The Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra is a new and unique form factor for Lenovo, being a workstation that’s about half the size of a typical small form factor (SFF) machine. It’s closer to something like HP’s Z2 Mini, but it can actually go a bit further in terms of performance. Despite its compact size, it’s packing up to 125W processors and powerful Nvidia graphics, and it’s designed to be easy to get inside it, so you can always upgrade things like the memory, storage, or CPU.
I’m a fan of this machine. The compact size makes it really easy to fit into a limited workspace like mine, but it still packs quite a lot of power and a solid supply of ports. If you need a machine for heavier workloads like video or 3D rendering without having it take up a lot of space on your desk, this is a good option, and it’s priced very competitively.
- The Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra is a compact 3.9-liter workstation with powerful Intel CPUs and Nvidia RTX graphics.
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Navigate this review:
- Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra: Pricing and availability
- Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra: Specs
- Design and ports: It’s perfect for small desks
- Performance: It’s fast, but not mind-blowing
- Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra?
Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra: Pricing and availability
- The Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra is available directly from Lenovo starting at $1,299 MSRP
Lenovo launched the ThinkStation P360 Ultra in June, and it came at a starting price of $1,299, which is very reasonable for this kind of machine. My configuration is significantly more advanced than the base model, and it’s priced at $2,833.95 at B&H Photo. Lenovo is almost always running some kind of sale on its website, though so you’re likely to find it for less than that. This specific configuration isn’t yet available on Lenovo’s website, but you can get a very similar configuration with double the RAM for a lower price than what’s available at B&H Photo.
As per usual with most workstations, you can buy it from Lenovo’s own website and other resellers that specialize in business-to-business sales.
Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra: Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i9-12900 vPro (16 cores, 24 threads, up to 5GHz, 30MB cache) |
|---|---|
| Graphics | Nvidia RTX A2000 (12GB GDDR6, 70W) |
| Memory | 32GB (1 x 32GB) DDR5 4800MHz Four DDR5 SODIMM slots, dual-channel capable |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe PCIe 4 SSD Two M.2 PCIe 4 slots, One 2.5-inch SATA HDD slot |
| Ports | Front
Rear
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| Connectivity | Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160Mhz Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Audio | Single speaker |
| Power supply | 300W (external), 90% efficient |
| Dimensions | 86 x 223 x 202 mm (3.4 x 8.7 x 7.9 in) 3.9 liter chassis |
| Weight | 7.94lbs (3.6kg) for maximum configuration |
| Color | Black |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro |
| Price | $2833.95 |
Design: It’s perfect for small desks
- The Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra comes in a small four-liter chassis that fits in almost any desk
- It has a pretty good selection of ports for something this size
Lenovo really touts the tiny design of this workstation as one of its biggest selling points, and frankly, it’s justified. At under four liters in volume, this is a really small machine, and even though I have a fairly small desk, it fits very well next to my two monitors. The company touts this as an industry-first form factor, but it’s not too far off from something like the HP Z2 Mini workstation in terms of size. Still, that doesn’t detract from this being a very compact machine.
Part of the reason for that is that the power supply is external, and it’s definitely on the larger side. It’s a 300W unit, so that’s to be expected. In addition to making the PC smaller, this also helps with cooling since it removes another source of heat from the chassis.
This is an all-black machine with just one or two red accents, which are very familiar if you’ve used any other Think device. On a ThinkPad, I generally find these accents a bit outdated, but they’re very minor here, and they fit well. The chassis also has rubber feet on two sides so you can use the PC vertically or horizontally without having the case scratch against the floor or wherever you keep it.
As for the ports, it’s got a pretty nice setup, too. On the front, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, along with one USB Type-A port and a 3.5mm combo headphone jack. Thunderbolt support might come in handy if you want to plug in an external GPU later down the line or you opted for a lower-tier model, and it can also be used for docking stations, or any accessories that use USB-C.
The back has a latch that lets you remove pretty much all the internals.
Most of the ports are on the back, and it’s a pretty expansive setup for this machine. You get two Ethernet ports (one with 2.5Gbps speeds, one with 1Gbps), four USB Type-A ports (all USB 3.2 Gen 2), a Wi-Fi antenna port (though Wi-Fi works without it), and three DisplayPort 1.2 ports to connect to a display. There are also four extra Mini DisplayPort 1.4a connectors on the GPU, which is generally what you’ll want to use. The GPU ports will depend on your configuration – the Nvidia T400 only has three of them.
The back also has a latch that lets you remove pretty much all the internals from the chassis without any tools. All of the components slide right out, and from there, you can tear away at the PC to install upgrades. You’ll notice that memory slots are pretty easily accessible, but most other components do require some tools. Still, everything is technically removable and replaceable, including the GPU and CPU.
One thing I find interesting about this machine is that actually has a built-in speaker. It’s just one, and obviously not meant to be a fantastic audio experience, but it’s there in case you’re setting this PC up with a monitor that doesn’t have speakers. I actually ended up preferring this to the speakers built into my cheap monitor, but that says more about the monitor than the computer.
I should also mention that Lenovo shipped this machine to me with a fairly basic USB mouse and keyboard. These get the job done, and the keyboard is actually pretty comfortable to type on. It has a full-size design and all the keys you’d expect without any unnecessary extras.
The mouse is also very basic, with left, right, and middle buttons. Some extra side buttons would be welcome, but you can’t ask for much more with bundled accessories.
Performance
- Our review unit comes with an Intel Core i9-12900 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX A2000 GPU, but you can go higher
- It supports up to 128GB of memory and has two M.2 SSD slots
Officially, the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra comes with up to an Intel Core i9-12900K, which is a very power-hungry 125W CPU for a machine of this size. Our configuration is a bit more time, sticking with a 65W Core i9-12900, along with an Nvidia RTX A2000 desktop GPU with 70W of total power. If you want more power, the top tier configuration is an Nvidia RTX A5000 Laptop GPU, which has 115W of total power. Indeed, the power limitations on this machine are similar to what you might find on a powerful laptop, rather than a desktop.
Even with this combination, though, this is a powerful machine. Even though the GPU isn’t meant for gaming, I found it pretty suitable in my (admittedly limited) testing. My monitor is Full HD, so I tried to play some Gears 5 at Ultra settings and got a fairly consistent 60 frames per second, and the same goes for games like Doom Eternal and Halo Infinite, all running at their highest presets. I also tried Forza Horizon 5, which has an Extreme preset that’s a bit more demanding. The framerate in this setting was generally around 40fps in busier scenes, though it could get closer to 50fps. When I turned the graphics settings down to Ultra, I could get a consistent 60 frames per second.
CPU performance is right on par with bigger machines that have the same processor, like the Intel NUC 12 Extreme.
Of course, a more likely workload for this machine is video rendering, so I tried to export an 8K video using DaVinci Resolve. The video itself is 4 minutes and 2 seconds long, and the total render time was 6 minutes and 46 seconds. That’s pretty fast for this kind of workload, though it’s hard not to look over at Apple’s Mac Studio here. In our review of the Mac Studio, this same workload was done in just one minute and 22 seconds using DaVinci Resolve. Of course, that was on a machine that costs nearly $4,000, but you also have to consider how much smaller that PC is. Intel-based machines just can’t match the balance of power, performance, and thermals that Apple has with its custom silicon. That’s not Lenovo’s fault, but it’s something to consider.
Naturally, we have to look at benchmarks, too. I ran the usual set of benchmarks on the ThinkStation P360 Ultra, and it’s about what you’d expect for this hardware.
| Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra Core i9-12900, Nvidia RTX A2000 |
HP OMEN 45L Core i9-12900K, RTX 3090 |
Intel NUC 12 Extreme Core i9-12900, RTX 2080 Ti |
Mac Studio M1 Ultra |
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| Geekbench 5 | 1,913 / 12,077 | 1,921 / 15,723 | 1,767 / 13,355 | 1,776 / 23,778 |
| Cinebench R23 | 1,978 / 17,304 | 1,894 / 23,659 | 1,806 / 16,316 | 1,534 / 24,095 |
| 3DMark: Time Spy | 5,992 | 18,734 | 13,652 | |
| 3DMark: Time Spy Extreme | 2,792 | 6,483 | ||
| PCMark 10 | 7,656 | 9,012 | 8,051 | |
| VRMark: Orange Room | 8,463 | 16,616 | 14,847 | |
| VRMark: Cyan Room | 2,751 | 16,887 | 13,170 | |
| VRMark: Blue Room | 1,714 | 6,174 | 4,627 |
As you can see, CPU performance is right on par with bigger machines that have the same processor, like the Intel NUC 12 Extreme. Of course, it’s still far behind the Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip, but that’s no surprise at this point. Apple really changed the landscape for tiny, powerful machines. As for GPU performance, you can also tell it’s nowhere near the same level as top-tier PCs. In fact, even a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti still manages much better performance than the RTX A2000. This GPU has a much lower power budget than those cards, though, so that’s absolutely to be expected, too. Keep in mind, this whole system only has a 300W power supply.
My configuration of the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra also came with 32GB of RAM, and unfortunately, it’s on a single stick. The PC does support dual-channel memory, but I can’t benefit from it in this configuration. Testing the memory with MaxxMem2, it seems like speeds are about what you might expect for DDR5 RAM at 4800MHz, except for the write score, which was oddly low.
Meanwhile, the PCIe 4.0 SSD included in the package performs very well for the most part, though it’s not the fastest PCIe 4.0 around.
Particularly, some of the random read/write results seem noticeably lower than other PCs with PCIe 4.0 SSDs, which is a bit strange. I also had somewhat inconsistent results for random reads and writes.
Who should buy the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra?
The Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra is obviously not a machine meant for everyone, but it does a good job of delivering what it promises. It has quite a bit of performance, and its smaller size doesn’t come with a lot of sacrifices, at least on the CPU side. It’s a great compact workstation that delivers strong performance for all kinds of tasks, even if it can’t quite match the power of bigger and more power-hungry machines.
You should buy the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra if:
- You want a compact machine that can handle demanding workloads
- You care about being able to upgrade and repair the PC easily
You shouldn’t buy the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra if you:
- Are looking for the most powerful workstation
- Want an extra-small device for more basic tasks
- The Mac Studio fits your budget and workloads
A big hurdle if you want to buy this machine is going to be pricing, but that’s true of most workstations. This isn’t a cheap computer, but the performance and upgradeability you get are great, especially considering its size.
- The Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra is a compact 3.9-liter workstation with powerful Intel CPUs and Nvidia RTX graphics.
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Features: |
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Pros: Cons: |
The post Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra review: Big power, small package appeared first on XDA.
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