Dell Precision 7960 Workstation Review

The Dell Precision 7960 Workstation (SHOP HERE) is Dell’s current top-of-the-line workstation. It supports a single Intel Xeon W-3400 series CPU with up to 56 cores, up to 4TB of memory, and up to 4x GPUs, with a bunch of options for storage. If you’re interested in seeing more workstation and server reviews, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel.

This system does support similar specs to Lenovo’s P7 workstation, which you can see here, and the HP Z8 Fury G5 workstation that you can also see here. That said, none of those systems support the 4TB of memory possible with this Dell Precision 7960 workstation. Yes, on the 56-core processors, yes on the 4x GPU support but so far, a no on the 4TB of DDR5 memory the Precision 7960 can deliver. It also comes in a 2U rack workstation version. In contrast, the Z8 Fury G5 supports up to 2TB of memory and the Lenovo P7, up to 1TB, all DDR5. Maybe those capacities could change with a software update on the HP Z8 Fury G5 with 16x memory module slots on the system board, but not going to happen on the Lenovo P7 given only 8x memory module slots. That one might eventually get up to 2TB. Like the other systems, this one does not have integrated graphics so you will need at least one GPU to connect a monitor.

There is a range of GPUs supported from both NVIDIA and AMD with the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada generation GPU and the AMD Radeon Pro W7900 at the top of the stack, respectively. Both support 48GB of GDDR6 memory. Let’s take a look at that AMD Radeon Pro W7900 GPU. On the performance side it does rank a little below the RTX 6000 Ada and below the GeForce RTX 4090 but it still delivers some serious performance.

Launched in April of 2023, the W7900 is for professionals and creators! It has the code name “Plum Bonito”, which we mention just because we find these code names so… stupid. It features RDNA 3 architecture with 57,700 transistors compared to the 76,300 transistors on the RTX 6000 Ada, so that may explain to a certain extent the performance discrepancy. But also, about $2000 less so there is that. It has 6144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs plus 96 raytracing acceleration cores. There are 3x DisplayPort 2.1, plus a mini-DisplayPort 2.1. It uses a PCIe 4.0 interface just like all of the other supported GPUs in the lineup. These same GPUs seem to be shared across all platforms from Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

The front of the Dell Precision 7960 Workstation definitely shares the same DNA as the previous generation 7920 workstation, just updated and more … rounded. It is quite large. There is a panel at the bottom on the right with a slider lock that hides a media bay at the top with a slot for an optical drive, and then 4x flex bays below that. Those bays can be outfitted with SAS, SATA or up to 4x NVMe M.2 drives. Each M.2 drive occupies a 3.5-inch carrier with a separate pop-out caddy that holds the drive, just like on the older version. There is still a handle at the top front and back to carry this thing around. You know, just in case you want to take it to the gym or something. Do you even lift bro?! It is quite useful as fully loaded, the system can weigh in at over 82 lbs., or 37 kilos.

The control panel at the top of the system starts with a power ON button, hard drive activity LED, universal audio port, dual USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 1x USB Gen 2×2 Type-C ports with power share, then a USB Gen 2 Type-C port, with SD-card slot below that. To the left, the plastic panel is generously perforated for air flow with two hidden fans top and bottom.

On the back of the system, a very easy to remove power supply unit in the upper left. In this case a 1100W to 1400W Gold-rated PSU. The other option is a Platinum rated 1500W or 2200W PSU. But that all depends on your outlet. For standard outlets in North America at up to 120 V AC you get the lower wattage of 1100W on the Gold or 1500W with the Platinum. However, with a 240 V AC system, like for a server room or an appliance outlet say for your washing machine, you will get those higher output numbers of 1400W on the Gold or 2200W on the Platinum.

There are 4x expansion card slots at the top, and 4x at the bottom. In between are several ports including an audio line out port, 2x old school PS2 ports for keyboard and mouse, a Serial port, then 2x RJ45 ports with a 1GbE port on top and 10GbE below. Next, a column of 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports and beside those 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 port with smart phone power charging capabilities. We all need that. The panel to the left can be configured just like the flex bays up front with up to 4x 3.5-inch drive carriers for SATA, SAS or M.2 drive carriers. This system is also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatible via the integrated Qualcomm WCN6856-DBS module.

The side panel on the Dell Precision 7960 Workstation has an optional lock, with perforations towards the rear for air flow to the PCIe slots top and bottom. Once removed, you can see there is a large plastic baffle with integrated fans covering the CPU and memory module slots. A large fan is integrated with the PCIe retainers top and bottom. There are clear thermal zones with the installed plastic baffle keeping the heated air from the CPU and memory module separate from the PCIe lanes where two GPUs would be installed on top, and two on the bottom in a fully loaded configuration.

There are a few NVMe connectors for the optional rear-mounted NVME drives in the lower righthand corner of the system board. Additional connectors are found on the other side of the system board with 2x NVMe connectors for the front mounted flex bay drives at the top and 2x SATA connectors for installing SATA drives in the rear drive cage at the bottom of the board. Each NVMe connector can handle two drives, while the SATA connectors can handle up to 4x drives apiece.

VROC or virtual RAID on CPU is supported across up to 8x SATA ports offering RAIDs of 0, 1, 5, and 10 depending on if you install the standard or premium key. The integrated Intel chipset controller can also support up to 8x M.2 drives in the 4 external flex bays or up to 8x M.2 drives with 2x Dell Ultra-Speed Drive Quad x16 PCIe cards installed. The Ultra-Speed Drive Duo card option can support 2x M.2 drives and will take up a x8 PCIe slot. You can get a maximum of 4x drives per RAID set with 4x drives front and 4x drives in the rear. For other RAID options and to support SAS drives, you can install an optional MegaRAID 9660 or 9540 hardware RAID controller, also offering RAIDs of 0, 1, 5, or 10.  

Let’s see how storage on the Dell Precision 7960 Workstation plays out at full capacity or fully loaded. Dell says this system can be outfitted with up to 152TB of storage. There are three basic full capacity configurations. 8x drives with 4x in front and 4x in back plus the optical drive. 10x drives with 6x in front and 4x in back with no optical drive or media bay as that would now have a 2-bay drive cage. Lastly an 8x M.2 drive configuration, again with 4x in front and 4x in back. Of course, there is the mix and match option too. With Dell’s Precision 7960 there are no capacity limitations on the drives like some of the other manufacturers for those front flex bays. However, listed capacities for these drives at time of publication are still at up to 4TB for M.2 drives and up to 12TB for SATA or SAS options.

In a nut shell, that 10x drive option will provide the most storage assuming 10x drives at 12TB for 120TB and then pop in 2x Dell Ultra-Speed Drive Quad x16 PCIe cards plus a MegaRAID controller card for 32TB more for 152TB. Only 96TB with the 8x bay 3.5-inch option with an added controller, plus 3x Quad PCIe cards and a duo for up to 144TB. Lastly that fully M.2 option will get you 36TB with front and back M.2 drives, then 44TB more assuming we add another controller and a few of the Quad and Duo PCIe cards up to 88TB more or less.

Still, you will need a slot for a GPU to run a monitor or two and thankfully there are 8x PCIe slots on this platform. Dell did not skimp on the PCIe slots. With up to 112 PCIe 5.0 lanes supported by the Intel Xeon W-3400 series processors, there are options for expansion and supporting NVMe drive options. The Intel W790 Chipset also delivers up to 16 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes. You could call those bonus lanes for additional SSD support. PCIe slots include pretty much all PCIe 4.0 with only 2x x16 PCIe 5.0 slots. Those would be the slots closest to the CPU top and bottom. Then there’s 2x PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, 2x PCIe 4.0 x8 slots and two more x8 slots that have a x4 link bandwidth. The connectors for the optional NVMe M.2 drives in the flex bays front and back, are also PCIe 4.0. Plenty of options to fill these slots with GPUs, extra storage, HD controllers, network controllers, and even a Thunderbolt 4 card for super-fast data transfers.

16x memory module slots on the system board support Registered or Registered 3DS DDR5 ECC memory modules. At full capacity, this system can be outfitted with up to 4TB of memory using 256GB memory modules in all slots. We’re not really sure how many people would actually use all that memory but nice to know it is there. If you don’t need that much memory you can just pop a 16GB memory module in there and call it a day. Some people were quite upset that other similar platforms were not utilizing the full potential of the supported technology, and honestly, we don’t blame them. Dell on the other hand has not limited the CPU cores nor memory support. Chuck Norris would approve!

There are a bunch of software tools to diagnose your system in the event of some mishap but let’s not dwell on the potential problems. Instead, check out the Dell Optimizer for Precision. It’s an AI based optimization tool that analyzes your work habits to optimizes performance. The Precision 7960 also features Independent Software Vendor certification, or ISV, for a number of popular software applications. It’s compatible with both Windows and Linux operating systems. We will mention that starting the first quarter of this year Microsoft will be insisting their Windows operating system is installed on an SSD. No HDDs allowed.

With the Intel Xeon W-3400 series CPU memory speeds of up to 4800MT/s are supported. Although some CPUs will only support memory speeds of 4400MHz and you may also reduce memory speed with 2x DIMMs per channel in some configurations. Options for the CPU itself include those with 12 cores at the low end with the Intel Xeon W5-3423, to 56 cores with the W9-3495X CPU installed. That one also has a TDP of 350W and a base clack speed of 1.90GHz boosting to 4.8 GHz plus a 105MB cache. All of them feature Intel’s hyperthreading Technology for twice the number of virtual cores compared to physical cores. Although, again we will mention that cores are not everything and it really depends on the workload for deciding on whether more cores are better or less cores.

Out of all the “new” workstations out there, this one definitely has dibs on memory support at up to 4TB. Also, impressive GPU support. Why the air quotes on “new” you might ask? This is the Internet after all and 2024. Who really knows how long this post will exist in the ether and technology never ages well. There are still a few more Dell Precision platforms we need to review, so subscribe to our YouTube channel to get a notification when we release a new video. If you have any questions about the Dell Precision 7960 Workstation, or any other systems, contact us today or visit our website.