Mediaworkstations has given the a-X2P a much-deserved improve. The brand new mannequin arrives with a pair of AMD EPYC 9654 processors with a mixed 192 cores and 384 threads, together with 3TB of DDR5 reminiscence.
Technically, the a-X2P might be a laptop computer, though most would think about it a pluggable or moveable PC. Relating to aesthetics, Mediaworkstations caught with the identical design because the earlier a-X2P. Nonetheless, the 2023 mannequin placed on some weight, so it’s kind of chubbier than the prior installment. The cell workstation now measures 16.35 x 24.6 x 10.6 inches as a substitute of the previous model’s footprint of 15.10 x 23.10 x 9.03 inches. The upgraded mannequin additionally weighs 45 to 55 lbs, as much as 13% heavier than the outdated one.
The a-X2P’s most substantial improve logically resides underneath the hood. The one from two years in the past was tapping into AMD’s EPYC 7002 (Rome) processors, which had been on Zen 2 cores. Nonetheless, Mediaworkstations skipped the EPYC 7003 (Milan) sequence and jumped straight to EPYC 9004 (Genoa) sequence, so the a-X2P is wielding AMD’s newest Zen 4 cores. Apart from the architectural enhancements, Genoa gives system integrators with ample choices, ranging from 16 cores and going as much as 96 cores. As well as, customers can select to equip the a-X2P with a few EPYC 9654 chips for a most configuration of 192 cores.
Mediaworkstations did not share the mannequin of the dual-socket SP5 motherboard. Nonetheless, given the specs, the a-X2P is, in all probability, using the Gigabyte MZ73-LM1. The motherboard gives 24 DDR5 reminiscence slots with help for DDR5-4800 3DS RDIMMs as much as 256GB. Mediaworkstations seemingly supply as much as 3TB, half of the utmost capability on the motherboard.
Though Genoa helps the newest PCIe 5.0 interface, Mediaworkstations opted to stay with PCIe 4.0. Gigabyte’s MZ73 is available in PCIe 5.0 (MZ73-LM0) and PCIe 4.0 (MZ73-LM1) variants. The a-X2P sports activities the latter, so it solely provides 4 PCIe 4.0 x16 growth slots straight linked to the EPYC processor. Mediaworkstations lets customers equip the a-X2P with as much as two graphics playing cards. Nonetheless, you may at all times buy the cell workstation and purchase your graphics, so it is a wonderful gadget for multitasking.
The a-X2P has a PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot to deal with one M.2 2280 or M.2 22110 drive. PCIe 5.0 SSDs are out of the equation. A single M.2 slot might sound stingy, however the a-X2P makes use of a server motherboard, so there are extra storage choices than meets the attention. The motherboard provides one SlimSAS 4i connector with 4 SATA III ports and two SlimSAS 8i connectors with 4 PCIe 4.0 or 16 SATA III ports.
The Aspeed AST2600 administration controller is current on the MZ73-LM1. The controller pairs a dual-core Arm Cortex A7 with an embedded Arm Cortex M3 and helps 1920×1200 at 60 Hz. As for connectivity, the a-X2P options two high-speed 10 Gb/s Base-T LAN ports from the Broadcom BCM57416 and one MLAN port. Nonetheless, the dearth of wi-fi connectivity is a letdown, contemplating Mediaworkstations advertises the a-X2P as a cell workstation. As for the rear I/O, customers obtain two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one VGA port, and one COM port.
It would not take a rocket scientist to know that the a-X2P instructions a king’s ransom. Mediaworkstations would not publicly share the pricing for the a-X2P. A single 96-core EPYC 9654 chip retails for $11,805, so you may think about how a lot two of them will value on prime of the 3TB of dear DDR5 reminiscence and 6 screens.