Compact computing techniques have gained important market share during the last decade. Improvements within the efficiency per watt metric of processors have enabled the substitute of cumbersome desktop PCs by ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) and small form-factor (SFF) machines. The Meteor Lake collection of processors is the most recent Intel providing to service this market. They have had a drawn-out launch since preliminary data was formally made obtainable in September 2023. The tile-based chiplet configuration held along with Foveros packaging represented a significant shift in Intel’s method to the buyer market, with pocket book platforms being the first focus. That has not prevented a number of distributors from introducing SFF / UCFF desktop techniques utilizing the Meteor Lake Ultra H-series (MTL-H) processors.
ACEMAGIC sampled us their F2A 125H providing across the time we had been finishing the analysis of the ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-155H and the ASUS NUC14RVHv7 UCFF techniques. The F2A is has a bigger bodily footprint in comparison with both of these techniques. This permits for a greater thermal resolution, enabling the inner processor (Core Ultra 5 125H) to be operated with a sustained energy restrict (PL1) setting of 65W.
This overview takes an in depth take a look at the options and efficiency profile of the ACEMAGIC F2A 125H. The evaluation additionally gives some insights into the optimum working energy setting for the MTL-H processors.
Introduction and Product Impressions
The final decade has seen important strides in processor efficiency in addition to energy effectivity. Coupled with developments in thermal options, we have now seen compact techniques with low-power SoCs turning into able to changing cumbersome desktops for a lot of use-cases. This pattern gained mainstream consideration with Intel’s introduction of the ultra-compact form-factor (4in. x 4in.) NUC within the early 2010s.
In latest years, we have now seen a gentle development within the energy envelop of the processors getting built-in into such techniques. The first technology NUCs had processors with a TDP between 6W and 15W. In the late 2010s, 28W processors shaped the flagship lineups. With Tiger Lake, Intel launched the Panther Canyon NUCs with a 40W restrict. 65W has proved virtually inconceivable to chill inside UCFF constraints – and that has prompted ASUS to introduce the NUC14 Pro+ with a barely bigger footprint. ACEMAGIC’s F2A additionally operates the processor at 65W albeit with a footprint even bigger than that of the NUC14 Pro+.
The F2A system is available in at 147 mm x 147 mm x 52 mm (in comparison with the 144 mm x 112 mm x 41 mm of the NUC14 Pro+ and 117 mm x 112 mm x 54 mm of the tall 4″x4″ NUC14 Pro). The promotion for the PC’s AI options is heavy within the exterior package deal in addition to the advertising and marketing collateral. The package deal contents embrace a 120W (19V @ 6.3A) energy adapter, a geo-specific energy twine, a HDMI cable, an consumer guide, and a mounting plate with screws along with the principle unit.
ACEMAGIC sells the F2A as a ready-to-use system with 32 GB of DDR5-5600 SODIMMs and a 1 TB PCIe 4.zero x4 NVMe SSD. Windows 11 Home is pre-installed on the system. We at all times advise customers of techniques from distributors comparable to ACEMAGIC to wipe the drive and set up their very own copy of the OS after getting the important thing from the unique set up.
Our pattern was geared up with Kingston SODIMMs and a Kingston Design-In OEM SSD (BiCS5 TLC NAND behind a Silicon Motion SM2267XT DRAM-less controller).
Access to the SSD and SODIMM slots is obtained by eradicating 4 screws from the underside of the system. We had been pleasantly stunned to discover a fan connected to the underside. Active cooling for the SSD and SODIMMs should end in good thermal efficiency, and that is without doubt one of the elements evaluated additional down on this overview.
The full specs of…
