Passively cooled computing systems are popular amongst consumers worried about the reliability of moving parts, noise from fans, and other associated maintenance requirements (particularly, for industrial use-cases). Traditionally, fanless high-performance PCs have come with a high price tag. However, with the focus on low-power U-series CPUs by Intel, we have many vendors targeting this market segment with affordable models. Habey and Shuttle have both had a history of delivering high-performance fanless industrial PCs. Today, we look at two Kaby Lake-U systems - the Habey BIS-6862-I3 and the Shuttle DS77U.

Introduction

Industrial PCs come with stringent requirements that are not satisfied by generic PCs. It is customary for builders to use active cooling in order to ensure that the components are in proper working order. Ventilation slots are also provided to keep airflow up. Chassis size is also not always a concern. However, these flexibilities are not always possible in industrial PCs. Operating environments for such systems usually call for passive cooling, dust resistance, rugged nature and minimal size.

Habey's BIS-6922 has already been subject to our evaluation. It came with a 45W TDP CPU (Core i7-3720QM), but, the chassis design was robust enough to handle it without issues. The BIS-6862-I3 we are evaluating today uses a 15W TDP Core i3-7100U. The chassis design is simpler, with the ridged segment restricted only to the top side. The processor has a configurable TDP of 7.5W for low-power operation.

The gallery below presents some teardown photos. Note the copper block attached to the top panel that acts as a heat sink. We will delve into its effectiveness in the thermal performance section.

The Shuttle XPC Slim DS77U is the first fanless Shuttle system that we are evaluating. It uses the 15W TDP Celeron 3865U, which has a configurable TDP of 10W for low-power operation.

The gallery below shows some photographs of the XPC Slim DS77U and its internals.

The full specifications of our Habey BIS-6862-I3 and Shuttle DS77U review units are summarized in the table below. Note that the configurations available for purchase are barebone, and the consumer is expected to supply the RAM and storage drives to complete the build. However, our review units were pre-configured by the vendors with the components specified.

Aspect Habey BIS-6862-I3 Shuttle DS77U
Processor Intel Core i3-7100U
Kaby Lake x86_64, 2C/4T, 2.4 GHz, 14nm+, 3MB L2, 15W TDP
Intel Celeron 3865U
Kaby Lake x86_64, 2C/2T, 1.8 GHz, 14nm+, 2MB L2, 15W TDP
Memory ADATA Premier DDR4
16-15-15-36 @ 2133 MHz
2x8 GB
Kingston 9905624-010.A00G DDR4
15-15-15-36 @ 2133 MHz
1x4 GB
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 620 Intel HD Graphics 610
Disk Drive(s) ADATA Ultimate SU800 ASU800NS38-128GT-C
(128 GB; M.2 Type 2280 SATA III; Micron 32L 3D TLC)
Western Digital WD Green WDS120G1G0A
(120 GB; 2.5in. SATA 6Gb/s; 15nm; TLC NAND)
Networking Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
(1x1 802.11ac - 433 Mbps)
2x Intel i211 GbE
Realtek RTL8188EE Wireless 802.11n
(1x1 802.11n - 150 Mbps)
1x Intel i211 GbE
1x Intel i219LM GbE
Audio 3.5mm Headphone Jack
Capable of 5.1/7.1 digital output with HD audio bitstreaming (HDMI)
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Capable of 5.1/7.1 digital output with HD audio bitstreaming (HDMI)
Display Outputs 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DP 1.2 1x DP 1.2, 2x HDMI 1.4a
Miscellaneous I/O Ports 4x USB 2.0 Type-A
2x USB 3.0 Type-A
1x COM
4x USB 2.0 Type-A
2x USB 3.0 Type-A
1x SDXC, 2x COM
Operating System Retail unit is barebones, but we installed Windows 10 Enterprise x64 FCU
Pricing (As configured) $325 (Barebones)
$457 (as configured / No OS)
$223 (Barebones)
$350 (as configured / No OS)
Full Specifications Habey BIS-6862-I3 Specifications Shuttle DS77U Specifications

In addition to the main unit, the Habey BIS-6862-I3 comes with a 65W (19V @ 3.42A) power adapter, a HDMI cable, couple of dipole antennae for the WLAN card, and screws for installing M.2 cards. The Shuttle DS77U also comes with a 65W (19V @ 3.42A) power adapter. Other components of the package include a standing mount for the chassis, screws for the internal drives, and a driver DVD.

In the table below, we have an overview of the various systems that we are comparing the Habey BIS-6862-I3 and the Shuttle DS77U against. Note that they may not belong to the same market segment. The relevant configuration details of the machines are provided so that readers have an understanding of why some benchmark numbers are skewed for or against the review systems when we come to those sections.

Comparative PC Configurations
Aspect Habey BIS-6862-I3
CPU Intel Core i3-7100U Intel Core i3-7100U
GPU Intel HD Graphics 620 Intel HD Graphics 620
RAM ADATA Premier DDR4
16-15-15-36 @ 2133 MHz
2x8 GB
ADATA Premier DDR4
16-15-15-36 @ 2133 MHz
2x8 GB
Storage ADATA Ultimate SU800 ASU800NS38-128GT-C
(128 GB; M.2 Type 2280 SATA III; Micron 32L 3D TLC)
ADATA Ultimate SU800 ASU800NS38-128GT-C
(128 GB; M.2 Type 2280 SATA III; Micron 32L 3D TLC)
Wi-Fi Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
(1x1 802.11ac - 433 Mbps)
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
(1x1 802.11ac - 433 Mbps)
Price (in USD, when built) $325 (Barebones)
$457 (as configured / No OS)
$325 (Barebones)
$457 (as configured / No OS)
Performance Metrics - I
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  • MrTeal - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    I'm not sure they will, really. Most of them will tend to be 19V input because they leverage laptop parts, or often 24V (sometimes 12V) as that is incredibly common in industrial setups and control systems.

    5V works well for things like compute sticks, but you generally don't see much of it in PLC cabinets and the like.
  • Reflex - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link

    Given the market these things go into I am not surprised they are avoiding support for OS's that will be out of support from MS soon. Usually these things run in an environment for 5-10 years so there is little need to support anything that will lose support prior to that end date.
  • mjeffer - Sunday, January 7, 2018 - link

    Kaby Lake is only supported on Windows 10 IIRC.

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