Dell just released a formidable Mac Pro workstation rival - but you can’t buy it yet

A Dell Precision 7865 workstation next to a Dell monitor
(Image credit: Dell)

Dell has unveiled what could be one of the world’s most powerful Windows workstations, the Precision 7865 Tower, featuring the fastest x86 CPU to date, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX, a 64-core, 128-thread monster that should easily outpace whatever Intel has to offer. 

The latest member of the Precision family will excel at working with large databases, 3D rendering, compiling programs, and any workflow that requires significant computing power.

Other than the CPU, this system will be able to accommodate up to 1TB of DDR4 ECC RAM with RMT Pro (the chip supports up to 2TB though), up to 56TB storage (presumably a combination of SSD and HDD), optional Thunderbolt 3 connectivity (no TB4 though) and 10Gb Ethernet available by default. 

Under the hood

Users will be able to choose between the AMD Radeon Pro W6800 and the Nvidia RTX A6000 GPU cards at the top end (you can add up to two).

Powering all this is a 1350W power supply; note that the Precision 7865 also comes with WiFi-6e connectivity and Bluetooth 5.2 courtesy of Qualcomm.

The 5995WX is based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture and supports eight memory channels. It has a much lower base CPU speed (2.7GHz) than its smaller siblings; it does however have more cache (256MB). At 280W, its TDP matches that of previous Threadripper Pro processors.

It’s worth noting that AMD has yet to launch a HEDT Threadripper non-Pro range, a direct replacement to the 3990X. Could it be because the latter was cannibalizing sales of the 3995WX? That is a very real possibility.

Dell confirmed that its first Threadripper-based workstation will launch in summer with exact pricing confirmed nearer to launch. 

This leaves HP as the only other major vendor without a Threadripper product; Lenovo unveiled a refreshed version of its P620 earlier in March which features the 5995WX and can be purchased now. A stacked up Lenovo Thinkstation P620 system with 512GB ECC DDR4 memory, two Nvidia RTX A6000 GPUs and two 4TB SSD in RAID-0, will fetch a mere $33,561. 

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.