Update 8/7/2020 4:30pm PT: Mediaworkstations has emended the mixup with the motherboard. The a-XP doesn't employ the ASRock X399M Taichi as previously listed on the product page, instead the system is based around the ASRock TRX40 Creator. Mediaworkstations provided us with more details on the display as well.
Original Article:
Who needs a laptop when you can lug around 64 cores of sheer power? That's what Mediaworkstations is doing with the a-XP, a very interesting portable Threadripper workstation PC that'll blow any laptop and the majority of the desktop PCs out of the water.
We spotted the machine today thanks to Reddit. The a-XP is built similar to a briefcase -- like the kind you'd see in spy movies that stores nuclear launch codes. The system measures 17.05 x 13.68 x 9.03 inches and weighs between 30 and 35 lbs, depending on the configuration. The a-XP doesn't just promise uncompromised performance, but it'll also help you build arm muscle. According to Mediaworkstations, the a-XP is made of heavy gauge steel and even features a mechanical keyboard.
The a-XP comes with a 17.3-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The panel flaunts a 60 Hz refresh rate and a brightness of 300 nits. For $995, you can bump the resolution up to 3840 x 2160 while retaining the same 60 Hz refresh rate, but with a maximum brightness of 1000 nits.
Mediaworkstations doesn't explicitly list the model of the TRX40 motherboard, but the characteristics point to the ASRock TRX40 Creator. The company offers three processor options to choose from: the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, Threadripper 3970X or Threadripper 3960X. The motherboard allows you to have up to 256GB of memory.
The a-XP isn't a gaming PC, but Mediaworkstations offers various models with consumer-grade Nvidia GeForce graphics cards, alongside the expected Titan, Quadro and Tesla options. Due to the design of the case, the GeForce models feature a blower design. The graphics cards are from PNY, and you can pick between the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 Super, RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2060 Super. The more specialized models include the Quadro RTX 4000 to RTX 8000, as well as the Tesla V100. The a-XP can hold up to two discrete graphics cards.
Mediaworkstations provides users the choice to equip the a-XP with up two M.2 NVMe SSDs and two 3.5-inch drives. The company also permits customers to deck the a-XP with other interesting hardware, such as an Intel Optane drive and 100-Gigabit Ethernet adapter.
The cheapest configuration with a Ryzen Threadripper 3960X, 32GB of memory, Samsung 970 Evo Plus 250GB SSD and GeForce RTX 2060 Super costs a whopping $7,997. Obviously, the price skyrockets when you start to furnish the a-XP with high-end components, such as the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X or those Tesla V100s.
