Chinese hardware maker Sugon has teased the N50 Pro, a 1.69kg mobile workstation packing 64 CPU threads and some intriguing mystery silicon.
Sugon is calling it the world’s first mobile workstation in its class with 64 CPU threads, although it has not identified the processor lurking under the bonnet.
A source familiar with the hardware claims the chip uses four-way simultaneous multithreading, or SMT4. That suggests a 16-core, 64-thread design rather than the 32 cores needed with conventional SMT2.
Hygon is a plausible supplier because its newer Chinese x86 processors support SMT4. A Hygon 3490H has appeared online carrying 16 cores and 64 threads, alongside a standard Hygon 3490 with 16 cores and 32 threads.
There is no confirmation that either chip is inside the N50 Pro. Another possibility is a derivative of Hygon’s recently unveiled C86-5G, which also supports SMT4.
Sugon says the processor can hit 4.3GHz in single-threaded workloads and is pitching the machine at designers, engineers and professionals running simulation, CAD and rendering software.
The outfit claims the N50 Pro can cut a typical 40GB-plus computational fluid dynamics workload from 2.4 hours to roughly one hour. Quite what software, dataset or benchmark Sugon used for that comparison remains unspecified, so the claim arrives with the customary manufacturer’s pinch of salt.
Memory configurations stretch to 128GB, while storage tops out at 8TB. The discrete GPU is equally mysterious. Sugon has disclosed only 16GB of dedicated graphics memory and a claimed clock speed of up to 3.3GHz.
It could come from one of several domestic Chinese GPU developers. Unis, for example, recently paired a Hygon C86-4G mobile processor with an Innosilicon Fenghua 2 discrete GPU in its L3831 G3 workstation.
Moore Threads, Jingjia Micro, and Xiangdixian have pushed their GPUs into the professional and mobile markets, but none of their publicly documented parts neatly match Sugon’s disclosed specifications.
Sugon is less coy about the display. The N50 Pro gets a 4K panel running at 120Hz, with a 93 per cent screen-to-body ratio and Delta E below one for colour-sensitive work. Connectivity includes nine interfaces, multi-display 4K output and what Sugon describes as “10-gigabit-class” data transfers.
There is a proprietary hidden-port arrangement intended to reduce dependence on dongles, although Sugon has yet to reveal the complete port selection. Despite all that workstation hardware, the N50 Pro measures just 16.9mm thick and weighs as little as 1.69kg.
Sugon has not announced a price or release date, which makes all this a properly secretive ‘announcement.’
