By Brady Betzel

If you are an enterprise-level multimedia user and are looking to purchase a workstation that is not only powerful but easily upgradeable in the future, then the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 workstation might be what you are looking for. From the 64-core, 128-thread AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro CPU to the Nvidia A6000 GPU, the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 has many standout features that will fit into your editing, visual effects and color workflows.

First up are the main Lenovo P620 Gen 2 specs:

Digging In
Just glancing at the CPU, memory and GPU will give you butterflies in your stomach if you haven’t already priced high-level components like these, but the power this machine possesses is truly high-level. And Lenovo doesn’t just rely on these high-level components; it takes the title of “workstation” seriously.

When we talk about enterprise-level computers, they are referred to as workstations, and to earn that workstation title, the manufacturer will run its systems through multiple tests. For laptops, that usually includes crazy things like putting them through a sandstorm. For desktops, that means running them at full force for days on end to see how long it takes to break them.

In addition, Lenovo certifies its hardware through Independent Software Vendor (ISV) collaboration testing. For those of us in the media and entertainment industry, that means matching the hardware against software applications from companies such as Adobe, Avid, Blackmagic and more. You can search for yourself here. Lenovo’s organization of this information is a little odd, but you can find the ISV-certified GPU drivers and whether or not a certain model is certified. Over the years I have wished that companies would improve ISV search, but they haven’t yet. Maybe giving them a call will yield easier-to-decipher ISV results. I would love to see benchmarks and other live data that could help inform decision-making, especially when looking at purchasing workstations over $15,000. But I guess that’s what I’m here for!

Benchmarks
The 64-core/128-thread AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro is a monster of a processor. And when combined with an eye-popping 128GB of RAM and the Nvidia RTX A6000 GPU with 48GB of RAM, it’s fair to say that the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 should chew through almost any multimedia project you can throw at it. I ran a bunch of the usual benchmarks, and here are some of the results:

PugetBench Premiere Pro: Overall Score 1413
PugetBench DaVinci Resolve: Extended Overall Score 1763, Standard Overall Score 1920

PugetBench After Effects: Overall Score 1208

Blender Benchmark CPU – Monster: 558.374238 – Junk Shop: 344.847187 – Classroom: 259.954453

GPU – Monster: 2636.877761 – Junk Shop: 1483.947413 – Classroom: 1284.764265

Blender BMW Render: CPU – 00:32.55 / GPU: 00:34.08

Blender Pavilion Barcelona Render

Blender Barcelona Pavilion Render — CPU: 01:28.88/GPU: 01:29.70

Blender Gooseberry Render (CPU) — 02:24.54

Cinebench R23 – CPU (multicore) — 65836 pts/CPU (single-core): 1461 pts / MP Ratio 45.07

OctaneBench 2020.1.5 – Total Score: 629.64

Cinebench V-Ray GPU CUDA: 1945 vpaths

Cinebench V-Ray GPU RTX: 2549 vrays

NeatBench Best Combination: CPU only (31 cores): 50.8fps

To really put the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 workstation through its multimedia paces, inside of Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve 18, I took clips from different cameras and did a basic color correction in a 3840×2160 timeline. 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

I then added Blackmagic’s Noise Reduction, then added sharpening and grain, and then finally replaced the noise reduction with Neat Video’s noise reduction. From there I exported multiple versions: DNxHR 444 10-bit OP1a .mxf file, DNxHR 444 10-bit .mov, H.264 MP4, H.265 MP4, and then an IMF package using the default settings.

For comparison, you can check out my review of the Dell XPS 17 Creator’s Edition laptop, where I ran similar tests in Resolve 17. While the P620 Gen 2 speeds should blow the XPS 17 out of the water, the most interesting results are the Neat Video export times because they are more than 50% shorter on the P620 Gen 2.

Resolve
The overall takeaway for me while using DaVinci Resolve 18 on the Lenovo P620 Gen 2 is that working in high-resolution media 4K/UHD resolution or above is much more fluid and can allow an editor or colorist to get closer to a true flow state of creativity. In my testing, I turned off any proxy generation or caching to really break the P620 Gen 2. The only time it would start to stutter is when using Red R3D-type files that require debayering to be done in the computer with noise reduction applied. The timeline would run at around 14fps.

My Resolve temporal noise reduction settings were:

1. Frames – 2
2. Estimation Type – Faster
3. Motion Range – Medium
4. Luma – 25
5. Chroma – 25
6. Motion – 50
7. Blend – 0

At the same time, I added spatial noise reduction to really try to break the sequences:

Spatial noise reduction:

1. Mode – Better
2. Radius – Medium
3. Spatial Threshold – 25
4. Chroma – 25
5. Blend – 0

It wasn’t unusable, but obviously you would want to cache the sequence if playing down for a client live. Even when adding sharpening and grain on top of the Resolve noise reduction, I was able to play back at between 12fps and 15fps, depending on what codec the clip was.

Premiere
Inside of Premiere Pro 2023, I ran similar tests using Adobe’s built-in noise reduction, sharpening and grain. During playback it’s a little more difficult to quantify dropped frames, but Premiere Pro played back in real time all the way up until I added sharpening and grain. And while Premiere’s noise reduction isn’t as intensive or effective as Resolve’s or Neat Video’s noise reduction, it still does some work, so playing back in real time on higher-than-UHD-resolution clips is an achievement.

For the export tests, I ran them in Adobe Media Encoder 2023 with similar export settings except for the IMF:

The most impressive feature I noticed was how Adobe Media Encoder 2023 used as much of the Nvidia RTX A6000 power as possible by simultaneously encoding all four exports. Funnily enough, the .mov file was the only one that had double the encoding time. This really shows why .mov files are being required less and less, while .mxf files and H.264/H.265 files are becoming the focus of manufacturers. But I am always a little skeptical about combining encodes, so I ran them individually as well.

Here are those results:

Cost of Build
So what does this specific Lenovo P620 Gen 2 build cost? I was able to build what I think is a matching P620 Gen 2 workstation on lenovo.com for $16,654.68, including a three-year, next business day, on-site repairs package. This includes free shipping, and Lenovo says it will ship within eight to 10 days. Is that expensive? Yes and no.

If you built a somewhat similar Mac Pro tower, you’d be looking at over $18,799 without the Afterburner card. If you went with the highest end Mac Studio with M1 Ultra chip and 128GB of unified memory, you are looking at $6,199. In my opinion, the Mac Studio isn’t really comparable, even though I know some will compare the two. They both serve somewhat different purposes and have different future upgradability.

The real comparison would be between Lenovo, HP and Dell. A similar HP Z8 G4 system, but with an Intel Xeon Gold 28 core processor, added up to $14,133.60. The core count difference between the Threadripper Pro and Intel Xeon Gold is significant, and, depending on how your apps work with multiple cores, might be the difference you are looking for. The only downside was that HP’s expected shipping date was over 45 days away.

Dell, on the other hand, has the Precision 7865 with almost identical specifications priced at $15,836.42, but it ships in approximately 52 days. So depending on which way the wind blows or which brand you prefer to deal with, Lenovo and Dell have similar offerings, complete with the monster 64-core Threadripper and Nvidia RTX A6000.

Summing Up
The Lenovo P620 Gen 2 has been a flawless machine during my testing. To really push systems like this to the max, I run crypto-mining benchmarks for hours to see if the systems will overheat and shut down while the CPU and GPU run at almost 100% power. The Lenovo P620 Gen 2 stayed up and running without hesitation. Just be careful when putting your hand behind the exhaust fan because it blows out heat when running the system so high.

If you’re looking for an insanely powerful workstation with the backing of a major brand name like Lenovo, then you should head over to Lenovo’s website and find out what version is right for you.

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 PGA. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.