Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 1, 2018. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
It’s hard to believe that you’re holding a workstation in your hand. The Lenovo Thinkstation P320 Tiny is barely larger than the CPU coolers of the high-performance workstations from DAX or Xi Machines and, at just under 1.3 kilograms, is not particularly heavy either. A look at the front and rear reveals a wide range of interfaces and the typical Lenovo Thinkcentre chassis front – only tiny. The P320 Tiny really means business.
Case
Small usually means filigree. Not so with the P320 Tiny. Built into the thick sheet steel of the Vesa mounting frame, the small, heavy housing gives the impression of robust military technology – the only thing missing is the camouflage pattern. The power switch and all sockets are recessed, so no protruding objects can break off or be damaged – unless you mount the Wi-Fi antenna on the back of the housing. The mounting frame has numerous holes on the back, so there are many ways to securely attach the P320 Tiny to a chipboard or wall with a few screws. To enable the compact dimensions and to keep the inside of the case as cool as possible, Lenovo has outsourced the power supply unit of the P320 Tiny.
Although this means less integration, it also means greater flexibility in the event of failures, as only one external power supply unit needs to be replaced. Despite the outsourced power supply unit, the question of how the CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD and something like a fan are to be accommodated in the case without dying of heat death together remains.
Equipment
Because with the Intel i7-7700T CPU, 16 Gbyte RAM memory, 512 Gbyte in the M.2 slot and an Nvidia Quadro P600 graphics card, the hardware installed is indeed worthy of the workstation attribute. The ability to connect a total of 6 displays via four mini and two normal display ports also sounds like a workstation. A total of six USB 3.0 ports, two at the front and four at the rear, can also be used to connect external drives, video/audio hardware and special peripherals from third-party providers, such as sensors or control electronics.
Unfortunately, the P320 Tiny lacks a washable dust filter at the front of the housing, where the cooling air is drawn in. Due to the small case and the installed hardware, it can be assumed that the case fans have to blow a lot of air through the case for cooling. If installed in a dusty environment without a dust filter, the housing can become clogged with dust and dirt after a while, which can cause components to overheat and fail.
Due to the excellent network and wireless connectivity options of the P320 Tiny – Gigabit Lan, Bluetooth 4.1 and Intel 8265 Dual Band Wireless are available ex works – the P320 Tiny should also be suitable for use as a remote unit, for example for data acquisition in open spaces or in places that are difficult to access. Installed in the Vesa mounting frame in particular, the P320 Tiny makes such a robust impression that it can be expected to withstand even rough mechanical stress.
Performance
It’s nice that the Thinkstation P320 Tiny is so small, it’s nice that it’s so robust. However, a workstation only becomes really nice through performance. And indeed, with 756 points in the Cinebench 15 multi-CPU test, it is 56 points above our completely arbitrarily defined threshold value of 700 points for workstations and thus even beats the somewhat outdated Intel Xeon E3 1505v6, which is installed in the Wacom Cintique Pro. With a render time of 2:48 minutes, the P320 Tiny is also in workstation territory in the V-Ray CPU render test. You can’t expect miracles from the Nvidia Quadro P600, but with 44.77 frames in the Cinebench 15 OpenGL test, it performs better than expected. The GPU render test from V-Ray unfortunately came to a standstill after a few seconds, so we were unable to determine a value here.
Like most workstations in the test field, the Lenovo P320 Tiny also relies on a fast SSD module in the M.2 slot. With a write rate of 1,431 and a read rate of 2,652 Mbytes per second in the AJA system test in 4K full resolution, it is absolutely on target and should not hinder programmes or data transfer. Windows 10 Professional also appears to be well configured. With latency values of 139 microseconds, it lands in fourth place in the overall ranking. Real-time audio and video applications should therefore run smoothly and without interruption.
If it weren’t for the heat. The size of the Thinkstation P320 Tiny quickly becomes a thermal problem under load. Already in the AJA system test, which actually only tests the SSD, the fans started up immediately and audibly. In the Cinebench and V-Ray CPU benchmarks, it took some time after the test for the fans to calm down again. Under synthetic CPU load in the Aida 64 stress test, the fans ran at full speed after just a few seconds, but the CPU’s performance was not throttled. Only in the combined stress test of CPU, GPU, memory and SSD was the GPU throttled by up to 28% after around 5 minutes. Despite this, the temperature values in the casing and on the CPU remained within the normal range, i.e. only affecting the graphics card and only when all components packed tightly in the casing are utilised to 100%. In practice, these synthetically generated loads rarely occur. The P320 Tiny should therefore work well, even if you have to expect losses in combined CPU/GPU performance on hot days. And you should also be aware that due to the laws of thermodynamics, small, light, stable, fast and then quiet cannot fit into a 1-litre case. Because of the fan noise, the P320 Tiny is not necessarily suitable for installation in a quiet studio. However, as soon as a few ambient noises are added and it is not set up directly at the workstation, you can live with it.
Conclusion
With the P320 Tiny, Lenovo has added an interesting member to the Thinkstation family. You only need to hold the mini workstation in your hand for a short time to get ideas of what you could do with it. The areas of application are as varied as the P320 Tiny is small. For example in the trade fair / advertising technology sector, where a 6-display wall can be realised in no time at all with the help of the P320 Tiny. And it has enough memory and power to store and display scaled media content itself. The ability to operate the P320 Tiny remotely via Bluetooth and transfer data via a fast, wireless network also makes it the ideal partner for data acquisition and transfer in the field. An optionally available dust/particle filter would protect the inner workings of the Tiny from dirt and overheating during industrial use and further extend the range of applications for the P320 Tiny.
Thanks to extensive ISV certifications, you as a user can be sure that the applications most important to you are guaranteed to run on your workstation. Lenovo also offers a three-year manufacturer’s warranty on all workstations, including on-site service on the next working day. From August, the P330 Tiny will be the revised successor with the latest hardware. Instead of the Nvidia Quadro P600, there will be a Quadro P620 and Intel i7 8xxx processors as well as the option of installing up to 2 TB of M.2 SSD memory.
