Aaeon’s “AEC-6638” rugged box-PC offers 4th Gen Intel Core i5 or i3 CPUs, and features three display outputs, dual GbE, and fanless -10 to 60°C operation.



Aaeon’s AEC-6638 fanless embedded PC is a Boxer series variation of its AEC industrial computers, which include this year’s Atom N2600 based AEC-6523. The AEC-6638 is a simpler, and presumably more affordable, affair than some other box PCs that run Intel’s fourth “Haswell” generation of Core processors, such as Adlink’s Matrix MXE-5400. There’s no quad-core option here, only the dual-core i5-4400E or i3-4100E, both of which offer 37W TDPs, 3MB cache, Intel HD Graphics 4600, and 2.7GHz or 2.4GHz clock rates, respectively.

The AEC-6638 is designed for applications including industrial automation, banking and transport, digital signage, surveillance, fleet management, and marine exploration, says Aaeon. Ruggedization features include -10 to 60°C temperature support, as well as shock and vibration resistance.







Aaeon AEC-6638 front (left) and rear views

(click to enlarge)



The fanless box computer provides up to 8GB of DDR3L RAM, as well as a 2.5-inch SATA 3 bay. It appears that you get a choice of CFast and Mini-PCIe expansion, or else CFast and mSATA.

The one stand-out here is the inclusion of three different real-world display ports. However, there’s no mention of dual- or triple-display capability with the VGA, DVI-D, and HDMI connections.







Aaeon AEC-6638 front (left) and rear details

(click to enlarge)



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Other features include two gigabit Ethernet ports, dual USB 3.0 ports, and dual USB 2.0 ports. You also get three serial ports, one of which is a RS232/422/485 connection. An audio line-out jack is also available.

Specifications listed for the AEC-6638 include:

Processor — Intel Core i5-4400E or Core i3-4100E (2x Haswell cores @ 2.7GHz or 2.4GHz, respectively); Intel QM87 chipset; GT2-level Intel HD Graphics 4600 graphics; 3MB cache; 37W TDP

Memory – up to 8GB DDR3L 1333/1600MHz via 1x SODIMM

Storage: SATA-III with 2.5-inch bay CFast or mSATA (jumper selectable)

Display: DVI-D at 1920 x 1200 pixels VGA up to 2048 x 1536 HDMI up to 3840 x 2160

Networking — 2x gigabit Ethernet (1x Intel I210/I211, 1x I217/I218)

Other I/O: 2x USB 2.0 2x USB 3.0 2x RS232 1x RS232/422/485 (supports auto flow on RS-485) Audio line-out

Expansion — mini-PCIe socket (not available if mSATA selected)

Other features – 2x antennas; TPM; LEDs; wall mounting

Power — 9-30 V DC with with 3-pin terminal block; optional 120W AC-DC adapter

Ruggedization: Operating temperature — -10 to 45°C (with CFast and without AirFlow) or -10 to 50°C (with HDD and without AirFlow) Vibration resistance — 5Grms, 5-500Hz with CFast; 1Grms, 5-500Hz with HDD Shock resistance — 50G (11ms) with CF; 20G (11ms) with HDD

Operating system — Fedora (Linux kernel 2.6.x and above) or Ubuntu 10.10



Further information

The AEC-6638 appears to be available now, at an unstated price. More information may be found at the AEC-6638 product page.

