Kontron K3931-N mITX - An industrial mini-ITX motherboard with Intel Alder Lake N-series processor

Kontron K3931-N mITX is a mini-ITX motherboard based on an Intel Core i3 or Processor Alder Lake N-Series processor designed for fanless industrial applications with features like TSN and wide 8V to 34V DC input, but still only operating in the 0 to 60°C temperature range.

The motherboard supports up to 32GB DDR5 memory, SATA, M.2 NVMe and/or M.2 SATA storage, up to triple display setups, and offers dual Ethernet (GbE + 2.5GbE), plenty of USB interfaces, five serial interfaces, as well as expansion through M.2 sockets, a PCIe slot, and a GPIO header.

Kontron K3931-N mITX specifications:

Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other)
- Intel Processor N50 dual-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 6W
- Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 12W
- Intel Processor N200 quad-core processor up to 3.7 GHz with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel HD graphics; TDP: 6W
- Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor up to 3.8 GHz with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 15W
System Memory – 1x DDR5-4800 SODIMM Sockets up to 32 GB, non-ECC
Storage
- SATA III port up to 6 Gbps
- M.2 Key-M socket for NVMe SSD
- M.2 Key-B socket for SATA SSD (See Expansion section)
Video Output
- Up to 3x DPP V1.4a up to 4K resolution
- 1x Embedded DP (eDP) V1.4b up to 4K resolution
- Dual-channel 24-bit LVDS
- Supported max display combinations – 3x DPP; 2x DPP + LVDS or eDP; 1x DPP + eDP + LVDS
Audio
- Realtek ALC256 HD stereo audio
- 3.5mm Line In audio jack, 3.5mm Line Out audio jack
Networking
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port via Realtek RTL8111H controller with Teaming support
- 2.5GbE RJ45 port via Intel i226LM controller with TSN support
- Optional WLAN support via M.2 (See Expansion section)
USB
- 3x USB 2.0 (by header), 1x USB 2.0 stick socket
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 (rear), 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 (by header)
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 (rear), 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Key-A (header) for USB3 Type-C option
Serial ((2x RearIO, 3x by header)
- 1x RS232/422/485
- 3x RS232
- 1x ccTalk
Expansion
- 1x M.2 PCIe 2230/2242/2280 Key-M socket (PCIe x2 Gen3/NVMe SSD modules)
- 1x M.2 PCIe 2242/2280 Key-B socket (PCIe x1 Gen3/USB/SATA SSD modules)
- 1x M.2 PCIe 2230 Key-E socket for WLAN CNVi/Bluetooth USB modules
- 1-lane PCIe x4 Gen 3 slot
- 8-bit GPIO header
Misc
- WLAN LED support, WLAN enable/disable support
- AMI Aptio 5.x (UEFI) BIOS
- Watchdog
- Real-Time Clock (RTC)
- 2x PWM fan (CPU/System) connector
Power Supply – 8V to 34V DC / 10A input via power barrel jack of 4-pin Mini-Fit connector
Dimensions – 170 x 170 mm (Mini-ITX form factor)
Temperature Range – 0°C to 60°C
Humidity – 5% to 85%
Certifications (planned) – cTÜVus acc. IEC62368-1, CE Class B incl. Industrial Immunity, UKCA, FCC-B verified

Fanless industrial Alder Lake N-Series mini-ITX motherboard layout — Motherboard’s connector/socket layout

Kontron will provide support for Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 10 IoT, and Linux 64-bit for the industrial mini-ITX motherboard that is designed for fanless operation, but the company still include two PWM header in case active cooling is required for specific applications.

Kontron has not released pricing information for the K3931-N mITX motherboard but the first samples will be available from September 2023, and the Alder Lake N-Series industrial mini-ITX motherboard be sold for at least seven years. More details may be found on the product page and press release.

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.