With the Dell Precision 7865, Dell has become the second major manufacturer to release a workstation with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-Series processor.
The Dell Precision 7865 Tower follows on from the Lenovo ThinkStation P620, which launched in 2020 with 1st Gen Threadripper Pro (read our review) and had a refresh in April 2022 with 2nd Gen Threadripper Pro (the 5000 WX-Series).
The Dell Precision 7865 Tower can be configured with five different Threadripper Pro models spanning 12, 16, 24, 32 or 64 cores. The high-end desktop CPU combines high frequencies with high core counts to accelerate a range of workflows including CAD, simulation, rendering and reality modelling.
While it has taken Dell 18 months to catch up, it can now finally give Lenovo stronger competition in enterprise accounts. It remains to be seen if HP will follow suit.
The workstation can support up to 1 TB of DDR4 ECC memory with Dell Reliable Memory Technology (RMT) Pro. Other features include up to 56 TB of storage (comprising up to 8 TB HDDs, 4 TB NVMe SSDs or an Ultra-speed storage card up to 16 TB), optional Thunderbolt 3, and a range of professional graphics options, including up to two 32 GB AMD Radeon Pro W6800 GPUs or two 48 GB Nvidia RTX A6000 GPUs.
The newly designed chassis is 14% smaller than the dual Intel Xeon-based Dell Precision 7820 Tower. It features a hexagonal venting pattern that supports dedicated air channels for critical components. According to Dell, this enhances both thermal efficiency and acoustic performance.
For servicing and upgrading the chassis features front and side access. Tool-less interiors and colour-coded components are designed to make it more intuitive to upgrade memory, storage or graphics cards.
Meanwhile, for security, the chassis can be locked, complete with intrusion detection alerts, while TPM 2.0 (trusted platform module) and self-encrypting drives also help protect sensitive data.
USB Type-C and A ports are located on the front of the tower, and carrying handles make the tower more portable when needed.
The Precision 7865 Tower also delivers fast network speeds (1Gb and 10Gb native) to support work from home and allowing multiple users on one tower virtually. With the help of AMD Pro Manageability, the Precision 7865 is said to deliver secure out-of-band and remote management, giving IT administrators the ability to support employees’ needs regardless of location.
What we think
This is a very important win for AMD. Threadripper Pro has outperformed equivalent Intel processors in multi-threaded workflows for close to two years.
The processor offers a substantial performance lead in ray trace rendering, video editing and other workflows that can take full advantage of its many cores. Meanwhile, the 8-channel memory architecture can offer a significant boost in bandwidth hungry applications such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA).
Until now, the high-end desktop CPU was only available from Lenovo and from specialist workstation manufacturers like Scan, BOXX and Workstation Specialists.
Lenovo certainly benefitted from being the first major manufacturer to have a Threadripper Pro workstation. It helped it secure some significant deals, including DreamWorks Animation, which was a poster child for HP for many years.
While it has taken Dell 18 months to catch up, it can now finally give Lenovo stronger competition in enterprise accounts. It remains to be seen if HP will follow suit.
