The Lenovo M630e is one of Lenovo’s most modern ultra small form factor (SFF) PC’s, released in 2021, primarily designed for enterprise use but also a really good option for use in a home lab / as a home server, especially now it’s so difficult to get hold of the previous king of DIY enthusiasts, the raspberry pi.
Unfortunately, unlike other older models, these newer Lenovo’s aren’t as readily (or cheaply) available as some of the older models such as the M700.
What else that isn’t great about these modern models is that they don’t have user replaceable CPU’s, which means you’re stuck with just 3 options.
Officially supported Lenovo M630e Tiny CPU Upgrade options
According to the official ThinkCentre M630e Tiny Platform Specifications these are the following supported CPU options.
Intel® Pentium® or 8th Generation Intel Core™ i3 / i5 Processor
| Processor Name | Cores | Threads | Base Frequency | Max Frequency | Cache | Memory Support | Processor Graphics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentium Gold 5405U | 2 | 4 | 2.3GHz | – | 2MB | DDR4-2133 | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Core i3-8145U | 2 | 4 | 2.1GHz | 3.9GHz | 4MB | DDR4-2400 | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Core i5-8265U | 4 | 8 | 1.6GHz | 3.9GHz | 6MB | DDR4-2400 | Intel UHD Graphics |
Summary
To summarize, we do not recommend the Lenovo M630e Tiny as a viable option when compared to older Lenovo Tiny models such as the M700 Tiny, due to the restrictive nature of the non-user replaceable CPUs. Opting for a model with user replaceable CPUs allows for much greater flexibility, as you can upgrade the CPU later on without having to replace the entire computer! As time goes on, older gen CPU’s also become much more affordable on sites such as eBay.
If we have to recommend a model of M630e, we would suggest the i5 version (Core i5-8265U). This CPU boasts 4 cores and 4 threads, providing ample processing power for most home lab setups.
