Mid-Range Meteor Lake at 65W

Compact computing systems have gained significant market share over the past decade. Improvements in processor performance per watt have enabled the replacement of bulky desktop PCs with ultra-compact form factor (UCFF) and small form factor (SFF) machines. The Meteor Lake series of processors is Intel’s latest offering to serve this market. Their launch was delayed as initial information was received. officially available in September 2023. The tile-based chip configuration combined with the Foveros package represents a major shift in Intel’s approach to the consumer market: Laptop platforms are in the spotlight. This hasn’t stopped several suppliers from introducing SFF/UCFF Desktop Systems using Meteor Lake Ultra H-series (MTL-H) processors.

ACEMAGIC tried theirs for us F2A 125N proposal around the time we were finishing grade ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-155H and ASUS NUC14RVHv7 UCFF systems. F2A takes up more space than either of these systems. This provides a better thermal solution by allowing the internal processor (Core Ultra 5 125H) to operate at a sustained power limit (PL1) setting of 65W.

This review takes a closer look at the features and specifications of the ACEMAGIC F2A 125H. The analysis also provides some insight into the optimal operating power settings for MTL-H processors.

Introduction and impressions of the product

Over the past decade, significant advances have been made in processor performance as well as energy efficiency. Combined with advances in thermal solutions, we’ve seen compact systems with low-power SoCs become capable of replacing bulky desktop computers in many use cases. This trend gained widespread attention after Intel introduced the ultra-compact form factor (4 x 4 inches) NUC in the early 2010s.

In recent years, we have seen a steady increase in the power of processors integrated into such systems. First-generation NUCs had processors with TDPs ranging from 6 to 15 W. In the late 2010s, 28W processors formed flagship lines. In Tiger Lake, Intel introduced the Panther Canyon NUC with a 40W power cap. It turned out that 65W was nearly impossible to cool within the UCFF limits, prompting ASUS to introduce the NUC14 Pro+ with a slightly larger footprint. The ACEMAGIC F2A also uses a 65W processor, although its footprint is even larger than the NUC14 Pro+.

The F2A system measures 147 x 147 x 52 mm (compared to 144 x 112 x 41 mm for the NUC14 Pro+ and 117 x 112 x 54 mm for the tall 4 x 4-inch NUC14 Pro). Promoting PC AI features is important in both outer packaging and marketing collateral. The package includes a 120W (19V @ 6.3A) power adapter, power cord for each region, HDMI cable, user manual and mounting plate with screws in addition to the main unit.

ACEMAGIC sells the F2A as a turnkey system with 32GB DDR5-5600 SODIMMs and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD. The system comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home. We always advise users of systems from manufacturers such as ACEMAGIC to erase the disk and install their own copy of the OS after receiving the key from the original installation.

Our sample was equipped with Kingston SODIMMs and a Kingston Design-In OEM SSD (BiCS5 TLC NAND behind a Silicon Motion SM2267XT controller without DRAM).

The SSD and SODIMM slots can be accessed by removing four screws from the bottom of the system. We were pleasantly surprised to find a fan attached to the bottom. Active cooling of SSDs and SODIMMs should provide good thermal performance, and this is one of the aspects discussed later in this review.

Full specifications of the review sample are presented in the table below.

In the next section, we will look at setting up the system and conduct a detailed analysis of the platform.