workstation special report
Scan 3XS GWP-ME A132R 11th Gen Intel Core workstations might have have the edge in CAD and BIMcentric workflows, but this Ryzen 9 5000 beast from Scan wins hands down when it comes to rendering and extreme multi-tasking, writes Greg Corke
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ike many workstation manufacturers, it’s been a frustrating six months for Bolton-based Scan. AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs have been in huge demand, but the global chip shortage has meant limited supply. This now appears to have eased and Scan workstations with ‘Zen 3’ AMD CPUs are now rolling off the company’s production line. The delay has brought some benefits. Scan can now pair AMD’s impressive desktop CPU with a choice of three Nvidia ‘Ampere’ pro GPUs. The Nvidia RTX A4000 (16 GB), Nvidia RTX A5000 (24 GB) and Nvidia RTX A6000 (48 GB) are all available as options inside the new Scan 3XS GWP-ME A132R. For our review machine, Scan has chosen the top-end AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU. With 16 cores, 32 threads, a base frequency of 3.4 GHz and a boost of 4.9 GHz, this processor is adept at handling all different types of workflows. You get excellent performance in single threaded CAD and BIM software, as well as multi-threaded power for simulation, point cloud processing, photogrammetry, generative design, CAM and, of course rendering.
WS12
July / August 2021
As you’ll learn from our indemanding graphics-centric Product spec depth article on page WS4, the workflows (or a tighter budget) 11th Gen Intel Core CPU still a downgrade to the Nvidia ■ AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor has the edge in many workflows. RTX A4000 will shave close (3.4 GHz, 4.9 GHz However, when it comes to to £1,000 off the £4,167 (Ex boost) (16 cores, 32 threads) rendering and extreme multiVAT) price tag. See our in-depth ■ Nvidia RTX A5000 tasking, the 8-core Intel Core review of both Nvidia GPUs on GPU (24 GB) i9-11900 or Intel Core i9-11900K page WS28. ■ 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) simply can’t compete with the The Asus Pro WS X570Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3,200 MHz 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. ACE motherboard is ■ 2 TB Samsung 980 To explore the machine’s workstation-grade and has Pro NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD + 4 TB Samsung multi-tasking potential, what Scan describes as an 870 Evo SATA SSD we pushed it to its limits, ‘over-engineered cooling and ■ 3XS workstation with a demanding AEC power delivery system’. It has case with tempered glass window workflow, consisting of point four memory slots, populated ■ Microsoft Windows cloud processing in Leica in our test machine with 64 GB 10 Professional Cycone Register 360 and (2 x 32 GB) of Corsair Vengeance 64-bit photogrammetry processing DDR4 3,200 MHz memory. For ■ 3 Years warranty – 1st Year Onsite, 2nd in Agisoft Metashape. Not only memory hungry workflows and 3rd Year RTB did it reduce processing time like point cloud processing, it’s (Parts and Labour) to 889 secs from 1,306 secs (the easy to upgrade to 128 GB, as ■ £4,167 (Ex VAT) time it took if both jobs were run we did when testing with Leica scan.co.uk/3xs sequentially), but the machine Cyclone Register 360, though was still responsive enough to you’ll first need to clip off one of model comfortably in Revit. See our in- the CPU fans to get to the slots. depth AMD vs Intel article on page WS4 to With a second PCIe Gen 4 slot, you can find out more. add a second Nvidia RTX A5000 GPU at a The 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe later date although you may need a bigger 4.0 Solid State Drive (SSD) certainly helps PSU than the 750W Corsair RMX, which here as it’s able to read and write data very is 80PLUS Gold rated. Scan technicians quickly, so storage doesn’t become too can advise here. much of a bottleneck. Everything is housed in a new custom Rather than supplementing the M.2 SSD Scan 3XS workstation case, which is with a 3.5-inch SATA Hard Disk Drive available with both solid and tempered (HDD) for secondary storage, Scan has glass side panels. It’s a nice sturdy chassis included a 4 TB Samsung 870 Evo SATA with a 3XS branded vented front that SSD instead. Costing less than 10p per GB, helps ensure cool air runs freely from SSDs are quickly becoming the future of front to back. all workstation storage, and not just for A substantial dual radiator, dual fan OS, apps and select datasets. Noctua NH-D15 air cooler helps keep the Coupled with the Nvidia RTX processor running cool. We observed A5000 GPU, the workstation a peak frequency of 4.91 GHz in single has an obvious bias towards threaded workflows, going down to 3.74 graphics intensive workflows, GHz with all 16 cores running flat out for suggested by the ‘ME’ (Media extended periods. Scan says the Noctua and Entertainment) abbreviation is generally quieter than an equivalently in the product name. rated hydrocooler, and it’s hard to The Nvidia RTX A5000 is a argue with that. The entire system was hugely powerful professional incredibly quiet, even under heavy loads. GPU for real-time viz and GPU rendering. At 4K resolution, The verdict we got in excess of 20 frames This is another excellent machine from per second in most of our test specialist workstation manufacturer applications. The exceptions Scan. With the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X were Unreal Engine 4 when real- CPU, the 3XS GWP-ME A132R is equally time ray tracing was enabled and adept at handling single threaded or in Autodesk VRED Professional multi-threaded workflows. Whether when anti-aliasing was set to that’s for rendering stills and animations, ultra-high. However, these or for demanding multi-tasking reality are extreme workloads. Most modelling workflows, it doesn’t really mainstream viz users should matter. And with an Nvidia RTX A5000 expect a smooth, reactive GPU backing it all up with substantial viewport when navigating graphics horsepower, it can handle pretty models, and superfast results much anything you throw at it. And it when GPU rendering. does all this while giving out little more For those with less than a gentle hum. www.AECmag.com
