congatec announces COM Express small form factor module based on Intel Core™ i7 processor

SAN DIEGO, USA: congatec AG has extended its COM Express product family with the highest performance module conga-BM57. It features the latest Intel Core i7-620M processor with a core speed of 2.66 GHz, with 4 MByte L2 cache and up to 8 GByte fast (1066 MT/s) dual channel DDR3 memory.

The conga-BM57 is a two-chip solution which utilizes the powerful Mobile Intel QM57 Express Chipset. The integrated graphics controller is supporting the Intel Flexible Display Interface (FDI) in order to allow for two independent video channels on VGA, LVDS, HDMI, DisplayPort or SDVO interfaces.

The major highlight of the COM Express Basic (95x125mm) module with a type 2 connector pin-out is the boosted graphics performance. The 3D performance was increased substantially over the last generation of Intel integrated graphics. Paired with the additional computing performance of the Intel Core i7 processor the conga-BM57 is an ideal solution for intense graphics applications which are often found in gaming or medical image applications.

The implemented Intel Turbo Boost Technology provides an on-demand boost in the clock speed for one processor core if the other core is less utilized. This new feature improves the computing performance by as much as 25 percent - as measured by congatec during benchmark testing.

In order to keep the power consumption at about the same level as the predecessor generation, the Intel Core i7 processor supports new power management states. The C6 state, already known from Intel Core processors, saves the architectural state to a dedicated SRAM. Then the cores can be switched off to reduce the current to almost zero. The independence of the C6 states for each core boasts even greater power savings for the platform.

Five PCI Express lanes, eight USB 2.0 ports, three SATA, one EIDE and a Gigabit Ethernet interface allow for fast and flexible system extensions. Fan control, LPC bus for slow speed extensions and Intel® High Definition Audio complete the feature set.

First public live demos of the extremely fast conga-BM57 will be shown at the International Gaming Expo in London from Jan 26-28, 2010, booth #3484.