Thinkstation S10 review

[gator]

http://www.trustedreviews.com/pcs/revie ... ion-S10/p1

[ryengineer]

Nice solid review, thanks for posting. I realized the reviewer was from the U.K. since he complained couple of times about not been able to configure it on the website.

There is just a small mistake in the maximum specs he mentions, a thinkstation can take up to 3 x 750GB's of SATA drives.

Compared to IBM's WorkStation prices these would get sold like hot cakes but there is no linux support which is most businesses look for in workstations today.

[erik]

thanks, sri.   i posted a link to this review over at lnv.   the thinkstation forum over there is dead right now.

[gator]

One more review:
http://www.desktopreview.com/default.asp?newsID=140

[Deckard]

Just came across this thread while I was searching internal photos of the S10. Thanks

After my 6 yrs old no-name PC decided to retire, I was thinking of building a new PC, but suddenly I didn't feel like going through ordering the components from here and there. The price of the S10 looks just about right and so are the specs. That should be enough for me for another couple of years, I guess.

OK, I'll have a few questions, maybe you guys can help me there:

- Looking at the specs of the S10, it reads "Up to 4GB DDR3 PC3-8500 ECC UDIMM"

Does this mean that it only supports ECC memory? Would non-ECC RAMs work too?

- From the picture it looks like IBM is using a propriety board and own brand heatsink. However, I would like to use a different heatsink, something bigger and a different fan (such as a Thermalright tower heatsink). Would it be possible?

I think Quadro FX1700 with 512MB memory should be enough to work with Solidworks and some rendering job. What do you think?

[erik]

- Looking at the specs of the S10, it reads "Up to 4GB DDR3 PC3-8500 ECC UDIMM"

Does this mean that it only supports ECC memory? Would non-ECC RAMs work too?

the S10 actually supports up to 8GB and might even support 16GB once 4GB PC3-8500 modules are readily available.

lenovo's original modules are ECC but i'm not sure if the S10 will accept non-ECC modules.   even if non-ECC modules were compatible, i personally wouldn't buy them simply because error-checking components are one of the benefits of having a proper workstation.   you might as well just get a desktop otherwise.

- From the picture it looks like IBM is using a propriety board and own brand heatsink. However, I would like to use a different heatsink, something bigger and a different fan (such as a Thermalright tower heatsink). Would it be possible?

yes, this is possible.   however, i can tell you from personal experience that the OEM thinkstation heatsinks are of very high quality, very high efficiency, and very low acoustics.   i'd be very surprised if an aftermarket heatsink can best the OEM heatsink in all three categories.

I think Quadro FX1700 with 512MB memory should be enough to work with Solidworks and some rendering job. What do you think?

according to nvidia's chart, the FX 1700 looks like it would perform quite well in solidworks.   unless you're rendering 1000+ part models or need real-time rotation ability, i'm sure the 1700 would suit your needs.

i opted for an FX 3700 because it has 4x faster throughput than the 1700, is on par with the 4600, and runs quieter than any quadro card before it.   plus, it can use up to 2GB of shared system memory when needed, giving 2.5GB total.   in my opinion it's the most cost-effective quadro card available.