The Lenovo ThinkStation C20 ($4,618 direct) is being touted as the smallest dual-CPU professional workstation desktop PC. After seeing huge workstations like the Apple Mac Pro ($3,499 list, 3.5 stars) and Lenovo ThinkStation S20 ($3,665 direct, 4 stars), I can verify that this dual Intel Xeon E5640-powered behemoth is as compact as a run-of-the-mill business desktop. The system doesn't seem too small on first flush, but it's rare to see this much power and expandability on anything but the largest desktop chassis.

Design and Features
The C20 is compact for a workstation (you can fit fourteen C20 systems in a 42U rack). It's certainly compact compared with full sized workstation systems like the Apple Mac Pro (Xeon E5620) and Lenovo ThinkStation S20, which can fit about six to ten systems in a 42U rack. The system is mostly black, and reasonably attractive with a perforated mesh front panel, and the ThinkStation logo even rotates to keep the ID consistent when mounted in a server-style rack. When mounted in a rack, you can keep your workstations together in a server closet for servicing convenience, security, cooling, and/or noise control.

The C20's interior is somehow both spacious and compact at the same time: the chassis has expansion space for two additional internal hard drives, two PCI cards, two PCIe x16 cards (one is electrically x4), a PCIe x1 card, and four memory DIMM slots. The system is densely packed: airflow is intelligently designed and plentiful, but there isn't a lot of wiggle room around components in a maxed-out configuration. What's notable is that to save a few bucks on the motherboard fabrication and to differentiate between this model and a higher-end model, there's actually physical space for six more memory slots, but they aren't installed. High-end 3D CAD/CAM users or DCC users working with file sizes that need up to 96GB of memory, can upgrade to the ThinkStation C20x that is geared more toward their needs. For the two PCIe x16 slots, you can have up to two PCIe x16 cards running in SLI, but the third slot (x16 physically, x4 electrically) is there mainly for co-processing (like an extra Quadro for PhysX) or for multiple monitor support. If you max out the desktop, it will support up to eight monitors at once. The system also supports Nvidia's Tesla C1060 GPU compute card in one of the PCIe x16 slots. It comes with a robust PCI/PCIe card retention bracket covering all the slots, so that the graphics cards don't come loose. The retention bracket comes out in one piece, a much more convenient arrangement than the individual brackets seen on some über-gaming rigs. The desktop has three hard drive bays (two free) at the bottom of the unit, with removable tool-less drive sleds for easy swapping. You'll still have to wire the hard drives manually, as there's no backplane system installed, as on systems like the Apple Mac Pro. Two free internal SATA ports on the motherboard are ready to accept your upgrades.

Externally, the C20 is well connected, with 10 USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA port for external hard drive connections. The desktop also has a pair of SPDIF-in and SPDIF-out ports (one port each), for professional-quality digital audio connections. The system's Nvidia Quadro FX 1800 graphics card has a dual-link DVI port (with support for 30-inch LCD panels) and two DisplayPort jacks. I'd like to see USB 3.0 and FireWire as well, for graphics professionals that use those connections on their hard drives. The C20 has a build-to-order FireWire option, but you'll need to install a PCIe USB 3.0 card if you use faster USB 3.0 drives. The desktop has a recessed handle on the top: It's amusingly being touted as "spill-resistant" in case you're the kind of graphics artist or engineer who will use the top of the desktop to hold your drinks.

The C20 came with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, but the C20 also supports Red Hat Linux, as well as XP Pro 32 and 64-bit if those are what your workplace uses. The system comes with Lenovo's ThinkVantage utilities, which include hardware management and rescue/recovery utilities. The system also has Microsoft Office 2010 starter pre-loaded, software for the DVD burner, and an installer for a trial of Norton Internet Security. If you work out a deal with your Lenovo sales rep, you can customize the system's software build to your specifications.

Performance
The workstation has excellent performance, thanks to its two Intel Xeon E5640 processors and 512MB Nvidia Quadro FX 1800 graphics card. The closest system we've recently reviewed that compares is the Apple Mac Pro (Xeon E5620). The Mac came with two slightly slower Xeon E5620 processors (2.4GHz vs. 2.67GHz), and a more consumer-oriented 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card. As expected, the C20 performed quite a bit faster on the multimedia benchmarks. The C20 took 2 minutes 6 seconds to complete the Handbrake video encoding test and 4:09 to complete the Photoshop CS5 test. It received 9.53 points on the Cinebench R11.5 test for 3D rendering. The Mac Pro trailed (2:22 Handbrake, 4:42 CS5, and 8.62 Cinebench) on the multimedia tests due to its slower processors. It was, however, faster on all the 3D tests, like 3DMark Vantage (4,733 points at Extreme settings for the Mac Pro, vs. 2,500 for the C20) and the Crysis test. Both systems couldn't finish the DX11-powered Lost Planet 2 tests. Since your workstation order will depend on which applications you use (for example, you'd want a Quadro for AutoCAD, Adobe Premiere Pro, and After Effects use), the 3D prowess is less important in this horse race.

One benefit of the Quadro graphics card was apparent when we hooked the C20 up to a large Dell 30-inch monitor: The screen quality was almost sharper than reality, much better than what you'd see from a consumer-level card. You'll definitely notice the difference, for instance, if you are drawing architectural plans for a structure that holds thousands of people. Vague visuals in this situation could lead to a catastrophic event when those plans are translated into a real world building.

So in the horse race between the Lenovo ThinkStation C20 and Apple Mac Pro, who wins? The C20 is certainly your choice if you need to use ISV-certified programs like AutoCAD, Maya, PRO/Engineer, or SolidWorks. The C20's Quadro FX 1800 (and the whole workstation) are certified to work with these programs, so your IT manager won't have to test them post-purchase. The Mac doesn't have ISV certifications on its hardware, though one can argue they're not necessary on the Mac since there's only one source for Mac hardware—Apple. These certifications are often written into contracts, so not having the certifications can cost you some bids. On the hardware side, the Mac Pro does have more convenient hard drive upgrades, thanks to its pre-wired backplane. Though the C20 is much more compact, it doesn't skimp on expandability: Full-sized PCIe x16 cards will fit. Overall, if your users are cross-OS trained or Windows-exclusive, the C20 is the better overall choice. While the Lenovo ThinkStation E20 continues on as our entry-level workstation Editor's Choice, the Lenovo ThinkStation C20 joins it as our new mainstream/high-end workstation Editor's Choice.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
Check out the test scores for the Lenovo ThinkStation C20

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Lenovo ThinkStation C20 with several other desktops side by side.

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