Maxtang ALN-10 – An Alder Lake-N mini-ITX motherboard for industrial applications

Maxtang ALN-10 is an upcoming mini-ITX motherboard based on Alder Lake-N processors from the Processor N50 up to the Core i3-N305 SoC and specifically targetting industrial applications with a -20 to +60°C temperature range, six RS232/RS485 serial ports, and 12V to 19V DC input among other features.

Since the latest Alder Lake N-Series processors were announced, we’ve seen a range of mini PCs based on the new series, some laptops, as well as a camera devkit and one single board computer, but so far no actual motherboards. Maxtang ALN-10 changes that with the industrial mini-ITX motherboard soon expected to launch for B2B customers.

Maxtang ALN-10 specifications:

• Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other)
  • Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (Active cooling)
  • Intel Core i3-N300 octa-core processor up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 7W (Passive cooling)
  • Intel Processor N200 quad-core processor up to 3.7 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W (Passive cooling)
  • Intel Processor N100 quad-core processor up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W (Passive cooling)
  • Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 12W (Active cooling)
  • Intel Processor N50 dual-core processor up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W (Passive cooling)
• System Memory – Up to 32GB single-channel SO-DIMM DDR4
• Storage – SATA III port, M.2 SATA socket
• Video Output
  • 1x HDMI 2.0
  • 1x DisplayPort
  • 1x LVDS/eDP
  • Up to three independent displays support
• Audio
  • Realtek HD codec
  • 1x Line-out jack, 1x Mic-in jack
  • Audio header and amplifier header
• Networking
  • 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 port via Intel i226 controllers
  • Optional WiFi and Bluetooth via M.2 CNVi module
  • Optional 4G LTE cellular connectivity via M.2 socket and SIM card slot
• USB – 2x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, 4x USB 2.0 headers, “1x USB 2.0 dongle” port (internal vertical USB Type-A connector)
• Serial – 6x RS232 ports (default) or 5x RS232 + 1x RS485 (COM2)
• Expansion
  • 1x M.2 socket for SATA SSD/4G LTE
  • 1x M.2 socket for WiFi, supports Intel Integrated Connectivity (CNVi)
  • PCIe x4 slot with PCIe x2 signal
  • 8x GPIOs
• Security – Optional on-board TPM 2.0
• Misc
  • LPT (Parallel) port
  • Wake-on-LAN support, CPU system temperature, on-board voltage monitoring, watchdog, and auto power on
• Power Supply – 12V/19V DC input
• Dimensions – 170x170mm (mini-ITX motherboard)
• Temperature Range – Operating: -20°C ~60°C; storage: -40°C ~80°C

The board does not support NVMe storage at all, and only SATA interfaces are present for storage. The rest of the specifications look as expected for this type of hardware. Maxtang provides support for Windows 10/11 64-bit and Linux 64-bit for the ALN-10 mini-ITX motherboard.

The company expects the board to be integrated into surveillance systems, digital signage, retail and healthcare kiosks, electronic gaming machines, and thin clients. Ian reviewed one Core i3-N305 mini PC (Weibu N10) with both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 a few weeks ago and summarized his findings as follows:

As seen in this review, the mobile Core i3-N305 performance is good however the single channel memory and 16 GB limit means this particular CPU will only be suitable for certain types of applications or usage.

So it’s better suited for single use tasks as you would find in business and industrial settings. Ian also notes a 16GB RAM limit, so the 32GB RAM limit listed in the ALN-10 Alder Lake-N mini-ITX motherboard may be a mistake (TBC).

More details about the Maxtang ALN-10 may be found on the product page. The FanlessTech post that alerted us of the upcoming board is also teasing another DC-powered Alder Lake-N motherboard from a larger manufacturer (maybe ASRock?) that could be announced at COMPUTEX 2023 at the end of next month or early June.

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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