Compulab released Airtop 3 - Mini, fanless PC with up to an i9 9900K?!

[Spotty]

Source: https://www.anandtech.com/show/14264/compulab-launches-airtop3-a-fanless-pc-with-core-i99900k-quadro-rtx-4000

Source: https://fossbytes.com/linux-mint-airtop3-pc-intel-i9-9900k/

Source (Original Press Release): https://s3.amazonaws.com/fit-iot/airtop3/docs/pr-airtop3.pdf

 

Quote

Compulab has introduced its new Airtop3 passively-cooled desktop platform, which is aimed at commercial and industrial users looking for a high-performance passive PC.

Just like predecessors, Compulab’s Airtop3 relies on the company’s natural air-flow (NAF) cooling technology that places each component into a specially-designated passively-cooled area, does not require any active fans and is therefore absolutely quiet.

The advanced cooling system enabled Compulab to equip the system with any CPU up to Intel’s eight-core Core i9-9900K (or future Xeon E CPUs), any graphics card up to NVIDIA’s Quadro RTX 4000, up to 128 GB of DDR4 memory, up to two M.2-2280 SSDs, and up to four 2.5-inch storage devices.
(https://www.anandtech.com/show/14264/compulab-launches-airtop3-a-fanless-pc-with-core-i99900k-quadro-rtx-4000)

 

Quote

Named Airtop3, this computer lets you choose Linux Mint or Windows 10 Pro for an out-of-the-box experience. It goes without saying that you can install other desktop distros on this Linux-friendly machine.
...
this Linux compatible mini beast starts at $999. However, the cheapest model doesn’t include any RAM and it’s powered by Intel Celeron. To get the most power with i9-9900K CPU, you’d need to spend $1,639; this model ships with 8GB RAM.
(https://fossbytes.com/linux-mint-airtop3-pc-intel-i9-9900k/)

Pictures (Large images)

Spoiler

 

 

Full System Specs and customisable options list (https://s3.amazonaws.com/fit-iot/airtop3/docs/pr-airtop3.pdf)

Spoiler

Specifications

Features

CPU

8-core Intel® Core™ i9-9900K Processor

Future Intel® Xeon® E Processor

8-core Intel® Core™ i7-9700 Processor

Intel® Celeron® G4900 Processor

 

Chipset

Intel® C246 Chipset

 

Memory

Dual channel unbuffered DDR4-2666 ECC/non ECC up to 128 GB (4x DIMM slots)

 

 

Graphics & display

Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 - 2x DisplayPort 1.2 (4K @ 60 Hz) + HDMI 1.4 (4K @ 24 Hz)

Optional NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 8 GB GDDR6 - 3x DisplayPort 1.4 + 1x Virtual link (HDR 5K @ 60 Hz | HDR 4K @ 120 Hz)

Optional GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GDDR6 – 3x DisplayPort 1.4 (4K @ 120 Hz) + HDMI 2.0b (4K @ 60 Hz)

Note: Airtop3 can operate 7 displays (integrated + discrete graphics) simultaneously

 

Storage

2x NVMe - M.2 key M 2280 | 2260 | 2242 | 2230 - PCIe x4

4x 2.5” SATA 3.0 HDD/SSD with RAID support

Optional NVM3 card with 3x NVMe - 3x NVME M.2 key M up to 22110 / NF1 30110

 

LAN

2x Gbit Ethernet (Intel i219 + Intel i210)

2x 10 Gbit Ethernet (optional, Intel X550-T2)

4x Gbit Ethernet (optional, using FACE Module)

 

Wireless

WiFi 802.11ac + BT 4.2 (M.2 key E)

4G/LTE modem (M.2 key B) + micro-SIM socket

4x SMA antennas

 

USB

6x USB 3.1 gen 1 type-A (rear panel)

2x USB 3.1 gen 2 (type-C + type-A) + 1x USB 3.1 gen 1 type-A (front panel, on FM-AT3 FACE Module)

 

Audio

Realtek ALC1150 audio codec

Optical S/PDIF output (Toslink)

HDMI audio

Line-out

Mic-in

Extra ALC1150 audio codec (on FM-AT3 FACE Module)

Line-out (front panel)

Mic-in (front panel)

 

Serial

3x RS232 ports full UART

 

Extension cards

1x PCIe x16 Gen 3 (shared with graphics card)

1x M.2 E-key (normally used for WiFi adapter)

1x M.2 B-key (normally used for 4G modem)

Compulab Function And Connectivity Extension Module (FACE Module) (normally used for FC-AT2, other FACE Modules available)

Well, this popped up in my news feed and it really made me look twice at it. I've never heard of this company before, but if their claims are to be believed then it could be a very interesting product. The idea of having up to an i9 9900k CPU in a completely fanless system, especially one as tiny as this that is only 7.5L in volume seems insane.

The system is customisable, with the basic starter coming with a Celeron G4900 CPU and no RAM, with optional Linux Mint distro pre-installed, though is also available with Windows or without an OS. Users can customise options including the i9 9900K, the i7 9700, or even some Xeon CPUs. Also available is an optional Quadro RTX4000 GPU.
Some other notable features are the optional 10gig ethernet adapter ($430 extra).

 

I'd be very interested in seeing how a device like this performs in the real world. I have no idea how their "Natural Airflow Technology" works. If by some miracle thermal throttling (or melting) isn't a serious concern, then it could make for a very capable portable editing station (especially with the optional 10gig ethernet). Would be interesting to see how it compares to the new Mac Mini in terms of price and performance.
 

Spoiler

A completely fanless system in a mini chassis running an i9 9900K?

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Bouzoo]

Are those side panels actually heat sinks? That might explain the idea. But it looks weird in disassembly. Another heat sink pads between them and the system?

[Derkoli]

9 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Source: https://www.anandtech.com/show/14264/compulab-launches-airtop3-a-fanless-pc-with-core-i99900k-quadro-rtx-4000

Source: https://fossbytes.com/linux-mint-airtop3-pc-intel-i9-9900k/

Source (Original Press Release): https://s3.amazonaws.com/fit-iot/airtop3/docs/pr-airtop3.pdf

 

 

Pictures (Large images)

  Hide contents

 

 

Full System Specs and customisable options list (https://s3.amazonaws.com/fit-iot/airtop3/docs/pr-airtop3.pdf)

  Reveal hidden contents

Specifications

Features

CPU

8-core Intel® Core™ i9-9900K Processor

Future Intel® Xeon® E Processor

8-core Intel® Core™ i7-9700 Processor

Intel® Celeron® G4900 Processor

 

Chipset

Intel® C246 Chipset

 

Memory

Dual channel unbuffered DDR4-2666 ECC/non ECC up to 128 GB (4x DIMM slots)

 

 

Graphics & display

Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 - 2x DisplayPort 1.2 (4K @ 60 Hz) + HDMI 1.4 (4K @ 24 Hz)

Optional NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 8 GB GDDR6 - 3x DisplayPort 1.4 + 1x Virtual link (HDR 5K @ 60 Hz | HDR 4K @ 120 Hz)

Optional GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GDDR6 – 3x DisplayPort 1.4 (4K @ 120 Hz) + HDMI 2.0b (4K @ 60 Hz)

Note: Airtop3 can operate 7 displays (integrated + discrete graphics) simultaneously

 

Storage

2x NVMe - M.2 key M 2280 | 2260 | 2242 | 2230 - PCIe x4

4x 2.5” SATA 3.0 HDD/SSD with RAID support

Optional NVM3 card with 3x NVMe - 3x NVME M.2 key M up to 22110 / NF1 30110

 

LAN

2x Gbit Ethernet (Intel i219 + Intel i210)

2x 10 Gbit Ethernet (optional, Intel X550-T2)

4x Gbit Ethernet (optional, using FACE Module)

 

Wireless

WiFi 802.11ac + BT 4.2 (M.2 key E)

4G/LTE modem (M.2 key B) + micro-SIM socket

4x SMA antennas

 

USB

6x USB 3.1 gen 1 type-A (rear panel)

2x USB 3.1 gen 2 (type-C + type-A) + 1x USB 3.1 gen 1 type-A (front panel, on FM-AT3 FACE Module)

 

Audio

Realtek ALC1150 audio codec

Optical S/PDIF output (Toslink)

HDMI audio

Line-out

Mic-in

Extra ALC1150 audio codec (on FM-AT3 FACE Module)

Line-out (front panel)

Mic-in (front panel)

 

Serial

3x RS232 ports full UART

 

Extension cards

1x PCIe x16 Gen 3 (shared with graphics card)

1x M.2 E-key (normally used for WiFi adapter)

1x M.2 B-key (normally used for 4G modem)

Compulab Function And Connectivity Extension Module (FACE Module) (normally used for FC-AT2, other FACE Modules available)

Well, this popped up in my news feed and it really made me look twice at it. I've never heard of this company before, but if their claims are to be believed then it could be a very interesting product. The idea of having up to an i9 9900k CPU in a completely fanless system, especially one as tiny as this that is only 7.5L in volume seems insane.

The system is customisable, with the basic starter coming with a Celeron G4900 CPU and no RAM, with optional Linux Mint distro pre-installed, though is also available with Windows or without an OS. Users can customise options including the i9 9900K, the i7 9700, or even some Xeon CPUs. Also available is an optional Quadro RTX4000 GPU.
Some other notable features are the optional 10gig ethernet adapter ($430 extra).

 

I'd be very interested in seeing how a device like this performs in the real world. I have no idea how their "Natural Airflow Technology" works. If by some miracle thermal throttling (or melting) isn't a serious concern, then it could make for a very capable portable editing station (especially with the optional 10gig ethernet). Would be interesting to see how it compares to the new Mac Mini in terms of price and performance.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

A completely fanless system in a mini chassis running an i9 9900K?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Xeon going fanless.. oh boy..

[Spotty]

4 minutes ago, Bouzoo said:

Are those side panels actually heat sinks? That might explain the idea. But it looks weird in disassembly. Another heat sink pads between them and the system?

It appears this might be the case. From the photos the panels appear to have some chambers/vents inside running vertically, and the graphics card appears to be attached to one of the side panels. Assuming they're big aluminium heatsinks on the side panels, would that even be enough to passively cool a high TDP CPU and the GPU? Especially under a sustained heavy load like a 4k video render?

[Bouzoo]

Just now, Spotty said:

It appears this might be the case. From the photos the panels appear to have some chambers/vents inside running vertically, and the graphics card appears to be attached to one of the side panels. Assuming they're big aluminium heatsinks on the side panels, would that even be enough to passively cool a high TDP CPU and the GPU? Especially under a sustained heavy load like a 4k video render?

Honestly I am not sure but if I'd have to lean I'd lean on the negative side. I'd tag the one person that might know that @Stefan1024 due to his specific love for heat sinks but he hasn't been here for months. 

[Deli]

Would love to read a review how well the themos and clock speed do when running a 9900K. Somehow I doubt it can maintain anything but base clock.

[Spotty]

Something that I missed from the news articles but is on the product website is that it appears to be designed towards IOT edge servers, and not necessarily a workstation or even gaming rig. I don't know much about edge servers so not sure what sort of loads are typical or how that will influence things.

 

Quote

IoT edge server can reduce processing latency, network bandwidth requirements and TCO, provided that it is sufficiently powerful, robust and easy to deploy.

Airtop3 presents a unique value proposition for edge computing in harsh environments:

 

...

 

“Apparently, the appetite for performance at the IoT edge knows no boundaries” said Irad Stavi, Chief product officer at Compulab. “We are seeing remarkable performance gains in the latest generation of CPUs and GPUs, but with great power comes greater power consumption. However, our engineers were able to improve the thermal headroom of Airtop3’s Natural Airflow cooling by over 30% so there was no need to settle for low power chips. This makes Airtop3 a small-form-factor fanless IoT edge server with unprecedented performance.”

https://fit-iot.com/web/

 

I don't really see any reason why you couldn't use it as a small workstation though?

[williamcll]

Can't wait for the LTT review.

[NunoLava1998]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel - Core i9-9980XE 3 GHz 18-Core Processor  ($1999.00 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H150i PRO 47.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($145.90 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - X299E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA2066 Motherboard  ($319.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance Performance 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($319.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB ROG Strix Gaming OC Video Card  ($1344.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Lian-Li - PC-O7S HTPC Case  ($370.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($199.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $4850.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-27 06:01 EDT-0400

sounds a cool (although this is 45L, changing it to a h100i can get you a 19L case)