Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny Review - Mini PC with T1000 GPU

[@normanmaucha]

Now thats a mini pc right there

[@rheh2570]

i got one recently with 32GB RAM, i7 8th gen with a quadro p1000 gpu. installed ubuntu and it's now a home server... easy to maintain little beast.

[@stemlator]

Hey Lon, great review as always. I finally got my GMKtec G3 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD in the other day. I did set up a local account (I left the ethernet cable unplugged during the OOTB setup--personal preference as I don't like being forced to sign in with a Microsoft account). I ran Malwarebytes and the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool--neither detected any issues. Windows 11 really pushes the machine to its limits as I hear the fan spin up frequently. I think it'll fare better with Linux.

[@supriyasou3722]

I’m curious what’s the use case you bought it for. I want to buy one just for the small form factor at a reasonable price but can’t think of what I’ll use it for. I don’t need a plex server.

[@stemlator]

@@supriyasou3722 I bought it to use as a Channels DVR server. My parents have TV service from their fiber ISP, but the TV service is being sunsetted in June 2025. They live in a rural area so their options are satellite or IPTV (OTA isn't really an option where they live). I was going to use Channels' TV Everywhere functionality to bring in KZbin TV but with their upcoming price hike, I will probably use Sling instead. That plus FrndlyTV for MeTV and some other channels and Peacock Premium so they can get their local NBC affiliate. That sounds like a lot but it's still cheaper than KZbin TV.

[@jt3000o]

Man they are overcharging for this like crazy

[@jothain]

Not really. It's a business lineup computer. Perfectly on line with the "standard". It's after all pretty much top of the line cpu model (for the form factor) that is also fairly capable in CAD etc. That gpu shouldn't be compared directly with gaming GPUs. Plus of course you can get cheaper hardware with more performance. Just buy a tower from their lineup. I really don't get these "it's so expensive" nitpicks.

[@normanmaucha]

IT Admins like that VPro feature and manageability

[@ernstoud]

Then it is not made for you.

[@TheDanEdwards]

And the price is "50% off", if one is to believe the Lenovo website. The list price is $3169.

[@kamertonaudiophileplayer847]

Amazing, it's so easy serviceable.I guess the price can be issue for a a consumer, but not the corporations.

[@TheDanEdwards]

And that is with the price "50% off", if one is to believe the Lenovo website. It's gimmick pricing, of course, but still the Mac Mini is both smaller and less expensive.

[@estried86]

I just bought 2 older used versions similar this one. Lots of great affordable used PC's available on eBay running 6th and 7th gen Intel chips.

[@jimcabezola3051]

Yes!!! Factory Linux support! Good job, Lenovo!

[@estusflask982]

Do they block you from installing Linux on other models?

[@jimcabezola3051]

@@estusflask982 No, but it appears rare to me that a manufacturer would actually PUT Linux on the machine. This saves one the expense of paying for the copy of Windows...only to erase it and start over.

[@bbgarnettTotallyNotABot]

Keep up the great work

[@michaelmullen2991]

I'm familiar with the Lenovo Tiny's from at work, nothing really bad to say about them, the fans/cooling airway will have to be cleaned regularly if used in dusty environments.

[@stormriders1186]

Still just one Gbe Lan. I wish the big companies like Lenovo, Dell and HP would finally come around and put at least 2.5 Gbe or better even 5 or 10 into their tiny/mini/micro systems. Personally i'd happy to ditch one 10Gbe USB or even a dedicated GPU in favor of faster LAN speed.

[@jothain]

I kinda get it for the business lineup models. Sure option would be great for those who need it. But I haven't seen virtually any company having IT infrastructure that would have even sufficient cabling. Heck, where I'm now, we wondered why one remote managed accesspoint was acting weirdly until we found one 100 meg patch cabling. The building is from I think 1997, so not that insanely old industrial plant.

[@ericB3444]

LonBall Juan Soto can afford two of these with this new contract. He can afford almost three.

[@davilescano]

It would be interesting to see how it compares to a mac mini.

[@avalagum7957]

I can't find any use case for this workstation: supports 6 4k monitors at the same time.

[@ferrellsl]

Maybe for airport signage or for tracking multiple stock markets across multiple monitors.

[@mos6581com]

I don't think the GPU is proprietary on this, it looks just like the PCIe riser board used on previous models. The only difficulty is the custom I/O shield on the card.

[@jasonluong3862]

I still don't know the difference between the ThinkStation and the ThinkCentre series. The former are more expensive, but why?

[@Rods600]

@@jasonluong3862 better vrm, pci slot… and the brand.

[@zacharyberridge7239]

If you don't use liquid metal to cool the T1000, you're doing it wrong. Sorry, you I said that wrong. You have to use a mimetic poly alloy.

[@kumarp3074]

I can see companies getting rid of these off once they become obsolete. I'd pick one up off of eBay for cheap if it became available.

[@alansmithee.01]

The HP ProDesk/EliteDesk Mini are cheap and plentiful on ebay as retired corporate stock. They are very easy to service and well built. I run my Plex server off one of those.

[@ferrellsl]

At this price they should be offering a much better GPU than the T1000. The GTX1080 outperforms the T1000 by 141%.

[@mikesunboxing]

Haha I got the Spanish version of the video

[@Scooter30FTW]

I night consider an older used one,but almost 900 bucks for this is too high IMO.

[@angelortiz-vk8ez]

Seems like the perfect machine for coding

[@FirstLast-nr6gf]

Hi Lon, Can you please compare this Lenovo P3 to Mac Mini M4 if you still have it? The more accurate comparison would be to M4 Pro though.

[@jothain]

That doesn't make sense to me in the slightest. Businesses tend to run Windows with Windows specific made applications, which Mac's won't run. So it's quite meaningless imo to compare them. Sure if both would run like Linux, then things would be different. But Mac won't, at least yet on those.

[@FirstLast-nr6gf]

@@jothain What do you mean by business applications? These are just a few examples of professional applications you can run on both Mac and PC: video production - DaVinci Resolve, music production - Cubase; machine learning - PyTorch, data science - PySpark, Pandas; 3D graphics / modeling - Blender.

[@altimeterlabs]

Man - so many better options for that amount of money

[@jothain]

It's not for you. It's for businesses.

[@estusflask982]

@@jothain Last time I checked, the bottom line mattered in business.

[@TheDanEdwards]

​@@jothain Why does the Lenovo website have to put the sticker "50% off" on this thing? Yeah, businesses are not stupid. Lenovo's pricing is not competitive, that's why.

[@djxcel23]

They can keep that. Mac mini all day over this

[@FirstLast-nr6gf]

Lenovo supports 96GB of RAM. Mac Mini only 32GB and Mac Mini Pro only 64GB. Lenovo has upgradeable RAM and SSDs. For $300 you can get 4TB SSD for a PC. Apple charges $1,200 for 4TB. Once you add RAM and SSDs Lenovo would be cheaper.

[@djxcel23]

@ that price is OD. I cant get many mac minis and give them as gifts.

[@tobiaswittwer9398]

A Mac Mini doesn't run Windows.

[@TheDanEdwards]

@@tobiaswittwer9398 Yes it can.

[@TheDanEdwards]

​@@FirstLast-nr6gf Given the size of the Lenovo power brick, in that space one can stack several TB external SSDs.