Supermicro SYS-E100-12T-H Review: Fanless Tiger Lake for Embedded Applications

GPU Performance

GPUs in embedded PCs are rarely used for taxing workloads. In certain applications, they could be used for video processing and other allied functions. Some use-cases such as digital kiosks may require limited 3D graphics capabilities. Our GPU performance evaluation typically involves gaming workloads, and for select PCs, GPU compute. Prior to that, a look at the capabilities of the GPU in the SYS-E100-12T-H is warranted.

The Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the Supermicro SYS-E100-12T-H is an integrated GPU based on a reworked scalable architecture. The performance of the iGPU is miles ahead of previous iGPUs from both Intel and AMD, as the benchmarks below show.

GFXBench

The DirectX 12-based GFXBench tests from Kishonti are cross-platform, and available all the way down to smartphones. As such, they are not very taxing for discrete GPUs and modern integrated GPUs. We processed the offscreen versions of the 'Aztec Ruins' benchmark.

The key takeaway here is that the Iris Xe graphics in the SYS-E100-12T-H outclasses AMD's Renoir in the ASUS PN50 despite having a TDP handicap. In the battle of iGPUs, the Tiger Lake systems outscore the Renoir / Cofee Lake systems handsomely, and within themselves, get ordered based on GPU clock speeds and available power budgets.

UL 3DMark

Four different workload sets were processed in 3DMark - Fire Strike, Time Spy, Night Raid, and Wild Life.

3DMark Fire Strike

The Fire Strike benchmark has three workloads. The base version is meant for high-performance gaming PCs. It uses DirectX 11 (feature level 11) to render frames at 1920 x 1080. The Extreme version targets 1440p gaming requirements, while the Ultra version targets 4K gaming system, and renders at 3840 x 2160. The graph below presents the overall score for the Fire Strike Extreme and Fire Strike Ultra benchmark across all the systems that are being compared.

The Fire Strike benchmark sees the Renoir iGPU and the SM-E100-12T-H's Iris Xe perform very similarly. Otherwise, the observations made in the GFXBench subsection hold true here.

3DMark Time Spy

The Time Spy workload has two levels with different complexities. Both use DirectX 12 (feature level 11). However, the plain version targets high-performance gaming PCs with a 2560 x 1440 render resolution, while the Extreme version renders at 3840 x 2160 resolution. The graphs below present both numbers for all the systems that are being compared in this review.

The Time Spy workloads see the Renoir iGPU take a clear lead over the Iris Xe in the SM-E100-12T-H. However, the higher power budget available to other Tiger Lake systems see them leave the Renoir iGPU well behind.

3DMark Wild Life

The Wild Life workload was initially introduced as a cross-platform GPU benchmark in 2020. It renders at a 2560 x 1440 resolution using Vulkan 1.1 APIs on Windows. It is a relatively short-running test, reflective of mobile GPU usage. In mid-2021, UL released the Wild Life Extreme workload that was a more demanding version that renders at 3840 x 2160 and runs for a much longer duration reflective of typical desktop gaming usage.

The Wild Life workload behaves similar to GFXBench - the ASUS PN50 and SM-E100-12T-H perform similarly, with a slight edge for the latter. The other Tiger Lake systems round out the top spots.

3DMark Night Raid

The Night Raid workload is a DirectX 12 benchmark test. It is less demanding than Time Spy, and is optimized for integrated graphics. The graph below presents the overall score in this workload for different system configurations.

The Night Raid workload behaves similar to Time Spy - the ASUS PN50 gets a clear lead over the SM-E100-12T-H, but the other Tiger Lake systems are well ahead with their higher power budget.