Lenovo will be present at both the Sapphire Now and .NEXT conferences taking place at Orlando and Anaheim this week, respectively, to show off its latest products and cloud solutions for businesses. Two of these new products will be updates to the existing mid-range ThinkStation P720 and high-end ThinkStation P920 desktop workstations.
As per the press release, both the P720 and P920 can now be configured with new 2nd gen Intel Xeon processors and Quadro RTX 8000 series GPUs. Xeon options include up to 28 cores at 4.4 GHz while the Quadro RTX 8000 series will support faster hardware-accelerated ray-tracing and AI that developers can appreciate. Previously, the highest configuration possible was with the Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000 and Intel Xeon Gold 6136 CPU.
With such powerful hardware designed for precision instead of gaming, Lenovo is promising that every unit will be stress tested through "hundreds of hours of validation" before finally shipping to customers or businesses. The more stringent quality control is one reason why ThinkStations and workstations in general cost much more than your typical consumer counterpart.
Both the updated ThinkStation P720 and P920 will begin shipping later this month.
Source(s)
Reliability Reimagined with the Lenovo ThinkStation P920 and P720
By Rob Herman
Workstations are designed to conquer. Packed with high-end performance and ready to tackle the most
complex problems you can throw at them. They have to be designed for peak performance, but also
constant use. Basically, they must work, every time, all of the time, period. To do that, Lenovo
consistently provides design innovation in our workstation portfolio— from our robust thermal cooling
to tool-less chassis design and accessibility.
However, as the needs of our customers continue to evolve, our products must also advance to support
our customers’ most complex projects. That’s why we are announcing an update to our ThinkStation
P920 and P720 systems – introducing components that enhance your performance. This ensures our
powerful, reliable desktop workstations are equipped with the most up-to-date hardware and high-end
components to meet the challenging requirements of your unique workflows.
What’s New?
Powered by the new 2
nd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors, the ThinkStation P920 and P720 offer
unmatched levels of processing power. Designed for heavily-threaded, I/O-intensive workloads across a
number of industries, Intel’s new Xeon CPUs are optimized for purpose-built platforms for the most
demanding workstation professionals – with up to 28 cores and increased frequency of up to 4.4. GHz.
We’re also adding support for the NVIDIA® Quadro RTXTM 8000 GPUs. Powered by the NVIDIA TuringTM
architecture and the NVIDIA RTX platform to deliver the world’s most powerful graphics card solution
for professional workflows. With NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 powering our latest workstations, industry
professionals can now wield the power of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI to boost productivity
and develop content at unparalleled speeds —not only saving time, but also saving money. Also, using
NVLink, two RTX 8000s can be connected to provide up to 96GB of total graphics memory; scaling for
the largest rendering, visualization, compute, and AI workloads.
Draft – Embargo Until Tuesday, May 7th at 9:00 AM EST
The Challenge
However, delivering the next generation of ThinkStation is not as simple as swapping in a new graphics
card or popping in a new processor. Incorporating these components comes with new challenges;
especially with regard to power and thermal requirements. For example, without the right design
expertise, the heat could reach precarious levels that could compromise the reliability and performance
and potentially shorten the life of the workstation. Afterall, what’s the point of having all this power and
high-performing technology if you can’t take advantage of it, dependably?
Our Approach
First and foremost, it starts with dedication to the details; considering every component, every
interaction, every experience and how our professional audience will demand our hardware to perform.
Our architecture and engineering teams understand the relationship between the components and the
machine; ensuring every ounce of performance and reliability is optimized for the customer.
It starts with a deep-dive of the power and thermal specifications of the new components and
technologies — and how best to integrate them into our systems. Next, we conduct theoretical power
calculations and thermal simulations to determine the impact of the higher-power consumption and the
rate of heat dissipation. Once complete, and prototype hardware begins to arrive, we validate in our
labs and verify our initial calculations and simulations.
At this point, the real testing can begin. Everything from application stress-testing to validate power
consumption and component performance, to cycle testing to simulate years of system powering up or
powering down, to thermal chamber testing to subject the systems to temperature extremes, and more.
Lenovo engineers and partners run our systems through hundreds of hours of validation testing to
ensure these components can meet the standard our customers have come to expect.
The Results
According to TBR’s latest PC Reliability Study, 88 percent of Lenovo customers report satisfaction with
our current products, and 91 percent say they are likely to buy again based on quality and reliability – an
industry-leading response. To put it simply, we know our customers cannot afford to invest in a system
that will fail. In fact, they have more important things to do, more challenging problems to solve, more
barriers to break down, more cool solutions to create.
We don’t take shortcuts; we do things the right way. By the time the systems are handed off to our
manufacturing teams to begin production, our engineers have validated and ensured we meet reliability
standards we have set for our portfolio of products, resulting in the most reliable workstations available.
Today’s launch of the ThinkStation P920 and P720 is no exception. With these powerful new systems,
we continue to meet and ultimately exceed the expectations our customers have for reliable
workstations. The ThinkStation P920 and P720 will be available in May. To learn more, visit
www.lenovo.com/thinkstations.