DFI CS551-C246-BCA Intel 8th and 9th Gen Core 3.5″ Single Board Computer with C246 Chipset, Dual LAN and 12 V DC Input

A machine controller or small inspection station that runs for months between restarts benefits from memory that detects and corrects its own bit errors. The CS551-C246-BCA is the C246 chipset build of the DFI CS551 series, a 3.5″ single board computer with an LGA1151 socket, and C246 is the only chipset in the range that supports ECC memory.

The socket takes 8th and 9th Gen Intel Core T and TE processors (Coffee Lake) at 35 W: the eight-core Core i7-9700TE, the six-core i7-8700T, i5-8500T and i5-9500TE, the four-core i3-8100T and i3-9100TE, and the dual-core Pentium G5400T and Celeron G4900T. ECC works with the Core i3, Pentium and Celeron processors, so a quad-core i3-9100TE gives four cores with ECC protection. One DDR4 2666 MHz SO-DIMM takes up to 32 GB, and Intel UHD Graphics 630 drives two DP++ outputs at up to 4096 x 2304 at 60 Hz plus dual-channel LVDS, as three independent displays.

Four USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports handle cameras and fast storage, and the M.2 M-key 2280 socket runs PCIe x4 NVMe or SATA SSDs, with a SATA 3.0 port for a second drive. Two GbE ports use Intel I211AT or I210IT controllers. A full-size mini PCIe socket with an optional SIM slot takes Wi-Fi or 4G, and headers add two USB 2.0 ports, an RS-232/422/485 port, 8-bit DIO and Realtek ALC262 audio.

The CS551-C246-BCA runs from 12 V DC on a 4-pin connector, or a barrel jack on request, and is rated from -5 to 65 °C with 35 W processors, with CE, FCC, UKCA and RoHS compliance, and cools through a fanless heatsink as standard. For ECC in unheated or outdoor cabinets, the CS551-C246-ECA extends the range to -30 to 80 °C, and the CS551-Q370-BCA keeps the Gen 2 USB and PCIe x4 M.2 where ECC is not needed.