iBASE introduced one of the industry’s first Mini-ITX motherboards for Intel’s Xeon E processors on Tuesday. The MI995 is based on Intel’s mobile CM246 PCH and is aimed at low-power miniature specialized PCs. Meanwhile, small does not mean limitations, so the MI995 has nearly all the expansion capabilities its bigger brothers do.
The iBASE MI995VF-X27 is based on Intel’s CM246 chipset designed for laptops and supporting Intel’s Xeon E processors in FCBGA1440 packaging for mobile workstations. The particular model carries six-core Xeon E-2176M CPU. In addition, the manufacturer also offers the MI995VF-8850 and MI995VF-8400 platforms featuring the QM370 PCH as well as six-core Core i7-8850H and quad-core Core i5-8400H processors respectively. The Xeon-powered SKU supports up to 32 GB of ECC memory, whereas the Core-powered models can carry up to 32 GB of non-ECC DRAM. All the SKUs feature a TPM 2.0 module, and support vPro, iAMT 11.6 remote management, and iSMART 3.5 technologies.
When it comes to expandability, the iBASE MI995 motherboards feature a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot for graphics cards, a mini-PCIe slot, an M.2-2280 slot for SSDs, an M.2-2230 slot for CNVi Wi-Fi solutions, two or four SATA connectors, and so on.
Moving on to connectivity. The MI995 is equipped with two Intel GbE controllers, a Fintek F8196D-I chip for four COM ports, three display outputs, (DisplayPort, DVI-D, HDMI 2.0), six USB 3.1 ports, and audio connectors. As noted above, the motherboards may be outfitted with an optional 802.11ac Wi-Fi CNVi module.
iBASE officially positions its MI995 motherboards for digital signage, gaming, entertainment, and POS applications. Even out of the box, the platform can support multiple displays. Once equipped with a discrete graphics card, the system gains both GPU performance and additional display outputs, just what is needed for digital signage and gaming applications.
| iBASE’s MI995 Motherboards | |||
| MI995VF-X27 | MI995VF-8850 | MI995VF-8400 | |
| CPUs | Intel Xeon E-2176M 6C/12T 2.7 – 4.4 GHz 12 MB cache 45 W |
Intel Core i7-8850H 6C/12T 2.6 – 4.3 GHz 9 MB cache 45 W |
Intel Core i5-8400H 4C/8T 2.5 – 4.2 GHz 8 MB cache 45 W |
| PCH | Intel CM246 + Fintek F81966D-I controller | ||
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics from CPU PCIe 3.0 x16 slot |
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| Display Outputs | 1 × DisplayPort 1.2 1 × eDP header 1 × DVI-D 1 × HDMI 2.0a |
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| Memory | 2 × DDR4 SO-DIMM Up to 32 GB of DDR4-2667 ECC or non-ECC, depending on CPU |
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| Slots for Add-In-Cards | 1 × PCIe 3.0 x16 1 × miniPCIe |
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| Ethernet | LAN 1: Intel I219LM Gigabit LAN PHY (MI995VF-Series) Intel I219V Gigabit LAN PHY (MI995EF) LAN 2: Intel I210AT Gigabit LAN (MI995VF-X27) Intel I211AT Gigabit LAN (MI995VF-8850/8400, MI995EF) |
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| Storage | 4 × SATA 6 Gbps 1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA) |
2 × SATA 6 Gbps 1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA) |
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| Audio | Realtek ALC888S-VD2-GR | ||
| USB | 6 × USB 3.1 Type-A 4 × USB 2.0 Type-A via header |
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| Serial Ports | 2 × RS232 2 × RS232/422/485 |
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| Wi-Fi | M.2-2230 slot | ||
| Operating Temperature | 0°C~60°C (32°F~140°F) | ||
| Form-Factor | Mini-ITX (170 mm × 170 mm | 6.7″ × 6.7″) |
iBASE already lists MI995 motherboards on its website, but has not touched upon pricing and availability timeframe.
Source: iBASE