If your kombucha fizz just sprayed out your nose, you likely just heard about the new ThinkStation P330 workstations… or took too big a swig. Either way, Lenovo thought it would be clever to release the news of their new entry-level, CAD-class workstations the same day Intel announced its new Xeon E-series, entry-level processors.
Don’t think all that ‘entry-level’ talk means the power be lackin’ tho. New processors add clock speed and cores on previous processor options while the P330 workstations get those processor updates, new GPUs, and more storage with the Tower (TWR) and Small Form Factor (SFF) sporting a new redesign to match ‘Tiny’ baby brother and a 30% smaller footprint.
ThinkStation P330 Tower (TWR) and Small Form Factor (SFF)
The ThinkStation P330 TWR and SFF get a redesign with the prominent Lenovo branding (like the Tiny), improved port layout, and, oh yeah, a noticeably smaller size. The width of both is reduced by about 0.5 inches with the depth reduced by about 3.5 inches–just enough extra room now for a 1/2 gallon of milk and 5 stacks of Oreo cookies.
These two towers level-up the ground floor options for workstations with the new line of Intel Xeon E-series processors. There are 10 processor options in all (see below) with the upper E-21X6/G options breaking the quad-core conundrum for lower cost 6-core computing power. You’ll have 8 USB ports like the P320, with 2 moved to the front face next to a now standard Thunderbolt port and Firewire port.
The primary difference outside of size is the increased storage options. The P320 series had some nice drive and expansion options at the time, but the P330 bumps it all up. The TWR now allows for up to three m.2 PCIe SSD (3TB), or four SATA SSD 2.5″ (4TB), or three SATA 7200 rpm 2.5″ (12TB). The SFF now allows for up to three m.2 PCIe SSD (3TB), or two SATA SSD 2.5″ (2TB), or one SATA 7200 rpm 2.5″ (4TB). Any combination is available as well in RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10 configurations.
The memory stays maxed at 64GB DDR4 and max GPU option of the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 on the TWR (with 400w power supply option) and P1000 on the SFF.
ThinkStation P330 Tiny
The ThinkStation P330 Tiny doesn’t get quite the fanfare of its siblings even though it lent plenty of inspiration to the line. What the Tiny does get is an 8th gen Intel Core i7 update and a wee upgrade to the NVIDIA Quadro P620 from the previous P600 in the P320, BUT a hint that it may have compatibility for the P1000 in the ‘future’, the same ‘future’ that holds the promise of 64GB memory over the current 32GB max.
What we don’t know is the pricing for the new P330 family, but we’ll guess/hope it’s similar to the previous P320 line. For a quick reference, a current maxed out P320 Tiny (Core i7 3.80GHz, Quadro P600, 32GB, 1TB m.2) will run you $1839.60 (base price is $1,049). The new workstations won’t be available until August 2018 though so, until then, you can have a look at the Thinkstation P320 family to get an idea on pricing and see the upper tier P-series workstations available as well.
