MSI XpertStation WS300: A 30kg, $100K DGX Station on Your Floor

MSI's XpertStation WS300 packs an NVIDIA GB300 server platform into a tower measuring 246 x 529 x 570 mm and weighing nearly 30 kg — with a 1600W power budget that effectively demands its own dedicated 20-amp circuit. It is Die Signal's second look at a DGX Station system, following Gigabyte's W775-V10-L01 last month.

The premise: server-grade AI hardware at desk-side scale. A single GB300-based workstation lets developers test and run programs locally instead of on remote clusters. The trade-offs show up immediately in the physical design and port layout.

What's inside the WS300?

The core specs are set by NVIDIA's standardized DGX Station motherboard, so every vendor builds around the same platform:

• CPU: NVIDIA Grace 72-core Neoverse V2 (72C/72T)
• GPU: NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra compute accelerator
• Memory: 496GB LPDDR5X at 396GB/s (CPU) plus 252GB HBM3E at 7.1TB/s (GPU)
• Storage: two M.2 2280 slots at PCIe Gen6 x4, two at PCIe Gen5 x4
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with NVIDIA AI Developer Tools
• PSU: 1600W, 80 PLUS Platinum
• Optional video card: NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell 2000/4000/6000

Notably, GB300 provides no SATA ports — yet MSI still fits a green drive-activity light with the HDD symbol, a small anachronism that outlives the drives it references.

How does it network?

Networking is central here, not an afterthought. Two QSFP112 ports fed by NVIDIA's ConnectX-8 SuperNIC each deliver 400Gbps, forming the primary link to high-speed storage or other DGX Station systems. In this review and the Gigabyte one, the team networked two systems for an 800Gbps aggregate Blackwell Ultra-to-Blackwell Ultra RDMA link (remote direct memory access, moving data between machines without CPU involvement).

Beyond the QSFP ports, the rear panel carries four Ethernet jacks on three controllers: the two 400G ports, a 1GbE port for the BMC (baseboard management controller), and a 10GbE RJ45 powered by a Marvell controller. The topology is unusual — the Marvell 10Gbase-T chip hangs off the ConnectX-8's built-in PCIe switch rather than connecting directly to the CPU.

Management runs through OpenBMC with an HTML5 iKVM. A micro-USB serial UART and a Mini DisplayPort output also connect to the BMC. Since Blackwell Ultra is a compute accelerator rather than a display GPU, that BMC DisplayPort is the only out-of-the-box graphics output; for real display work, MSI supports optional RTX PRO Blackwell cards and has thought through how to mount one inside the chassis.

What does the 1.6kW draw mean in practice?

The PSU sits at the bottom and brushes the limit of a single North American outlet. Safe operation needs a high-capacity C19 power cable and a 20-amp circuit. In practice, plan on dedicating a circuit to the machine.

Design choices worth noting

MSI reserved the entire front of the case for airflow behind a triangular mesh screen — a stark contrast to Gigabyte's fully closed front. Because of the size, weight and heat output, MSI designed the WS300 as a floor computer. All ports and controls sit on top: two 10Gbps USB-C, two 10Gbps USB-A, and separate 3.5mm mic-in and line-out jacks.

No USB4 anywhere. NVIDIA's motherboard offers none, so transfers faster than 10Gbps must flow through the QSFP array. You could add USB via the PCIe slots, but the reviewer's verdict: use it as a server you connect to over the network.

Small details matter. MSI labels its USB ports with the USB-IF logo — better than most — though listing actual port speeds would help. The recessed reset button prevents accidental resets at the cost of being awkward to press intentionally. The rear exhaust takes a 120mm or 140mm fan; MSI chose 120mm. And unlike Gigabyte, MSI didn't block the QSFP112 cages behind the I/O shield, giving them better passive cooling.

The verdict on externals: an expensive system that doesn't look it. Black-clad, understated, "not flashy" — unlike NVIDIA's DGX Spark. The four rear USB-A ports share a hub, so don't expect simultaneous 10Gbps on each. The internal hardware tour comes next.