Lenovo has finally done it. For the past 15 years, Intel Xeon E systems have dominated the entry server market. Now, Lenovo has become the first traditional server maker to offer its entry server in AMD EPYC 4000. While numerically lower, the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST45 V3 offers significantly more performance than the Xeon-based ST50 V3. In our 2024 piece The AMD EPYC 4004 is Finally Here and Intel Xeon E Needs an Overhaul we showed how much faster the EPYC 4004 chips were, and we were able to show that here.
Of course, for this one we have a video:
We always suggest watching this in its own browser, tab, or app for the best viewing experience. Also, we are going to say AMD is sponsoring this. They helped with both the chips and funds to purchase the Lenovo server. Also, some of the components we used are from the sponsorship of the STH YouTube members so we need to say thank you to them as well.
Lenovo ThinkSystem ST45 V3 External Hardware Overview
If you took a quick glance at the ThinkSystem ST45 V3, and did not see the label, you might mistake it for the ST50 V3. They are both 17L chassis measuring around 170 x 376 x 316 mm or 6.7 x 14.8 x 12.4 inches. It is clear Lenovo intends to offer options in this form factor.
On the top, we have five USB 3 ports, including one USB Type-C port. There is also a microphone input and a combo audio jack. This is a lot of connectivity for an average server, and part of us wonders how many folks will use these for external USB hard drives.
Hopefully this view helps, but there are also front optical drive bays that we do not have populated.
Optical drive bays are still a common feature in this segment while we have seen them largely disappear from rackmount servers.
The sides are fairly unremarkable metal sheets.
Moving to the rear, things get more interesting.
At first, the layout looks very similar to the ST50 V3, but there are a few key differences.
Easily one of the biggest differences comes in the form of display outputs. Here we get a HDMI 2.1 port and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports. We get an audio line out jack as well, albeit this is not as isolated as we see on consumer boards. In contrast, the ST50 V3 only has a VGA port.
The other big change is the networking and USB. On the rear, we get four USB 2.0 ports. That means the ST45 V3 has nine total USB ports while the ST50 V3 has six. On the networking side, we get a single 1GbE Realtek RTL8111-based NIC. The ST50 V3 in contrast has a 1GbE dual port Broadcom NIC and an out-of-band NIC for XClarity.
At this point, you have probably figured out the differentiation that Lenovo is doing. The ST50 V3 with the Intel Xeon has the BMC and multiple 1GbE NICs. In contrast, the ST45 V3 has USB ports, and display outputs for local management. Generally, I wish that Lenovo had the BMC on the ST45 V3, but in the low-cost edge tower server market a number of those machines are administered locally, and thus a DisplayPort and HDMI port are preferable. The display outputs can also be used for running digital signage which is common in small business servers.
Beyond the rear I/O, we get our AC power input as well as four expansion slots. The storage differences are also stark, so more on that as we get inside the system.
Does it really utilize only PCIe 3.0 as indicated on the block diagram? EPYC 4000 can drive 5.0, and even bargain bin AM5 boards do 4.0.
Compared to ASRock Rack AM5 boards this one is almost unnecessarily bad with no BMC or even a basic implementation of DASH like ASUS Pro A620M-DASH-CSM (which does PCIe 4.0 too).
I do not agree with final words at all. This system is far too limited, almost artificially so, especially compared to what’s already been available on the market for years.
Jesus Christ….. This board is horrible. More sabotage than functionality.
One has to look no further as to the Asrock Rack X470/X570 Series Mainboards or the even better Supermicro H13SAE-MF for how this is to be done. And for a full size ATX board, i expect the constraints due to limited space on the mentioned µATX boards overcome.
And, Patrick, as much as i love your energy…… the over the top enthusiasm for such a product with nothing new but senseless pitfalls is a little bewildering.
I think he’s being polite. What he didn’t say, but it’s glaring, is that Dell and HPE have refused to do EPYC 4004 towers. I read that enthusiasm as more of a “I can’t say WTF’s wrong with Dell and HPE so I’ll just say good to Lenovo.” I’ve been reading STH for a decade and that’s the way they prod other OEMs to get competitive.
I’d second or third this. What’s up Lenovo? XClarity BMC or it isn’t a server.
STH fam it isn’t that they hate you. They’re trying to sell these in Europe where they’ve got stupid electricity prices. Without the BMC it’s saving 10W. In small biz servers they’re idle at night and most of the day. If you’ve also managed to use it to power a display for a menu, then you’ve gotten rid of another 800 euro box that is using 20W. So you’re saving big money. They’re not trying to sell ’em in the USA
The specs https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp1994-lenovo-thinksystem-st45-v3-server#physical-and-electrical-specifications
talk about Xclarity being upgradable. Also PCIe Gen5 x16 slot.
With audio / HDMI connections and only a single power source this looks more like a workstation than a server
@Joeri:
That’s only the externally connected USB-based XClarity Provisioning Manager Lite which doesn’t provide network remote control or monitoring.
That site also compares this ST45 to the Intel Xeon E ST50 which has full BMC XClarity and PCIe 5.0. In fact that table seems to confirm that this ST45 is only PCIe 3.0 since the Intel table contains “PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 5.0 adapters” for RAID support but the AMD one does not.
@Patrick, did the CPUs get vendor-locked to Lenovo motherboards? Can this be disabled? It’s worth a mention in your review to remind potential consumers.
Thanks
this is a workstation in a trenchcoat