DFI AL170-CT-E3930 Intel Apollo Lake Atom x5-E3930 Mini-ITX Mainboard with Dual GbE and Extended Temperature

A data logger or protocol gateway in a roadside or pump-station cabinet spends most of its time polling devices and forwarding readings. What matters there is low heat and a temperature rating that covers the site. The AL170-CT-E3930 is the low-power extended temperature build in the DFI AL170 series of Mini-ITX mainboards, rated from -40 to 85 °C.

Its Intel Atom x5-E3930 (Apollo Lake) has two cores at 1.3 GHz, bursting to 1.8 GHz, within a 6.5 W TDP, the lowest of the extended temperature builds. Two DDR3L 1866 MHz SO-DIMM slots take up to 8 GB, and Intel HD Graphics still drives three independent displays through VGA, a DP++ output at up to 4K 60 Hz and dual-channel LVDS, so a local service screen is straightforward.

Six COM ports suit the serial devices these sites often carry: two RS-232/422/485 on rear DB9 connectors and four RS-232 on internal headers, plus 8-bit DIO. Two GbE ports on Intel I210IT controllers separate the field network from the uplink, and a full-size Mini PCIe slot takes a cellular or Wi-Fi module. Four rear USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 headers, two SATA 3.0 ports, an M.2 M-key SSD slot and a PCIe x1 Gen2 slot complete the I/O.

The AL170-CT-E3930 takes power from a 24-pin ATX supply and runs fanless from -40 to 85 °C, with a watchdog programmable from 1 to 255 seconds to recover an unattended system. Where the workload grows, AL170-CT-E3940 adds two more cores at 9.5 W and AL170-CT-E3950 goes to 12 W, both with the same extended temperature rating.