Linux-ready Coffee Lake systems support Nvidia graphics
Jul 6, 2020 — by Eric Brown 363 viewsNeousys’ “Nuvo-8240GC” embedded PC runs on 8th or 9th Gen CPUs with 2x PCIe x16 for dual Tesla T4 GPUs and offers 2x PCIe x8, M.2 for NVMe, and 2x mini-PCIe. A similar Nuvo-8108GC system was tapped by Baidu as a dev kit for its Linux-based Apollo automotive platform.
Neousys announced a rugged, Intel Coffee Lake embedded computer that supports two 70W Nvidia Tesla T4 cards for AI inference. The Nuvo-8240GC supports applications such as medical imaging, intelligent video analytics, traffic management, and machine vision.
Neousys recently announced that its similar Nuvo-8108GC system was selected by Baidu as a development kit for its open source, Linux-driven Apollo autonomous driving platform. Announced last November, the Nuvo-8108GC supports a single 250W Nvidia graphics card. Farther below we briefly summarize the Baidu news and the Nuvo-8108GC, which like the new Nuvo-8240GC, supports Linux or Windows.


Nuvo-8240GC, front and back
(click images to enlarge)
The Nuvo-8240GC and Nuvo-8108GC follow several other PCIe x16 equipped Neousys systems based on Intel 8th and 9th Gen Coffee Lake processors. Like the Nuvo-7166GC, the Nuvo-8240GC provides dual, 8-lane PCIe x16 Gen3 slots, but on the new system both slots support a Tesla T4 compared to only one on the Nuvo-7166GC. Other Neousys Coffee Lake systems include a fanless and more compact Nuvo-7531 without full-size PCIe slots.
— ADVERTISEMENT —
When loaded with two Tesla T4 cards, the Nuvo-8240GC delivers GPU power up to 130 TFLOPS in FP16 and 520 TOPS in INT4,” says Neousys. In addition to the dual PCIe x16 slots, the Nuvo-8240GC provides 2x 4-lane PCIe Gen3 x8 slots, as well as 2x full-size mini-PCIe slots. Additional expansion is available via an M.2 B-key socket that supports dual SIM mode with a selected M.2 LTE module and an M.2 M-key 2280 (PCIe Gen3 x4) socket for an NVMe SSD or Intel Optane memory.
The Nuvo-8240GC is available with a hexa-core Intel Xeon E 2176G or octa-core Xeon E 2278GE or 2278GEL. There is also a choice of numerous Coffee Lake and Coffee Lake Refresh Core processors with AMT 12.0 support, all with Intel UHD Graphics 630. An Intel C246 chipset is also available.

Nuvo-8240GC detail view
(click image to enlarge)
The Nuvo-8240GC can load up to 128GB DDR4-2133, including ECC RAM, via 4x slots and offers dual 2.5-inch SATA bays: an internal slot with RAID 0/1 and an external, hot-swappable slot. Major ports with screw-lock mechanisms include 2x GbE, 4x USB 3.1 Gen2, and 4x USB 3.1 Gen1. You also get 2x RS-232/422/485 ports and an internal USB 2.0 port.
Media features include a DisplayPort for up to 4096 x 2304 pixels and HD-ready VGA and DVI-D ports. There is also an audio I/O jack.
The 270 x 198.5 x 190mm Nuvo-8240GC is powered by an 8-48V DC terminal block input with ignition control. When equipped with one or more Tesla T4 cards, the fan-cooled system requires 0 to 50°C temperatures per Nvidia’s warranty policy. Otherwise, the system supports -25 to 60°C temperatures with 35W CPUs or -25 to 50°C with 65W.
Shock resistance and vibration resistance comply with MIL-STD-810G specs and humidity resistance is listed as 10%~90%, non-condensing. Neousys also lists several EMC certifications.
Nuvo-8108GC and Baidu design win
The Nuvo-8108GC system updates the design of an earlier, 6th Gen Skylake based Nuvo-6108GC system and similarly supports a 250W Nvidia graphics card. We reported briefly on the 6th Gen Nuvo-6108GC in our Jan. 9 report on Baidu’s open source, Linux-based Apollo 3.5 autonomous car software, which used an enhanced version of the system as a development platform.


Nuvo-8108GC
(click images to enlarge)
On June 2, Neousys announced that Baidu had switched to the Coffee Lake based Nuvo-8108GC for its Apollo Kit, which is here referred to as the “Autonomous Driving Development Kit 3.0, Apollo D-kit.” The Nuvo-8108GC will replace the Nuvo-6108GC as the central computer in the Apollo system.
The Nuvo-8208GC is much like the new Nuvo-8240GC, as well as Neousys’ earlier Nuvo-8208GC, which supports dual 250W cards. The Nuvo-8108GC, which was announced last November, supports a single 250W Nvidia card, delivering GPU power up to 14 TFLOPS in FP32 (single precision, 32-bit floating point).

Nuvo-8108GC detail view
(click image to enlarge)
The 360 x 198 x 170mm system is available with the Xeon and Core Coffee Lake/Refresh processors options and Intel C246 chipset found on the new Nuvo-8240GC. Memory, storage, I/O, and expansion are also identical except that the dual PCIe x16 slots support a single 250W GPU card instead of dual 70W Tesla T4s. Power and ruggedization features are also identical.
Further information
No pricing or availability information was provided for the Nuvo-8240GC or Nuvo-8108GC. More information may be found in Neousys’ Nuvo-8240GC announcement and product page.
Please comment here...