Lenovo ThinkStation P500 Workstation

Description

The Lenovo ThinkStation P500 workstation is a single-socket tower platform. Intel's C612 chipset supports one Xeon E5-1600 v3 or E5-2600 v3 processor with up to 18 cores and quad-channel memory. A maximum storage capacity of 24TB's is supported along with up to 512GB of memory, and a generous supply of PCIe slots for enhanced IO.

ISV Certification

This system is ISV certified to perform effortlessly running intensive software applications used by design engineers, financial analysts, and geologists. ISV is an acronym for Independent Software Vendor and means these independent software vendors have tested the software, hardware, and components to ensure stable and reliable performance.

Performance

At the core of this tower workstation is Intel's Xeon E5-1600/2600 v3 series processor. Intel's Haswell-E microarchitecture boosts single thread performance when compared to Ivy Bridge, clocking 5% more concurrent operations.

For arduous computing tasks, Lenovo recommends installing a co-processor card such as Nvidia's Tesla K20 or K40. Adding additional graphics cards will also enable support for multiple monitors. Several USB 3.0 ports located on the front and back of the system means you get blazing quick file transfers and a flawless connection between external devices.

Memory

Using all 8 DDR4 DIMM slots loaded with 32GB DDR4 modules provides up to 256GB of memory. However, with the release of 64GB modules the capacity jumps to 512GB of RAM! Additionally, quad-channel memory supports data transfer speeds of 2133MHz, ensuring rapid processing of data and graphics. 16GB's of RAM is typically enough to create basic CAD files, but with support for up to 512GB you can always add more.

Storage

With up to 11 storage devices there's plenty of room to store large complex projects. Four internal HD bays on the Lenovo P500 tower workstation can be outfitted with either one 3.5-inch drive, one 2.5-inch drive, or a combination of the two using the flex trays with two hard drives each. The two 5.25-inch media bays on the front of the system are called Flex bays by Lenovo support an optional Flex module with several options or can house two more HDDs or SSDs. An optional M.2 NVM flash storage device can also be installed in the Flex connector. This workstation has a maximum storage capacity of 24 terabytes when the front Flex bays and the interior drive bays are loaded with 3.5 inch SATA hard drives. For more demanding users, Lenovo's innovative Flex connector provides sophisticated on-board RAID configurations for the Flex Bays. Installing an optional Lenovo RAID controller will enable RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 ensuring data integrity and protecting against hard drive failure.

Expansion

Expansion features are essential to all professional grade workstations. For starters, you get 7 expansion slots: 2 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x4, 1 PCIe x1, 1 PCI, and 1 Flex Connector—there's plenty of room to grow with this machine. If graphics processing is your game, then you will be delighted to find this workstation can run with two Nvidia graphics cards. The system also supports an optional video co-processor including Nvidia's Tesla K40 or K20 to accomplish data intense tasks.

Management

This system offers simple tools to easily manage upgrades, servicing, and diagnostics. Lenovo's diagnostic app supported on Android devices allows Administrators to plug into a front USB port to easily retrieve system health information. Lenovo's patented “Flex” technology simplifies upgrading, provides more flexibility configuring components, and offers options for power consumption.

Summary

Featuring a tool-less chassis design, ultra-advanced thermal and acoustic management, flexible configuration for expansion, increased storage capacity, and faster CPU and RAM throughputs, the Lenovo ThinkStation P500 workstation is a superbly engineered to satisfy the most demanding users. This is a preferred platform for engineers, video production, and graphic professionals alike.