NBCUni 9.5.23

Category Archives: Workstations

Review: HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 Mobile Workstation

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By Brady Betzel

HP has been at the forefront of computer workstations that target M&E for multiple decades. To keep up with the high-pressure workloads, HP offers enterprise-level workstations with components that will run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And if they don’t, HP will replace the parts and/or system fast — the 24/7/265 uptime is what makes “workstations” unique when compared to off-the-shelf, consumer-grade computer systems.

To ensure the smoothest experience while using apps, HP tests many of today’s pro applications from ISVs (independent software vendors) — from Autodesk to Avid — with its workstations. The HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 is a mobile workstation that combines power and portability without sacrificing either.

The HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 that I was sent to review includes the following specs:

  • CPU: Intel Core i9-13950HX (up to 5.5 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost technology, 36MB L3 cache, 24 cores, 32 threads)
  • Nvidia pro-grade graphics: RTX 5000 Ada GPU
  • Display: 16-inch DreamColor QHD (3840×2400), WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, anti-glare, 400 nits, 100% sRGB
  • RAM: 64 GB RAM – two DIMMs at 5600MHz DDR5 (four total DIMM slots)
  • Storage: 1TB SSD

In the latest HP ZBook Fury 16 G10, there are quite a few updates. Besides speed/hardware improvements, the most interesting updates include the full-size RGB keyboard with 10 keys. I am a sucker for a 10-key. When I was trying to pay for my own car as a teenager, I worked at Best Buy fixing computers and eventually installing car stereos. One of the things I learned from that job was getting fast at using a 10-key number pad. You know how that helped me in editing? Timecode input. So I love that HP includes the 10-key pad even on a mobile workstation.

The next impressive feature is the RGB backlit keyboard. Sure, you can use it just to show off some fancy rainbow effects, but you can also tie the RGB lights to specific applications, like Adobe’s Premiere Pro and After Effects. To adjust the RGB colors, you need to open an inconveniently titled app called Z Light Space. I would have preferred for HP to have called the app “HP RGB Keyboard” or something easily searchable, but what can you do? The keyboard is fully customizable and comes preloaded with apps like Premiere and After Effects. The default Premiere layout has keys such as “j, k and l” labeled in a nice teal color.

Physically, the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 is thick. The keyboard feels like it sits an inch above the desk. Even so, it isn’t uncomfortable. The dimensions are 14.29 inches by 9.87 inches by 1.13 inches, and it weighs just over 5lbs. The power supply is large and kind of cumbersome, although it delivers a hefty 230W. I really wish workstation laptops would come with streamlined power supplies… maybe one day. HP includes a one-year parts/labor warranty (not on-site unless you pay extra).

Around the outside of the workstation, there are a lot of useful ports:

  • Right side:
    • one RJ-45
    • one headphone/microphone combo
    • one SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (charging)
    • one SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate

  • Left side:
    • one power connector
    • two Thunderbolt 4 with USB4 Type-C 40Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge)
    • one HDMI 2.1
    • one Mini DisplayPort 1.4a

Now on to really what matters… Does the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 really chew through media in Blackmagic Resolve and Premiere Pro? Yes, it does, and when it is running hard, the fans turn on. The Nvidia RTX A5000 laptop GPU is really impressive considering that it’s stuffed inside such a small form factor. Resolve continually embraces GPU acceleration more than Adobe, in my opinion, and the results of my testing bear that out.

Blackmagic Resolve
Up first is Resolve 18.6.4. Keep in mind that when comparing workstations or GPUs, increased speeds are not always tied to new hardware. Advancements in underlying software efficiency, drivers, firmware updates, etc. will also improve speeds. That said, based on a UHD, 3840×2160 timeline, I edited the following clips together and put a basic color grade on them:

  • ARRI RAW: 3840×2160 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • ARRI RAW: 4448×1856 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • BMD RAW: 6144×3456 24fps – 15 seconds
  • Red RAW: 6144×3072 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Red RAW: 6144×3160 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Sony a7siii: 3840×2160 23.976fps – 15 seconds

I then duplicated that timeline but added Blackmagic’s noise reduction. Then I duplicated the timeline again and added sharpening and grain. Finally, I replaced the built-in Resolve noise reduction with a third-party noise reduction plugin from Neat Video. From there, I exported multiple versions: DNxHR 444 10-bit OP1a MXF, DNxHR 444 10-bit MOV, H.264 MP4, H.265 MP4, AV1 MP4 (Nvidia GPUs only) and then an IMF package using the default settings.

Here are my results:

HP ZBook Fury 16 G10

 

 DNxHR 444 10-bit MXF DNxHR 444 10-bit MOV H.264 MP4 H.265 MP4 AV1

MP4

 IMF
Color Correction Only 00:53 00:48 00:31 00:30 00:33 01:19
CC + Resolve Noise Reduction 02:13 02:13 02:02 02:02 02:02 02:19
CC, Resolve NR, Sharpening, Grain 02:57 02:56 02:48 02:48 02:48 02:58
CC + Neat Video Noise Reduction 03:59 03:59 03:47 03:48 03:51 04:03

Adobe Premiere Pro
I ran similar tests inside Premiere Pro 2024 (24.1), exporting using Adobe Media Encoder. The video assets are the same as the ones I used in Resolve, but I used Adobe’s noise reduction, sharpening and grain filters instead of Resolve’s and Neat Video.

Here are the Premiere Pro Results:

HP ZBook Fury 16 G10

Adobe Premiere Pro 2024 (Individual Exports in Media Encoder)

 DNxHR 444 10-bit MXF DNxHR 444 10-bit MOV H.264 MP4 H.265 MP4
Color Correction Only 01:27 01:26 00:45 00:48
CC + NR, Sharpening, Grain 25:47 57:17 46:46 59:21
HP ZBook Fury 16 G10

Premiere Pro 2024 (Simultaneous Exports in Media Encoder)
Color Correction Only 02:15 03:47 03:22 03:22
CC + NR, Sharpening, Grain 30:52 01:08:16 01:03:30 01:03:30

These results are definitely competitive with desktop-size workstations. What makes laptop-size components difficult to design? Heat dissipation and size. HP labels its heat dissipation technology as Vaporforce Thermals. That’s a fancy way of saying that HP takes pride in how it designs its fans and heat spreaders to keep the system as cool as possible, even when rendering hours of content in multimedia apps like Resolve.

HP does a great job at keeping the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 cool to the touch, which isn’t always the case for workstations. Also, the tool-less design of the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 is amazing. With one switch, you can remove the bottom panel and begin diagnosing, replacing or upgrading components with little technical know-how. The ease of disassembly is what keeps me loving HP’s workstations. The quickest way to put a bad taste in my mouth is not to allow, or make it extremely difficult to, self-repair or upgrade. It just feels wrong. But luckily HP makes it easy.

With such an impressively powerful mobile workstation comes a large price tag: the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 I tested retails for just over $9,000 before taxes and shipping. Yikes. But for the power under the hood of the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10, you are essentially getting desktop power in a small form factor. The battery that comes with the Fury is great, I turned off any power saving settings to ensure I was running at full speed, and I was able to get about 2.5 hours of run time while running the PugetBench for Creators benchmark utility on a loop. That is essentially constant video editing and rendering.

While that runtime might seem short, it is actually pretty long when running at full speed. But obviously, staying plugged in is your best option when doing multimedia work. If security is important to you, and we know it is, then HP’s Wolf Security is loaded with protections. You can find out more here.

Summing Up
In the end, the HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 is a pricey but powerful mobile workstation that won’t leave you wishing for a desktop. Add a little docking setup with a couple monitors, and you’ll be flying through your color correction in Resolve, noise reduction with Neat Video or video editing in Premiere Pro.

Honestly, the backlit RGB keyboard seemed like a novelty at first, but I found that I really enjoyed it. Definitely check out the MIL-STD 810H-tested HP ZBook Fury 16 G10 if you are in the market for the highest of high-end mobile workstations, which can play RAW 4K media with little interruption:

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop. He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.

Puget Systems Debuts Custom Laptops and SDS Storage

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Puget Systems has expanded its product offerings beyond custom desktop workstations into the mobile computing market with the introduction of an entirely new category of custom mobile workstations.

Debuting at this year’s HPA Tech Retreat in Palm Springs, the new Puget Mobile 17-inch will feature high-performance hardware with Intel’s Core i9 14900HX CPU and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 mobile GPU, all built into a notebook chassis. The 17.3-inch QHD screen has a 240Hz refresh rate and high color accuracy. This combination of high-performance components makes the Puget Mobile 17-inch a  good solution for content creators who demand performance, reliability, quality and ultra-smooth workflows in a mobile form factor.

According to Puget Systems, this move signals the expansion of its strategy to provide broader, more comprehensive solutions for its users’ workflow and performance requirements as they continually seek more flexible, reliable and powerful systems. Based on customer feedback Puget is looking to partner with companies its users trust for white-glove service, support and industry-specific expertise.

Throughout the early development process of the new Puget Mobile 17-inch, the Puget Labs and R&D teams worked closely with select users from multiple industries to collect feedback and ensure they were on track.

“This laptop is about as close as you can get to the performance of a PC tower while actually having something that still works as a laptop,” reports Niko Pueringer, the co-founder of Corridor Digital, who has been using Puget computers for years. “And it provided all the qualities I’d expect out of a Puget system. Oh, and I also like that it’s not loaded up with promotional bloatware…

“There are a lot of machines out there with high specs. Anyone (with enough money) can buy a 4090 and sling it in a case,” continues Pueringer. “What makes Puget special is that all the supporting pieces get the attention they deserve. With Puget, I know that I don’t have any hidden compromises or bottlenecks. All my USB ports will work at the same time. The heat management is capable of handling 100% loads for extended time. I know that all the pipes between the shiny GPUs and CPUs are big and beefy and ready to handle anything I throw at it. This laptop was no exception.”

The Puget Mobile 17-inch custom laptops will be available for configuration for a wide range of applications beginning in Q2.

Embracing Storage, MAM and Archiving
At HPA, Puget has also debuted a new family of custom software-defined storage (SDS) solutions. The new Puget Storage solution— in partnership with OSNexus — uses OSNexus’ QuantaStor platform to provide scalable and agile media asset storage for both on-site and remote users.

Available in a 12-bay and a 24-bay 2U form factor, Puget Storage solutions are capable of up to 1.5TB of RAM and provide growing and established studios with simple, flexible storage with end-to-end security. These scalable, agile media asset storage solutions are ideal for post workflows, media asset management applications and archival services with stringent requirements for the ideal combination of capacity, performance, security and scalability.

Partnering with OSNexus to integrate its QuantaStor platform provides Puget Storage users with a number of key benefits, including:

  • Storage grid technology: Grid technology unifies management of QuantaStor systems across racks, sites and clouds.
  • Security: Advanced RBAC, end-to-end encryption support, complies with NIST 800-53, 800-171, HIPAA, CJIS, and is FIPS 140-2 L1 certified
  • Hardware integration: QuantaStor is integrated with a broad range of systems and storage expansion units, including Seagate, Supermicro and Puget Systems rackmount storage platforms for media and entertainment.
  • Scalable: Integrated with enterprise-grade open storage technologies (Ceph and ZFS)
  • Unified file, block and object: All major storage protocols are supported, including NFS/SMB, iSCSI/FC/NVMeoF and S3.

The new Puget Storage SDS solutions will be available for configuration for a wide range of applications beginning in Q2.

 

 

 

NBCUni 9.5.23
Precision

Review: Dell Precision 5480 Mobile Workstation

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By Mike McCarthy

It has been a few years since I’ve tested and reviewed a laptop. Technology has progressed a lot since then, and systems are dramatically more powerful than they were just four years ago — and GPUs have improved more than CPUs by most measures.

Precision

I recently had the opportunity to test out the Dell Precision 5480. This is Dell’s highest end small-form-factor laptop. It is a 14-inch system packed with a 14-core, 13900H CPU; 64GB of DDR5 memory; and an Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada generation GPU. There are lots of laptop options out there with a 13900H CPU, six hyperthreaded performance cores and eight efficiency cores (for a total of 20 processing threads), but not very many of those are in a small, 14-inch frame. And the RTX 3000 Ada is even harder to come by. With 4,608 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR6 memory and nearly 20 teraflops of processing power, the RTX 3000 GPU is the physical equivalent of the GeForce 4070 Mobile, but with professional-level drivers. This little laptop system packs a punch.

The Display
Now there is no getting around the fact that 14 inches is a very small screen. Personally, I like huge screens, so even an 18-inch laptop screen would seem small to me, but much of my time using any laptop is likely to be spent with it connected to a larger display, whether in the office or at home. For times when I am using it on the move, or at the kitchen table from time to time, this 2560×1600 WLED screen is a good resolution for its 14-inch size. It can be set to 100% scale by eagle-eyed users who covet screen real estate, but most people will have a good experience at 150%.

The Dell Precision 5480 is advertised as supporting 500 nits, which can be helpful when using it outdoors, but it is a glossy screen. Windows reports that the display supports HDR video streaming, but there is no “Use HDR” option for the UI. I am still trying to figure out the logic behind Microsoft’s support for HDR monitoring. The screen also supports blue light filtering at a hardware level to reduce eye strain, which should be better than Windows’ night light software solution. It is also a touch screen, which can be a useful feature on occasion.

The Internals
I am always interested in fitting the maximum amount of useful computing power into the smallest possible package. Back in the day, I remember testing the PNY Prevail Pro, which, at 15 inches, was the smallest VR-capable system. Beyond that, I still have my 13-inch Sony Z1 with a quad-core, 3GHz CPU and GeForce 330M and dual SSDs. Back in 2010, it could run Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 with full CUDA acceleration in a 3-pound package. (The Dell Precision 5480 is actually very similar to that one in terms of size and weight, but, of course, the Dell is far more powerful.)

Any system smaller than 15 inches with a discrete GPU is usually hard to come by, which is why my HP ZBook X2 with Quadro GPU and a 14-inch, 10-bit display was so unique. But that system is five years old, with no direct replacement available, so I was very excited to see that Dell was stepping up to the plate with a powerful 14-inch pro workstation in a 3.3-pound package and under ¾ of an inch thick. And with a 13th Gen Intel CPU supporting 20 threads, paired with a new Ada based RTX GPU with 20 teraflops, the Dell Precision 5480 is not lacking in power.

The machine has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, which are all power-delivery-capable, plus an analog audio jack and a MicroSD reader. It comes with a small USB-C device that offers a USB-A port and an HDMI 2.0 output. The keyboard seems solid, with half-size up and down arrows and a fingerprint-enabled power button in the upper right corner, which will be natural for Mac users.

In my initial demo unit, the touchpad had a sticking issue with the click mechanism, but it turned out to have just been a defect. Once replaced, the touchpad worked great. This process did highlight to me just how important a touchpad is on a small laptop, even as a mouse user. Anytime I am using the laptop on the go (which is the point of a small laptop), the touchpad is the main pointing device, so I use it far more than I originally recognized.

The system comes with a USB-C-based power supply, rated for 130 watts, as well as the previously mentioned adapter for HDMI and USB-A ports. It comes packaged in a molded cardboard container inside a folded cardboard packing box for good product protection — and more ecofriendly than the older Styrofoam-based packaging.

A small laptop offers flexibility. In the office, you can use it with a full set of peripherals. When at home, you can plug in your monitor and accessories, and pick up exactly where you left off.

With virtual desktops, you can get a similar experience by working in the cloud on various systems at different locations, but that doesn’t allow you full access when you are in transit or when you are in places with limited internet access. The Dell Precision 5480 seems like an ideal system for anyone who needs editing power on the go and has monitors to plug in to in their primary work environments. (And they don’t need a larger laptop display on the unit itself.)

Battery Life
Admittedly, the configuration of this particular model should be expected to have the worst possible battery life (most powerful CPU and GPU available with a high-resolution-screen), but it’s not as bad as you’d think. I used this system when I attended the Adobe Max conference, and I did not bring the charger with me during the day. The only time I regretted that is when I accidentally left Adobe Photoshop running in the background for a few hours. Otherwise, I was able to do basic tasks all day long with no issue.

For non-work-related activities such as gaming, I typically got about two hours of usage when playing a 3D game before needing to plug it in. Dell has done a great job of saving power when it is not needed. Power-hungry, performance-based tasks will drain the battery… which is to be expected. But when just doing simple browser-based tasks, I was able to use it all day without issue.

Software
The unit comes with Windows 11 Pro installed. Even after 18 months, I still have not “adapted” to Microsoft’s newest OS, and I prefer Windows 10. But, based on my performance tests, the thread director in Windows 11, which is aware of the difference between the performance cores and the efficiency cores on Intel’s newest chips, does make a difference. (Windows 10 assigns hard tasks to the efficiency cores, and it takes longer to finish them, decreasing overall performance.)

One way around this is to disable the E-Cores in the BIOS and stick with Windows 10, but especially on a laptop, that negates much of the power efficiency of the newer designs. So you are pretty stuck with Windows 11 on these newer systems. But besides that, the Dell Precision 5480 comes with very little bloatware — just drivers and utilities for the various hardware devices and some Dell performance and configuration optimization tools.

The Graphics Processor
The RTX 3000 GPU is the physical equivalent of the GeForce 4070 Mobile, with 4608 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR6 memory and nearly 20 teraflops of processing power. It benchmarks with about 25% of the performance of my giant GeForce 4090 desktop card, which is to be expected based on the paper specs. This is actually fine in most cases since I rarely need to harness the full power of that GPU when doing regular editing tasks. And 20 teraflops is twice the performance of the top-end GeForce 2080/RTX 5000 from two generations ago, and it’s now available in a 14-inch laptop.

PrecisionKey for professional use of a model this size, I also tested the Dell Precision 5480 with a number of external displays, up to and including the Dell UltraSharp UP3218K monitor, which was supported in its full 8K at 60fps resolution by using two USB-C-to-DisplayPort cables. The last HP mobile workstation I tested required a docking station for full support of that display, and my Razer is limited to 30fps unless I use an external GPU. It’s good to see that Dell fully supports its own display range on its own system, but I do recognize that’s really a function of the GPU and supported output ports. Nonetheless, you can use this system with an 8K monitor if you so desire.

Storage
The hard drive reports 4.5GB/s write and 4.8GB/s read in AJA System Test, which isn’t the fastest PCIe 4.0 speed but more than enough for 99% of power users. Dell offers SSDs in sizes from 256GB to 4TB with self-encrypting models at 512GB and 1TB for users with those requirements.

Performance
CPUs are much harder to compare on paper, which is why tools like Maxon’s Cinebench are so valuable. Blender also has a benchmarking tool for comparing system performance. And performance is always a relative measure since we are comparing a specific system (this one) to other potential options.

Usually, reviewers compare systems to others that are very similar, but in this case, I took a different approach for two reasons. First, I don’t have similar current options to compare to. Second, there is value in comparing what you are sacrificing when you scale down to a small laptop. Which tasks can you do effectively on a mobile system, and which can wait until you are in front of (or remoting into) a powerful desktop workstation?

The 13900H, with six performance cores and eight efficiency cores, has 20 threads available to the OS. My desktop with a 12700K CPU also has 20 threads, coming from eight performance cores and four efficiency cores. In most synthetic render tests, this little laptop has about 70% of the CPU processing power of my consumer desktop tower.

PrecisionIn real-world tests, exporting cinema-quality files out of Premiere, my tests were frustratingly inconsistent. This appears to result from a combination of both Intel’s new power-saving technology and Adobe’s software optimizations. I ran my entire suite of standard test exports multiple times and got widely varying results. I then reran them repeatedly on my 12700K-based desktop and also got less consistent results than I recall in the past. Most of the time, I test repeatedly with slightly different settings so that I don’t repeat the exact same test a number of times. This has really shifted my view on quantifying performance in Premiere.

The best tests would be a live-playback test and potentially a latency test to see how long it takes playback to begin after you press the space bar. But due to the playback optimizations within the program, this is no longer a good way to compare different systems. Puget Systems, which does work in benchmarking, detail the challenges of quantifying performance in Premiere in this great article that dives even deeper into the topic than I have. Regardless of those limitations, here are the raw numbers from my Media Encoder benchmarks for you to evaluate compared to my other systems.

Summing Up
Suffice it to say, this machine can edit and play back nearly any sequence due to Premiere’s optimizations, and it can export high-quality output files with decent performance. But for longer renders and Red source footage, it might be best to render on your desktop workstation. This is totally reasonable for a portable laptop — no one should expect a 14-inch notebook to replace server level hardware. But the Dell Precision 5480 can accomplish most editing tasks with ease.

Mike McCarthy is an online editor/workflow consultant with over 15 years of experience on feature films and commercials. He has been involved in pioneering new solutions for tapeless workflows, DSLR filmmaking and multi-screen and surround video experiences. Check out his site.

 


Puget Systems Offers Custom Workstations Built on Threadripper 7000

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Puget Systems has a new line of custom workstations built on the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 Series and Threadripper Pro 7000 WX Series processors. They offer new levels of computing performance and innovation for users in multiple industries, especially those in high-end content creation, virtual production and game development.

Here’s what’s new and innovative with the Threadripper 7000 Series processors:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 Series: These processors for the high-end desktop market offer an overclockable desktop experience along with the highest clock speeds achievable on a Threadripper processor. Power, performance and efficiency are all maximized with the 5nm process and “Zen 4” architecture.

The Threadripper 7000 Series is built to enable powerful I/O for desktop users, with up to 48 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes for graphics, storage and more. AMD says the 7000 Series is capable of twice the memory bandwidth of typical dual-channel desktop systems, and the processors’ quad-channel DDR5 memory controller can support the most intensive workflows.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 WX Series: These processors expand on the prior generation’s performance and platform features for the workstation market. Also built on the 5nm Zen 4 architecture, this generation offers ultra-high performance for professional applications and complex multi-tasking workloads.

For multi-threaded workloads, Threadripper Pro processors offer up to 96 cores and 192 threads for complex simulation, generative design, rendering and software compilation tasks. They also provide up to 384MB of L3 cache along with eight channels for DDR5 memory for applications that require high memory capacity and bandwidth.

Puget Systems’ new Threadripper 7000 custom workstations are available immediately for configuration for a wide range of applications. The new Threadripper Pro WX-Series workstation will be available for custom configurations in December.


Lenovo ThinkStation P8: Threadripper Pro 7000 WX, Nvidia RTX GPUs

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Lenovo’s new ThinkStation P8 tower workstation features AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 WX Series processors and Nvidia RTX GPUs. The ThinkStation P8 builds on the P620, one of the first workstations powered by AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro processors., In addition to its compute power, the ThinkStation P8 features an optimized thermal design in a versatile Aston Martin-inspired chassis.

Designed for high-intensity environments, the Lenovo ThinkStation P8 is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 WX Series processors built on the leading 5nm “Zen 4” architecture and featuring up to 96 cores and 192 threads. The new sleek, sturdy, rack-optimized chassis offers larger Platinum-rated power supply options to handle more demanding expansion capabilities. For example, it can support up to three Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada generation GPUs to help reduce time to completion in graphics-intensive applications like real-time raytracing, video rendering, simulation or computer-aided design. The combined power also opens up immersive environments, including digital worlds, AR/VR content creation and advanced AI model development.

“The Lenovo ThinkStation P620 with AMD Threadripper Pro technology has been an absolute game-changer for our 3D animation and development workflows over the last two years,” says Bill Ballew, CTO from DreamWorks Animation. “We are looking forward to significantly faster iterations due to the increased performance with the new ThinkStation P8 workstation powered by AMD Threadripper Pro 7000 WX Series in this coming year.”

Configurations
In addition to AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 WX Series processors and Nvidia RTX Ada generation GPUs, ThinkStation P8 includes ISV certifications and supports Windows 11 and popular Linux operating systems. It features a range of storage and expansion capabilities that provide flexible and tailored configurations. Highly customizable options allow users to select the best components to handle complex and demanding tasks efficiently. Also, easy access and tool-less serviceability provide scalability and quick replacement of many components.

The P8 workstation can accommodate up to seven M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSDs with RAID support or up to three HDDs for large-capacity storage and up to 2TB of DDR5 memory with octa-channel support and seven PCIe slots, including six PCI Gen5 that offer faster connectivity. The workstation features lower latency and more expansion capability and includes 10 Gigabit Ethernet onboard to help eliminate network bottlenecks.

ThinkStation P8, like all Lenovo desktop workstations, includes built-in hardware monitoring accessible through ThinkStation diagnostics software, and Lenovo Performance Tuner comes with numerous profiles to optimize many ISV applications. ThinkStation P8 also supports Lenovo’s ThinkShield security offerings, which provide protection from BIOS to cloud. Additionally, rigorous testing standards, Premier Support and extended warranty options are available. Users can further manage their investment through Lenovo TruScale, which simplifies procurement, deployment and management of fully integrated IT solutions, all delivered as a service with a scalable, pay-as-you-go model.

ThinkStation P8 will be available starting Q1 2024.

 

 


Maxon’s Redshift and Cinebench Optimized for Apple’s M3 Chips

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Maxon has updated Redshift and Cinebench 2024 to take advantage of the latest developments in Apple’s M3 family of chips. Thanks to these  updated chips, artists can see greater performance when generating photorealistic imagery using Maxon’s Redshift render engine. Maxon’s Cinebench 2024 benchmarking tool, built on Redshift and Maxon’s Cinema 4D, is also now fully optimized for M3 and available as a free download.

Apple’s new GPU architecture features hardware-accelerated raytracing and offers substantial speed increases when rendering with Redshift.

Cinebench 2024.1 is available to download immediately from Maxon.net for anyone to benchmark performance on macOS and Windows hardware.

Optimizations will be available as part of regular Redshift updates for Maxon One and Redshift subscribers in the coming months.

In addition to Redshift, Cinebench and Cinema 4D, Maxon also makes Forger, Red Giant and ZBrush.

 

 


New Boxx Apexx S3 With Intel Core 14th Gen Processors

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Boxx Technologies has added Intel Core i7 and i9 14th Gen processors to its Apexx S3 workstation. The new CPUs are suited for 3D design, motion media and other pro software applications. Boxx will ship systems shortly.

“The new Intel Core 14th Gen processors enable digital content creators to work faster than ever before,” says Intel’s Roger Chandler. “Included in the processor lineup is the fastest chip we’ve ever made, with up to 6GHz out of the box, up to 24/32 threads and support for next-gen platform features. Whether 3D modeling, video editing, engineering or designing, Boxx Apexx S3 systems powered by Intel Core processors keep creators moving forward by accelerating creative applications and render engines through their most demanding tasks.”

Intel Core i7 and i9 14th Gen processors, which feature Intel’s x86 performance hybrid architecture and platform technologies, are designed to improve hardware and software efficiency. Multiple cores and features like Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, 20 total CPU PCIe lanes and up to 36MB Intel Smart Cache offer state-of-the art support for professional software applications throughout a multitude of industries.

The new 24-core Intel processor inside the performance-tuned Apexx S3 is overclocked up to 6.1GHz, while the Boxx workstation also includes advanced liquid cooling, 192GB of memory and up to two Nvidia RTX 5000 Ada Generation GPUs. Support for the latest DDR5 provides control over memory configuration, while Thunderbolt 4 provides simple and fast peripheral connections. The versatile Apexx S3 is purpose-built for Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya and Revit; Adobe Creative Cloud; Maxon Cinema 4D; V-Ray; and other apps offering optimal performance for CPU and multi-GPU tasks.

“Professional software upgrades are designed to make system users more productive, but they also put greater demand on computer hardware,” says Wes Breyfogle, CEO, Boxx Technologies. “Without corresponding system upgrades, these demands can offset the value of the new software features, so architects, engineers, 3D designers, motion media creators and AI professionals need immediate access to the latest technology. The new Intel Core processors available now inside our Apexx S3 will deliver the peak performance essential to optimizing their workflows.”

 

Podcast 12.4

Puget Systems Intros Generative AI/ML Custom Server

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Puget Systems debuted a custom generative AI and machine learning server at SIGGRAPH 2023. The specialized new AI Training and Inference server is configured with four Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada graphics cards to handle intensive generative AI and machine learning and to manage real-time rendering, graphics, AR/MR/VR/XR, compute and deep learning processing.

The Puget Systems AI Training and Inference server is a rackmount workstation capable of hosting a web-based chat server using STOA models, such as the Meta Llama 2 70B large language models (LLMs) supporting multiple simultaneous users. Puget Systems Labs conducted extensive testing of this configuration with Llama 2 70B and Falcon 40B.  (Falcon 40B requires less memory space and can run with only two RTX 6000 Ada GPUs.) In addition to running a chat interface, this hardware is also suitable for base model fine-tuning within the available GPU memory limits.

The lab tested the new AI Training and Inference server using four Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada graphics cards. Labs tested the system with Meta’s Llama-2-70b-chat-hf using Hugging Face Text-Generation-Inference (TGI) server and Hugging Face ChatUI. The test model used approximately 130GB of video memory. Testing confirmed that the system should work well with other LLMs that fit within available GPU memory (192GB with four cards installed).

Following are some notable performance stats from the testing:

  • Typical usage measured response:
    • Validation Time = 59673 ms
    • Queue Time = 17409 ms
    • Time per Token = 558 ms
  • Stress-tested with multiple concurrent users
    • Data below is from a session with 114 prompts (20-30 users) over 5 minutes
  • Average prompt response under multi-user load:
    • Validation Time = 3.0312 ms
    • Queue Time = 4687.9 ms
    • Time per Token = 68.076 ms

The new servers will be available for configuring a wide range of generative AI applications in the coming weeks.

 

Podcast 12.4

Review: Lenovo’s P360 Ultra Workstation

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By Brady Betzel

In a world where pros are embracing ultrasmall and ultraportable workstations, Lenovo has met that need with the P360 Ultra — at under 10 pounds, it’s a RAID-0/1-capable, Nvidia-backed workstation with high-level performance.

Much like the Apple with the Mac Studio or HP with the Z2 Mini G9, Lenovo has seen the need for a small form-factor workstation with the power of a full-size tower. The Lenovo P360 Ultra has modern exterior styling and is small enough to travel with you between home and the office, but it’s packed with power close to that of a full-size desktop workstation.

Here are the specs and costs of the Lenovo P360 Ultra I received for review:

  • Base system: $1,969
  • Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900 vPro (E-cores up to 3.8GHz, P-cores up to 5GHz) (+$859)
  • Memory: 32GB DDR5-4000MHz (+$230)
  • GPU: Nvidia RTX A5000 mobile 16GB GDDR6 (+$4,349)
  • 2 SSD: 1TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 (+$70)
  • Ethernet: Intel i350-T2 Dual Port (+$89)
  • Wi-Fi Adapter: Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 2×2 AC vPro (+$25)
  • Power Adapter: 300W (+$59)
  • Warranty: 3-year parts and labor. Repairs are done at your location.
  • Total price: $7,650 with about 90-day lead time for delivery.

Putting It to Use
So how is the P360 Ultra in a modern editing or color correction environment? It holds its own. On the surface, I was able to edit and color-correct 4K, 6K and 8K footage coming from multiple codecs in Adobe Premiere Pro 23.2 and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 18.1.4.

Was the P360 Ultra always able to play in real time? No, but it did hold its own and was in the realm of acceptable. However, if you use proxies in either app, you will be working fluidly. The Lenovo P360 Ultra is a great assistant editor or assistant colorist workstation that takes up minimal real estate, is somewhat portable, can connect to up to eight monitors and would line up well with the Lenovo P620 Gen 2.

Lenovo (and other companies, for that matter) are able to fit so much power and performance in such a small form factor by using laptop-style components, such as the Nvidia RTX A5000 mobile GPU and SODIMM memory. This doesn’t mean they are “bad,” per se, but they are thermally throttled, so when it gets too hot in the chassis, the speed and power decrease. Heat is the enemy of power and speed, and with such a compact form factor, Lenovo is leveraging the best of both worlds.

Intel’s E- and P-cores are another advancement that helps fit so much power into a small form factor. E-cores, aka efficiency cores, focus on background tasks that run constantly but with low energy usage. P-cores, aka performance cores, focus on heavier tasks, like multimedia rendering in apps like Resolve.

Testing
Up first are the tests I run in typical Windows-based nonlinear editing applications: Premiere Pro 23.2 and DaVinci Resolve 18.1.4. Using the same clips I always use for my reviews, I apply a basic color correction in a 3840×2160 timeline. The clips include:

  • ARRI RAW: 3840×2160 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • ARRI RAW: 4448×1856 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • BMD RAW: 6144×3456 24fps – 15 seconds
  • Red RAW: 6144×3072 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Red RAW: 6144×3160 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Sony a7siii: 3840×2160 23.976fps – 15 seconds

\I then add Blackmagic’s noise reduction, sharpening and grain. Finally, I replace the built-in noise reduction with Neat Video’s noise reduction to really ride the system hard. From there I export multiple versions: DNxHR 444 10-bit OP1a MXF, a DNxHR 444 10-bit Mov, H.264 MP4, H.265 MP4, and an IMF package using the default settings.

Resolve 18 Exports DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4 IMF
Color Correction Only 00:54 01:04 00:42 00:41 01:41
CC + Resolve Noise Reduction 01:47 01:48 01:44 01:43 02:00
CC, Resolve NR, Sharpening, Grain 02:01 02:02 01:57 01:57 02:14
CC + Neat Video Noise Reduction 04:32 04:36 04:25 04:23 04:43

In comparison to the Lenovo P620 Gen 2, straight exports with only color-correcting take about double the amount of export time with the P360 Ultra. Adding in Resolve-based noise reduction and then sharpening and grain is surprisingly faster, for the most part. Finally, adding Neat Video noise reduction is about one minute slower.

I ran a similar test inside of Premiere 23.2, except for Neat Video noise reduction. In this version of Premiere Pro and Media Encoder, I was able to get much more accurate export times than I have in the past, so these numbers are reliable:

Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 (Simultaneous Exports) DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4
Color Correction Only 1:58 03:42 01:37 01:37
CC +  NR, Sharpening, Grain 17:48 36:04 14:03 14:03

Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 (Individual Exports) DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4
Color Correction Only 00:54 02:26 00:50 00:52
CC +  NR, Sharpening, Grain 10:07 28:15 08:04 07:56

Benchmarks

  • Blackmagic RAW Speed Test:
    • 8K CPU – 52fps
    • 8K CUDA – 75fps
  • Blender – Gooseberry: 08:24.46
  • Cinebench R23:
    • CPU (multi-core) – 20840pts
    • CPU (single-core) – 1975pts
    • MP Ratio – 10.55x
  • Corona 1.3 Benchmark:
    • Render Time: 00:01:17
    • Rays/sec: 6,258,630
  • Neat Video – Neat Bench:
    • Best combination: GPU-only 11.2fps
  • OctaneBench 2020.1.5:
    • Score: 386.52
  • PugetBench:
    • PugetBench for After Effects (0.95.7 – After Effects: 23.2.1×3)
      • Overall score: 864
      • Multi-score: 144.5
      • GPU score: 62
      • RAM preview score: 87.3
      • Render score: 79
      • Tracking score: 99.4
    • PugetBench for Premiere Pro (0.95.7 – Premiere Pro 23.2.0)
      • Extended overall score: 732
      • Standard overall score: 840
      • Extended export score: 73.5
      • Extended live playback score: 81
      • Standard export score: 77.1
      • Standard live playback score: 109.9
      • Effects score: 65
      • GPU score: 70.5
    • PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve (0.93.1 – Resolve Studio 18.1.4)
      • Extended overall score: 1598
      • Standard overall score: 1803
      • 4K media score: 118
      • 8K media score: 98
      • GPU effects score: 93
      • Fusion score: 330
    • RealBench 2.56:
      • Image editing: 119,995
        • Time: 44.4018
      • Encoding: 278,760
        • Time: 19.1132
      • OpenCL: 276,627
        • KSamples/sec: 50916
      • Heavy multitasking: 154,708
        • Time: 49.3316
      • System score: 207,522
    • V-Ray:
      • V-Ray vsamples: 13539
      • V-Ray GPU CUDA vpaths: 1257
      • V-Ray GPU RTX vrays: 1657

These benchmarks all have different purposes and mean much more if you head over to their result postings. Puget Systems has a great benchmark and results page where you can compare systems like the Lenovo P360 Ultra.

For the last test, I ran media through the Blackmagic Proxy Generator:

Sony a7iii UHD (3840×2160) MP4 master files

  • Proxies: H.265/10-bit 1080p – 46 files
    • 125fps

Red RAW – various resolutions

  • Proxies: H.265/10-bit 1080p – 2 files
    • 17fps

These speeds are pretty good considering how compact the Lenovo P360 Ultra workstation is. For comparison, a desktop system using an Nvidia RTX 4070ti was processing the Sony files at 166fps and the Red RAW files at 28fps

Improvements?
What would I like to see improved? Once I get going in Resolve with transcoding, rendering or even just playing back effects, the fans start to hum. If you like to keep your workstation close by, you will definitely notice the fans kick into high gear. Not a deal-breaker, but it is something to be aware of.

One way to get around a bulky internal power supply is to use a laptop-style power brick. The P360 Ultra has a rather large power brick — it measures 9.3 inches by 5.6 inches by 2.1 inches and weighs about 1.3lbs. I would love to see that shrink down to a more manageable size somehow.

Summing Up
In the end, the Lenovo P360 Ultra is a compact-size powerhouse. With the Nvidia RTX A5000 mobile GPU, which supports up to eight independent displays to the 12th Gen Intel i9-12900 vPro processor, the Lenovo P360 Ultra has the power to handle most midlevel requests from a video editor or colorist. It makes a great assistant editor station that can double as a backup in case your main system goes down.

And I mention this in all my workstation reviews: The term “workstation” is not just an adjective to describe a highly powered system. Lenovo-powered workstations are military-grade-tested (MIL-STD-810H) computer systems, with each component tested against industry-leading software like Adobe’s Premiere Pro and After Effects and Avid’s Media Composer to ensure rock-solid driver compatibility.

In addition, Lenovo’s included Commercial Vantage software helps keep your workstation’s drivers and hardware up to date with the latest versions that ensure little downtime.

And you can check out my other recent Lenovo review here: Previously, I have reviewed their monster workstations, the Lenovo P620 Gen 2.

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop . He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.

Review: Apple’s Mac Mini With M2 Pro

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By Brady Betzel

The Mac Mini with M2 Pro continues Apple’s tradition of ultrasharp design, top-end components and nearly silent cooling for a cost of $2,299. If you’re looking for a powerful computer for multimedia content creation, then the Mac Mini with M2 Pro is worthy of consideration.

The Mac Mini with M2 Pro computer I received for review contains the highest level components available for the Mac Mini line of systems, except for the internal 1TB SSD drive. You can upgrade the internal SSD up to 8TB for an extra $2,200.

Here are the rest of the Mac Mini components for this system:

CPU Apple M2 Pro with 12‑core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
Memory 32GB unified memory
GPU Apple M2 Pro – 12 Cores
Neural Engine 16-core
Network Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)

10 Gigabit Ethernet
Storage 1TB SSD
I/O Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, two USB‑A ports, headphone jack
OS macOS Ventura 13.3.1

The Mac Mini measures just 7.75 inches by 7.75 inches by 1.41 inches and weighs just 2.8lbs. The Mac Mini truly lives up to its name with its compact form factor, making it a truly mobile desktop solution. The Mac Mini will not be replacing any Mac Pros or Mac Studios at the moment, but it is a great compromise of cost versus utility.

The Mac Mini with M2 Pro works great in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects thanks to the added Media Engine processing. Whether you want to work with interframe video codecs like H.264 or intraframe codecs like ProRes or DNxHR, the Mac Mini seems to be able to work fluidly between either type. In the past, I would always tell video editors to transcode to an intraframe codec like DNxHR because of how much less power these codec types require when compared to interframe codecs. The new M2-based Mac systems are starting to lessen the need for intraframe files, which saves time in transcoding, which translates to money savings.

Similar to the MacBook Pro testing, I used DaVinci Resolve 18.1.4 and Premiere Pro 23.2 to measure the Mac Mini’s real-world performance. I used a one-minute-long UHD (3840×2160) sequence in multiple versions — one with just color correction, one with color correction and any built-in noise reduction plugins, and one using the third-party Neat Video noise reduction plugin to really push the GPU’s power. For comparison to a Window-based PC, I have done the same tests on workstations, new GPUs and more, like the Lenovo P360 Ultra.

The clips include:

  • ARRI RAW: 3840×2160 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • ARRI RAW: 4448×1856 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • BMD RAW: 6144×3456 24fps – 15 seconds
  • Red RAW: 6144×3072 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Red RAW: 6144×3160 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Sony a7siii: 3840×2160 23.976fps – 15 seconds
Resolve 18 Exports DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4 IMF
Color Correction Only 01:03 01:03 00:52 00:47 01:50
CC + Resolve Noise Reduction 05:14 05:15 05:23 05:23 05:15
CC, Resolve NR, Sharpening, Grain 07:18 07:17 07:24 07:24 07:17
CC + Neat Video Noise Reduction 05:01 05:00 04:59 04:58 05:20

In comparison to the MacBook Pro with M2 Max, the Mac Mini with M2 Pro churns out the same exports at almost double the time. The price of the MacBook Pro is about double the Mac Mini, so double the time to export makes sense. The times in the Resolve tests reflect exports from camera-native media, like R3D and ARRI RAW. I then did a similar test in Premiere Pro:

Premiere Pro 2023 (Simultaneous Exports) DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4
Color Correction Only 02:49 03:39 03:42 03:46
CC +  NR, Sharpening, Grain 01:07:57 01:51:17 01:51:20 02:08:38

Premiere Pro 2023 (Individual Exports) DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4
Color Correction Only 01:30 01:15 1:01 01:26
CC +  NR, Sharpening, Grain 47:10 1:12:16 1:12:13 1:13:00

Premiere Pro runs decently on the Mac Mini with M2 Pro. It’s not a powerhouse, but it also didn’t take a dive when I loaded it with noise reduction and sharpening. This is also why you will want at least 32GB of unified memory if you can afford it. Oddly enough, some of the Adobe Premiere Pro exports that ran one export at a time (as opposed to four exports simultaneously) exported at similar speeds as the MacBook Pro with M2 Ultra, while some did not. I also ran the Mac Mini with M2 Pro through various benchmarks:

Benchmarks
PugetBench Premiere Pro 0.95.7, Premiere Pro 23.2.0

  • Extended Overall Score: 768
  • Standard Overall Score: 876
  • Extended Export Score: 74.6
  • Extended Live Playback Score: 79.2
  • Standard Export Score: 93
  • Standard Live Playback Score: 93,3
  • Effects Score: 76.5
  • GPU Score: 39.7

PugetBench After Effects 0.95.7, After Effects 23.3×53

  • Overall Score: 1147
  • Multi-Core Score: 115.3
  • GPU Score: 65.2
  • RAM Preview Score: 108.6
  • Render Score: 107.3
  • Tracking Score: 141.8

Blackmagic Design Disk Speed Test: Write – 4350.7MB/s, Read – 5039.5MB/s

Blackmagic Design RAW Speed Test: 8K CPU 43fps, 8K METAL 167fps

Blender:

  • Gooseberry Benchmark: 13:01.44
  • Blender Benchmark CPU:
    • Monster: 125.169231
    • Junkshop: 75.574606
    • Classroom: 54.487366
  • Blender Benchmark GPU:
    • Monster: 488.154435
    • Junkshop: 257.997748
    • Classroom: 236.379018

Cinebench R23: CPU (Multicore) – 14591 pts, CPU (Single-Core) – 1649 pts, MP Ratio 8.85x

Corona 1.3: Render Time – 0:01:56, Rays/sec – 4,176,920

Neat Video Neat Bench:

  • HD (1920×1080) Best Combination: GPU only – 35.6 frames/sec
  • UHD (3840×2160) Best Combination: CPU (12 cores) and GPU – 8.86 frames/sec

V-Ray 5.0.2 Benchmark:

  • V-RAY: 9632 vsamples
  • V-RAY GPU CUDA: 286 vpaths

For the last test, I ran media through the Blackmagic Proxy Generator:

Sony a7iii UHD (3840×2160) .mp4 Master Files

  • Proxies: H.265/10-bit 1080p – 46 files
    • 182fps

Red RAW – various resolutions

  • Proxies: H.265/10-bit 1080p – two files
    • 12fps

Summing Up
At $2,299, the Mac Mini with M2 Pro is a great middle of-the-road multimedia creation station. You can still work smoothly with camera-native video codecs in major nonlinear editing apps like Resolve and Premiere. And if you are concerned about good product design and sharp, modern aesthetics, the Mac Mini is a great piece to leave on your desk.

Additionally, Apple continues to deliver the most silent computer systems on the market without losing power and without sacrificing connections. Check out the new Mac Mini at www.apple.com.

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop . He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.

Lenovo Adds Tower and Mobile Workstations for Hybrid Work

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Lenovo has introduced its latest ThinkStation and ThinkPad workstations. Users can configure systems that include the latest components, such as 13th Generation Intel Core processors and professional Nvidia RTX GPUs. They support the latest operating systems, including Windows 11 and several distributions of Linux.

An all-new tower form factor targets designers and engineers. The ThinkStation P3 Tower, with its expanded chassis, supports larger power supplies up to 1100W to handle more demanding configurations and multiple storage options up to 26TB for data-heavy applications. ThinkStation P3 Ultra offers power and performance in a space-saving chassis that is less than 4 liters in volume. The compact P3 Ultra is designed to handle demanding workflows and easily adapt to changing hybrid workspaces. ThinkStation P3 Tiny is engineered to go where other workstations can’t.

The latest ThinkPad P Series mobile workstation models are designed for hybrid work and feature high levels of power and performance, allowing users to do more from any location. ThinkPad P14s i Gen 4 and P16s i Gen 2 target mobile pros who need a mix of performance and power at an affordable price.

According to Lenovo, ThinkPad P16v i is designed to close the gap between entry-level and high-end workstations. Made for content creators who require more power to handle large workloads and multitask easily, it includes Intel Core H-Series processors, advanced graphics and the latest security features to protect data and identity.

Lenovo offers high-end mobile workstation performance in the ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 and ThinkPad P1 Gen 6 workstations, allowing users to do complex workflows such as high-definition rendering and high-end VR on the go. The P16 Gen 2’s performance approaches that of some desktop workstations, with the highest class mobile CPUs, pro Nvidia RTX GPUs and Lenovo’s highest ever memory capacity in a mobile workstation (as much as 192GB). ThinkPad P1, now in its sixth generation, focuses on producing top performance in a thin and light form factor.

Review: Apple’s MacBook Pro M2 Max

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By Brady Betzel

The 2023 Apple MacBook Pro M2 Max is another step up in Apple’s goal to dominate the content creation market. At this point most multimedia applications are compatible with the new M2 processing chips, and if they aren’t, they probably aren’t being used on Macs anyway.

The latest 16.2-inch MacBook Pro is a beautifully constructed, albeit non-upgradable, mobile powerhouse of a computer. Does upgradability matter to most users? Probably not. I harp on it a lot in my reviews, but to be honest, the MacBook Pros of the last couple years are undeniably in the top three of mobile computers for professional power users. Whether you color correct in Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve, edit in Apple’s own FCPX, or roundtrip between Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro, the MacBook Pro M2 Max is one of the fastest mobile multimedia systems you can purchase.

Now that I’ve bloviated to the max, here are the specs of the MacBook Pro M2 Max I was sent for testing:

CPU Apple M2 Max – 12 Cores (8 performance, 4 efficiency)
Memory 64 GB – LPDDR5
GPU Apple M2 Max – 38 cores
Neural Engine 16-core
Network Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Display 16.2” Liquid Retina XDR 3456×2234

●    1,000,000 x1 contrast ratio

●    XDR brightness: 1000 nits sustained full-screen, 1600-nits peak (HDR content only)

●    SDR brightness: 500 nits
Storage 2TB SSD
I/O 3-Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
OS macOS Ventura 13.2
Battery 100-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
Charging 140W USB-C power adapter – fast charging

At the time of this review, this configuration retails for $4,299 and ships within 10 days. While the specs of the MacBook Pro are workstation-level, technically it is not a workstation, which can be a problem for enterprise purchasers. To be labeled an actual capital-W “Workstation,” manufacturers must test their hardware configurations against professional software apps like Avid Media Composer, Resolve, After Effects and more. Companies like Lenovo and HP certify their hardware and software to work with minimal interruptions when working 24/7/365 through a system called “ISV,” aka independent software vendors.

If you are a die-hard Windows-based PC user, the MacBook Pro is an easy transition, except for the “command” button being in a different position than the “control” key. Once you get past that, you probably will never look back. But let us get to the testing results.

Up first is some real-world export testing inside Resolve 18.1.4 and Premiere Pro 23.2. In both Adobe Premiere Pro and Resolve, I use multiple timelines to test the systems. In Premiere Pro I use two timelines. One is for basic color correction, and the other is for the same basic color correction as the first sequence plus Premiere Pro’s noise reduction, sharpening and grain.

In Resolve I use four timelines: 1) basic color correction; 2) the same basic color correction as the first sequence as well as Resolve’s built-in noise reduction; 3) basic color correction plus Resolve’s built-in noise reduction, sharpening and grain; 4) basic color correction and Neat Video noise reduction. All timelines are one minute long and UHD (3840×2160) resolution.

For comparison, I have done the same tests on workstations, and new GPUs. Here is an example: my Lenovo P620 Ultra review.

The clips include:

  • ARRIRAW: 3840×2160 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • ARRIRAW: 4448×1856 24fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • BMD RAW: 6144×3456 24fps – 15 seconds
  • Red RAW: 6144×3072 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Red RAW: 6144×3160 23.976fps – 7 seconds, 12 frames
  • Sony a7siii: 3840×2160 23.976fps – 15 seconds
Resolve 18 Exports DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4 IMF
Color correction only 01:02 01:02 00:44 00:41 01:49
CC + Resolve noise reduction 02:46 02:47 02:46 02:45 02:52
CC, Resolve noise reduction, sharpening, grain 03:40 03:39 03:41 03:41 03:43
CC + Neat Video noise reduction 03:50 03:47 03:48 03:49 04:05

In comparison to the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 Desktop Workstation with Nvidia RTX A6000, the export times are not that far off — which is pretty crazy considering the Lenovo workstation retails for over $16,000. Obviously, improved efficiency in software updates is something to keep in mind when comparing numbers, but still — very similar times.

Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 (Simultaneous Exports) DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4
Color Correction Only 03:51 04:23 05:30 05;15
CC + noise reduction, sharpening, grain 31:19 01:20:34 31:32 31:32

 

Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 (individual exports) DNxHR 444 10-bit .mxf DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov H.264 .mp4 H.265 .mp4
Color correction only 01:42 01:38 1:35 02:14
CC + noise reduction, sharpening, grain 26:00 1:12:31 1:12:32 1:18:47

Premiere Pro seems to have a much harder time rendering out files with anything but standard color correction. Funnily enough, the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 wouldn’t even finish the exports, so I think Adobe is slowly improving its export process. I wouldn’t really judge the speed of the MacBook Pro by the Premiere Pro testing unless you use Premiere Pro exclusively for exports with lots of plugins. But for some more accurate benchmarks, I ran the MacBook Pro through its paces:

Benchmarks:

PugetBench Premiere Pro 0.95.7, Premiere Pro 23.2.0

  • Extended overall score: 1064
  • Standard overall score: 1236
  • Extended export score: 102.1
  • Extended live playback score: 123.3
  • Standard export score: 118.2
  • Standard live playback score: 158.7
  • Effects score: 93.9
  • GPU score: 66.8

PugetBench After Effects 0.95.7, After Effects 23.3×53

  • Overall score: 1324
  • Multi-core score: 125
  • GPU score: 117.5
  • RAM preview score: 132.4
  • Render score: 125.9
  • Tracking score: 145.2

Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test: Write: 6550MB/s – Read: 5301.1 MB/s

Blackmagic RAW Speed Test: 8K CPU 44fps, 8K Metal 223fps

Blender:

  • Gooseberry Benchmark: 12:52.03
  • Blender Benchmark CPU:
    • Monster: 126.285481
    • Junkshop: 73.637424
    • Classroom: 54.662429
  • Blender Benchmark GPU:
    • Monster: 954.130445
    • Junkshop: 508.410669
    • Classroom: 461.035816

Cinebench R23: CPU (multi-core): 14809 pts, CPU (single core): 1646 pts, MP ratio 8.99x

Corona 1.3: Render Time: 0:01:57, Rays/sec: 4,142,990

Neat Video Neat Bench:

  • HD (1920×1080) best combination: GPU-only 41.1 frames/sec
  • UHD (3840×2160) Best combination: CPU (11 cores) and GPU – 12 frames/sec

V-Ray 5.0.2 Benchmark:

  • V-Ray: 9477 vsamples
  • V-Ray GPU CUDA: 287 vpaths

For the last test, I ran media through the Blackmagic Proxy Generator:

Sony a7s iiiUHD (3840×2160) .mp4 master files

  • Proxies: H.265/10-bit 1080p – 46 files
    • 165fps

Red RAW – various resolutions

  • Proxies: H.265/10-bit 1080p – two files
    • 11fps

Summing Up

In the end, the updated MacBook Pro with M2 Max is a sleek and powerful mobile content creation system. I ran about 80% of my tests on just the battery in High Power Mode with mixed results, but on average I was getting three to four hours of heavy work on a single charge. A full charge took about 1.5 hours, which is really fast.

If you’re looking for an upgrade to your current MacBook Pro or are thinking about switching from a Windows-based laptop, you will quickly realize what a great system this is. The only feature that bugs me every time I look at it — and I know I’m nitpicking here — is the black notch where the cameras are. Other than that, the keyboard is great, the trackpad is accurate and the MacBook itself is easy to carry. Having access to three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card reader and a headphone/microphone jack without an adapter is a big relief if you are coming from previous MacBook Pro models that required dongles.

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop . He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.

Nvidia’s GTC 2023 – New GPUs and AI Acceleration

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By Mike McCarthy

This week, Nvidia held its GTC conference and made several interesting announcements. Most relevant in the M&E space are the new Ada Lovelace-based GPUs. To accompany the existing RTX 6000, there is now a new RTX 4000 small form factor and five new mobile GPUs offering various levels of performance and power usage.

New Mobile GPUs
The new mobile options all offer performance improvements that exceed the next higher tier in the previous generation. This means the new RTX 2000 Ada is as fast as the previous A3000, the new RTX 4000 Ada exceeds the previous top-end A5500, and the new mobile RTX 5000 Ada chip with 9,728 CUDA cores and 42 teraflops of single-precision compute performance should outperform the previous A6000 desktop card or the GeForce 3090 Ti. If true, that is pretty impressive, although there’s no word yet on battery life.

New Desktop GPU
The new RTX 4000 small-form-factor Ada takes the performance of the previous A4000 GPU, ups the memory buffer to 20GB and fits it into the form factor of the previous A2000 card, which is a low-profile, dual-slot PCIe card that only uses the 75 watts from the PCIe bus. This allows it to be installed in small-form-factor PCs or in 2U servers that don’t have the full-height slots or PCIe power connectors that most powerful GPUs require. Strangely, it is lower-performing, at least on paper, than the new mobile 4000, with 20% fewer cores and 40% lower peak performance (if the specs I was given are correct). This is possibly due to power limitations of the 75W PCIe bus slot.

The naming conventions across the various product lines continue to get more confusing and less informative, which I am never a fan of.  My recommendation is to call them the Ada 19 or Ada 42 based on the peak teraflops. That way it is easy to see how they compare, even over generations against the Turing 8 or the Ampere 24. This should work at least for the next four to five generations until we reach petaflops, when the numbering will need to be reset again.

New Server Chips
There are also new announcements targeted at supercomputing and data centers. The Hopper GPU is focused on AI and large language model acceleration, usually installed in sets of 8 SXM modules in a DGX server. Also, Nvidia’s previously announced Grace CPU Superchip is in production as its new ARM-based CPU. Nvidia offers these chips as dual-CPU processing boards or combined as an integrated Grace-Hopper Superchip, with shared interface bus and memory between the CPU and GPU. The new Apple Silicon processors use the same unified memory approach.

There are also new PCIe-based accelerator cards, starting with the H100 NVL, which has Hopper architecture in a PCIe card offering 94GB of memory for transformation processing.  “Transformation” is the “T” in ChatGPT, by the way. There are also Lovelace architecture-based options, including the single-slot L4 for AI video processing and the dual-slot L40 for generative AI content generation.

Four of these L40 cards are included in the new OVX-3 servers, designed for hosting and streaming Omniverse data and applications. These new servers from various vendors will have options for either Intel Sapphire Rapids- or AMD Genoa-based platforms and will include the new BlueField-3 DPU cards and ConnectX-7 NICs. They will be also available in a predesigned Superpod of 64 servers and a Spectrum-3 switch for companies that have a lot of 3D assets to deal with.

Omniverse Updates
On the software side, Omniverse has a variety of new applications that support its popular USD data format for easier interchange, and it now supports the real-time, raytraced, subsurface scattering shader (maybe, RTRTSSSS for short?) for more realistic surfaces. Nvidia is also partnering closely with Microsoft to bring Omniverse to Azure and to MS 365, which will allow Microsoft Teams users to collaboratively explore 3D worlds together during meetings.

Generative AI
Nvidia Picasso — which uses generative AI to convert text into images, videos or 3D objects — is now available to developers like Adobe. So in the very near future, we will reach a point where we can no longer trust the authenticity of any image or video that we see online. It is not difficult to see where that might lead us. One way or another, it will be much easier to add artificial elements to images, videos and 3D models. Maybe I will finally get into Omniverse myself when I can just tell it what I have in mind, and it creates a full-3D world for me. Or maybe if I need it to just add a helicopter into my footage for a VFX shot with the right speed and perspective. That would be helpful.

Some of the new AI developments are concerning from a certain perspective, but hopefully these new technologies can be harnessed to effectively improve our working experience and our final output. Nvidia’s products are definitely accelerating the development and implementation of AI across the board.

Mike McCarthy is a technology consultant with extensive experience in the film post production. He started posting technology info and analysis at HD4PC in 2007. He broadened his focus with TechWithMikeFirst 15 years later.

Lenovo ThinkStations Updated: Aston Martin Design and Intel, Nvidia Tech

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Starting in May, Lenovo will offer the new ThinkStation PX, P7 and P5 workstations, a trio of what the company says are the most technologically advanced desktop workstations it has ever built. Redesigned to exceed today’s most extreme, high-computing workloads across industries, these new workstations contain the latest processor technology from Intel, with up to 120 cores and support for high-end Nvidia RTX professional GPUs.

Additionally, the new workstations boast new chassis designs and advanced thermals as well as BMC capabilities for streamlined remote system monitoring. From virtual reality and mixed reality experiences and virtual production to machine learning, data science, computer-aided engineering (CAE), reality capture and AI, these workstations meet the ever-increasing demands for more power, performance and speed in a scalable and future-proofed way for this new hybrid-work world.

Lenovo collaborated with its customer Aston Martin — the high-performance, luxury automotive manufacturer — to co-design the new ThinkStation chassis. In line with Aston Martin’s design philosophy, the goal was to reflect Lenovo’s red design language, provide the highest possible performance and enable enhanced levels of customization. Designers from Lenovo and Aston Martin crafted the ultimate performance machines, including a new tool-less chassis design that allows extreme flexibility and enhanced ergonomics.

For maximum performance, the team applied design insights from the high-performance automotive segment. The chassis’ 3D grill is inspired by Aston Martin’s DBS grand tourer. Redesigned air baffles and larger 3D hex ventilation openings, along with Lenovo’s patented trichannel cooling system, allow for unobstructed airflow – ensuring maximum cold air intake and hot air exhaust. As a result, the chassis maximizes performance of CPUs, GPUs, memory and storage. Also, all three of the new workstations have a modular design with front-access drives for easy serviceability and upgrade flexibility.

Lenovo ThinkStation PX: Desktop-to-Data Center
At the high end of the trio, the Lenovo ThinkStation PX reaches high levels of power and performance while supporting more cores and expandability than previous generations of Lenovo workstations. The ThinkStation PX is rack-optimized and provides the flexibility needed for both desktop, data center environments, enabling a seamless transition between the two. It’s also well suited for virtual production workflows.

Powered by the latest 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, it offers up to 120 CPU cores and what Lenovo says is a 53% average performance gain over the prior generation. The ThinkStation PX also supports up to four dual-slot Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs so users can manage the most complex workflows found in today’s work environments, including creative finishing. With up to 4TB of DDR5 memory and ultra-fast bandwidth through PCIe Gen 5 lanes, the ThinkStation PX provides flexibility for multi-user virtualization in hybrid workflow environments — whether in the data center or in carpet clusters under the desktop. Finally, this workstation offers an efficient 1850W PSU and optional redundant power supplies.

Lenovo ThinkStation P7: Single-Socket
The ThinkStation P7 features a new compute architecture with the latest Intel Xeon W processors. It supports up to 56 cores in a single socket, delivering the power to tackle compute-intensive, multi-threaded tasks. Designed to exceed the most rigorous performance and reliability challenges of workloads that typically relied on servers or cloud resources in the past, the ThinkStation P7 is also rack-optimized for use in a variety of desktop and data center environments in a 4U enclosure. With support for up to three dual-slot Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs, the ThinkStation P7 works for content creators, designers, engineers and data scientists who require unprecedented graphics, visualization, real-time rendering, CAE and AI performance.

Lenovo ThinkStation P5: Versatility and Performance
A workhorse of a desktop workstation, the ThinkStation P5 has been redesigned to satisfy demand for higher levels of performance, IT expandability and ease of management in the enterprise. The workstation features a newly designed chassis, the latest Intel Xeon W processors (which offer up to 24 cores) and support for up to two Nvidia RTX A6000 professional graphics cards. High-speed DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 5 bandwidth deliver extreme configurability. Optimized for designers, engineers and creatives, this workstation shines in solid modeling and compute-intensive tasks including BIM, complex 3D CAD, reality capture and geospatial visualization, visual effects and edge deployments.

The ThinkStation PX, P7 and P5 workstations provide essential enterprise-grade features and security and include ThinkStation Diagnostics 2.0, ThinkShield support, upgrades to Premier Support and a three-year warranty.

Intel’s Sapphire Rapids CPU Tech Coming to Workstations

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By Mike McCarthy

After many years without a significant update to most major workstation offerings, we are finally seeing new technology about to hit the market. Intel’s recently released Sapphire Rapids server CPU technology, built on the “Intel 7” process, forms the basis for its new Sapphire Rapids workstation platform. These processors come in two tiers, the Xeon W-2400 processors with quad-channel DDR5 memory and up to 24 cores, and the Xeon W-3400 processors with 8-channel DDR5 memory and up to 56 cores.

The W-2400 Series
In my opinion, the Xeon W-2400 tier of processors is the most significant news, as it replaces the Core X line of products on the old X299 platform, which was originally introduced in 2017.  It maintains the existing quad-channel interface of the HEDT-class systems, but with the newer DDR5 technology. And it upgrades the PCIe interface two steps, from 3.0 to 5.0, quadrupling the bandwidth per lane and increasing the lane count to 64 total.

With AMD retiring its standard Threadripper line last year, this gives Intel the decisive upper hand in the HEDT market for the foreseeable future. AMD’s closest competitors are the Ryzen CPUs, which have up to 16 cores but are limited to dual-channel memory and have much less PCIe bandwidth. While Intel’s 13th generation Raptor Lake consumer CPUs also have 24 cores, they only have eight “performance cores,” while the rest are smaller “efficiency cores.”

The 24 cores in the W7-2495X are all performance cores, giving it 3x as many as the 13900K for roughly triple the price. The prices throughout the new lineup are relatively linearly consistent at about $80-90 per core. I feel like it used to be cheaper to buy in bulk a decade ago, in that a quad-core CPU didn’t cost twice as much as a dual-core, but then recently the higher core counts started coming at a steep premium. So I suppose linear scaling of price and core count seems fair.

The W-3400 Series
The Xeon W-3400 processors are also a welcome step forward, but it’s a smaller jump from existing offerings than the W-2400 series is. That’s because, with an intermediate W-3300 series released just over a year ago, this class of system already had more current options available.

I reviewed Boxx’s Apexx Matterhorn system just over a year ago, which is based on the Xeon W-3300 Ice Lake processors. The max core count with the new Xeon W-3400 chips jumps from 38 to 56. The DDR and PCIe bandwidths both bump up to 5th generation. And the PCIe lane count increases from 64 to 112.  These products directly compete with AMDs Threadripper Pro architecture, which supports eight channels of DDR4 memory and 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 bandwidth.

We will have to wait until we have performance reviews before we will know how the new 3400 series chips compare to existing choices in the market. But Intel did provide some relative performance estimates compared to previous generations, and the biggest gains are anticipated in the area of 3D, as that is one of the most multithreaded and CPU-limited tasks. Editing is more I/O-based, so the gains for those users will be more about system bandwidth and component support than render time.

Sapphire Rapids

The W-3400 CPUs are priced at about $100 per core, slightly more expensive due to the multi-chip packaging and the extra memory and system bandwidth. While there is a 56-core model — the W9-3495X with a 350W power envelope — it will not be available via retail. DIY builders will be limited to 36 cores in the W9-3475X, rated at 300W. I recall there were performance issues in certain applications when exceeding 32 cores with Ice Lake (W-3300) systems, leading to better performance with the 32-core model than the 38-core option. It will be interesting to see how the CPUs that exceed 32 cores will fare in different applications this time around.

Both tiers are now divided into performance levels: W3, W5, W7 and W9. These roughly correspond to the existing “core” lineups (i3, i,5, i7 and i9), which many users will be familiar with on the consumer side of the market. W3 has single-digit core counts and DDR5-4400 memory. Moving to a W5–class chip jumps to double-digit cores and DDR5-4800 memory. W7 indicates core counts in the 20s, and W9 is for chips above that.

Sapphire Rapids

All of the new Sapphire Rapids CPUs will fit into the same LGA 4677 socket on new W790 chipset motherboards. The chipset supports up to 16 DIMM channels and eight SATA ports for hard drives, as well as 2.5GbE and Wi-Fi 6E. While the 2400 CPUs are based on a monolithic die, the higher core counts on the 3400 CPUs are made possible by linking together multiple separate chiplets with Intel’s new Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB). This process should allow scaling to even higher core counts in single large sockets in the future.

One feature that is missing from these new processors (and nearly all existing Xeons) is Intel’s Quick Sync media accelerator. This is what allows hardware encode and decode of HEVC and other video codecs on consumer systems. I am told that these CPUs are fast enough to do that with dedicated accelerators. And workstations usually have discrete GPUs, which also offer similar hardware acceleration now in many applications. So while that could have been a significant consideration for video editors two years ago, it shouldn’t make much difference now, especially when paired to a modern GPU.

HP Z Workstations
Some of the first systems to use these new technologies are HP’s soon-to-be-refreshed Z workstations. The Z4 Gen5 will be based on the 2400 series CPUs, offering up to 24 CPU cores, 512GB RAM and up to two full-sized GPUs. This is a serious step up from the existing peak of 18 cores and 44 PCIe 3.0 lanes. The Z6 line is getting a big change in that instead of being based on the server-level Xeon Scalable CPUs with support for a second CPU socket, the Z6 is now based on the single-socket 3400 architecture. And in a move I predicted last year, The Z8 Fury has gone away from dual-socket systems and now has a similar single-socket architecture.

For those who are convinced they need dual-socket performance, there will also be a “traditional” Z8 G5 variant with dual sockets, presumably based on the Sapphire Rapids dual-socket server architecture. But I expect there to be a rapidly diminishing number of customers as culture catches up with technology. (Dual-socket workstations will no longer be a status symbol when there are 100-plus-core CPUs in single-socket systems.)

In this case the Fury variant is clearly the top option, even with a single socket supporting twice the RAM and GPU expansion. It also offers a unique dual power supply system that can be used redundantly for uninterrupted operation, or in aggregate mode, to support high-power-draw configurations, such as quad GPUs.

Sapphire Rapids HP Anywhere
HP advertises that the systems are optimized for Windows 11 Pro for Workstations, but the underlying hardware from Intel should fully support Windows 10 as well. The new HP systems will all have support for Thunderbolt 4 and the option of adding dual-10GbE interfaces. They will also fully support HP’s newest remote administration hardware, the HP Anywhere Remote System Controller. Available as either a PCIe card or an external box, it allows remote system control, out-of-band access, full control of system power, access to the BIOS and other deep-system access. This should help larger organizations better manage the workstations its remote workers are using, similar in some ways to how they manage their servers. The new hardware products will be compatible with older (and even non-HP) systems, but with a subset of functions because its access to the system won’t be as deep.

Sapphire Rapids

Another new feature of HP’s workstations is the option for front-mounted, hot-swappable, M.2-based NVMe drives. With up to four lockable bays, it can hold a vast amount of high-speed media storage, assuming money is no object. I do find it amusing that “sneakernet” is still a viable approach in certain cases in the modern world — although HP also pointed out that the other use case for removable drives is locking up your data in a safe at night. Admittedly, there is the potential for transfer workflows getting data from a remote shooting set, but those cases are becoming less frequent as the world becomes more connected.

At this point, Starlink should allow real-time dailies transfer from nearly anywhere in the world. But terabytes of source data get generated on-set these days and will eventually need to make it back to media servers, so removable SSDs can offer a convenient way to do that.

Conclusion
For most users, the extra PCIe bandwidth will go primarily toward NVMe storage and GPU processing. These new systems support more GPUs than previous generations, when dual graphics cards were considered the upper limit for most users. So while consumer GPU usage is going the way of CPU sockets — consolidating to single, powerful products with the demise of Crossfire and SLI — pro users commonly need more than two GPUs. The new HP Z8 systems support up to four full-sized GPUs, but other vendors will surely offer solutions supporting even more GPUs than that for smaller market segments.

One or more of Nvidia’s new Ada-based RTX6000 cards will be the highest end GPU of choice for most power users, but a variety of more budget-friendly Ampere options are also available, as well as some AMD-based options. And users can also configure systems with Nvidia’s ConnectX-6 SmartNICs for improved networking and collaboration support over 25/50GbE.

I have been waiting for the successor to the X299 platform for a long time. I had to replace my own dual-Xeon system last summer and went with an Alder Lake solution because I couldn’t imagine stepping back to PCIe 3.0 SSDs after experiencing smooth, uncompressed 8K playback. Admittedly, that consumer system meets most of my current needs, but a W-2400-based system would have futureproofed me for a long time to come. So I expect that this new architecture will provide a welcome performance boost to many users who have been waiting for faster workstations to become available. I look forward to seeing them hit the market two months from now.

Mike McCarthy is a technology consultant with extensive experience in the film post production. He started posting technology info and analysis at HD4PC in 2007. He broadened his focus with TechWithMikeFirst 10 years later.

 

Intel

Boxx Upgrades Apexx Workstation With 13th Gen Intel Core CPU

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Boxx Technologies has upgraded its entry-level Apexx E3 workstation to include 13th Generation Intel Core i7 and i9 processors. The new CPUs is targeting those working in 3D design, motion media and other pro software applications. Boxx is among the first workstation manufacturers to ship systems equipped with the new processors.

“Intel is making it easier than ever for creators to translate their visions into reality with the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors,” says Intel’s Roger Chandler, VP and GM, Creator and Workstation Solutions, Client Computing Group. “From intensive tasks like CAD and 3D modeling to video editing and game development, Boxx Apexx E3 systems powered by Intel Core processors deliver increased performance and responsiveness for professionals who expect the most out of their systems.”

Intel13th Gen Intel Core i7 and i9 processors featuring performance hybrid architecture are designed to improve hardware and software efficiency and performance with multiple cores and features like Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, 20 total CPU PCIe lanes and up to 36MB Intel Smart Cache.

The new 24-core Intel processor inside the economical Apexx E3 runs up to 5.8GHz max turbo frequency, while the powerful Boxx workstation also includes advanced liquid cooling, 128GB of memory and an Nvidia RTX A2000 GPU. Support for the latest DDR5 provides control over memory configuration, while Thunderbolt 4 support provides simple and fast peripheral connections. Offering high performance at a lower price, Apexx E3 is purpose-built for SolidWorks; Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya and Revit; Adobe Creative Cloud; Cinema 4D; V-Ray; and other applications.

“In a challenging economy, architects, engineers, 3D designers and motion media artists often have to choose price over performance when making computer hardware decisions,” says Bill Leasure, Boxx VP of sales and marketing. “Apexx E3 featuring new 13th Gen Intel Core processors is the perfect solution. It’s a lower-cost workstation that is still a powerful upgrade over their current system and will keep them competitive creatively and solid financially.”