DFI EC70A-MTH Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake Edge AI Computers with 2.5GbE, OOB and Fanless or Fan Cooling

Small AI models are moving onto the same computer that runs the machine, and that computer is often in a cabinet nobody wants to open. The DFI EC70A-MTH series is a family of edge AI computers built for that situation: Intel Core Ultra processors with an integrated NPU, DFI Out-of-Band management for remote recovery, and a small aluminum enclosure that mounts on a wall, a VESA bracket or a DIN rail. DFI lists the series as preliminary, and all four builds are available to order.

Every EC70A-MTH build has 16 GB of dual-channel LPDDR5-6400 soldered on-board, with 32 GB by request. Networking is two 2.5GbE ports on Intel I226IT controllers and one GbE port on an Intel I210IT that carries DFI Out-of-Band (OOB): remote power on and off, reset and BIOS update over the network, with no agent in the operating system. Four DB9 COM ports include two RS-232/422/485 and 8-bit DIO on COM4. Five USB 3.2 ports, one USB-C with DisplayPort alt mode and HDMI give two displays, and three M.2 slots cover storage, an optional 4G or 5G module with SIM and optional Wi-Fi.

The four builds split by processor and cooling. The EC70A-MTH4051TC3-125U and EC70A-MTH4051TC3-155U run the Core Ultra 5 125U and Core Ultra 7 155U fanless at 15 W, rated from -20 °C to 60 °C. The EC70A-MTH4051TC3-125U-FAN and EC70A-MTH4051TC3-155U-FAN add a fan and run the processor at 28 W, rated from -20 °C to 70 °C for warmer enclosures. Both processors have 12 cores and 14 threads; the Ultra 7 boosts to 4.9 GHz and the Ultra 5 to 4.3 GHz, so the choice usually comes down to how much analytics runs beside the control code.

In practice the EC70A-MTH series suits AMR and AGV controllers, material handling, line-side vision and analytics that have to share a box with HMI and logging. Power is 9 to 36 V DC on a DC jack, the edge AI computers are tested to IEC 60068-2-27 shock and IEC 60068-2-64 vibration, and DFI lists CE, FCC Class A, UKCA and KC, with TPM 2.0, a watchdog timer and Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise and Linux support.