A Tech Check on Sapphire Rapids, a dock for all your 4K screens and a budget workstation that punches above its weight.
If you spent Valentine’s day like we did—alone in your pajamas eating hot dogs over the sink—take solace in the love that will never break your heart: tech. Here are three new gizmos that will spark your passion for productivity.
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Sapphire Rapids
Intel launched new desktop workstation processors in its high-end Xeon product line that it calls “the ultimate solution” for engineers, data scientists, and other professional users. The Xeon W-3400 and Xeon W-2400 series of processors incorporate a new compute architecture with faster cores and new embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) packaging, which Intel says unlocks a new level of performance.
The most powerful new chip on offer is the Xeon w9-3495X, which has up to 56 cores in a single socket, up to 105MB of L3 cache, and a clock speed up to 4.8GHz. Intel says it can deliver single-thread and multi-thread performance improvements of 28 percent and 120 percent, respectively, compared to the previous generation.
If that doesn’t impress, perhaps its size will. Intel’s Jonathan Patton, Workstation Product Marketing Engineer, jokingly described the new Xeon processors not as chips but as small pastries.
Codenamed Sapphire Rapids, the Xeon W-2400 and W-3400 series of workstation processors will be available beginning in March from $359 for the Xeon w3-2423 to $5,889 for the Xeon w9-3495X.
Pro Port Support
When one 4K screen just won’t cut it, and two is still too paltry, a triple 4K setup is the only way to go. But how do you handle so many pixels at once? The VisionTek VT7400 docking station, that’s how. VisionTek says its new 14-port dock is “a game-changing solution for those in need of a more efficient and organized workspace.” Surely there’s an engineer or two who fits that description.
The VT7400 extends the port selection of a Windows or Mac laptop (including M1 and M2 systems) via a single USB-C cable which can provide up to 100W of power to the host system. The dock supports three 4K monitors and includes a selection of both USB-A and USB-C ports.
The new docking station also provides an RJ45 Ethernet port, 3.5mm audio jack, and Kensington security lock slot. A 180W power adapter is included in the box along with a USB-C to USB-C cable to connect to the host computer.
The VT7400 is currently available from VisionTek for $349.
Speed on a Budget
If you’re looking for a heavy duty workstation for a lightweight price, Texas-based Boxx says it has the answer. The company has upgraded its entry-level Apexx E3 desktop workstation with the latest generation of Intel Core i7 and i9 processors.
The 13th-Gen Intel chips allow the Apexx E3 to clock a blistering top speed of 5.8GHz. Clock speed is one of the most important specs for CAD applications, which are typically single-threaded, and Boxx says the Apexx E3 is purpose-built for users of Solidworks, Revit, 3ds Max, and other engineering applications.
The Apexx E3 also supports up to 128GB of DDR4 memory and can be configured with NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards up to the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation.
“In a challenging economy, architects, engineers, 3D designers, and motion media artists often have to choose price over performance when making computer hardware decisions,” said Bill Leasure, Boxx VP of Sales and Marketing, in a company press release. “Apexx E3 featuring new 13th-Gen Intel Core processors is the perfect solution. It’s a lower cost workstation that is still a powerful upgrade over their current system and will keep them competitive creatively and solid financially.”
The Apexx E3 has a starting price of $2,390, which includes the 13th-Gen Intel Core i7-12700K processor, 16GB of memory, and no graphics card.
