Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra Workstation Review
November 15, 2024We have one of Lenovo’s compact workstations that still delivers some considerable punch, the Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra Workstation (SHOP HERE). It has the same case design as its predecessor the P360 Ultra Workstation, which you can watch our review of that one here. The P3 Ultra still fits in nicely with the larger P-series tower siblings. Sporting tower features with a single Intel Core CPU, up to 128GB of memory, terabytes of storage, and room for a single Ada-series GPU. You can still connect monitors even without a discrete GPU.
It’s probably a little smaller than that insulated lunch box you pack up for your kid or maybe you use one for your own lunch at work. Very portable for taking home and going to the office. Perfect for remote locations if you have a monitor or several to connect it to as it will support up to 8.
Yes, this thing is tiny! At about 9-inches x 8-inches x 3.5-inches or if you like liquid measurements, 3.9 Liters. It’s also loaded with a bunch of ports front and back for great connectivity options. ISV certified for a number of applications from Adobe, Autodesk, Altair, Bently, Dassault, and others. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s a workstation. With credentials like that, this system can be used for architecture, engineering and construction, media and entertainment, analytics, and a host of other disciplines. It’s also very easy to upgrade.
There are many preconfigured options for this system. With a bare-bones configuration, the ThinkStation P3 Ultra starts at a little over $1200 bucks. We specifically have configuration 30HA003BUS, which is definitely more than the base model, with cost listed at a little over $5000. Of course, you can build your own spec too. This system can sit upright like a mini tower, or it can be placed on its side as there are little rubberized feet for both options. On the front of the system Power ON button, Headphones jack, USB Type-A port with 10Gb/s data transfer rate, and 2x thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports offering data transfer rates of up to 40Gb/s, with one always on for charging. Nice!
More ports on the back include 2x RJ45 Ethernet ports one with 1GbE and the other with 2.5GbE. Next, 3x DisplayPort 1.4 ports, which are supported by the Intel Core i5, i7 or i9 processor that can be installed in this unit. Specifically, those with integrated graphics. And yes, it does take 14th generation Intel Core processors too but we’ll get to that. You can install additional Expansion cards and ports using two PCIe slots. As you can see, one of those PCIe slots is filled with a GPU with 4x mini-display ports.
We also have a 300W 90% efficient PSU installed on this system. Other options include 230W, and 170W. Power requirements will really depend on how you outfit the system. That said, you will need a large PSU if you intend on installing a GPU. You get 4x more USB Type-A ports in back, again with a 10Gb/s data transfer rate. And right next to the power connector an antenna for Wi-Fi. Push the depression on that little lever and it pops out a bit so you can grab it and pull the guts out of the system.
That little antenna connects to the wireless LAN module on the system board. A little M.2 drive-looking thing provides WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1. That slot is dedicated for Wi-Fi connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 is also supported with a small legalese description to tell you when it’s not.
Components are loaded on both sides of the motherboard, which has a very clever design that has not changed from the ThinkStation P360. On one side, a small plastic shroud with integrated fan for the CPU and then the GPU also with integrated fan along with two memory module slots. Two more memory slots on the other side along with another small cooling shroud with integrated fan to keep the two NVMe M.2 drives cool. Fans are easily removable and replaceable in the event one goes south. Two PCIe slots include one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, and one PCIe 3.0 x8 slot with a x4 lane. That first for the GPU, as it is a x16 lane but also supports 75W of power. Only 25W of power is supported on the x8 slot.
Installed in this unit is a 13th Gen Intel Core i9 13900 processor with 24 physical cores, including 8-performance or P-cores and 16 efficient or E-cores, plus 32 virtual threads. The motherboard is also compatible with 12th and 14thgeneration Intel Core processors. The P-cores operate at a base frequency of 5.2GHz and the E-cores at 4.2GHz. Max turbo boost is up to 5.6GHz. Offering a balance of power with the P-cores for complex performance, and single-threaded applications like gaming and work-related activities. The E-cores are for multi-threaded applications and background tasks, also providing better thermals and power efficiency.
Intel’s Integrated Thread Director determines the type of cores best suited to managing the workload and dynamically distributes the information accordingly. P-cores have Intel’s Hyperthreading technology, while the E-cores do not. Still, we have 32 virtual threads on the CPU. Perhaps, the E-cores don’t support HYPER-threading technology, maybe just threading technology. We’re thinking that’s 16 virtual threads from 8 physical P-cores and just mirroring the 16 physical E-cores for 16x more virtual threads delivering a total of 32x virtual threads as listed in the specs.
With no letter suffix on the end of the 13th Gen Core i9 13900, this is a standard desktop CPU and supports integrated graphics. There are other end letter suffix CPUs offered too. “T” is for efficiency, and basic desktop computing. “T” also supports integrated graphics. “F” means no integrated graphics and has a locked base frequency, so no overclocking. “F” will require a discrete graphics card because no integrated graphics. “K” means it’s unlocked and can be overclocked, but it does have integrated graphics. A great choice if you want to hook up an 8x monitor setup, which is possible on this system.
The “KF” suffix, of which none are listed, do not have integrated graphics. “KF” suffix CPUs do have overclocking just like the “K” suffix. They are also slightly less expensive. As a result “KF” suffix CPUs are preferred by gamers and those looking for performance and definitely plan on installing a GPU. With iGPU or integrated GPU support You get either UHD Graphics 770 or 730 depending on the CPU. All of that to say, with integrated graphics the system can use the 3x integrated DisplayPort 1.4 ports on the back and the 2x Thunderbolt ports in front. Only 4x monitors though with the integrated graphics option!
With a Trusted Platform Module, the system supports Windows 11 Pro and home versions, plus Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems. Outfitted with Lenovo’s ThinkShield security solution, which works with Windows 11 Pro, businesses are covered with an end-to-end system to deal with vulnerabilities as they arise. It offers both a hardware and software security solution. Thanks to AI-powered endpoint protection, ThinkShield adapts and evolves to counter today’s threats and those you will encounter in the future.
That negates the fact that most people these days think AI is where that threat will originate but that’s beside the point. You can also access the system remotely using the ThinkStation BMC remote management console. But for that, you will need to install an expansion card in one of the 2x PCIe slots. That x8 slot. Intel vPro Enterprise is another useful option for businesses that may need secure out-of-band management. There is also the VANTAGE app to help diagnose problems with your ThinkStation. It’s pre-installed just type VANTAGE in the Windows Search window.
In this particular configuration (30HA003BUS) we have the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12GB graphics card. It features Ampere architecture and is at the lower end of the stack of what’s offered. The top offerings include the RTX 4000 Ada generation SFF with 20GB GDDR6 and the Ampere architecture RTX A5500 mobile GPU with 16GB of GDDR6 memory. The 13th gen Intel Core i9-13900 processor we already discussed, 1x 2TB NVMe M.2 Opal drive and 2x 32GB SODIMM memory modules for 64GB of non-ECC DDR5-4800MHz memory. ECC memory is also supported. At full capacity up to 128GB of memory can be installed. Now back to those GPUs.
The RTX A2000 was also featured in the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra video and did some benchmarks for that card along with the A5000 so we will have to take a peek at those results maybe a week or two after we post this video for comparison. It’s the same GPU so don’t expect much. That said, we do have a different processor. The RTX A2000 has a power draw of 70W, 2nd generation RT Cores and 3rd generation Tensor cores. If this was the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF ADA then it would be sporting 20GB GDDR6 memory, 3rd generation RT Cores, and 4th generation Tensor Cores. 4thgen Tensor cores are functionally identical to those in the Hopper H100 microarchitecture. The H100 is currently the GPU of choice for AI, machine learning, and deep learning applications. Remember this is 2024.
This system can support up to 8x simultaneous displays. That would be connecting 4x monitors using the 3x integrated DisplayPorts along with the 2x thunderbolt ports, and then 4x more displays using a discrete GPU. In this case our RTX A2000 with 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a. Resolutions supported include 4K and 5K at 60Hz refresh and up to 5K and 120Hz refresh with graphics supplied by one of the top end CPUs.
There are only 2x NVMe M.2 slots on the system board, which Lenovo says will only support up to 256GB to 4TB each. They have aluminum heat sinks, which are then covered by a plastic shroud with integrated fan for additional heat dissipation. You can also install 1x 2.5-inch SATA HDD for up to 1TB more or go with a 2.5-inch SSD for up to 7.68TB of storage. That will bring us to 15.68TB with a 2.5-inch SSD and 2x 4TB NVMe M.2 drives. However, that capacity figure may be debatable based on when the system was vetted and what was available when it was released. The 2.5-inch drive is mounted opposite the two M.2 storage modules and thermal kit. We will note that even with all the separate shrouds with integrated fans for the CPU, GPU and M.2 drives, the system is surprisingly quiet. Integrated RAID controllers support RAID 0 and RAID 1. RAID 0 for better performance and RAID 1 for 1 to 1 redundancy and data resilience.
With all that said, the Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra workstation offers impressive performance, support for up to 128GB of memory, and substantial storage at a little over 15TB, “allegedly”. This is a flexible, portable, and powerful platform for both complex applications and gaming, depending on how you configure the system. If you want to see benchmarks for this system like we previously mentioned, watch here!
If you need one, or several, of these little gems try IT Creations. We have these and many other systems in stock for whatever your heart desires. Until next time!
