Best thinkpad workstation for my needs
HP vs Dell vs Lenovo workstations
How many of you also use Lenovo's desktop offerings?
So what do you all think of ThinkStation desktops?
How much RAM should my workstation desktop have?
Do I need a quiet workstation desktop?
What kind of processor should I get for my workstation desktop?
Factsheet
Hello,
I am a master student in computational science and engineering and currently I have an entry level HP with 8 Gb of ram, 1GHz processor, integrated graphics, a 100Gb SSD and 1Tb HDD.
I am not really happy with this setup because it is not powerful enough for computationally intensive tasks I have to do in my master program. And also I would like to dualboot windows 11 and ubuntu to do most of my programming tasks on linux but currently given the very little SSD I have dualbooting is not an option.
Since upgrading the SSD of my HP is not an option because I will still have a bad CPU, I would like to buy a new machine.
What I would like to have is a polyvalent and powerful workstation allowing me to run computationnaly demanding tasks. I would like it to also run smoothly any engineering programs.
I would like my machine to have good performances allowing me to use it without any problem for the next 10 years.
The specs I would like to have are:
-the best CPU with the best frequency, cores, threads I can get
-a 2Tb SSD allowing me to dualboot 1 Tb windows 1 Tb linux
-minimum 16 Gb of Ram and being able to upgrade the Ram
-I would like preferably to have a dedicated GPU. Not the best one but have one if I want to experiment programming with GPUs.
-weight and size of the computer doesn't matter for me
all of this with a maximum budget of 2500 € (Europe) /CHF (switzerland). But I would prefer the budget to be around 2000. It really depends if really putting 2500 gives me really a way better machine for the long run.
Do you think a thinkpad would be the right choice for my needs?
And what would be the best thinkpad for me?
Thanks!
I’m looking to expand my homelab with a new workstation for Proxmox or TrueNAS Scale. I’m not going with an actual server due to noise so I’m exploring the different workstation options with Xeons and Ram/storage capabilities that meet my needs. I’m primarily looking at Dell Precision 5810/5820/7810/7820, HP Z440/Z640 or Z4/Z6 G 4s, and Lenovo Thinkstations P520/P720/P920.
I’m looking for feedback on the pros/cons of going with which options, for example do the HP have their software/firmware locked behind a support account like the servers are?
I’m also considering case size, as I’d like to mount it in my rack. I think I’m leaning towards Xeon E5 v4 single CPU setup, but the Xeon Silver/Gold CPUs have dropped in price too.
I enjoy beautiful computers and recently discovered Thinkstation P8, with its case designed by Aston Martin. Reminds me of the eye-catching Apple towers.
Stuff I do can be done just as well, if maybe a little slower, with a normal Ryzen 9 or a i7 so P8 with a Threadripper doesn't make sense for me, but I still like that it exists. Anyone here have any experience with P8 or any other Lenovo desktops?
Never seen anyone talk about them before, but I'm assuming they're the same quality and such.
I'm in the market for an ML machine, and I see refurbed ThinkStations with RTX 2080s out there for reasonably cheap, and thought that might be an option. Don't want to fry my gaming PC running these models all the time, plus it'd be nice to game once in a while lol