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Comet Lake appears on mini-PC, AI Box, and Mini-ITX systems

Nov 6, 2020 — by Eric Brown 1,855 views


Intel’s 10th Gen CPUs recently showed up on several new systems including a v2 respin of Purism’s Librem Mini mini-PC, Sintrones’ EBOX-7010 upgrade of its earlier 9th Gen EBOX-7000 AI box, and Portwell’s 2.5GbE enabled WADE-8212 Mini-ITX SBC.

Just as we wondering whether Intel’s 14nm 10th Gen Comet Lake-S processors were going to be a short-lived phenomenon now that 10nm 11th Gen Tiger Lake had arrived, several new Comet Lake products have emerged over the last week or two. Actually not so new: Purism’s Librem Mini v2 and Sintrones EBOX-7010, are almost identical to earlier Whiskey Lake and Coffee Lake systems, respectively, and Portwell’s WADE-8212 Mini-ITX board is similar to its Coffee Lake based WADE-8211.

 
Purism Librem Mini v2

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In March, Purism launched a Librem Mini mini-PC that runs its Debian-based, privacy focused PureOS on an 8th Gen Whiskey Lake Core i7-8565U clocked at 1.8GHz/4.6GHz. The Librem Mini v2 offers the same features starting at the same $699 base price with a similarly quad-core, 8-thread Intel Core i7-10510U clocked at 1.8GHz/4.9GHz. The processor comes from the second Comet Lake-S Refresh wave of 10th Gen chips.



Librem Mini v2
(click images to enlarge)

The NUC-like, 128 x 128 x 38mm Librem Mini v2, which appears to replace the v1, is designed as a desktop replacement, media center, home server, or signage system. PureOS provides end-to-end encrypted and decentralized storage and communications plus support for VPN. The company promises to respect user privacy and ownership of data.

The Librem Mini v2 offers 8GB to 64GB DDR4 with M.2 and SATA storage ranging from a 256GB M.2 SSD to a 2TB NVMe drive. Other features include 4K-ready HDMI and DP, 4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, and a Type-C port. You also get a GbE port plus options including WiFi and Bluetooth.

 
Sintrones EBOX-7010

This Comet Lake reboot of this summer’s 8th or 9th Gen Coffee Lake EBOX-7000 joins Sintrones’ ABOX-5210G, among other 10th Gen systems. Whereas the EBOX-7000 offers up a 1.8GHz/3.8GHz Core i7-9700TE, the almost identical new EBOX-7010 tops out at a similarly octa-core, 2.0GHz/4.5GHz Core i9-10900TE. No OS support was listed, but the EBOX-7000 supports Ubuntu and Win 10.



EBOX-7000/EBOX-7010
(click image to enlarge)

Targeted at AI edge applications, the 260 x 250 x 137mm system supports up to 64GB DDR4 2666/2933MHz compared to 32GB on the earlier model. Otherwise, it appears to be identical. In fact, Sintrones posted a photo of the EBOX-7000.

The system provides dual, hot-swappable 2.5-inch SATA bays. The entire SATA unit, which also includes a USB port and separate power connector, can be removed with a handle.

Further storage can be added via the fan-cooled PCIe x16 slot, which also supports Nvidia Tesla GPU cards. Optionally you can replace the slot with dual PCIe x16 slots. Further expansion includes M.2 M-key, M.2 A/E-Key, and M.2 B-key 2242 slots accompanied by 2x SIM sockets. Dual mini-PCIe slots and 4x antenna mounts are also available.

The EBOX-7010 provides 6x GbE ports, 4x of which can optionally be fitted for up to 100W total PoE. Other ports include 4x USB 3.0, 4x RS 232/422/485, and single DVI-I and 4K-ready DP and HDMI ports. Additional features include 3x audio jacks, 8x GPI, 4x GPO, a watchdog, TPM 2.0, and wall mounting.

The system has a 9-48V DC input with ignition and scheduling features and an optional 10-minute UPS battery kit. The EBOX-7010 has a -40 to 70ºC range.

 
Portwell WADE-8212

The WADE-8212 follows earlier WADE Mini-ITX boards including Portwell’s 6th Gen WADE-8017. The board is very close in features to the 8th Gen Coffee Lake WADE-8211-Q370.



WADE-8212 and side detail view
(click images to enlarge)

The WADE-8212 offers 10th Gen Core CPUs up to 10-core/20-thread models in an LGA1200 package. The CPU is accompanied by an Intel Q470E chipset. No OS support was listed.

The 170 x 170mm SBC is not a thin Mini-ITX but it has a modest stacking height. It offers a semi-extended 0-60˚C range and targets industrial embedded applications.

The WADE-8212 supports twice the RAM of the WADE-8211, with up to 64GB DDR4 2400/2666. Unlike the previous model, one of the two Ethernet ports supports 2.5GbE throughput via an Intel I225LM controller.

The WADE-8212 provides 4x SATA III, PCIe x16 Gen3, 4x M.2 slots, and a SIM card socket. Other features include 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 and 2x RS-232/422/485 ports plus additional serial, USB, and GPIO headers.

Media features include HDMI 2.0a and DP 1.2 up to 4K plus a VGA port, an LVDS interface, and an audio I/O jack. You also get a watchdog and TPM 2.0.

 
Further information

Purism’s Librem Mini v2 is available now starting at $699. No pricing or availability information was provided for Sintrones’ “coming soon” EBOX-7010 or Portwell’s WADE-8212. More information may be found in Purism’s Librem Mini v2 announcement and Librem Mini v2 product/shopping page, as well as Sintrones’ EBOX-7010 announcement and EBOX-7010 product page, and Portwell’s WADE-8212 announcement and WADE-8212 product page.

 

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