Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo Ultra Review

The Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo Ultra was released in the second quarter of 2024. This little unit has serious Mac Studio vibes to it. That said, it is quite small, especially if you consider that the power supply is integrated with the case. There is no denying it’s a powerful, portable unit with a nice look to it. 

Like that Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra we did a few months back. This little system does have a similar spec with support for 14^th generation Intel Core i5, i7 or i9 processors. Just one, so don’t get your hopes up. It is missing a few of the features that the P3 does have, which we will get to, but a definite upgrade in the looks category. The P3 Ultra is also more of a workstation whereas this one bridges the boundaries between business creative endeavors and maybe a little gaming on the side. The P3 has an aesthetic that is more consistent with the ThinkStation category, whereas this ThinkCenter will appeal to those who want something less industrial but still very capable on their desktop. 

As we look at the aluminum clad exterior with a nice semi-matt grey, smudge-resistant finish, you will notice the gap at the top which runs around the entire unit. That’s where cool air is pulled into the system, which is then pushed out through the perforated underside and back panel via internal fans for the CPU and integrated GPU. Yes, this system can be configured with a discrete GPU. More on that later.

Measuring about 8 x 8 x 4 inches and roughly 7-and-a-quarter pounds it is portable. Definitely a backpack stuffer but potentially too big for a stocking, if you’re already considering the holidays next year.

The front has Lenovo branding in the middle with a few ports including a headphone microphone jack, 2x USB-A ports with 10Gb/s data transfer rates. That last one is a USB-C port offering a 20Gb/s data transfer rate. But sadly, there’s only 1x. 

The 350W power supply is inside the case instead of using a power brick like on the Lenovo Thinkstation P3 Ultra. That does account for some of the volume on this chassis at 3.6 liters. Surprisingly, the P3 only has a top power supply of 300 W.

To the right you can see 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and an HDMI port from the discrete GPU. Towards the base, a row of ports including another DisplayPort 1.4a, USB-A 3.2 Gen1 port offering 5Gb/s data transfer rates, an HDMI 2.1 port, and another USB-A port also at 5Gb/s. Then a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen2 ports offering 10Gb/s data transfer rates, with a GbE RJ45 port for a wired connection. Wired is much better for gaming or business. Above those are two optional rear punch out ports.

This little unit does have WiFi 6E or 7 depending on the model, and Bluetooth 5.3., plus a small 2w speaker, and high-definition audio. 

Those two punch out panels that can be configured to support additional options like DisplayPorts, a VGA port, or HDMI. Punch out port 2 is where you can install an additional RJ45 port at 2.5 GbE. Sorry, no Thunderbolt ports. The Lenovo Thinkstation P3 Ultra, on the other hand, has 2x Thunderbolt ports on the front of the system at 40Gb/s for superfast data transfers. Maybe on the next ThinkCenter iteration. 

This chassis is relatively simple to upgrade the memory and storage by twisting off the little rubberized feet and removing the screws hidden underneath. From there, you can access 3x of the 4x M.2 slots. Two are for SSD drives which were tested at 2TB each and right next to the SODIMM slots. RAID is available with the option of RAID 0 or RAID 1, given we only have 2x drives on this system. The other two M.2 type PCIe slots are for a wireless card and NPU, respectively. 

With two memory channels, the Intel Core i7 14700 CPU supports only two memory module slots. Those slots are home to non-ECC DDR5 SO-DIMM modules with speeds of either 4800 MT/s, 5200 MT/s or 5600 MT/s. Maximum memory supported is up to 64GB and that would be with 2x 32GB memory modules. We will mention, the P3 Ultra will support up to 192GB of memory in 4x slots, which is more than the 128GB we initially posted in the video. Apparently, that specification was updated…

The Intel i7 14700 CPU installed on this system offers 28 cores with 8x performance cores or P-cores, and 12x efficiency cores or E-cores. P-cores have 2x virtual threads per core, while the E-core have only one virtual thread per core, for 28 virtual threads on this CPU. It supports DDR5-5600 memory with 33MB of cache and maximum turbo frequency at up to 5.2 GHz.

This particular unit in its current configuration has 32GB of memory in one slot. You could get better memory performance with a module in both slots to utilize both memory channels but at least you can upgrade this system to 64GB without having to purchase two memory modules. 

Like the P3 Ultra, the ThinkCenter can support up to 8 monitors using the integrated DisplayPort 1.4a, the HDMI port, and by populating those punch out ports with an HDMI, VGA or DisplayPort. One of those options in each. Those would be powered by the Intel UHD Graphics 770 integrated with the supported 4^th generation Core i5, i7 or i9 CPU.

The GPU on this system is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. That will power 4 more monitors using the 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and the HDMI ports. Max resolution for the UHD graphics 770 varies depending on which port you use.

It’s up to 4K using the Display port or HDMI port but only 2K if you install a VGA port in one of those optional rear ports. The RTX 4060 GPU is the only one that is listed for this system. Although, we have heard rumors of an RTX 4070 GPU, which seems to be a China only option, at this point. 

Another M.2 port on the side of the unit is for the optional Neural Processing Unit or NPU. Our review unit has one. An NPU is an AI chip designed to take some of the load from the GPU and CPU for repetitive AI-centric tasks. It adds about $125 to the cost of the system. The NPU unit itself is the Kinara Ara-2, which is the second generation of this little thumbnail sized processor.

For the ThinkCenter, it is integrated on an M.2 form factor called the KM-2, Ara-2 M.2 Module. Available with either 8 or 16GB of Low Power DDR4 memory, or LPDDR4. It is connected to the system via a x4 PCIe Gen 4 slot with x4 link throughput. 

It offers 40 Tera Operations Per Second or 40 TOPS. You can also substitute Trillion for Tera. So, 40 trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS). There is an aluminum heat sink with integrated cooling fan. The NPU can be used for AI acceleration, gaming, smart retail, factory automation, and AI Assistance like as in Copilot. CoPilot is also popping up on keyboards with a dedicated button, like on the keyboard that came with this system. The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G7 mobile workstation has an Intel Core Ultra CPU which includes an integrated NPU. You can see that video using the link in the upper right. That too seems to be centered around the CoPilot AI assistant.

The NPU is also used for edge AI deployments, plus generative AI, and processing large language models. So far, and this is the 4^th quarter of 2024, the NPU has somewhat limited functionality for the camera to detect and adjust focus on the user. You know like for Zoom calls. That is produced by some kind of AI Turbo Engine from the response we received from Lenovo. However, Lenovo will be releasing AI Now software in the near future, which will support additional features. No release date for that yet, and we are not sure what those additional features will be, but we’ll update the description with this information when it becomes available. 

With that NVIDIA RTX 4060 GPU, it’s good for creative endeavors like video and sound editing, Adobe’s creative suite, AutoCAD, and a little gaming on the side. It too can help with AI-type applications but in a different manner than the NPU. The NPU is optimized for AI calculations, as in complex machine learning applications. It also prioritizes data flow and memory hierarchy for superior AI processing while consuming much less power than a GPU.  

With support for DirectX 12, the NVIDIA RTX 4060 will run all the new games. It has a power draw of 115W and at least a 300W PSU is recommended for the host system. We told you about the ports when we viewed the back of the system but so you don’t have to rewind, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x HDMI 2.1 port. It features Ada Lovelace architecture, and with 96x tensor cores, can help with AI-related machine learning applications too. The GPU is connected to the system with a PCIe 4.0 x8 slot. The Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra on the other hand has 5x options for the GPU including and Ada Generation RTX 4000 with 20GB of GDDR6 memory but definitely more of a workstation GPU. We will benchmark this 8GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 GPU along with the Intel Core i7 14700 CPU.

The ThinkCenter line is more geared towards business applications than the ThinkStation line, which is also a little bit more powerful. That said, this Lenovo ThinkCenter Neo Ultra unit does deliver some impressive performance. It is a slight step down from the P3 Ultra as the P3 can support up to 192GB of memory compared to only 64GB of memory on the ThinkCenter neo Ultra. The P3 also offers more choices for CPUs and discrete GPUs and more storage with 2x M.2 drives and the addition of an optional 2.5-inch SSD. The P3 was also a lot easier to upgrade with a case that came apart quite easily without any tools. The ThinkCenter does win in the looks category though, does have an NPU, and features a lower price point. It’s quiet, and attractive with more than enough power for both your work and play. Unless you’re building a bridge or something. 

Looking for other Lenovo products? Try IT Creations!