Powerful 16-core SBC with up to 128 GB RAM goes official with dual 2.5G Ethernet

IBASE has introduced a new, well-equipped SBC featuring Intel's latest Panther Lake chips. Spotted by Linux Gizmos, the brand-new SBC also comes equipped with a healthy array of ports.

Dubbed the IB966, the new 3.5-inch SBC can be equipped with up to a Core Ultra X7 358H CPU with a 16-core setup. Lower-end variants with an 8-core Core Ultra 7 355 and a 16-core Core Ultra 7 356H APUs are also present.

Powerful SBC equipped with impressive 16-core Intel CPU and potent integrated graphics

The Core Ultra X7 is definitely quite an impressive part, featuring four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and four more low-power efficiency cores. The chip also comes equipped with an Arc B390 iGPU with 12 Xe3 cores, which allows it to perform at the same level as an RTX 4050 Laptop discrete GPU.

In multithreaded synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra X7 should be able to keep up with the Ryzen AI Max+ 388 APU. The entry-level Core Ultra 7 355-powered variant should be around 40% slower, while the Core Ultra 7 356H option should be almost identical in CPU performance.

Unlike the Core Ultra X7, of course, the Core Ultra 7 356H and Core Ultra 7 355 will be equipped with a much less powerful iGPU featuring only 4 Xe3 cores. According to synthetic GPU benchmarks, this 4-core part should be roughly 57% slower then the powerful Arc B390 iGPU.

Memory requirements will be handled by dual SODIMM slots capable of being equipped with up to 128 GB of DDR5-7200 RAM. Storage requirements, on the other hand, are handled by a single M.2 2280 and a single M.2 2242 slot.

The I/O on offer is pretty decent and has been detailed below:

• Triple USB 2.0 (1x Type-A, rest via headers)
• USB 3.2 Type-C, dual USB 3.2 Type-A
• 4-pin digital I/O
• M.2 2230 slot (CNVi)
• HDMI, LVDS, and eDP for display output
• Dual RS232/422/485 COM ports
• Dual 2.5G LAN 

Pricing and availability details are unclear as of this writing, but given the specs on offer, the IB966 SBC is almost certain to command a hefty price tag, especially for configs with lots of RAM.

Entry-level SBC enthusiasts can therefore check out something like the ARM-based Orange Pi 4 Pro with 12 GB RAM and an octa-core CPU, currently available for $129.99 on Amazon.