Lenovo unveils ThinkStation P Series workstations with latest Xeon chips

Lenovo details new workstations that will ship with Intel's Xeon E5 v3 chips

Lenovo has added new models to its ThinkStation P Series workstation line-up featuring Intel's upcoming Xeon E5 v3 processors.

Designed for optimum performance, reliability and usability, the new models offer flexible configuration and have features to ease maintenance tasks.

Set to be available later in the autumn, the new models comprise the ThinkStation P900, P700 and P500, which join the entry-level ThinkStation P300 announced earlier this year. All are traditional tower format chassis designs.

As with Dell's new line-up, Lenovo's latest workstations are based on Intel's Haswell Xeon E5-2600 v3 and E5-1600 v3 processors, which are expected to be officially launched in the near future.

The ThinkStation P900 is the high-end system and is a two-socket design that can be configured with up to 16 memory modules along with the ThinkStation P700, while the ThinkStation P500 is a single-socket design that can fit eight memory modules.

Additionally, the new models feature the latest Nvidia Quadro graphics cards for high performance visualisation, with the ThinkStation P900 able to support up to three Quadro K6000 adapters.

The ThinkStation P Series systems all feature a clean, modular design, making maintenance tasks easier, as well as a chassis designed for flexible configuration.

"After a period of intensive research, development and testing, we're excited to introduce our next generation workstations to the market, as we truly believe this is the best designed workstation ever," said Victor Rios, Lenovo vice president and general manager for workstations.

This includes tool-free access to critical components, even the motherboard, with red touch points to guide user's hands when removing components.

One unusual feature is a diagnostic port, which allows a user or administrator to connect an Android-based tablet or smartphone into the USB port for system analysis using a dedicated ThinkStation app.

For choice of configuration, the ThinkStation P Series have a Flex Bay that can fit an ultraslim optical drive, a media card reader, or Firewire (IEEE 1394), while a newly designed Flex Tray for hard drives supports both 2.5in and 3.5in hard drives, with one tray supporting up to two 2.5in drives.

Lenovo said the new systems have been certified by key vendors of professional software for CAD and other high-end applications. Pricing for the new systems has yet to be disclosed.