@mobilenvidia has done a great job with their thread on the whole Project TMM ecosystem; but I'm now almost two and a half years down the Lenovo Tiny rabbit hole so I thought I would gather some reference material specific to them together in one spot so that it can perhaps save others some time. I'll try to keep this updated as more information comes in, for the moment it only covers last four generations because I'm most familiar with those.
Dimensions :
179 x 183 x 34.5 / 37 mm with rubber feet (7.05 x 7.2 x 1.36 / 1.5 inches with rubber feet) (around 1 litre)
Weight :
1.25-1.35kg
ThinkCentre vs ThinkStation :
The various ThinkCentre models (M{7,8,9}[x]0q) are equivalent to the ThinkStation (P3x0) models, the main differences are what specifications you could originally buy them with, all the ThinkStations have 2x m.2 slots, and there are sometimes some small cosmetic differences to the facia. Usually the ThinkStations come with larger power supplies, two m.2 slots with one NVME drive populated, and an (optional) graphics card. To map them :
Model overview : (model numbers link to STH review)
* See Adding RAM section below.
** Note that this is not a native PCIe expansion slot you can attach a PCIe extension cable to, you need a proprietary riser card (see below).
*** If you install a PCIe card into a model that supports it, in theory you will not be able to install the 2.5" drive as well since it occupies the space the caddy fills. However, see below.
**** It appears that a P350 or P360 Tiny, although it does have a SATA ZIF connector on the motherboard, does not officially come with a 2.5" drive option so there is no FRU for it and the standard 2.5" drive caddy will not fit.
***** Please see the PCIe slot, riser, and adding cards section below for an important note.
# Note that the m.2 slot(s) of the Mx0q Gen 2 series and P350 only support PCIe Gen 3 drives with series 10 CPUs, but PCIe Gen 4 with series 11 CPUs.
BIOS
Adding RAM :
Please see the table above for the maximum size and speed of DIMM supported by each model. Two SODIMM slots are available and overclocking is not available through the BIOS.
These are essentially Lenovo laptop power supplies so you can use those too. A 65W or 90W supply is what you generally get in the box with the Mx20q series. 135W, 170W and 230W supplies are available and come with the later models, and required for 65W TDP CPUs in the M90q. See below ("model upgrades" and "heatsinks") if you are worried about keeping everything a bit cooler after you ramp up the power.
Anecdotally using 135W and higher PSUs gives you improved performance above the standard 35W TDP of the CPUs.
If you have a 135W or higher PSU you can use a splitter to give you two 65W (actually, one 65W and one 135W) power feeds. Lenovo part number 4X20W69154.
PCIe slot, riser, and add-in cards :
The biggest differentiator for the Lenovo Tiny vs other Project TMM machines is that it has the ability to accommodate one half height, up to x16 PCIe card, although note the slot itself is x8. The slot on the board is not standard PCIe, you require a proprietary Lenovo riser card to make it usable and you need the right riser for your Tiny model. Also please note not all Tinys have the slot, refer to the table above for which models do.
* We have reports of problems with PCIe card detection and speed with the 01AJ902 (x8) riser so I would recommend you avoid it and use 01AJ940 instead.
** Thanks @Vorwrath for this important information.
I found the replacement motherboards for the M90q can be relatively cheap (I saw it at £175/$230 brand new), this is generally much less than the difference in price between the M90q and the lesser models, either secondhand or new. If you get a deal on a M70q or M80q this could be a low cost way to acquire the PCIe slot, a second m.2 slot, and support for 65W TDP CPUs; although remember you will also need a new base chassis otherwise you will not have the PCIe slot exposed at the rear, and you need a fan and heatsink upgrade if you want to use 65W CPUs.
Heatsinks (including 65W CPUs and for GPUs) :
Hypervisors :
Other notes :
If you have questions or more info to add, please put it in a comment below and I'll either update the guide or try to answer.
Dimensions :
179 x 183 x 34.5 / 37 mm with rubber feet (7.05 x 7.2 x 1.36 / 1.5 inches with rubber feet) (around 1 litre)
Weight :
1.25-1.35kg
ThinkCentre vs ThinkStation :
The various ThinkCentre models (M{7,8,9}[x]0q) are equivalent to the ThinkStation (P3x0) models, the main differences are what specifications you could originally buy them with, all the ThinkStations have 2x m.2 slots, and there are sometimes some small cosmetic differences to the facia. Usually the ThinkStations come with larger power supplies, two m.2 slots with one NVME drive populated, and an (optional) graphics card. To map them :
- P330 Tiny = M920q but with 2x m.2, ie like an M920x
- P340 Tiny = M90q
- P350 Tiny = M90q Gen 2
- P360 Tiny = M90q Gen 3
Model overview : (model numbers link to STH review)
| Model | Supported CPUs | Chipset | SODIMM RAM (max) * | PCIe slot ** | NIC (+ m.2 WiFi/BT) | Drives *** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M720q | Coffee Lake (8/9x00T) | Intel B360 | 2x 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 | PCIe x8 Gen 3 | Intel I219-V | 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M920q M920x P330 | Coffee Lake (8/9x00T) | Intel Q370 | 2x 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 | PCIe x8 Gen 3 | Intel I219-LM (vPro) | M920q : 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" M920x, P330 : 2x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M75q | AMD Athlon/Ryzen 3/5 Pro | AMD Pro 500 | 2x 32GB 2933MHz DDR4 | No | Realtek RTL8111EPV-CG | 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M75q Gen 2 | AMD Athlon/Ryzen 3/5 Pro | AMD Pro 500 | 2x 32GB 3400MHz DDR4 | No | Realtek RTL8111HN or RTL8111FP (DASH) | 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M70q | Comet Lake (10x00T) | Intel H470 | 2x 32GB 2933MHz DDR4 | No | Intel I219-V | 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M80q | Comet Lake (10x00T) | Intel Q470 | 2x 32GB 2933MHz DDR4 | No | Intel I219-LM (vPro) | 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M90q P340 | Comet Lake (10x00T and 10x00) | Intel Q470 | 2x 32GB 2933MHz DDR4 | PCIe x8 Gen 3 | Intel I219-LM (vPro) | 2x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M70q Gen 2 | Rocket Lake (10/11x00T) | Intel B560 | 2x 32GB 3400MHz DDR4 | No | Intel I219-V | 1x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M90q Gen 2 P350 | Rocket Lake (10/11x00T and 10/11x00) | Intel Q570 | 2x 32GB 3400MHz DDR4 | PCIe x8 Gen 3 | Intel I219-LM (vPro) | 2x m.2, 1x 2.5" P350 : 2x m.2 only**** # |
| M80q Gen 3 | Alder Lake (12x00 and 12x00T) | Intel Q670 | 2x 32GB 4800MHz DDR5 | No | Intel I219-LM (vPro) 2.5GbE via RTL8125BGS option | 2x m.2, 1x 2.5" |
| M90q Gen 3 P360 | Alder Lake (12x00 and 12x00T) | Intel Q670 | 2x 32GB 4800MHz DDR5 | PCIe x8 Gen 4 ***** | Intel I219-LM (vPro) 2.5GbE via RTL8125BGS option | 2x m.2, 1x 2.5" P360 : 2x m.2 only **** |
** Note that this is not a native PCIe expansion slot you can attach a PCIe extension cable to, you need a proprietary riser card (see below).
*** If you install a PCIe card into a model that supports it, in theory you will not be able to install the 2.5" drive as well since it occupies the space the caddy fills. However, see below.
**** It appears that a P350 or P360 Tiny, although it does have a SATA ZIF connector on the motherboard, does not officially come with a 2.5" drive option so there is no FRU for it and the standard 2.5" drive caddy will not fit.
***** Please see the PCIe slot, riser, and adding cards section below for an important note.
# Note that the m.2 slot(s) of the Mx0q Gen 2 series and P350 only support PCIe Gen 3 drives with series 10 CPUs, but PCIe Gen 4 with series 11 CPUs.
BIOS
Reset/clear CMOS :
Thanks to @M_server we know that if your BIOS is password protected and/or certain options are locked, on the Mx10q and Mx20q at least you can reset it using the information in this video. That is :
- Unplug your Tiny.
- Remove the top cover of the unit by removing the screw at the rear of the case.
- Orient the base unit so that the rear ports face away from you.
- At the very top left of the motherboard, next to the screw, is a jumper block.
- On the Mx10q and M75q Gen 1: The jumper is oriented parallel to the side of the board. Move it one pin towards you while keeping the orientation.
- On the Mx20q : The jumper is oriented across the top two pins (5-6) in parallel to the rear of the board. The screenprint on the board says to move it to cover the bottom left and centre left pins (2-4), so it is oriented vertically to the rear of the board and parallel to the side. However, I have found several people online jumpering 3-4 instead so I need to try to get a definitive answer.
- Plug in the power and turn the Tiny on.
- Wait for two short beeps, then a pause, then two more short beeps.
- Unplug the Tiny.
- Move the jumper back to its original position.
- Replace the top cover and secure it with the screw.
- Plug the Tiny back in. You may want to power cycle it.
- Done! Enter the BIOS to make the changes you need.
Boot logo customisation :
Thanks to @rafale77 for this mini guide :
The tool is embedded in the UEFI (and ISO - Ed) versions of the BIOS update packages.
- I created a USB boot drive for firmware updates of my P340.
- Created a jpg logo file (i.e logo.jpg) which needs to be relatively small, <20kb in my case, and put it on the USB drive.
- Upon booting the firmware update USB drive, I rejected the firmware upgrade to access the UEFI shell.
- The following commands then need to be executed:
compress.efi logo.jpg
chgLogo.efi compress.bin
If the file is small enough post compression, the logo will be loaded into the BIOS.
Problems using the BIOS update ISO on a USB stick (eg when using Ventoy) :
If you have too many partitions on your USB stick, or you use Ventoy, then the automatic flash upgrade boot will complain it can't find the flash file and fail. If this happens to you :
- At the prompt after the script fails, type fs6: and press enter. Then ls (or dir) and enter to see the file listing. If you can't see a bunch of files including flash2.efi then enter fs7: , then ls, and repeat until you do. For me using Ventoy the files are always at fs7: and PiKVM fs6:.
- Once you have found the files, enter flash2.efi imageM3J.cap /bb /rsmb /bgd (edit the image name to suit your model, this is for the (M{7,9}0q Gen2 and P350) and things should proceed as expected.
- Note that after a message I left on the Lenovo forum, it looks like the installer "just works" on the latest BIOS updates. Well done Lenovo!
No support for BIOS RAID on P350 unless using Intel branded NVMe drives :
Thanks to @Helzy for this hard-won information :
The Intel RST RAID creation tool is still available in the P350 Tiny BIOS only when the m.2 slots are populated with Intel branded NVMe drives. For most use cases folks probably don't use the BIOS RAID utility, it's always been my practice to populate both slots on the Thinkstation Tiny's and create a RAID 1 array to install the OS onto. Just over the years have had too many failures with drives and having the mirror option on an OS drive has never failed me so far. Intel deprecated the ability to use drives other than Intel ones, I bought a pair of Intel 670P drives to confirm.
Setting up Intel AMT/vPro :
Press ctrl-P at the BIOS splash screen to enter the utility. This only works on vPro supported models, check the model table above for confirmation. The default password is admin and you will be prompted to change it for a new one after you log in. This needs to be complex enough to include lower and upper case, a number, and a symbol and to be at least eight characters long, otherwise it will keep complaining with an unhelpful error until you meet the required complexity.
Enable SR-IOV :
Hidden BIOS options, CPU undervolting :
Please see the CPU section. There is also useful discussion later in this thread.
Adding RAM :
Please see the table above for the maximum size and speed of DIMM supported by each model. Two SODIMM slots are available and overclocking is not available through the BIOS.
- For Mx20q and M75q I can confirm 2x 32GB = 64GB RAM works even though officially Lenovo says 2x 16GB is the maximum. The table reflects this.
- For the Mx0q and above technically 2x 64GB = 128GB is supported by the CPUs and chipset, but I have not found any 64GB SODIMMs so I show the achievable maximum as 2x 32GB.
- For ECC RAM @rafale77 says "ECC memory support is dependent on the chipset/CPU. Intel chipsets in these units don't support ECC. The AMD ones on the other hand can if you get a CPU which also supports ECC."
These are essentially Lenovo laptop power supplies so you can use those too. A 65W or 90W supply is what you generally get in the box with the Mx20q series. 135W, 170W and 230W supplies are available and come with the later models, and required for 65W TDP CPUs in the M90q. See below ("model upgrades" and "heatsinks") if you are worried about keeping everything a bit cooler after you ramp up the power.
Anecdotally using 135W and higher PSUs gives you improved performance above the standard 35W TDP of the CPUs.
If you have a 135W or higher PSU you can use a splitter to give you two 65W (actually, one 65W and one 135W) power feeds. Lenovo part number 4X20W69154.
PCIe slot, riser, and add-in cards :
The biggest differentiator for the Lenovo Tiny vs other Project TMM machines is that it has the ability to accommodate one half height, up to x16 PCIe card, although note the slot itself is x8. The slot on the board is not standard PCIe, you require a proprietary Lenovo riser card to make it usable and you need the right riser for your Tiny model. Also please note not all Tinys have the slot, refer to the table above for which models do.
- You can install most x1/x2/x4/x8/x16 PCIe cards as long as they are half height and shorter than 150mm (M720q and M920q) or 167mm (M90q and later), but bear in mind there is no direct airflow around the card and little space, so avoid anything too hot.
- Please note the PCIe slot's bandwidth limitations for the different series (thanks to @cadillac ).
- Note that if you are having issues with the system seeing or properly recognising your PCIe card, you can try this fix (no soldering required). Thanks @cromo !
- The slot does not natively support bifurcation, but a small modification involving soldering a resistor onto the board may work to allow x4/x4. See here for example.
Riser cards.
Remember the slot is really PCIe x8. Make sure you use the correct riser for your Tiny model; if you don't, powering on will fry the motherboard.
| Tiny series | Speed | FRU | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny5 (eg Mx20q, etc) | x4 | 01AJ929 | |
| x8 | 01AJ902 | Can have issues, avoid. * | |
| x16 (electrical x8) | 01AJ940 | ||
| Tiny6, Tiny7 (eg M90q Gen 1, Gen 2) | x4 | 5C50W00876 | |
| x16 (electrical x8) | 5C50W00877 | ||
| Tiny8 (eg M90q Gen 3) | x4 | 5C50W00909 | |
| x16 (electrical x8) | 5C50W00910 | Might not work with older PCIe cards but may have a workaround ** |
** Thanks @Vorwrath for this important information.
Baffle/rear bracket.
Note that the PCIe card bracket at the rear, which Lenovo calls a baffle, is proprietary. A baffle exists for the Intel i350-T4 four port NIC, the Intel i350-T2 two port NIC (5M10U50349 for the Mx20q - thanks @snowylake), and the Lenovo Thunderbolt card (see below) only, and nothing else that I have seen. If you are installing anything else you will therefore need to work out how to support it physically in the case without its rear bracket or somehow use/adapt the baffles that do exist, or print them.
- Please note that the baffles for the Mx20q and prior are different from those for the M90q and later. You must buy the right baffle or make sure the one you receive in the FRU is correct for your Tiny.
- M720q/920q style baffle has a larger and more square attachment on the left, the M90q and later style baffle has a curved, round lug bottom left instead. See third page of the thread for photos.
- You can buy the Mx20q 4 port NIC baffle relatively easily via Taobao in China, here is a link to buy it via Superbuy. You'll pay about £10/$13 plus shipping.
- The P340/M90q 4 port NIC baffle's FRU is 5M10U50350 (thanks @tinfoil3d ). You can try searching your favourite online auction site for it. This does not fit the Mx20q series (see post from @986box in the thread) so use the links above.
- If you have a 10GbE card, there is a thread on Reddit where a kind user has several baffles they will 3D print for you on demand for $5 (!) each plus shipping. Thanks to @adman_c he will now also do Tiny6 baffles for the SuperMicro AOC-STGN-i2s and the Mellanox CX311A. I bought some myself, the service was very prompt indeed (I'm in the UK) and the quality excellent. I have included some photos of my build in the thread.
- Here is a Tiny5 Thingiverse model for a AOC-STGN-I2S, with and without SATA cable passthrough.
PCIe add-in cards : 4x 1GbE, 4x 2.5GbE, 1x 10GbE, 2x 10GbE and Thunderbolt.
- For the Intel i350-T4 4x 1Gbps NIC there is Lenovo FRU 03T8760 or part number 4XC0R41416, and includes the card itself, riser card, and baffle for Tiny5 units. Since Lenovo wants 330 of your actual American dollars for this, you will probably be using alternative means to obtain this.
- The Intel i350-T4 4x 1GbE is widely available but please try to avoid buying a fake. Easiest way to tell is if the "Delta" on the two large black chips near the ports is embossed into the plastic or not, and whether the oval silver crystal unit at the top of the card has "TXC" engraved on it; but obviously the seller may not be using photos of what they're actually selling, so buyer beware.
- There are 4x 2.5GbE cards available on AliExpress for example using the RTL8125B chipset which will fit; and as an added bonus the i350-T4 baffles may well work too (don't sue me, I have not tried it).
- 10GbE cards that are less than the maximum size (see above) should fit, but heat could be an issue on cards with more than two ports.
- @cptcrunch gives some great photos below on adding a 2x 10GbE Intel X-520 NIC to an M720q but note this will require the metal support on the card to be cut.
- According to the specification sheet, Mellanox MCX311A, MCX312A/B, MCX313A, and MCX314A cards will fit but I have not tried them myself.
- The Mellanox ConnectX-3 CX322A dual SFP+ card has been confirmed working on Reddit without significant effect on the heat. The user notes that it does not work with pfSense out of the box but is fine if virtualised from Proxmox.
- The Supermicro AOC-STG-I2T does not work - fan gets caught on chassis lid.
- The Supermicro AOC-STGN-I2S v1 and v2 do work and use the same chipset as the Intel X-520. Also works natively in pfSense.
- For the baffle for 10GbE cards, please see the "Baffle/rear bracket" section above.
- You can add a Lenovo Thunderbolt PCIe card which has the FRU 01AJ968 for M720q/M920q, which should come with a baffle to fit the Tiny. There's also a DP loopback cable and GPIO control cable that would be required as well and seem to be included in the FRU.
- Also please note that anecdotally you must use only the x4 PCIe riser (01AJ929) when adding specifically the Thunderbolt card, since the x8 and x16 risers stop this particular card working (other cards have no reported issues).
- Note you can use the Thunderbolt port to attach external 10GbE/SFP+ adaptors.
- There are also configurations for Thunderbolt 3 on later Tinys - M90q Gen 2 and later get Thunderbolt 4 - but I can't find the parts for sale anywhere.
- You can also add an Ethernet card to the m.2/miniPCIe wireless slot, thanks @joeribl for this! They used this kit from AliExpress which uses an Intel i210 and thus is recognised natively in vSphere 7. There are also 2.5GbE cards starting to appear (as of January 2023) but so far these only use Realtek chipsets. Remember you need an A/E key card, the far more common B/M key cards will not work in this slot.
PCIe graphics cards.
- If you install a graphics card you should consider adding a heatpipe assembly which links the cooling to the main CPU blower.
- Lenovo only installs 35W TDP CPUs in the discrete graphics card models, so bear that in mind. Please refer to the section below on "Heatsinks."
- Don't expect too much in terms of graphics horsepower in a half height PCIe card limited to (in theory) 75W. Something like an AMD Radeon RX 560 as seen in STH's guide for the M920x, or the NVIDIA Quadro P620 2GB, which is what the P340 comes with.
- @atflp says " there are newer Nvidia cards that fit into this tiny machine, like:
- Nvidia T400 is like Quadro P620, just consumes less power.
- Nvidia T600 is like Quadro P1000, but newer.
- Nvidia T1000 is faster than the above cards."
I found the replacement motherboards for the M90q can be relatively cheap (I saw it at £175/$230 brand new), this is generally much less than the difference in price between the M90q and the lesser models, either secondhand or new. If you get a deal on a M70q or M80q this could be a low cost way to acquire the PCIe slot, a second m.2 slot, and support for 65W TDP CPUs; although remember you will also need a new base chassis otherwise you will not have the PCIe slot exposed at the rear, and you need a fan and heatsink upgrade if you want to use 65W CPUs.
- For the Mx20q family the top cover is from the P330, I think the part numbers are 02CW461 or 02CW663 (please check) and it has some venting which may help.
- For both M90q and M90q Gen 2 : "base chassis" (base unit and rear panel, really) FRU is 5M10U50562. This part includes the removeable baffle for cards allowing you to use the PCIe riser, and the vented top panel required for 65W CPUs.
- For the M90q : motherboard FRU is 5B20U54361.
- For the M90 Gen 2 : motherboard FRU is 5B20U54717 (or ...8 and ...9 if you want embedded full Windows or Windows IOT licences respectively).
Heatsinks (including 65W CPUs and for GPUs) :
| Tiny series | TDP | FRU | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny5 | 35W | ||
| 65W | 01EF554 (heatsink) 01EF556 (fan) | For the P340 but may work on Mx20q | |
| Tiny6, Tiny7 | 35W | 5H40U92964 (Al) or 5H40U93019 | 5H40U92967 (Al/Cu) adds GPU heatpipe support |
| 65W | 5H40U93021, 5H40U92966 (Cu) |
Thanks to @rafale77 and @snowylake for providing all the proceeding information.
@rafale77 summarises : "So these are the 3 HSF available for these tiny6 units. It also appears from a very detailed look that the tiny7 (P350/M90Q gen2) HSF and the tiny6 (P340/M90Q gen1) HSF are interchangeable. Only the addition of 3 through holes for easy access to test pads on the tiny6 motherboard appear to be the difference. (I compared 5H40U93021 vs 5H40U92966)."
CPUs Upgrades :
Note that Lenovo appears to be starting to implement vendor locking for the Ryzen processors in the M75q Gen 2. Please read the STH article.
The table below is to help you to decide when it is worth buying one CPU over another. You can argue about the relevance of it, but this is Passmark's view and I needed a consistent value to compare with. Thanks to @rafale77 I added Geekbench 5 single- and multicore results and the iGPU GFlops in FP32.
- The CPUs in these systems are all socketed, so you can do as I did and replace the lowest end Pentium Gold with (say) an i9-9900T after buying.
- The Pentium Gold and 10100T models tend to sell well below the price of the "proper" Core CPU models, so buying a CPU separately might be to your financial advantage. The T (35W TDP) CPUs are hard to find at retail but Aliexpress is the best source for me (I'm in the UK, YMMV).
- If you're looking at running a firewall on one of the Mx20q boxes the 8/9100T is probably your best bet, since it has good single thread performance for Coffee Lake CPUs. Some platforms like Sophos XG Home will limit you to 4 CPU cores (not threads ...) for their home license anyway, many firewall processes are single threaded. Under OPNsense I can easily saturate a 1Gbps Internet connection with full IDS/IPS using an 8100T, and @zer0sum has a useful thread showing 2+Gbit symmetric throughput on an i5 8500T with some traffic inspection features enabled - full IDS/IPS roughly halves throughput.
CPU undervolting and adding hidden BIOS options :
CPU comparisons :
| CPU model | Passmark | GeekB5 Single | GeekB5 Multi | iGPU FP32 GFlops | Configuration | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11900 | 23,207 | 1831 | 9872 | 666 | 8C/16T | 65W |
| Ryzen 7 5700GE | 22,566 | 1554 | 8202 | 2048 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| Ryzen 7 PRO 5750GE | 22,346 | 1550 | 8136 | 2048 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| 10900 | 20,488 | 1379 | 10744 | 461 | 10C/20T | 65W |
| Ryzen 7 4700GE | 20,414 | 1205 | 6392 | 2048 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| 11900T | 20,225 | 1674 | 7680 | 666 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| 11600 | 18,326 | 1561 | 7422 | 666 | 6C/12T | 65W |
| 11500 | 17,612 | 1560 | 7144 | 666 | 6C/12T | 65W |
| 10700 | 17,004 | 1267 | 8945 | 461 | 8C/16T | 65W |
| 9900 | 16,885 | 1292 | 8047 | 461 | 8C/16T | 65W |
| 11700T | 15,271 | 1613 | 7170 | 666 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| 11600T | 15,254 | | 6587 | 666 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 10900T | 15,133 | 1674 | 8743 | 461 | 10C/20T | 35W |
| 9900T | 13,896 | 1097 | 7045 | 461 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| 11500T | 13,401 | 1042 | 5459 | 666 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 9700 | 13,383 | 1218 | 6714 | 461 | 8C/8T | 65W |
| 10700T | 13,143 | 1202 | 6270 | 461 | 8C/16T | 35W |
| 11400T | 12,951 | 1259 | 5433 | 666 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 10600T | 11,596 | 1114 | 5421 | 442 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 9700T | 10,736 | 1077 | 5465 | 461 | 8C/8T | 35W |
| 8700T | 10,454 | 1061 | 4931 | 461 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 10500T | 10,393 | 1042 | 5496 | 442 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 10400T | 10,032 | 968 | 4392 | 442 | 6C/12T | 35W |
| 8500 | 9,601 | 1086 | 4761 | 442 | 6C/6T | 65W |
| 9400 | 9,491 | 1077 | 4629 | 442 | 6C/6T | 65W |
| 8400 | 9,220 | 1053 | 4608 | 442 | 6C/6T | 65W |
| 3400GE | 8,994 | 919 | 2897 | 1830 | 4C/8T | 35W |
| 9600T | 8,393 | | 4979 | 442 | 6C/6T | 35W |
| 9500T | 8,253 | 978 | 3984 | 442 | 6C/6T | 35W |
| 10305T | 8,136 | 923 | 4000 | 442 | 4C/8T | 35W |
| 2400GE | 8,134 | 893 | 2706 | 1760 | 4C/8T | 35W |
| 8600T | 8,227 | 934 | 4284 | 442 | 6C/6T | 35W |
| 10105T | 7,850 | 1032 | 3586 | 422 | 4C/8T | 35W |
| 9400T | 7,809 | 858 | 3756 | 442 | 6C/6T | 35W |
| 10300T | 7,780 | 919 | 3654 | 461 | 4C/8T | 35W |
| 8500T | 7,707 | 931 | 4275 | 442 | 6C/6T | 35W |
| 8400T | 7,449 | 899 | 4116 | 442 | 6C/6T | 35W |
| 10100T | 7,416 | 1004 | 3582 | 422 | 4C/8T | 35W |
| 9100F | 6,764 | 1007 | 3664 | - | 4C/4T | 65W |
| 2200GE | 6,537 | 734 | 2341 | | 4C/4T | 35W |
| 9100T | 5,419 | 964 | 2926 | 422 | 4C/4T | 35W |
| 8100T | 5,280 | 845 | 2737 | 422 | 4C/4T | 35W |
| Gold 5500T | 3,234 | 2C/4T | 35W | |||
| Gold 5400T | 3,119 | 2C/4T | 35W |
For comparative reference only, a Xeon E-2246G (80W TDP) scores 14,055 and a Pentium G5420 (54W TDP) scores 3,641.
Hypervisors :
ESXi / vSphere :
All these systems will run ESXi 6.x or 7.0, but note they are not on the hardware compatibility list and :
- The M75q (both generations) has a Realtek NIC, so for 7.0 and later you will need to buy a USB NIC and install the Fling in order to connect it to the network. An alternative may be to replace the m.2 WiFi/BT card with an Intel I219 m.2 Ethernet card - see the .
- The M70/80/90q (both generations) are now supported natively in ESXi 7.0.3f and later; for previous versions you'll need the Community Networking Driver Fling to be installed - same as the later Intel NUCs - in order for the onboard NIC to function.
- Not specifically Tiny-related, but a general warning that a fair number of "consumer" grade NVMe drives are not supported by ESXi either. I've not had an issue with mostly WD and Corsair ones so far, but it may be worth Googling beforehand. There is a Fling to help you but it only adds Micron/Crucial, ADATA, and Silicon Motion as supported vendors so it is not a comprehensive fix.
- A guide to installing the Flings in the base ESXi image is here to get you started, and here is how to add to your base image in vCenter. Note these instructions are a little outdated so you will need to update the filenames accordingly and check here for more help.
- I don't run ESXi any more, so I cannot comment on version 8.0.
Proxmox / KVM:
Here's how to enable SR-IOV on Proxmox thanks to @zer0sum .
xcp-ng/Xen Hypervisor :
For the Mx20q series and prior I believe all is well, but I cannot test since I no longer have one of these.
From Comet Lake onwards (10/11+) much unhappiness - you'll boot the xcp-ng ISO, it will get to a point where Xen is relinquishing the VGA and the screen goes blank. Technically the system is still working, but you can't see anything. Please see this thread on the official forums. This problem also applies to the commercial Xen Hypervisor. This is in part because xcp-ng relies on CentOS 7 which is getting a bit long in the tooth now.
In that thread there is a patched ISO that a user there, Andrew, has made and works well. There is an official fix due in the not-too-distant future (as of January 2023) as part of xcp-ng 8.3 and the beta version works without needing a special ISO.
SmartOS/OmniOS/Triton :
I'm unable to boot the installer on a P350, it hangs without further report after you pass the boot menu.
LXD
No issues, since basically it's a straight Ubuntu install plus a Snap.
Other notes :
- The rear chassis screw that holds the Tiny together is an M3.5, and changing it to a thumbscrew means that the chassis is completely tool free for most things you'll want to do - RAM upgrades, SSD/m.2 drive changes, cleaning, etc. You can buy this as a part from Lenovo, but they want £28/$35 plus shipping for it, so much easier just to buy a generic black M3.5 thumbscrew off eBay or similar.
- You should move the blue plastic retainer for the 2242 m.2 drives to avoid it sitting, even if closed, under a 2280 drive. You can do this by opening it and then pushing the retention peg through from the other side of the motherboard. If you do not do this a 2280 drive does not sit flat and has a flex in it, which is probably not good for longevity. You can store it in the other (unused/unpopulated) m.2 slot.
- If you plug a keyboard into USB port 5 on all models (the port has a small keyboard icon next to it), then you can power on the machine with ALT+P (thanks @atflp !).
- The FRU for the 2.5" drive caddy and cable for the Mx20q series is 00XL211, this should work with other models but use caution. Note that the P350 does have the SATA ZIF connector on the motherboard but the 2.5" drive caddys do not fit. You will need to buy the cable/caddy to get the requisite SATA ribbon cable and connectors, but throw away or potentially modify the caddy in order to secure your drive somehow.
- If you want to mount these in a rack, you can 3D print yourself a 1U unit that holds two Tinys.
- Thanks to @tinfoil3d who has found how to get access to sensor reporting on most models :
"And then it just magically pops up in /sys/class/hwmon and lm-sensors's "sensors" command just works and displays everything you'd want to see."Code:
modprobe nct6683 force=on
If you have questions or more info to add, please put it in a comment below and I'll either update the guide or try to answer.
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