Review: Lenovo ThinkStation P300 Outperforms

Lenovo is making a name for itself in the high-end PC workstation market.

The company in August added three models to its ThinkStation P Series line, supplementing the entry-level ThinkStation P300 released in May with higher-end systems packed with innovations.

We'll review those higher-end systems in due course. For now, the CRN Test Center has its sights trained on the ThinkStation P300, a single-socket design based on the 1150 LGA that's ready for Haswell. With a base list price of $729, the P300 can be ordered with fourth-gen Intel Core i3, i5, i7 or Xeon E3-1200 series processors.

The CRN Test Center requested the ThinkStation P300 small form factor of about 4 x 15 x 13 inches that can lay flat or stand vertically. It's also available in a mini-tower design that's about 7 x 17 x 17 inches.

For review, Lenovo sent a high-end model built around an Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3, a quad-core processor running at 3.5 GHz. The system came preloaded with 64-bit Windows 7 Professional, 8 GB of DDR3 RAM and a NVidia Quadro K600 GPU.

Both P300 form factors are available with either a 280-watt or 450-watt power supply. Since the two share the same motherboard, they offer the same number of slots and ports and identical processor options. Two DIMM slots can handle as much as 32 GB of dual-channel memory. Gigabit Ethernet also is standard; Lenovo also offers a WiFi b/g/n option.

The first thing we like to do with desktops is get inside the cabinet for a look around. The side panel is held in place with two thumbscrews and a push-button side latch. Oddly, two of the cabinet's rubber feet are affixed to the panel. This makes servicing while the cabinet is oriented vertically a bit awkward.

Things are fairly tight inside, but there's still room enough for two 3.5-inch HDDs plus a 2.5-inch drive. The mini-tower can house four HDDs of either size. Lenovo also offers mSATA storage options in 24, 128 and 256 GB capacities on top of any spinning or solid-state drives installed in the bays. Onboard storage logic supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. The cabinet enables most service tasks without tools. Internal and externally accessible drives are installed in a one-piece cage that tilts outward and locks into a position perpendicular to the cabinet with a simple mechanism. Drives slide out and lock into place with snap-on rails.

To test performance, we fired up the system and after Windows had applied a bunch of updates, installed and launched Primate Labs' Geekbench 2.4. The highest scores came after we had set Windows for maximum performance. The P300 turned in a top Geekbench score of 16,778, putting it in third place on CRN's Top 10 Desktops and bumping the Dell T1650 workstation to fourth.

from a price-performance standpoint, the Lenovo ThinkStation P300 will be hard to beat.

Its base list price of $729 includes an Intel Core i3-4350 processor, 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, DVD-RW, mouse, keyboard, power cord, system recovery discs and a three-year warranty on parts and labor.

The base system also includes six USB 3.0 ports, another three USB 2.0 ports, two VGA and DisplayPort outputs and four PCI slots. Its two DIMM slots can handle 32 GB of RAM. It's also a CRN-recommended product.

PUBLISHED NOV. 10, 2014