Portwell announced a COM Express Type II module that supports Intel's latest “Sandy Bridge” quad-core and dual-core Core i7/i5 processors. The PCOM-B217VG supports up to 16GB DDR3 SDRAM via dual sockets, and offers multiple PCIe lanes, four SATA ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, and eight USB ports, says the company.

The Portwell PCOM-B217VG module is well-suited for gaming machines, high-end communications applications, test equipment, streaming video terminals, and medical imaging devices, says Portwell. Measuring 4.92 x 3.75 inches (125 x 95mm), the module adheres to the same COM Express form-factor as the PCOM-B216VG-VI announced last May, which supported the previous generation of Intel Core i7/i5 processors.

Portwell PCOM-B217VG
(Click to enlarge)

The new PCOM-B217VG supports Intel's latest "Sandy Bridge" generation of quad-core and dual-core Core i7/i5 processors. It is designed specifically for the quad-core Core i7-2710QE, which is clocked at 2.1GHz (3GHz in turbo mode), as well as the dual-core Core i5-2510E, clocked at 2.5GHz (3.2GHz in turbo mode), says the company.

The main difference from last year's PCOM-B216VG-VI is the change in Core generations and the related move to the QM67 Express chipset, which allows the newer module to support up to twice as much memory. The PCOM-B217VG is equipped with dual SODIMM sockets, accepting up to 16GB 1067/1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM, says Portwell.

PCOM-B217VG detail

Storage options include an IDE interface, as well as four SATA ports, with two ports supporting 6Gbps transfer speeds and the other two supporting 3Gbps, says the company.

Expansion is said to be provided via six PCI Express (PCIe) x1 lanes, as well as a PCIe x16 lane, which can be configured in various modes, as shown below. A secondary PCIe x8 lane is mapped to a DisplayPort interface, says the company.

Standard I/O includes a gigabit Ethernet PHY, and eight USB ports, says Portwell. The modules also offers LPC, SMBus/I2C, and HD audio interfaces, says the company.

Features and specifications listed for the PCOM-B217VG include:

• Processor — Intel "Sandy Bridge" Core i7/i5 processors in rPGA-989 package (Socket G2): Core i7-2710QE (quad-core) @ 2.1GHz (TB 3GHz) or Core i5-2510E (dual-core) @ 2.5GHz (TB 3.2GHz)
• Chipset — Intel QM67
• Memory — up to 16GB 1067/1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM via 2 x SODIMMs
• Display — supports CRT and 1 x 18bit/24bit LVDS display interfaces; PCIe x16 for graphics; DisplayPort support
• Storage — 4 x SATA ports (2 x 6Gbps , 2 x 3Gbps)
• Expansion:
  • 6 x PCIe lanes (4 x1 lanes configurable to 1 x4 lane)
  • 1 x PCIe x16 lanes, configurable to 2 x8 or 2 x4 and 1 x8 mode
  • secondary PCIe x8 lane maps to DP (DisplayPort)
• Networking — 1 x gigabit Ethernet port (Intel 82579LM)
• Other I/O:
  • 8 x USB ports
  • LPC interface
  • SMBus/I2C interface
  • HD audio interface
• Other features — watchdog timer; hardware monitoring
• Operating temperature — 32 to 140 deg. F (0 to 60 deg. C)
• Dimensions — 4.92 x 3.75 (125 x 95mm); COM Express form-factor

No specific COM Express baseboard was recommended by Portwell. However, last May's PCOM-B216VG-VI (as well as the Intel Atom-based PCOM-B215VG module that came out later in the year) worked with the separately available PCOM-C210 baseboard, according to the company. 

Availability

No pricing, availability, or operating system support was announced for the PCOM-B217VG. More information may be found at Portwell's PCOM-B217VG page.

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