A Completely different Tackle Raptor Lake

The development in the direction of miniaturization of desktop methods was kickstarted by the Intel NUCs within the early 2010s. The growing reputation of compact PCs additionally led to the introduction of quite a lot of barely bigger form-factors. Customized boards falling in dimension between the NUC’s 4″ x 4″ ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) and industrial-applications oriented 3.5″ SBC have additionally gained traction. The ECS LIVA Z5 PLUS is one such system, designed and marketed in the direction of enterprise and industrial use-cases.

Intel’s Raptor Lake sequence of merchandise (primarily based on a heterogeneous CPU structure with each efficiency and effectivity cores) for the cell market was introduced in early 2023. The P (28W) and U (15W) sequence have been meant for mid-range notebooks and ultrabooks, with the H (45W) / HX (55W) sequence filling in for gaming and desktop alternative notebooks. Although the UCFF market began off with U sequence chips working at 12W – 15W, the enhancements in thermal design have enabled the cramming of processors with TDPs of 28W and better in recent times. Because of this, most mini-PCs utilizing Raptor Lake opted for the P sequence SoCs. The ECS LIVA Z5 PLUS has a special take out there – it adopts a U-series SoC with a barely bigger form-factor in comparison with the normal NUC.

The overview under supplies an in depth look into the efficiency and options of the ECS LIVA Z5 PLUS. Potential enterprise clients have processor decisions starting from the RPL-U U300 to the Core i7-1365U. The reviewed system is a mid-range configuration with the Core i5-1335U. The advantages of ECS’s cTDP-up setting, bigger form-factor, and selection of I/O ports are additionally mentioned.

Introduction and Product Impressions

The ECS LIVA Z5 PLUS is a 148mm x 120mm x 39mm mini-PC that lies someplace between the normal UCFF system and a 3.5″ SBC in dimension. Much like different latest LIVA methods, ECS is advertising this in the direction of enterprise and industrial customers. The inner motherboard carries the RPLU-MINI tag. Whereas the underside and casing are steel, the highest cowl is plastic (ostensibly for higher WLAN efficiency). Regardless of the marginally bigger dimension, ECS has opted to place all USB ports within the entrance together with the facility button and the audio jack. There are two LAN ports within the rear along with three devoted video outputs.

Whereas most RPL-P mini-PCs opted to go together with DDR5 SODIMMs, the LIVA Z5 PLUS comes with DDR4 SODIMM slots. Nonetheless, the M.2 slot operates at Gen 4 speeds for the first storage duties. That is complemented by a wealthy set of I/Os – two 2.5 GbE LAN ports, a full-featured USB4 port (with assist for Thunderbolt peripherals), and three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A ports.

The system bundle features a VESA mount and related screws. A 19V/4.74A 90W DC energy adapter and a geo-specific energy wire are additionally current.

Entry to the SSD and RAM slots are through a detachable panel on the underside saved in place with the help of 4 screws.

Our overview system got here pre-installed with 2x 8GB DDR4-3200 SODIMMs and a PCIe 4.0 x4 DRAM-less NVMe drive. There was surprisingly no SSD thermal resolution connected to the underside, although some markers are current to information in putting thermal pads instantly on prime of the M.2 slot. The total specs of the overview pattern are supplied within the desk under.

The FORESEE XP2000 is a SM2269XT-based SSD common amongst OEMs. ACPI is a model of Patriot Reminiscence servicing OEM buyer necessities.

Within the subsequent part, we check out the system setup and comply with it up with an in depth platform evaluation.