Congatech announces two Mini-ITX motherboards

July 21, 2015  - Congatech announces two Mini-ITX motherboards based on Gen 2 AMD Embedded G-Series SoC processors (codenamed "Steppe Eagle") and feature SoC integrated AMD Radeon graphics.

The low-power motherboards are widely scalable with a TDP ranging between 5 and 15 watts max. The AMD Radeon graphics offers support for up to two independent displays and up to 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution. A particularly efficient feature is the configurable TDP, which makes it possible to optimize the cooling, the power supply and the entire system costs depending on the specific application.

The Mini-ITX motherboards are used primarily in applications that require powerful graphics for cost-efficient low-power devices. congatec expects the boards to address applications in a broad range of computing sectors such as vision systems and industrial automation. 

The processor boards are available as a 2.2 GHz dual-core variant (10/15 W max. configurable TDP) or a 4x 1.2 GHz quad-core platform (5/7 W max. configurable TDP) that is optimized for multiprocessing. The boards also offer high-performance 4K graphics support including DirectX11.1 and OpenGL 4.2. Up to two displays can be controlled independently via DisplayPort 1.2, DVI or LVDS. The boards further support OpenCL 1.2, which enables the GPU to process compute-intensive parallel tasks faster and more efficiently than the CPU.

Board expansion options include a PCIe x4 Gen 2.0 slot, 1x Mini PCIe, 2x USB 3.0, and 6x USB 2.0. A special socket for commercially available USB sticks enables inexpensive and easy expansion of applications to add WLAN, mobile connectivity or security mechanisms (dongles). For the realization of IoT connectivity, the boards provide 2x Gigabit LAN. Two serial ports plus PS/2 ports for mouse and keyboard underline the industrial-grade standard of the new conga-IGX boards. Stereo audio inputs and outputs complete the feature set.