Miscellaneous Aspects & Concluding Remarks

An important aspect to keep note of while evaluating fanless PCs is the chassis temperature. Using the Android version of the FLIR One Pro thermal imager, we observed the chassis temperature after the CPU package temperature reached the steady state value in our stress testing.

We have additional thermal images in the gallery below.

The chassis temperatures of around 50C - 60C are quite reasonable given the internal numbers.

Coming to the business end of the review, we find that the two industrial PCs have performance commensurate with the street pricing. In the industrial PC space, feature requirements often trump the budget. Interestingly, the two KBL-U systems have some unique aspects. The Habey BIS-6862-I3 comes with a SIM slot, while the Shuttle XPC Slim DS77U doesn't. On the other hand, the DS77U can support three simultaneous displays, while the BIS-6862-I3 can support only two. Both carry a large number of USB 2.0 ports, serial COM ports, and dual gigabit LAN interfaces. Consumers can choose either system based on their requirements.

There is definite scope for improvement in both systems, though. The AMI BIOS in both of them is quite basic, and doesn't expose ways to, say, control the power limits, or enable SGX. In our testing, the Shuttle system's CPU package could go up to only 10W, while the Habey system allowed the Core i3-7100U to dissipate 15W over an extended period of time. However, Habey's cooling solution could improve a little bit to transfer heat away from the package faster.

In terms of pricing, we have the Habey BIS-6862-I3 at $325, while the Shuttle XPC Slim DS77U is available for $223. These are par for the course when it comes to fanless industrial PCs. In a market segment where Atom-based systems form the majority of the offerings, such systems with relatively high performance are welcome offerings.

Power Consumption and Thermal Performance
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  • nathanddrews - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    The networking capabilities (dual Intel GbE and Wi-Fi) of the i3, coupled with its near 2X performance more than justifies its $102 premium, IMO. Shame about its media capabilities, but I guess we can't have it all...
  • shabby - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    Yes the usb 1.0 wifi speeds are pretty amazing...
  • DanNeely - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    For anything that needs Wifi the Habey's an obvious winner. OTOH for industrial use in many cases the systems will be wired and running software written for a much older system such that both systems will perform identically (major industrial hardware typically has multi-decade lifespans, and is typically designed for a low end PC was when it was new, so anything several years to several decades newer will fly) the cheaper shuttle'd be just as good.
  • MrTeal - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    The dual DB9 with one being configurable as RS-232/422-485 is a pretty huge plus in a lot of industrial applications as well.

    It's a pretty cheap upgrade to a lot of older Atom based industrial PCs with a huge bump in performance.
  • HStewart - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    I think there is a missing set of computers missing hear - something like Intel Compute Stick with Intel Y processors - I am typing on one right now and it has the same performance or actually more than my original Surface Pro 1 CPU - it is definitely faster than Celeron's and I believe it should be faster than the i3. It integrated graphics is 615 instead 620 as in i3-7100U. But it also only 5Watts.

    One big difference with Compute Stick - it can actually fit in your pocket - excluding power supply
  • HStewart - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    It m3-6y30 beats both of these boxes in Sysmark, but looks like to me lack in FutureMark because of graphics - but for industrial PC - where graphics is not always needed - it seems to better option

    https://www.anandtech.com/show/10447/the-intel-com...
  • redviper9 - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    Are there any PC's in this form factor (i.e. small and fanless) that run AMD chips? I would be particularly interested in one running one of the new mobile Ryzen with on board Vega graphics (2700U or 2500U).
  • StevoLincolnite - Saturday, January 6, 2018 - link

    I would love one as well. Just a shame that such a rig would be bandwidth constrained with low-clocked DDR4.
  • Maxtang - Thursday, December 19, 2019 - link

    You can check at Shenzhen Maxtang Technology for the exact configuration you looking for.

    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000391642092.html...
  • Bullwinkle-J-Moose - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    2 points

    Was not expecting Legacy Support for Windows XP / no surprise there
    But the Sopport page for the Habey BIS-6862 does not show driver support for Windows 7 or 8 either

    Are you stuck with Windows 10 on these things?

    and....

    When will these embedded systems switch to 5 Volt input?

    Ice Lake?

    Methane Lake?

    Cryo Lake?

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