Review: AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX and Radeon Pro W6800 in the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 high-end workstation
Lenovo has been in the workstation segment for a long time, and it offers a solid platform based on the latest hardware with the ThinkStation P620 series. But the manufacturer doesn't use standard components here. On the contrary, a custom-developed platform is used, which is tailored to the needs of a workstation. In our test sample, the well-designed and modular case is equipped with no less than the most powerful AMD processor at the moment and AMD's latest workstation graphics card.
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX meets the AMD Radeon Pro W6800
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX is a 64-core CPU with a total of 128 threads. The graphics card is the AMD Radeon Pro W6800, which succeeds the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 and is now based on RDNA2 like the current desktop gaming graphics cards. This means that the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 also offers hardware support for real-time ray tracing and can access 32 GB of VRAM. With a whopping 256 GB of DDR4 RAM, even very memory-intensive applications can be mastered without issues, because thanks to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX, there's octa-channel support, which leads to very good RAM data transfer rates. At 256 GB, the SSD installed in our test model of the P620 is very small in comparison. It would probably be better to choose the next larger model when selecting a configuration.
Speaking of the chosen configuration: You can customize the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 to your heart's content in Lenovo's online store. The manufacturer offers a variety of options here. However, users who want to buy the device in the version that we're reviewing will have to dig deep into their pockets. The base price (3,179 Euros (~$3,739)) is very far away from the Ultimate configuration: The system used in our review costs around 13,000 Euros (~$15,292).
Processor benchmarks - The Threadripper Pro 3995WX is a multi-core monster
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX is a real processing monster considering the benchmark results of the multi-core tests. With its 64 cores and a total of 128 threads, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX is best suited for applications that use multiple computing cores. This also includes the virtualization of several computers on one system, among other things. With the generous 256 GB of DDR4 RAM, this doesn't pose a big challenge for the flagship. However, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX can't take advantage of the latest Zen3 architecture, since eight Matisse dies are installed under the huge heat spreader, which in turn are based on the Zen2 architecture. This also results in the relatively large deficit in the single-core tests compared to the Ryzen processors of the 5000 generation. At the same time, the 64-core CPU's base clock rate of 2.7 GHz is also somewhat more conservative. Nevertheless, our test sample can still compete with the Intel Core i9-10980XE.
For further comparisons and benchmarks, please refer to our CPU Benchmarks article.
Geekbench 5.0 | |
5.0 Multi-Core | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | |
Asus X299 Prime Desktop, Intel Core i9-10980XE | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-11900K, Intel Core i9-11900K | |
5.0 Single-Core | |
Intel Core i9-11900K, Intel Core i9-11900K | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
Asus X299 Prime Desktop, Intel Core i9-10980XE | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X |
7-Zip 18.03 | |
7z b 4 | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
Asus X299 Prime Desktop, Intel Core i9-10980XE | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-11900K, Intel Core i9-11900K | |
7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
Intel Core i9-11900K, Intel Core i9-11900K | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Asus X299 Prime Desktop, Intel Core i9-10980XE | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX |
WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
Asus X299 Prime Desktop, Intel Core i9-10980XE | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
Intel Core i9-11900K, Intel Core i9-11900K |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
Asus X299 Prime Desktop, Intel Core i9-10980XE | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | |
Intel Core i9-11900K, Intel Core i9-11900K |
* ... smaller is better
The Lenovo ThinkStation P620 in the Cinebench R15 Multi loop
Lenovo uses a tower cooler with two fans, which provides sufficient cooling for the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX. The workstation masters the Cinebench R15 multi-loop load test without problems, and it achieves a solid average score of 9,747 points. We weren't able to detect a significant drop in performance compared to the first runs.
Application and rendering performance
In our test configuration, the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 achieves relatively good rates in our application benchmarks. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800 can show what it's capable of in the rendering tests that we carried out, such as SPECviewperf 2020. In many individual disciplines, it's even significantly faster than an Nvidia Titan RTX, which can be compared with a Quadro RTX 6000. Nonetheless, you have to keep the different drivers in mind here, because the Quadro as well as the Radeon Pro models have special drivers that offer additional options and are optimized for high performance and stability in professional applications.
Our test configuration's built-in storage offers a capacity of 256 GB, and it delivers very fast transfer rates thanks to the NVMe protocol. Due to the very limited storage space, we added our Intel Optane 905P to the system for this review. It also delivered very good rates in the test as you can see in the pictures. A total of two M.2 SSDs can be installed on the motherboard. The latter offers additional SATA ports for other storage devices. At the same time, an additional SAS controller can also be installed to build a fail-safe storage drive array (e.g. RAID 5).
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit | |
Room GPUs-only | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
Sala GPUs-only | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX |
ComputeMark v2.1 | |
1024x600 Normal, QJuliaRayTrace | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
1024x600 Normal, Mandel Scalar | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
1024x600 Normal, Mandel Vector | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
1024x600 Normal, Fluid 2DTexArr | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
1024x600 Normal, Fluid 3DTex | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX | |
1024x600 Normal, Score | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620, AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX |
3D performance
Although the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 is strictly a high-end workstation graphics card, we chose a few games to evaluate the GPU's performance in comparison with the latest gaming graphics cards. With its built-in 32 GB of VRAM, the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 is actually perfectly suited for 4K gaming. This is also possible with this graphics card, given that the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 achieved smooth frame rates in all the games that we tested. Nevertheless, it's impossible to ignore the deficit when directly comparing it with gaming graphics cards. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800 usually ranks between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. Performance varies from game to game depending on the drivers, and it's sometimes even significantly worse. For this reason, we'd like to point out once again that this is not a gaming graphics card, and that consequently, the resulting performance doesn't reflect what this graphics card was designed for. Please refer to our GPU Benchmarks article for further comparisons and benchmarks.
3DMark 11 | |
1280x720 Performance GPU | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (33257 - 37235, n=7) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (22174 - 32373, n=7) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (29148 - 30099, n=6) | |
1280x720 Performance | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (24879 - 35274, n=7) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (22211 - 30486, n=6) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (15341 - 27206, n=7) |
Metro Exodus - 3840x2160 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (35 - 38.1, n=5) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (30.5 - 32.7, n=3) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (29.7 - 32.2, n=4) |
Far Cry New Dawn - 3840x2160 Ultra Preset | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (55 - 58, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (49 - 53, n=3) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (48 - 50, n=4) |
Far Cry 5 - 3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (53 - 56, n=5) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (46 - 51, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (45 - 47, n=4) |
X-Plane 11.11 - 3840x2160 high (fps_test=3) | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (67 - 131.9, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (67 - 131.8, n=5) | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark - 3840x2160 High Quality | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (40.6 - 44.9, n=5) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (37.1 - 39.3, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (34.9 - 38, n=4) |
Dota 2 Reborn - 3840x2160 ultra (3/3) best looking | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (106.7 - 146.3, n=5) | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (105.1 - 126.9, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 |
The Witcher 3 - 3840x2160 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (65.5 - 71, n=5) | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (55.9 - 67, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (57 - 61, n=4) |
F1 2020 - 3840x2160 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (67.6 - 71.4, n=3) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (55.2 - 57.4, n=4) |
GTA V - 3840x2160 High/On (Advanced Graphics Off) AA:FX AF:8x | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (90.1 - 102, n=4) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) (79.9 - 111.9, n=3) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (82.5 - 89, n=4) |
Strange Brigade - 3840x2160 ultra AA:ultra AF:16 | |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X | |
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) (55.5 - 75, n=2) | |
Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) (60.6 - 64.7, n=3) |
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
GTA V (2015) | 181 | 169 | 152 | 89.7 | 88.1 | 125 |
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 354 | 236 | 199 | 157 | 99.1 | |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 143.6 | 119.3 | 99 | 85.7 | 94 | |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 178 | 174 | 137 | 106 | 60.8 | |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 62.2 | 52 | 45.4 | 45.1 | ||
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 73 | 70 | 65 | 62 | 64 | 60 |
Strange Brigade (2018) | 357 | 282 | 277 | 268 | 212 | 126 |
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) | 66 | 61 | 59 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
Metro Exodus (2019) | 124 | 121 | 186 | 172 | 171 | 54.7 |
F1 2020 (2020) | 300 | 283 | 225 | 179 | 109 |
Emissions
The Lenovo ThinkStation P620 is surprisingly quiet
You shouldn't expect top rates in terms of emissions due to the built-in components. Nevertheless, the system surprises with a pleasant operating noise in normal use, which is audible but not annoying by far. Only under full load does the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 draw attention to itself due to its accelerating fans. With a maximum of 42.4 dB(A), however, the system is still much quieter than some gaming laptops or mobile workstations. Even though this direct comparison is somewhat flawed, the system's volume appears to be a bit better from a subjective standpoint. Right after turning it on, the system makes it clear that it can get much louder. Fortunately, the fan control reduces the speed after a while, since you wouldn't want to have 55 dB(A) under your desk at all times.
The Threadripper Pro 3995WX keeps a cool head
The AMD Radeon Pro W6800 gets even slightly warmer than the CPU (86 °C (~187 °F)) under extreme load. GPU-Z indicates a maximum of 99 °C (~210 °F) as the hot spot temperature. The Radeon Pro W6800's radial fan rotates at just under 2,000 rpm, which corresponds to about 40%. You can also adjust the speed manually in the Radeon driver settings, though. But it becomes loud quite quickly then, which is primarily due to the single radial fan. This design's advantage is the direct removal of the graphics card's waste heat out of the case.
High load also lets energy consumption skyrocket
The ThinkStation P620's energy consumption is quite high in comparison due to its powerful hardware. Nevertheless, the power consumption is put into perspective when you consider the system's expected performance. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX is specified with a power consumption of up to 280 watts, which it effectively consumes under load. At 86 °C (~187 °F), it's also very warm under load, but it can still hold the base clock of 2.7 GHz stable. We note the highest energy consumption in the stress test with 420 watts. At the same time, though, the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 also requires up to 250 watts under load. This quickly explains why Lenovo equips the system with a 1,000-watt power adapter.
Energy consumption of the Lenovo ThinkStation P620
Power Consumption | |
1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor) | |
AMD Threadripper 2970WX, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (Idle: 78 W) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (Idle: 78.1 W) | |
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (16 core, 32 threads) Review | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (Idle: 81.56 W) | |
Intel Core i9-11900K (Idle: 57.3 W) | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
Prime95 V2810 Stress (external Monitor) | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
AMD Threadripper 2970WX, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Intel Core i9-11900K (Idle: 57.3 W) | |
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (16 core, 32 threads) Review | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (Idle: 78 W) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (Idle: 78.1 W) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (Idle: 81.56 W) | |
Cinebench R15 Multi (external Monitor) | |
AMD Threadripper 2970WX, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Lenovo ThinkStation P620 | |
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (16 core, 32 threads) Review | |
Intel Core i9-11900K (Idle: 57.3 W) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (Idle: 78.1 W) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (Idle: 81.56 W) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (Idle: 78 W) |
* ... smaller is better
Pros
Cons
Verdict - High-End workstation at a high-end price
The Lenovo ThinkStation P620 is a modern workstation without many bells and whistles. Lenovo installs the hardware in a quite compact and well thought-out case here, which is based on a modular construction. Particular emphasis is placed on air circulation, so that the built-in components can always deliver their full performance, even under load.
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX installed in our test system is a top choice, as it's the fastest AMD Threadripper CPU to date. The processor combines a whopping 64 cores and even provides up to 128 threads thanks to SMT. This makes the CPU ideal for extremely optimized multithread applications that significantly exceed normal requirements. In our case, the processor has 256 GB RAM at its disposal, which isn't exactly modest even for a workstation. Such magnitudes are otherwise only found in servers. Many scenarios, such as virtual machines, can be implemented with this configuration. Users who still need a RAM drive can also grab a bit of the generous RAM without the system falling to its knees.
With the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX, the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 offers the fastest CPU for multi-core optimized applications to date.
But the built-in graphics card is also essential for a workstation. In our case, the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 houses the brand-new AMD Radeon Pro W6800 with 32 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. This GPU is based on the latest RDNA2 architecture, with which we're already familiar from the 6000-series gaming graphics cards. Real-time ray tracing is now supported natively. This means that the corresponding workloads can be processed much faster than before now. With up to six displays, the virtual workspace can be expanded nearly limitlessly. Alternatively, the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 also supports two simultaneous native 8K panels.
Lenovo offers a wide range of workstation PCs. In addition, the manufacturer provides a variety of configuration options to customize the PC to the user's needs. At a good 13,000 Euros (~$15,293), our review sample is certainly no bargain. The CPU alone currently costs at least $5,000 on Amazon, for example. If you really want to max everything out, you'll easily end up with a workstation PC costing over 30,000 Euros (~$35,288).