i5 series processors. The E32 supports both on board Intel HD Graphics P4600 as well as NVIDIA NVS Business Graphics or Quadro 3D graphics cards up to the K4000. The E32 supports up to 32 GB of 1600 MHz, DDR3 ECC memory in both form factors and has USB 3.0 ports on the front and rear of the chassis for a total of six USB 3.0 ports.

As are all Lenovo ThinkStations, the E32 is fully ISV certified for applications suites from Autodesk, Adobe, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, Siemens as well as others. The E32 makes it an ideal entry level platform for CAD and AEC users. Both the E32 tower and SFF workstations are reliable and green, offering 80 Plus Platinum certification with up to 92% power efficiency. Due to the integration of the Intel Haswell micro architecture and Microsoft officially ending support for the Windows XP operating system in April 2014, the E32 is the first workstation that does not support the installation of Windows XP.

The ThinkStation D30 is a full-sized traditional tower workstation released in 2012. As is typical for ThinkStations the front panel features a perforated honeycomb shaped pattern. The D30 can hold up to two Intel Xeon eight-core processors that feature hyperthreading in order to support the processing of up to 32 simultaneous streams of data. Video is powered by Nvidia Quadro graphics cards. The D30 scored a very high 25.31 points on the Cinebench test of 3D rendering. For comparison, the late 2012 Apple Mac Pro only scored 7.36 points on the same test.

ThinkStation D30 workstation internals

In a review of the D30 PC Magazine wrote, "Sometimes, you just need to bring out the big stick, and the Lenovo ThinkStation D30 is that big stick. The sheer power of the dual eight-core Xeon CPUs plus the ability to add on more powerful Nvidia Quadro cards means that this is a system to scorch project deadlines in minutes rather than hours, or hours instead of days. Our last dual-processor workstation Editors' Choice was the Lenovo ThinkStation C20, which amazed us by putting dual Xeon CPUs in a more compact chassis. The Lenovo ThinkStation D30 now usurps that mantle, as the dual-processor workstation Editors' Choice. It wins with power, expandability, and a ruthless devotion to get your project done before any of your rivals can."[14]

The ThinkStation C30 is a high-end dual-processor workstation designed for use in video editing, engineering, and finance. The C30 is slightly smaller than a full-sized tower but still comes with two PCI slots, two free PCIe x16 card slots for graphics cards, a free PCIe x4 slot, and space for two free hard drive bays. Two Intel Xeon E5-2620 processors, 16GB of ECC DDR3 system memory, a Nvidia Quadro 4000 graphics card, and a 500GB hard drive come standard. There is an option to rack mount the C30.

PC Magazine wrote, "The Lenovo ThinkStation C30 is a very good dual-processor workstation. It is a powerhouse for the space constrained financial, DCC, or engineering user in your organization. The system therefore comes highly recommended, but its roomier, more powerful, and more expensive big brother the Lenovo ThinkStation D30 holds on to the Editors' Choice for dual-processor workstations for the time being for having a lot more power and being more flexible for future upgrades."[15]

Announced in March 2011, the E30 workstation could be equipped with either Intel Core i[16] or Intel Xeon[17] processors. The workstation could be equipped with either 80GB or 160GB solid state drives.[16] Discrete graphics were available on the workstation, in the form of NVIDIA Quadro or NVS graphics.[16]

When the E30 was launched, Tao Gu, the executive director and general manager of Lenovo’s Workstation Business Unit said, "We created the ThinkStation E30 workstation to offer extremely powerful processing on a software-certified solution at desktop prices."[16]

Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:[18]

• Processor: up to 3.5 GHz Intel Xeon E3-1280
• RAM: Up to 16GB DDR3 1333 MHz ECC (4 slots)
• Integrated Graphics:
  • Intel HD 3000 or HD P3000
• 2D Graphics: up to NVIDIA Quadro NVS 450 (512MB)
• 3D Graphics: up to NVIDIA Quadro 2000 (1GB)
• Storage:
  • Up to 2TB 7200RPM SATA
  • Up to 600GB 10000RPM SATA
  • Up to 160GB SSD
• Dimensions (mm): 412 x 175 x 420
• Weight: 31 lb (14 kg)

The C20 workstation was compact, designed to be easy to mount on a rack.[19] This compact size allowed up to 14 workstations to be stacked in a standard 42U rack.[19] It also meant that users who used a single workstation were offered extra space either on or beneath their desk.[19]

Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:[19]

• Processor: 2x 2.67 GHz Intel Xeon E5650
• RAM: Up to 48GB 1066 MHz (6 slots)
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 (dual)
• Storage: 500GB
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
• Optical Drive: One 5.25" bay, with DVD- or Blu-ray reader/writer

SLASHGEAR stated that they “had trouble slowing the C20 down – this isn’t a PC where opening a few dozen browser windows will cause lag – and it stayed admirably quiet too (though fan noise did ramp up as the system was stressed during benchmark testing)”.[19] The reviewer also stated that the price would be far too high for most people to afford.[19]

The reviewer summed up the workstation by saying, “Graphics professionals, video editors or anyone looking to do vast amounts of crunching in minimal amounts of time, however – and without turning their office into a server farm – should definitely be considering the C20.”[19]

In addition, since the machine was designed as a workstation used by graphic professionals and video editors it was not intended to replace high end gaming machines.[19]

PCMag received the workstation positively saying, “The Lenovo ThinkStation C20 should be at the top of your list if you're looking for an ISV-certified Windows 7-based workstation.”[20] The workstation was awarded 4 out of 5 stars by PCMag and given an Editor’s Choice award.[20]

The workstation has been certified by several ISVs, including:[21]

• Autodesk: 3ds Max (2008/2009), Alias Studio 2008, AutoCad 2008, Maya (2008 Extension 2/2009/2010), Softimage 2010
• Dassault Systèmes: Catia (V5R18/V5R19/V6R2009x), SolidWorks
• PTC: CoCreate Modeling, Pro/E Wildfire 4.0, Pro/E Wildfire 5.0
• Siemens: NX 4, NX 5

The E20 workstation was called ‘a “real” workstation for the price of a consumer PC’ by PCMag.[22] It received the “Honorable Mention” award in PCMag’s “Best of the Year” 2010 awards.[22] The workstation also included several environmentally friendly features.[22] Among these were Energy Star 5.0 and GREENGUARD certifications.[22] The workstation incorporated 66% recycled plastics, with several recycling programs available from Lenovo once the workstation reached end-of-life.[22]

Desktop Review received the workstation positively saying, “Quiet, capable and offering excellent build quality, the ThinkStation E20 is a good option for those in need of a workstation's benefits in a slimmer, more efficient package.”[23] The workstation was awarded 4 out of 5 stars by Desktop Review.[23]

Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:[22]

• Processor: 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5-650
• RAM: base 4 GB (4 slots)
• Storage: 500 GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 580
• Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

The workstation has received certifications from several ISVs, including:[21]

• Autodesk: AutoCad (2009-2011)
• Dassault Systèmes: Catia V5, SolidWorks (2009-2011)

The S20 workstation was released by Lenovo in 2009 and had significant expansion options.[24] The workstation included a PCI, PCIe x1, and two PCIe x16 slots.[24] The workstation also included space for a second optical drive, and two additional 3.5 inch hard disk drive bays.[24] There were also 10 USB ports and 1 eSATA port.[24] However, there was no standard Firewire port.[24] The S20 workstation also included several environmentally friendly certifications including EPEAT Gold, RoHS, Energy Star 5.0 and GREENGUARD.[24]

Detailed specifications of the workstation are given below:[24]

• Processor: 2.93 GHz Intel Xeon W3540
• RAM: 4 GB DDR3 ECC 1333, up to 24GB (6 slots)
• Storage: 500 GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800
• Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD reader/writer
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Business

The S20, like other workstations in the ThinkStation product line, has been certified by multiple ISVs, including:[21]

• Autodesk: 3ds Max (2008/2009), AutoCAD 2008, Inventor (2008/2009), Maya (2008 Extension 2/2009/2010), Softimage 2010
• Dassault Systèmes: Catia (V5R18/V5R19/V6R2009x), SolidWorks (2007/2008/2009/2010)
• Siemens: NX 4, NX 5

Also released in 2010 along with the S20, the D20 workstation was reported by Desktop Engineering as bearing a strong resemblance to the S20, although it was noticeably larger.[25] According to Desktop Engineering, the D20 workstation delivered very high scores on their benchmark tests, both for Windows XP and Windows Vista.[25] Despite the presence of several fans, the workstation was reported to be nearly silent after the initial boot.[25]

Detailed specifications for the workstation are as follows:[25]

• Processors: Up to 2x 2.67 GHz Intel Xeon X5550
• RAM: 8GB DDR3 SDRAM (1333 MHz) up to 96 GB (UDIMM) or 192GB (RDIMM) (12 slots)
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800
• Storage: two 500GB 7200RPM SATA (in RAID 0 array)
• Optical Drive: 16x dual-layer DVD reader/writer

In its review of the S10, Trusted Reviews indicated that the workstation used a consumer chipset – while also saying, “Looking at the available specifications, there's nothing to raise suspicion that these machines may underperform.”[26]

Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:[26]

• Processor: Up to Intel Core 2 Quad QX6850
• RAM: Up to 8GB DDR3-1066 ECC (4 slots)
• Graphics: 2x PCI-e x16, 1x PCI-e x4.
  • NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 (256MB VRAM)
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 370 (256MB VRAM)
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 (512MB VRAM)
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX4600 (768MB VRAM)
• Storage:
  • Up to 750GB 7200RPM SATA
  • Up to 300GB 15000RPM SAS
• Optical Drive: Two 5.25" bays, DVD or Blu-ray Burner
• Form Factor: mid-tower
• Dimensions (mm): 426 x 175 x 483
• Power supply: 650 Watt, ATX

For the D10 workstation, Lenovo incorporated server grade chipset and processors, as opposed to the S10.[26] The Intel 5400a chipset used in the workstation supported two Intel Xeon processors and 64GB RAM.[26] The size of the workstation’s motherboard necessitated a larger case to accommodate it.[26] However, the increase in size offered additional drive bays. The case could also be mounted on a rack.[26] The detailed specifications of the D10 workstation are as follows:[26]

• Processors: Up to 2x Intel Xeon E5365
• Chipset: Intel 5400a
• RAM: up to 64 GB DDR2-667 ECC FB-DIMM 240-pin Fully Buffered (8 slots)
• Graphics: 2x PCI-e x16
  • NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 (256MB VRAM)
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 370 (256MB VRAM)
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 (512MB VRAM)
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX4600 (768MB VRAM)
• Storage:
  • Up to 750GB 7200RPM SATA
  • Up to 300GB 15000RPM SAS
• Optical Drive: Three 5.25" bays, DVD or Blu-ray Burner
• Form Factor: Tower
• Dimensions (mm): 434 x 210 x 602
• Power supply: 1000 Watt Proprietary