DFI AL170-CB-E3940 Intel Apollo Lake Atom x5-E3940 Industrial Mini-ITX Motherboard with Dual GbE and Triple Display

Many machine builders still ship LVDS panels, and a board change is easier when the new board drives the panel they already stock. The AL170-CB-E3940 is the quad-core Atom build for standard temperatures in the DFI AL170 series of industrial Mini-ITX motherboards, with a dual-channel LVDS header alongside two DP++ outputs.

The Intel Atom x5-E3940 (Apollo Lake) has four cores at 1.6 GHz, bursting to 1.8 GHz, within 9.5 W. Four cores keep an HMI responsive while it logs data and talks to a PLC. Two DDR3L 1866 MHz SO-DIMM slots take up to 8 GB. Intel HD Graphics drives three independent displays: the LVDS panel at up to 1920 x 1200, and two rear DP++ outputs at up to 4096 x 2160 at 60 Hz for a second operator screen.

Two GbE ports on Intel I211AT controllers connect to the machine and the plant networks. Two rear DB9 ports configurable for RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485, four internal RS-232 headers and 8-bit DIO reach drives, sensors and stack lights. Four rear USB 3.0 ports, six internal USB 2.0 headers, two SATA 3.0 ports and an M.2 M-key SSD slot cover peripherals and storage, and the Mini PCIe and PCIe x1 Gen2 slots take wireless or an add-in card.

The AL170-CB-E3940 runs from a 24-pin ATX supply and operates from 0 to 60 °C on a fanless heatsink. For more burst performance on the same display layout, AL170-CB-E3950 uses the 12 W x7-E3950. If the machine goes into a cold store or an outdoor cabinet, AL170-CT-E3940 keeps this processor with a -40 to 85 °C rating and a VGA output in place of the second DP++.