Power Consumption
We upgraded the power supply to the 80Plus Platinum 500W model. We ended up using nowhere near even the 300W of the standard power supply.
In our base 4-core configurations, the ST45 V3 idled in the 12-15W range while the ST50 V4 was in the 22-25W range. At maximum load, the ST45 V3 was 88-91W while the ST50 V3 was in the 70-72W range. While the Xeon E-2414 was the lower TDP part at 55W, the lack of the XClarity BMC plus the AMD architecture gave us lower idle power consumption. At the top-end, AMD was higher, but it was also doing more work as the faster CPU. When we got to the 12 core AMD EPYC 4464P and the Intel Xeon E-2488, the idle numbers were close, but Intel lost its 100% load advantage by 15W or so while also offering significanlty less performance. When I am harsh on the Xeon E series needing an overhaul, that is why.
From a noise perspective, the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST45 V3 was very quiet at idle, barely perceptable in our 34dba noise floor studio. Under load, the system would register 36-42dba on our sound meter at 1m making it a relatively quiet system.
STH Server Spider: Lenovo ThinkSystem ST45 V3
In the second half of 2018, we introduced the STH Server Spider as a quick reference to where a server system’s aptitude lies. Our goal is to start giving a quick visual depiction of the types of parameters that a server is targeted at.
We went through the last hundred STH Server Spiders and we did not see one exactly like this. In terms of density, tower servers usually are a less dense option to begin with. Still, in about every area, the ST45 V3 had some capability. We cannot put a 192 core EPYC 9005 processor in here, but 12 cores is denser than the 8 core maximum of the Intel platform. One can add a few M.2 NVMe SSDs, an additional NIC, and a few hard drives. There is a decent amount here, but you have to decide how you want to configure the machine.
Key Lessons Learned
In the video and in this article, we went through a lot of ways to customize the server. One of the biggest folks will want is the ability to remotely manage the machine. For that, we used a $69 JetKVM, but there are plenty of low-cost external mangement devices out there these days. Having HDMI means the default kit just hooks up to the ST45 V3 and we were ready to go.
In the video and this article, we showed the 96GB ECC configuration working, despite Lenovo’s specs stating it can only go up to 64GB. We also showed adding a dual port 2.5GbE NIC as well as a card with two M.2 slots, a 10Gbase-T NIC, and two USB Type-C 10Gbps ports. By the time we were done with that configuration, this was more than ample for small business servers, especially since it was also providing three display outputs. We still wish that Lenovo had a version with a BMC as well as four DDR5 DIMM slots just to get that feature parity with the ST50 V3.
It is strange because the AMD EPYC 4004 is much faster than the Xeon E-2400 / Xeon 6300 series, so we would want the AMD machine to be a premium. Of course, if Lenovo offered four DIMM slots and full XClarity, it would be almost impossible to recommend the ST50 V3 at this point. Context matters.
Final Words
Let us be clear, the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST45 V3 is an entry tower server, not the mainstream data center 2U server or the many high-end GPU accelerated systems we have been reviewing. As a result, it is tailored more for that edge SMB tower server use case. Once we started adding components into our base model, it went from fairly mundane to a really neat little box that is quiet enough I forgot it was sitting right next to my new desk in the studio.
The importance of this machine goes well beyond offering a higher-performance choice in the segment versus a ST50 V3. We are also testing the HPE MicroServer Gen11, and in that process our team keeps wondering why they would not have switched back to AMD for the line since there is such a large gap at this point. Hopefully we see all major OEMs adopt the AMD EPYC 4000 series since they offer a lot more for the entry server market these days.
Overall, it is hard not to like the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST45 V3 as it is a neat little low power box and a great step in bringing a lot more performance to the SMB tower server market.
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