A sub-2 liter fanlessly cooled Bay Trail system from Logic Supply courts buyers seeking silent, reliable, maintenance-free computing for kiosks, signage and other industrial/commercial applications. The ML210G-10’s power profile matches its tiny size.



Product ML210G-10 Fanless Thin mini-ITX Computer Manufacturer Logic

Supply As Tested $687.00

Improvements in both energy efficiency and computing power continue driving

PCs both smaller and quieter. The trend is omnipresent, and clearly impacts

the industrial and commercial markets as well as the more visible consumer segments.

Logic Supply has been a player in the industrial and commercial sector for many

years, with a heavy emphasis on small, fanless, silent PCs.

The last Logic Supply mini PCs to grace SPCR was the ML400G-50 in late November

last year. This was a fanlessly cooled mini-ITX system sporting an Intel Core

i5-4200M (Haswell) 2.5 GHz mobile processor in a virtually sealed aluminum heatsink

chassis.

The model examined here is the ML210G-10, which employs a Bay Trail Celeron

embedded processor in a Thin Mini-ITX format to shrink the case even further.

The photos below show the lower profile of the new system against the earlier

ML400G-50.



New lower 1.5″ profile of the ML210G…

…compared to the 2.24″ ML400 G-50.

Aside from a smaller case, the ML210G-10 also features even lower power consumption,

thanks to the Bay Trail processor, even with four cores, double that of the

ML400G-50. The same cheerful and distinctive orange-silver colour scheme is

followed here.

Specifications: Logic Supply ML210-10*

(from (from the

product web page Dimension 196 x 37 x 213 mm (1.5 liters)

7.7″ x 1.45″ x 8.4″ Motherboard Mitac PD10BI Thin Mini-ITX CPU Intel Celeron J1900 2 GHz

(embedded) Chipset Intel Bay Trail D Memory Transcend SO-DIMM DDR3 1600

8GB LAN Realtek RT8111G-CG

Qualcomm Atheros AR946x Wireless Audio Realtek ALC888S codec Graphics Intel HD Graphics Displays Dual independent display

from HD-Out, VGA, and Embedded Display-Port / LVDS connectivity SATA Interface 3.0 Gb/sec, 2 connectors Expansion Type PCIe x1

PCIe Mini Card (full height)

PCIe Mini Card (half-height) Front I/O 2 USB 2.0 ports

Power Button Rear I/O 2 USB 2.0 high current ports

2 USB 3.0 ports

2 RS-232 COM ports

1 VGA port

1 HDMI port

1 LAN port

2 Antenna holes

2 Audio jacks

1 DC jack (8 V to 19 V) Storage Samsung SSD 840 EVO 120GB

mSATA (120 GB, SATA-III) Power Supply AC/DC adapter Seasonic

SSA 0601D-12 (12VDC, 60W Level V efficiency) Mounting DIN-mount

VESA-mount

Wall-mount Operating Temperature 0°C ~ 55°C OS Windows 8.1 64-bit Pro *Various RAM, SSD and other options available.

Price of the above config at time of writing (w/o OS) was $577.00

The maximum T-junction temperature of the Celeron J1900 processor is a sizzling

105°C, which partly explains Logic Supply’s confidence in the ability of

this passively cooled system to function safely in up to 55°C ambient temperature.

The ML210 series is available in two models. The ML210G-10 is the embedded

Bay Trail option. The ML210G-50 is a higher performance option in the same case

utilizing an Intel i5-4300U ULV (ultra low voltage) Haswell mobile processor

on a Thin Mini-ITX board.



The system came safely double-boxed in a plain cardboard carton.

A power adapter with cables, dual antenna, VESA mounting hardware, and

stick-on rubber feet were included.

TESTING

As with the ML400G, an effort was made to open up the chassis, but the top

and bottom halves of the clamshell case did not want to part. Some form of clamping

is used to effect the heat transfer from the CPU to the processor; the details

of how this is achieved isn’t particularly important for our review. Our load

testing will quickly tell us the efficacy of the cooling system.



Just one legacy port for this industrial/commercial computer.

Measurement and Analysis Tools

Benchmark Test Details

Adobe

Photoshop : Image manipulation using a variety of filters, a derivation

of Driver Heaven’s Photoshop

Benchmark V3 (test image resized to 4500×3499).

: Image manipulation using a variety of filters, a derivation of Driver Heaven’s Photoshop Benchmark V3 (test image resized to 4500×3499). Eset NOD32 : In-depth

virus scan of a folder containing 32 files of varying size with many RAR and

ZIP archives.

: In-depth virus scan of a folder containing 32 files of varying size with many RAR and ZIP archives. WinRAR : RAR

archive creation with a folder containing 68 files of varying size (less than

50MB).

: RAR archive creation with a folder containing 68 files of varying size (less than 50MB). iTunes :

Conversion of an MP3 file to AAC.

: Conversion of an MP3 file to AAC. TMPGEnc

Xpress : Encoding a XVID AVI file with VC-1.

: Encoding a XVID AVI file with VC-1. HandBrake : Encoding

a XVID AVI file with H.264.

: Encoding a XVID AVI file with H.264. Crysis demo

standalone benchmark.

Testing Procedures

Our main test procedure involves recording various temperatures, fan speeds,

power consumption, and noise level, with the system in various states. This

includes idle, H.264 and Flash playback, video encoding with TMPGEnc, and full

CPU and GPU load using Prime95 and/or FurMark, as appropriate. This is followed

by a series of both CPU (timed tests of real-world applications) and GPU-centric

(gaming tests and synthetics) benchmarks. For the ML210G, the Furmark test,

an overkill 3D stress test, was ommitted as inappropriate; this system is not

meant to run 3D games.

TEST RESULTS

The Logic Supply ML210G-10 barely sips at power and runs extremely cool even

under the highest loads.

Logic Supply ML21 0G-50 Measurements (Extended

Use) System State CPU SSD External* Power (AC) Idle 25°C 42°C 33°C 7W MPC-HC H.264 Playback 26°C 43°C 34°C 12W TMPGEnc Video Encoding 27°C 45°C 35°C 13W Prime95 27°C 46°C 35°C 14W *measured at the hottest point on the top of the

machine

Ambient temperature: 20°C.

None of the hardware monitoring utilities at our disposal fully identified

the Mitac PD10BI board within. Only the CPU and SSD temperature sensors showed.

The individual CPU core temperatures did show as well; none ever rose past 46°C

during our testing. It’s safe to say there is adequate cooling headroom even

in the hottest tropical summers.

As with the last Logic Supply fanless system, there is no need for any tables

or graphs showing acoustic performance: Our sample makes no noise of any kind.

This includes the AC/DC adapter. It is possible that the adapter may make some

noise at some point, but the level is low enough that we never noticed it, and

as you probably know we run an extremely quiet lab. (11 dBA in the anechoic

chamber.)

CPU Performance

For CPU tests, we compared the ML210G-10 to a selection of lower-end, energy

efficient CPUs/APUs, the ultra-low voltage Ivy Bridge chip found in the original

Intel NUC, and the Pentium G2120, a 55W desktop CPU that is commonly paired

with thin mini-ITX LGA1155 motherboards.

The ML210G-10 is quite responsive, similar to the other Bay Trail Celeron system

we tested before, built around a Havey MITX-6771. In terms of benchmarks, it’s

not quite at the level of the i3 Intel NUC but close to an Athlon 5350 system.







We calculated the relative CPU performance score by giving each system/chip

a proportional score in each benchmark with each test having an equal weighting.

The scale is adjusted so that the Logic Supply ML210G-10 is the reference point

with a score of 100. By this metric, the Athlon 5350 and the Habey MITX-6771

systems are close matches.

Energy Efficiency

All systems compared have similar hardware: Single SSD and a DC power supply

with high efficiency 12V/19V adapter.

The ML210G-10 is considerably more efficient than any mini-ITX board we’ve

tested thus far. Idle power is especially low, nearly matching the most power

efficient NUC at just 7W AC.

Under high loads, the ML210G-10 is a champ. To draw just 17W under a 3D game

(admittedly at low frame rate and detail setting) is quite a feat. The significant

2~4W edge it has over the other Bay Trail Celeron system may be explained party

by the fact that it is running Windows 8.1, reputed to provide improved energy

efficiency than Windows 7, especially with newer hardware. All the other systems

ran Windows 7 (64 bit).

FINAL THOUGHTS

The energy consumption of the Logic Supply ML210G-10 matches its diminutive

size. Under high loads, it is the most energy efficient PC we’ve reviewed —

in nearly 13 years of testing. In the industrial and commercial arena for which

it is designed, the sub-2 liter volume and absence of fans or vents which can

accumulate dust and hinder cooling in the long run are highly desirable attributes.

The ML210G-10 is well suited for the role, and its external casing provides

both excellent protection for the components within as well as irreproachable

cooling.

The performance doesn’t quite reach the levels of a discrete Core i3 system,

but its quad-core processor is certainly competent. The ideal role is in harsh

and demanding environments where dust resistance and absense of any need for

physical maintenance are boons. The inclusion of an SSD in the system is a natural

and logical choice. Logic Supply has created another worthy product in the ML210G-10.

Our thanks to Logic Supply for the ML210G-10 sample.

POSTSCRIPT – March 4, 2015 Darek from Logic Supply explained that the two halves of the ML210G case

were hard to separate simply because of the suction caused by the TIM

between the heatblock of the CPU and the top chassis cover. They would

have come apart if I pulled harder. The cover clips into slots along the

inside top edge of the front panel and hinges down to be pressed against

the heatblock. The back panel screws secure it with some pressure against

the heatblock. Darek also posted some photos

of the interior in the forum discussion of this article.

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Articles of Related Interest

Logic Supply ML400G-50 Fanless

m-ITX PC

Habey MITX-6771 Bay Trail Embedded

Motherboard

Haswell comes to NUC

Logic Supply LGX ML300 Fanless

NUC

Gigabyte GA-H77TN Thin Mini-ITX

Motherboard

Intel Next Unit of Computing Kit

DC3217BY

Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell Processor



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