DFI AL171-CB-N4200 Intel Pentium N4200 Industrial Mini-ITX Motherboard with Dual GbE and Triple Display

Kiosk and signage builders rarely use the same panel on every project: one contract calls for an LVDS display, the next for eDP, and a third needs an extra DP++ screen. The AL171-CB-N4200 is the Pentium build in the DFI AL171 series of industrial Mini-ITX motherboards, and it carries all of those connectors on one 12 V board for indoor sites.

Its Intel Pentium N4200 (Apollo Lake) has four cores at 1.1 GHz with bursts to 2.5 GHz, the highest burst clock in the series, inside a 6 W TDP. That keeps a browser-based front end or media player responsive with little heat to remove. Two DDR3L 1866 MHz SO-DIMM slots take up to 8 GB. Intel HD Graphics offers VGA, DP++ at up to 4K 60 Hz, dual-channel LVDS and eDP, with three running at once as independent displays.

Two GbE ports, on Intel I211AT and I210AT controllers, connect the content network and a local device. Six COM ports on internal headers (two RS-232/422/485, four RS-232) and 8-bit DIO suit printers, payment terminals and lamps. Four rear USB 3.0 ports and five internal USB 2.0 connections take touch controllers and readers. Two SATA 3.0 ports and an M.2 B-key (2242/2280) take an SSD or a cellular module, and full-size Mini PCIe plus a PCIe x1 Gen2 slot complete the expansion.

The AL171-CB-N4200 runs from 12 V DC on a barrel connector or 4-pin header and operates from 0 to 60 °C on a fanless heatsink, with CE, FCC, RoHS and UL compliance. For heavier multi-screen work, AL171-CB-E3950 brings the 12 W Atom x7-E3950 to the same layout. If the kiosk moves outdoors, AL171-CT-E3950 adds a -40 to 85 °C rating.