Monday, April 10th 2023

MediaWorkstation Packs 192 Cores and 3TB DDR5 Into Their Updated a-X2P Luggable

MediaWorkstation first announced the a-X2P mobile workstation back in 2020, turning heads with its impressive dual AMD EPYC "Rome" processors that packed in 128 "Zen 2" cores into a transportable package nearly small enough to take as carry-on luggage on a flight. The a-X2P chassis hosts an "EATX" server motherboard, seven full height expansion slots, five 5.25-inch bays, and a slot load optical drive within a 24-inch chassis that features an integrated LCD display and fold out mechanical keyboard. The a-X2P also supports connecting up to six total 24-inch displays, all mounted to the chassis and up to 4K resolution each, for a configuration which the company says is, "ideal for production, live broadcast, and monitoring." This incredible amount of expansion brings the weight of the a-X2P up to 55 lbs (~25 kg).

This most recent update to the a-X2P changes nothing about the exterior feature set, but instead brings the internals to the modern computing age with AMD's EPYC 9004 "Genoa" processors, with support for up to 3 TB of DDR5-4800 in a 12-channel configuration. MediaWorkstation does not specify which SKUs of EPYC they're employing, but the highest configuration of 192 total cores leaves little guesswork as AMD really only has the EPYC 9654(P) at the top of their lineup providing 96 cores at a whopping $11,805 each. An interesting note on the EPYC 9654 variants is that they officially support a cTDP down to 320 W, a bit off the advertised maximum allowed cTDP of 300 W in the a-X2P. MediaWorkstation also does not specify what kind of power supply they've sourced for this behemoth, but it's a safe bet that it'll be over 1.5 kW. Don't expect to power this monster with batteries for any usable amount of time.
No pricing information is provided on MediaWorkstation's website as these are very specialized pieces of equipment; this is a machine that means business. As such the only way to spec out and buy one of these machines is via requesting a direct quote, a quote which only serious enterprise-tier clientele are likely to afford I'm sure. It stands to reason that if you need this kind of power in a mobile package you are probably not simply an enthusiast looking for a benchmark crusher. MediaWorkstation does offer a slightly more consumer (or prosumer) focused Threadripper Pro luggable which is likely substantially cheaper known as the a-XP, as well as various configurations of Intel Xeon based luggables.
Source: MediaWorkstation
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11 Comments on MediaWorkstation Packs 192 Cores and 3TB DDR5 Into Their Updated a-X2P Luggable

#1
Crackong
Looks like a suitcase, maybe..

Posted on Reply
#3
Chomiq
This reminds me of the old luggable PCs:

Posted on Reply
#4
Wirko
ChomiqThis reminds me of the old luggable PCs
Ah, but that one was Japanese, therefore already a victim of miniaturisation. Check out The Compaq, it compares better to this new epyc trunk.
Posted on Reply
#5
Haile Selassie
Such a poor implementation. That thing isn't even rugged, with PSU exposed. Who is the customer for this abomination? I can't see anyone fielding these in anything other than office environment.
Posted on Reply
#6
Redwoodz
Haile SelassieSuch a poor implementation. That thing isn't even rugged, with PSU exposed. Who is the customer for this abomination? I can't see anyone fielding these in anything other than office environment.
We are a production company with offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver and London. We were looking for a system with which we could manage up to three cameras, edit and grade 6K raw in the field, and even allow our team in London to login remotely for visual effects and compositing if needed. With 64 Cores, 512GB RAM, two RTX 6000 GPUs and 12TB of NVMe storage, our new triple display a-X2P really is a mobile studio. It’s incredibly sturdy, and though we’ve had just a month it’s been an amazing piece of kit.

Thanks to Andy and Chris for letting us now about the custom Pelican travel case option which we got, and for providing us with a powerhouse solution for our needs.
Posted on Reply
#7
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
so we have a new class of laptop now?

Ultrabook
Sub-compact
(large) Laptop
Luggable™
Posted on Reply
#9
Tahagomizer
FreedomEclipseso we have a new class of laptop now?

Ultrabook
Sub-compact
(large) Laptop
Luggable™
It's hardly a new thing.
Posted on Reply
#10
Luke357
unwind-protectWhat are the storage options?
Who needs storage when you can have everything in a RAMDisk?
Posted on Reply
#11
demirael
wurschti
They absolutely should. :D
Posted on Reply
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