Intel Compute Card Apollo Lake and Kaby Lake SKUs, Block Diagrams, and Specifications

Intel Compute cards are the latest ultra-thin CPU cards introduced by Intel at the beginning of the year, with a concept similar to EOMA68 CPU cards, that it to allow  CPU card upgrades or replacements, and interoperability across compatible devices such as smart kiosks, IoT gateways, and so on. But at the time, Intel did not reveal that many details about the different cards, although we know NexDock is working on laptop dock compatible with Intel Compute Cards. But I’ve recently received some block diagrams for Apollo Lake Pentium/Celeron, and Kaby Lake Core M/Core i5 compute cards.There will two SKUs for Apollo Lake compute cards sharing the same specifications, except for the processor:

• SoC
  • CD1C64GK SKU – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor @ 1.1 / 2.2 GHz (base/turbo) with 12EU Intel HD Graphics Gen9; 7.5W TDP
  • CD1P64GK SKU – Intel Pentium N4200 quad core processor @ 1.1 / 2.5 GHz with 18 EU Intel Gen9 HD graphics; 6W TDP
• System Memory – 4GB dual channel LPDDR3-1866
• Storage – 64 eMMC flash, SPI flash for BIOS
• Connectivity – Intel Wireless-AC 7265 (2×2 802.11ac & Bluetooth 4.2)
• Compute Card connector:
  • USB type C part with  USB 3.x, USB CC (Configuration Channel), DisplayPort 1.2 and USB 2.0 signals
  • Extended part with USB 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.x, 2x multiplexed SATA & PCIe x1 interfaces
• Others – PMIC, Embedded Controller, and Crypto Element Device

There will also be two more powerful and expensive Kabe Lake compute card with the following specifications:

• SoC
  • CD1M3128MK SKU – Intel Core m3-7Y30 dual core / quad thread processor @ 1.0 / 2.6 GHz (base/turbo) with Intel HD Graphics 615; 4.5W TDP
  • CD1IV128MK SKU – Intel Core i5-7Y57 dual core / quad thread processor @ 1.2 / 3.3 GHz with Intel HD Graphics 615; 4.5W TDP; Support Intel vPro
• System Memory – 4GB dual channel LPDDR3-1866
• Storage – 128GB PCIe SSD, SPI flash for BIOS
• Connectivity – Intel Wireless-AC 8265 (2×2 802.11ac & Bluetooth 4.2)
• Compute Card connector:
  • USB type C part with  USB 3.x, USB CC (Configuration Channel), DisplayPort 1.2 and USB 2.0 signals
  • Extended part with USB 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.x,  1x multiplex Gigabit Ethernet / PCIe x1, and 1x PCIe x1
• Others – Voltage regulators (VRs), Embedded Controller, and Crypto Element Device; CD1IV128MK only: TPM

I was not aware of any Core i5 processors with such a low TDP, which can also be tuned up to 7W, and down to just 3.5W. The processor was just launched in January, a few devices are equipped with the processor, but I still managed to find Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet 20JB ( $1,450), as well as some benchmarks for reference.

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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