Congatec Introduces Intel Atom x5-E8000 Thin mini-ITX Board, COM Express & QSeven Modules

Following Intel’s announcement of their new Atom x5-E8000 quad core processor with 5W TDP/4W SDP and 7-year availability earlier today, Congatec published a press release for four new platforms based on the processor with conga-QA4 Qseven module, conga-MA4 COM Express Mini & conga-TCA4 COM Express Compact modules, as well as conga-IA4 industrial-grade Thin Mini-ITX board.

All four products are actually variation of existing Braswell platforms, but Intel Atom x5-E8000 brings 64-bit computing even cheaper thanks to its $39 recommended customer price. So I’ll just look at the QSeven module specifications in details:

• SoC – Intel Atom x5-E8000 quad core “Braswell” processor @ 1.04 GHz / 2.00 GHz (Burst) with 2MB L2 cache, and Intel HD Gen8 graphics @ 320 MHz; 5 W TDP.
• System Memory – Up to 8GB onboard DDR3L with 1600 MT/s
• On-board Storage – Up to eMMC 4.5.1 onboard flash  (optional), 8 MB serial SPI firmware flash
• Connectivity – PCIe to GbE controller (Intel i211)
• Board Controller – Multi Stage Watchdog, non-volatile User Data Storage, Manufacturing and Board information, Board Statistics, BIOS Setup, Data Backup, I²C bus (fast mode, 400 kHz, multi-master), Power Loss Control, embedded BIOS Features AMI Aptio® 2.X (UEFI) BIOS
• 230-pin edge connector with:
  • Storage – 2x SATA3, 1x SDIO
  • USB – 8x USB 2.0 or 1x USB 3.0 and 5x USB 2.0
  • Expansion – 3x PCI Express 2.0
  • Low speed I/O – I²C bus, LPC bus, 1x SPI
  • Sound – High Definition Audio Interface
  • Display – DisplaPort 1.1a up to 3840×2160 or HDMI 1.4b up to 3840×2160, LVDS up to 2x 24-bit @ 1920×1200 @ 60 Hz
  • Camera – MIPI CSI2
  • Fan control
• Power Management – ACPI 5 .0 compliant, Smart Battery Management
• Power Consumption – 4.5W…12W typical
• Dimensions – 70 x 70 mm (Qseven form factor)

The module is said to support Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8 Embedded, Windows Embedded Compact 7, and Microsoft Windows 10. There’s also some Linux with tools, and a Yocto 1.8 Project BSP.

With the name “x5-E8000”, you might have thought it shared of the features with “x5-Z8300” processor plus options specific to the embedded space such as long term support, but a comparison on Intel website shows its features are closer to other Braswell processors such as Intel Celeron N3150 with more PCIe, display, and USB interfaces, as well as support for up to 8GB RAM.

Congatec modules and mini-ITX board availability and pricing with the latest Atom Braswell processor have not been disclosed. You can visit Congatec products page to find out more about their latest solutions.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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