Today I finally got the chance to work on a computer that I have been wanting to for quite some. A Lenovo Thinkstation, they are pretty cool I have to admit.
For a prebuilt PC it actually looks nice. 8 RAM slots,big power supply,doesn't seem to use proprietary connectors...it would make a nice PC with an upgrade to a decent GPU
Yeah that’s exactly what I was thinking. Throw in a decent 6 or 8C Xeon with decent clock speed and cache, add in a midrange GPU and you can be off to the races. Thanks for watching and commenting. Don’t forget to subscribe!
the power supplies actually are proprietary, if you take it out the cables are all routed to a board that the rear of the PCU interfaces with using a custom extruded PCB that resembles a PCIE connector
@@Topaz1112 Yeah I figured based on the strange size the PSU was proprietary. I didn’t get to pull it out and look but glad to know my suspicions are true
The M.2 slots are in an odd spot on those machines but overall they are pretty nice workstations that a lot of people are starting to buy relatively cheap second hand. Now a days you can get a 32gb machine with no drives and no OS for like $200 with a little hunting and not that much more with a SATA SSD and OS. Throw in a graphics card and M.2 and off to the races.
@@anthonytechI'm drawn to these Lenovo p500 workstations because they have dual 6 plus 2 pin so a higher end gpu wouldn't need adapters. Do you know of any other budget friendly workstation that has that feature. Budget to me is something that matches this Lenovo 8 core xeon I see for 250$ refurbished. I have looked at quite a few ho z440 and z4 g6 and dell t5820 but nothing other than that Lenovo with the dual 6 plus 2 pin.
@@Spencerwalker21 unfortunately I haven’t tinkered with many workstations from dell or Lenovo or HP. I wish I had the disposable income to do so but I have other priorities. The one in the video a friend had bought thinking it needed to be assembled but it was already assembled so I decided to make a video since I had never had my hands on one
I actually just picked up one of these P520 Thinkstations. Mine has a 10 core/20 thread w-2155, 128gb of ram and a 900w 80 plus platinum PSU. I got it for a steal on Ebay and dropped an RTX 3070 and 1tb gen 4 m.2 I had lying around into it.
@@DoSGamingNetwork I just realized I had a typo in my original response haha. I’m sure you knew what I meant. How much were you able to get the P520 for?
@@DoSGamingNetwork That’s a freaking deal! I looked on eBay and ones with much less RAM and a W-2145 (6C/12t) are close to $300. What sort of tech/PC content do you enjoy watching?
I just got a P520 this week and I’m turning it into a home server. I got it with w2135 and 32GB ecc ram for $175. Did not come with any drives or gpu which I was fine with since I don’t trust those generic used drives they install and I never use an OS that comes with a used machine. I did buy an extra 900w power supply just in case since it is proprietary. Very happy with this choice for a home server but it is heavy so keep that in mind. My build will run Unraid with 3-4 8TB disks in the array and an M.2 SSD cache. I’m planning to add a 3 bay hot swap backplane in the dual 5.25” slots.
@@anthonytech I have a higher end gaming PC that I built as my main workstation running Windows 10, a refurb Dell 5400 laptop running Linux, and this P520 on unraid. I guess I just like to play with different hardware and OS. Going to explore a bunch of different OS VM's on the new server once I get it how I want it. I do have a special place in my heart for used business class machines though.
@@anthonytech ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F board with a Ryzen 5 5600x cpu, 3060Ti gpu, 64gb DDR4 ram actually running at 3600, NZXT Kraken X53 liquid cooler, and 2 NVME drives. 1T OS/games and 2TB data. Runs well off of 650w ps. I'd like to be a little higher on the gpu but it does well for now. I'm trying to understand why your client went with an HDD OS instead of an SSD. Sounds like he likes to torture himself!
@@OShackHennessy Yeah I don't think he is aware of SSDs honsetly. I thought when he reached out to me he wanted my guidance on choosing parts/building a PC but he had already purchased the P520 and it was already delivered
Here is a hint to take in. Ram does not get hot ever no ram does even way high speed ram all of it runs around 40-50c period if it rruns hotter then that there is something wrong but ram does not need heat sinks lol it is just to look cool in almost all cases so next time you buy ram dont think that the ram with heat sinks is better cause its not its the same lol the only time you would kind of need heat sinks is if your ram is way close to something thats putting off alot of heat then the heat sinks might help a tiny bit but not enough to make a diferance what so ever and in alot of cases ram with heat sinks runs a little hotter cause the heat sinks hold the heat on the ram chip that would normally just air off....
I'm about to buy one for 1440p gaming. Of course, it will need a serious GPU for that. Since this is a budget build, which one will largely depend on price. I'm willing to spend up to about $300 on a GPU, no more. I'd like to try the Intel A750 or 770 but its performance suffers badly without resizable bar, which the P520 doesn't support... but the later and pricier P620 does, and I can't afford to go there. So AMD and Nvidia are the options. I plan to run it dual boot with Linux on one M.2 drive, and Windows 10 Pro on the other.
I have a P520, and I'm loving it so far. I bought it almost barebones, but I have 32gb of DDR4-2666 ECC, a 1TB M.2 SSD, and a GTX 1660 6GB in it now. I'm saving up for a better GPU. I don't know of another that has dual 6+2 pin connectors, although you might possibly get that on the Dell or HP counterparts IF you get the highest PSU option. On the P520 you only get that with the 900W PSU, which is what I have.
I got one for Christmas, xeon w-2135 6/12, 5 4tb hard drives in a raid5 with an installed spare, 2 nvme drives 1tb and 2tb, 2 dvd reader/writers, 128 gb ram, and an nvidia Quadro 1200 graphics card. I absolutely love it. Under normal load the cpu is at about 7%, the memory never gets full and it runs very fast and reliable.
Is there any issues or errors like I/O or any other? Yesterday, I bought p520, w2135 32GB quadro p1000 for my nephew. Somebody told me that you have made a mistake and you'll face few irritating and un solved errors with this machine. Plzzz, guide me how to properly update it's drivers.
My apologies for a delayed response I don’t remember the PSU being loud but it has been a while since I tinkered with that workstation so my memory may not be serving well. Do you know for sure it’s the PSU being loud? Is your PC dusty? Could need cleaning out I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for the comment
I know who he bought that from, PCSP. I've bought multiple machines from them, all embedded in that annoying foam brick. Sure it keeps the machine in good condition, and they're cheap, but disposing of that foam cuboid always ends up being an endeavor all it's own.
Yep that's exactly where it came from haha. I got excited initially when he reached out and asked if I could build him a computer. Thought I would get do so from scratch. I mean the machine he got does the job he needs but I wouldn't buy or build any machine in 2024 without an SSD
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For a prebuilt PC it actually looks nice. 8 RAM slots,big power supply,doesn't seem to use proprietary connectors...it would make a nice PC with an upgrade to a decent GPU
Yeah that’s exactly what I was thinking. Throw in a decent 6 or 8C Xeon with decent clock speed and cache, add in a midrange GPU and you can be off to the races. Thanks for watching and commenting. Don’t forget to subscribe!
the power supplies actually are proprietary, if you take it out the cables are all routed to a board that the rear of the PCU interfaces with using a custom extruded PCB that resembles a PCIE connector
@@Topaz1112 Yeah I figured based on the strange size the PSU was proprietary. I didn’t get to pull it out and look but glad to know my suspicions are true
The M.2 slots are in an odd spot on those machines but overall they are pretty nice workstations that a lot of people are starting to buy relatively cheap second hand. Now a days you can get a 32gb machine with no drives and no OS for like $200 with a little hunting and not that much more with a SATA SSD and OS. Throw in a graphics card and M.2 and off to the races.
Yeah they can make a surprisingly capable gaming machine. Thanks for commenting and stopping by the channel. Hope you stick around!
@@anthonytechI'm drawn to these Lenovo p500 workstations because they have dual 6 plus 2 pin so a higher end gpu wouldn't need adapters. Do you know of any other budget friendly workstation that has that feature. Budget to me is something that matches this Lenovo 8 core xeon I see for 250$ refurbished. I have looked at quite a few ho z440 and z4 g6 and dell t5820 but nothing other than that Lenovo with the dual 6 plus 2 pin.
@@Spencerwalker21 unfortunately I haven’t tinkered with many workstations from dell or Lenovo or HP. I wish I had the disposable income to do so but I have other priorities. The one in the video a friend had bought thinking it needed to be assembled but it was already assembled so I decided to make a video since I had never had my hands on one
@@anthonytech okay np 👍
@@Spencerwalker21 I appreciate you watching and commenting
Any feedback is welcome
I actually just picked up one of these P520 Thinkstations. Mine has a 10 core/20 thread w-2155, 128gb of ram and a 900w 80 plus platinum PSU. I got it for a steal on Ebay and dropped an RTX 3070 and 1tb gen 4 m.2 I had lying around into it.
That sounds right up my alley!
I love when people do what you’ve done with your workstation. How’s it been serving you? Any issues with it?
@@anthonytech It's been working out great. I have it in my office at work so I can play Rust and MW2/Warzone when it's slow.
@@DoSGamingNetwork I just realized I had a typo in my original response haha. I’m sure you knew what I meant. How much were you able to get the P520 for?
@@anthonytech I picked mine up for $200 with free shipping!
@@DoSGamingNetwork That’s a freaking deal! I looked on eBay and ones with much less RAM and a W-2145 (6C/12t) are close to $300.
What sort of tech/PC content do you enjoy watching?
CORRECTION @3:10 I meant to say 64GB per DIMM, not OR 64GB of RAM
512GB maximum RAM, 64GB per DIMM
The cooler works absolutely fine. I have a P520 with a 2295. It never gets above 70C under heavy load....
Glad to know
Good temps are important for longevity
I just got a P520 this week and I’m turning it into a home server. I got it with w2135 and 32GB ecc ram for $175. Did not come with any drives or gpu which I was fine with since I don’t trust those generic used drives they install and I never use an OS that comes with a used machine. I did buy an extra 900w power supply just in case since it is proprietary. Very happy with this choice for a home server but it is heavy so keep that in mind.
My build will run Unraid with 3-4 8TB disks in the array and an M.2 SSD cache. I’m planning to add a 3 bay hot swap backplane in the dual 5.25” slots.
Sounds like it’s a perfect fit for your needs
Hopefully I’ll get to tinker on another P520 someday
@@anthonytech I have a higher end gaming PC that I built as my main workstation running Windows 10, a refurb Dell 5400 laptop running Linux, and this P520 on unraid. I guess I just like to play with different hardware and OS. Going to explore a bunch of different OS VM's on the new server once I get it how I want it. I do have a special place in my heart for used business class machines though.
@@OShackHennessy Yeah I’m there with you I like to tinker on all sorts of things I just don’t really have the means to do so
What’s in your gaming PC?
@@anthonytech ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F board with a Ryzen 5 5600x cpu, 3060Ti gpu, 64gb DDR4 ram actually running at 3600, NZXT Kraken X53 liquid cooler, and 2 NVME drives. 1T OS/games and 2TB data. Runs well off of 650w ps. I'd like to be a little higher on the gpu but it does well for now. I'm trying to understand why your client went with an HDD OS instead of an SSD. Sounds like he likes to torture himself!
@@OShackHennessy Yeah I don't think he is aware of SSDs honsetly. I thought when he reached out to me he wanted my guidance on choosing parts/building a PC but he had already purchased the P520 and it was already delivered
Nice video! 👍 Keep up the good work.
Hey thanks man!
The two rear exhaust fans are a bit loud, but thats to be expected
Yeah I agree
In my personal rig I prefer a balance between noise and airflow
Here is a hint to take in. Ram does not get hot ever no ram does even way high speed ram all of it runs around 40-50c period if it rruns hotter then that there is something wrong but ram does not need heat sinks lol it is just to look cool in almost all cases so next time you buy ram dont think that the ram with heat sinks is better cause its not its the same lol the only time you would kind of need heat sinks is if your ram is way close to something thats putting off alot of heat then the heat sinks might help a tiny bit but not enough to make a diferance what so ever and in alot of cases ram with heat sinks runs a little hotter cause the heat sinks hold the heat on the ram chip that would normally just air off....
Very well said, thank you for watching and subscribing
I'm about to buy one for 1440p gaming. Of course, it will need a serious GPU for that. Since this is a budget build, which one will largely depend on price. I'm willing to spend up to about $300 on a GPU, no more. I'd like to try the Intel A750 or 770 but its performance suffers badly without resizable bar, which the P520 doesn't support... but the later and pricier P620 does, and I can't afford to go there. So AMD and Nvidia are the options. I plan to run it dual boot with Linux on one M.2 drive, and Windows 10 Pro on the other.
Do you know of any other workstations that have dual 6 plus 2 pin.
I have a P520, and I'm loving it so far. I bought it almost barebones, but I have 32gb of DDR4-2666 ECC, a 1TB M.2 SSD, and a GTX 1660 6GB in it now. I'm saving up for a better GPU. I don't know of another that has dual 6+2 pin connectors, although you might possibly get that on the Dell or HP counterparts IF you get the highest PSU option. On the P520 you only get that with the 900W PSU, which is what I have.
I got one for Christmas, xeon w-2135 6/12, 5 4tb hard drives in a raid5 with an installed spare, 2 nvme drives 1tb and 2tb, 2 dvd reader/writers, 128 gb ram, and an nvidia Quadro 1200 graphics card. I absolutely love it. Under normal load the cpu is at about 7%, the memory never gets full and it runs very fast and reliable.
That's a hoss of a machine
What do you use it for?
Storage?
Is there any issues or errors like I/O or any other?
Yesterday, I bought p520, w2135 32GB quadro p1000 for my nephew. Somebody told me that you have made a mistake and you'll face few irritating and un solved errors with this machine.
Plzzz, guide me how to properly update it's drivers.
I haven't had extensive use with one of these workstation
I just got the opportunity to unbox a friends and have a look at it
Does the PSU seem extremely loud to you? I have one of these and it is audible from a different room. Any fix work for you guys?
My apologies for a delayed response
I don’t remember the PSU being loud but it has been a while since I tinkered with that workstation so my memory may not be serving well.
Do you know for sure it’s the PSU being loud?
Is your PC dusty? Could need cleaning out
I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for the comment
I know who he bought that from, PCSP. I've bought multiple machines from them, all embedded in that annoying foam brick. Sure it keeps the machine in good condition, and they're cheap, but disposing of that foam cuboid always ends up being an endeavor all it's own.
Yep that's exactly where it came from haha. I got excited initially when he reached out and asked if I could build him a computer. Thought I would get do so from scratch. I mean the machine he got does the job he needs but I wouldn't buy or build any machine in 2024 without an SSD
Can you install a tpm chip for windows 11?
Sorry I’m not sure about that.
I’ve never installed a TPM chip actually. I knew they exist just have never installed one
That GPU will definitely run Crysis. 😆
Max settings for sure. 4090 can’t hold a candle to it
@@anthonytech I jest, but it probably could smash Crysis.
You never heard of Lenovo?
I have heard of Lenovo just had never got hands on one of their workstations