Compact computing techniques have gained important market share over the past decade. Enhancements within the efficiency per watt metric of processors have enabled the alternative 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’ve had a drawn-out launch since preliminary info was formally made out there in September 2023. The tile-based chiplet configuration held along with Foveros packaging represented a serious shift in Intel’s strategy 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 Extremely H-series (MTL-H) processors.
ACEMAGIC sampled us their F2A 125H providing across the time we have 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 enables for a greater thermal answer, enabling the inner processor (Core Extremely 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 development gained mainstream consideration with Intel’s introduction of the ultra-compact form-factor (4in. x 4in.) NUC within the early 2010s.
In recent times, we have now seen a gradual development within the energy envelop of the processors getting built-in into such techniques. The primary technology NUCs had processors with a TDP between 6W and 15W. Within 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 Professional+ 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 Professional+.
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 Professional+ and 117 mm x 112 mm x 54 mm of the tall 4″x4″ NUC14 Professional). The promotion for the PC’s AI options is heavy within the exterior bundle in addition to the advertising and marketing collateral. The bundle contents embody a 120W (19V @ 6.3A) energy adapter, a geo-specific energy wire, a HDMI cable, an consumer handbook, and a mounting plate with screws along with the primary unit.
ACEMAGIC sells the F2A as a ready-to-use system with 32 GB of DDR5-5600 SODIMMs and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD. Home windows 11 House is pre-installed on the system. We at all times advise customers of techniques from distributors equivalent 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 Movement SM2267XT DRAM-less controller).
Entry to the SSD and SODIMM slots is obtained by eradicating 4 screws from the underside of the system. We have been pleasantly stunned to discover a fan connected to the underside. Lively cooling for the SSD and SODIMMs should lead to good thermal efficiency, and that is likely one of the points evaluated additional down on this overview.
The complete specs of the overview pattern are supplied within the desk beneath.
| ACEMAGIC F2A 125H Specs (as examined) |
|
| Processor | Intel Core Extremely 5 125H Meteor Lake-H 4P + 8E + 2LPE / 18T, as much as 4.5 GHz (P) as much as 3.6 GHz (E) as much as 2.5 GHz (LPE) Intel 4 (CPU) / TSMC N5 (iGPU), 18MB L2, Min / Max / Base TDP: 20W / 115W / 28W PL1 = 65W, PL2 = 90W |
| Reminiscence | Kingston CBD56S46BS8HA-16 DDR5-5600 SODIMMs 46-45-45-90 @ 5600 MHz 2×16 GB |
| Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics (7 Xe-cores @ as much as 2.2 GHz) |
| Disk Drive(s) | Kingston Design-In SSD OM8SEP41024Q-A0 (1 TB; M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe;) (Kioxia BiCS5 (112L) 3D TLC; Silicon Movement SM2267XT DRAM-less SSD Controller) |
| Networking | 1x 2.5 GbE RJ-45 (Realtek RTL8125) Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2×2 802.11be – 5.8 Gbps) |
| Audio | Conexant SN6140 (3.5mm Audio Jack in Entrance) Digital Audio with Bitstreaming Assist over HDMI and Show Port (Kind-C) |
| Video | 2x HDMI 2.0 (Rear) 1x DisplayPort 1.4 over Kind-C Alt-Mode (Entrance / USB 3.2 Gen 2) |
| Miscellaneous I/O Ports | 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A (Entrance) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C (Entrance, with DP Alt Mode) 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A (Rear) |
| Working System | Home windows 11 Enterprise (22631.3593) |
| Pricing | $699 (Amazon) $569 (ACEMAGIC Storefront) (as configured, with Win 11 Dwelling) |
| Full Specs | ACEMAGIC F2A 125H Specs |
Within the subsequent part, we check out the system setup and comply with it up with an in depth platform evaluation.
