(Update 04-25) DFI DT122 (AMD RX-427BB) Industrial ITX T730-a-like; $99 shipped w/ 8GB

[arglebargle]

Current listings:

05-16:
DFI DT122-BE 2nd Gen AMD Embedded R-Series Industrial Desktop Box PC 2.7GHz HD ! | eBay

Overview:

These Industrial ITX machines are based on the same AMD APU SoC as the capable HP T730 thin client. This is a quad core 2.7GHz board with boost clock rates up to 3.6GHz. Typical idle power in Linux with a single SSD, 16GB RAM and a Mellanox Connect-X3 VPI NIC is ~25W. That's around 5W more than the (extremely power efficient) HP T730. Not too shabby for a commodity parts ITX box.

For some context, the T730 thin client is selling for around $160-$200. At $100 or under this is, in my opinion, a very solid purchase.

Why is this machine exciting?

• Average power draw before add-in hardware is under 20W at idle running modern Linux
• (2) 1Gb NICs: Intel i210 in addition to a Realtek r8168
• One full-sized 16x PCIe slot
• one mSATA/m-PCIe slot
• You can jam at least 6 2.5" drives in the case if you're creative
• SATA/mSATA ports aren't shared, you can run 5 drives by default
  
• Runs Proxmox well, and can easily handle two (or more) pfSense VMs without breaking a sweat
• Routes gigabit internet like a champ
• AES-NI equivalent
• AMD IOMMU Support
• Under 2U, fits nicely on a shelf
• 250W Delta FlexATX PSU

Motherboard Manual:
https://www.dfi.com/Uploads/Downloa...2b2/DFI-BE170-BE171-BE173-Mini-ITX-Manual.pdf

DT122-BE Product Page:
DT122-BE | 2nd Gen AMD Embedded R-Series | Bald Eagle | Pre-Configured System & Chassis | DFI

lspci -tv:

-[0000:00]-+-00.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Complex
          +-01.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kaveri [Radeon R7 Graphics]
          +-01.1  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kaveri HDMI/DP Audio Controller
          +-02.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
          +-03.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
          +-03.1-[01]----00.0  Intel Corporation I210 Gigabit Network Connection
          +-03.2-[02]--+-00.0  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
          |            +-00.1  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 816a
          |            +-00.2  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 816b
          |            +-00.3  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 816c
          |            \-00.4  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 816d
          +-04.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Root Port
          +-10.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller
          +-10.1  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller
          +-11.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
          +-12.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller
          +-12.2  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller
          +-13.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller
          +-13.2  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller
          +-14.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller
          +-14.1  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH IDE Controller
          +-14.2  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller
          +-14.3  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge
          +-14.4-[03]--
          +-14.5  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller
          +-18.0  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 0
          +-18.1  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 1
          +-18.2  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 2
          +-18.3  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 3
          +-18.4  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 4
          \-18.5  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 30h-3fh) Processor Function 5

Noise/Volume:

Just a heads up, these are significantly louder than the T730. The factory 40mm exhaust fan is annoying, but easily replaced with a $5-10 Sunon or your favorite alternate brand.

Pictures:

Here's the inside of the machine with some ideas for drive mounting courtesy of @Marsh



PSU is a 250W Delta FlexATX that's quite a bit nicer than I expected given the low price we're paying for these machines:



IOMMU BIOS:

Update: Thanks to user @mimino DFI has provided a BIOS that enables IOMMU, see post here. See just below for a copy with updated device firmware included as well. This will allow you to use up to 8 VFs per SR-IOV compatible device. SR-IOV support is a bit dodgy though, I wouldn't plan on using it for anything important.

Here's a copy of the IOMMU UEFI image with (almost) all of the device firmwares and microcodes updated. I skipped the Intel NIC because of warning messages stating that the latest firmware isn't compatible with the device. If anyone wants to test patching the latest Intel NIC firmware in and see what happens be my guest.

mod_BE17XB8A.7z

Quieting the Beast:

Edit: I have a selection of 40mm Sunon Maglev fans here, the ~9CFM model works nicely as a replacement. I wouldn't go much quieter/lower CFM if you add a 10 or 40GbE NIC like I did.

The stock fan is an Everflow R124020BM:

• Rated Current: 0.16 Amp
• Rated Input Power: 1.92 Watt
• Rated Speed: 8000 rpm
• Maximum Air Flow: 10.19 CFM or 0.29 CMM
• Sound Level: 34.8 db(A)

I've swapped the fan in mine for the Sunon MB40201VX-000U-G99 and it's a perfect drop in replacement. Audibly it's around 1/3 quieter.

• Current Rating 115 mA
• Power Rating 1.38 W
• RPM 8200 RPM
• Airflow 10.8 CFM
• Noise 27.5 dBA

The Sunon MB40201V1 is an even quieter and lower power option, at 25dBA a V1 is approximately half the loudness of the stock fan. Temps are good, and you could definitely go even lower speed if you're intending to use your machine for a low intensity application.

• Current Rating 70 mA
• Power Rating 0.84 W
• RPM 7200 RPM
• Airflow 8.9 CFM
• Noise 25.5 dBA

V2's and V3's also exist, but I'm not sure I want to go that low speed with a Connect-X3 in the case.

Full Sunon Maglev specs are here:
https://datasheet.octopart.com/MB40201VX-000U-G99-Sunon-Fans-datasheet-8818073.pdf

Stock exhaust fan (Everflow) specs here:
R124020BM 40X40X20mm 3 pin Dual Ball Bearing Fan

Edit, because people keep asking about temperatures:

FWIW I've had Stress hammering three cores in my test box for the last 45 minutes and CPU temps have stabilized at ~57-58C. Ambient is ~21C.

This is with Sunon V2 fans on both the exhaust port and the CPU heatsink, a couple of old (hot) 2011 era enterprise SSDs in the case and a really, really hot Chelsio T420 with no direct airflow across it.

I don't think you have to worry much about temps on this platform.

 

[WANg]

No ARIFwd/ASC enablement options in the BIOS?

 

[arglebargle]

No ARIFwd/ASC enablement options in the BIOS?

Negative, no IOMMU or SR-IOV options that I can see either. The BIOS is pretty spartan, I had a chance to dump a rom file this morning but I haven't had a chance to take it apart with tools on my windows box yet.

It's standard AMI Aptio though, so the existing BIOS mod tooling should work with it.

I mailed DFI earlier for a newer BIOS and asked about the possibility of having them expose hidden functions in a BIOS release too.
Edit: Updated the OP, we've got IOMMU now.

These are a hell of a deal. TBH I wasn't expecting the seller to take my $125 offer, I just floated it for kicks.

 

[arglebargle]

Here's a copy of the dumped BIOS if anyone wants to have a look:

v56.16A
DFI_orig_2.17.1246.bin

Apparently 2.17.1246 is the AMI BIOS version, 56.16A is the BIOS revision.

 

[WANg]

Negative, no IOMMU or SR-IOV options that I can see either. The BIOS is pretty spartan, I had a chance to dump a rom file this morning but I haven't had a chance to take it apart with tools on my windows box yet.

It's standard AMI Aptio though, so the existing BIOS mod tooling should work with it.

I mailed DFI earlier for a newer BIOS and asked about the possibility of having them expose hidden functions in a BIOS release too.

These are a hell of a deal. TBH I wasn't expecting the seller to take my $125 offer, I just floated it for kicks.

Hm...I didn't have a chance to mess with the t730 last weekend, but wasn't the t730 BIOS also Aptio based but with an HP splash screen? I did point out the DFI box as a potential t730 clone not too long ago, but it wasn't $125 - it was more. DFI also have a Haswell version (DT122-HD) and a Skylake version (DT122-SD), but at that price range, you are really better off buying an off-lease HP EliteDesk SFF. More RAM slots and cheaper overall.

My beef with it was that it wasn't nearly as quiet as the HP, it doesn't have the quad/hex DisplayPort output as the t730 (so you can't repurpose it as a standalone gaming box down the line - that quad screen setup can be useful with AMD Eyefinity for multiscreen gaming, even for oldschool titles that'll work better, like Unreal Tournament 2004), plus I want to see if the Ryzen embedded boards will make it out soon. I am also holding out hope that the t740 thin client is just around the corner with a V1605B or something similar...

 

[arglebargle]

Hm...I didn't have a chance to mess with the t730 last weekend, but wasn't the t730 BIOS also Aptio based but with an HP splash screen? I did point out the DFI box as a potential t730 clone not too long ago, but it wasn't $125 - it was more.

My beef with it was that it wasn't nearly as quiet as the HP, it doesn't have the quad/hex DisplayPort output as the t730 (so you can't repurpose it as a standalone gaming box down the line - that quad screen setup can be useful with AMD Eyefinity for multiscreen gaming, even for oldschool titles that'll work better, like Unreal Tournament 2004), plus I want to see if the Ryzen embedded boards will make it out soon. I am also holding out hope that the t740 thin client is just around the corner with a V1605B or something similar...

Yeah, this is the same listing you pointed out to me. I floated a $125 BO to see how low the seller would go and he accepted, his list price is $175.

Also, yeah, these are annoyingly loud compared to the T730. They *do* have quad DP output though, look again at the IO shield.

HP BIOS are weird, I'm not sure what they're based on. They look like Aptio, but none of the Aptio modding tools can open them. That might be my mistake though, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to BIOS modding.

The BIOS in all of my HP machines (T730, Z220, EliteDesk 800 G1) seem to be based on the same AMI platform, it'd be great if I could find a tool to work with them and enable any hidden functionality that's not available by default.

I don't know if you saw my post a few days ago about the $30 barebones EliteDesk 800 G1 SFF chassis, I picked one of those up and an E3-1225 V3 for $90 -- if you can find an SR14U E3-1225 V3 they have hyperthreading enabled.

 

[BlueFox]

Same seller has one for $119 shipped with no need for BO. Models match up per the photos.

AMD Quad-core 2.7GHz Bare Bones Desktop,Radeon GPU,7.1 Audio,dual Network ports | eBay

 

[WANg]

Yeah, this is the same listing you pointed out to me. I floated a $125 BO to see how low the seller would go and he accepted, his list price is $175.

Also, yeah, these are annoyingly loud compared to the T730. They *do* have quad DP output though, look again at the IO shield.

HP BIOS are weird, I'm not sure what they're based on. They look like Aptio, but none of the Aptio modding tools can open them. That might be my mistake though, I have no idea what I'm doing WRT BIOS modding.

The BIOS in all of my HP machines (T730, Z220, EliteDesk 800 G1) seem to be based on the same AMI platform, it'd be great if I could find a tool to work with them and enable any hidden functionality that's not available by default.

I don't know if you saw my post a few days ago about the $30 barebones EliteDesk 800 G1 SFF chassis, I picked one of those up and an E3-1225 V3 for $90 -- if you can find an SR14U E3-1225 V3 they have hyperthreading enabled.

Huh. Am I looking at the wrong IO shield? I don't see 4 DP outputs there, unless it requires some splitter/breakout thing that I am not aware of.

Hmmm...now that I think about it, I don't remember whether they are Aptios, or Insyde BIOS. The entire BIOS modding thing got weird after UEFI got popular.

Yeah, I did see that EliteDesk 800G1 post, but if I am in the market for a desktop SFF, I would rather gun for a G2 with their Skylake CPUs.
I don't like slapping an older Xeon on/using ECC on those old desktop boxes. It's still limited to a single (non-hotswappable, not-easy-to-swap) PSU and limited IPMI-like options (unless you have VPro on the CPU). It just seem...weird.

 

[arglebargle]

Huh, that IO shield shot looks like a different model, this is what's on mine (DT122-BE)

Here's the spec page: http://www.dfi-itox.com/products/product.php?productId=10016

Also, these come in a slightly different model with 12V DC in and an external power brick:
DFI ITOX BE171-77EN-427B 770-BE1711-100G Mini-ITX Motherboard | AMD RX-427BB | eBay

I'm not sure how low this seller will go but if anyone's in the market for an even smaller system there it is.

Yeah, I did see that EliteDesk 800G1 post, but if I am in the market for a desktop SFF, I would rather gun for a G2 with their Skylake CPUs.
I don't like slapping an older Xeon on/using ECC on those old desktop boxes. It's still limited to a single (non-hotswappable, not-easy-to-swap) PSU and limited IPMI-like options (unless you have VPro on the CPU). It just seem...weird.

Cost was the main reason for going with older hardware, DDR3 is downright cheap compared to DDR4. If and when the V3 CPUs drop in price the SR14U is going to be an absolute steal. V2's are at around $50/ea right now, but I'd prefer to stick with V3 and above if at all possible.

 

[StammesOpfer]

Thanks. Grabbed the $119 one. Needed something fairly low power that could push a lot of pixels.

 

[Yu-Phing]

DFI DT122-BE 2nd Gen AMD Embedded R-Series Industrial Desktop PC 2.7GHz+USB WiFi | eBay

Just a heads up, these are significantly louder than the T730.

What would be the main source for the loudness, the internal PSU? The CPU fan?

 

[arglebargle]

What would be the main source for the loudness, the internal PSU? The CPU fan?

The 40x40x20mm exhaust fan, it's as loud as a typical rack mount switch exhaust fan. You could of course replace it with something quieter, but you'll need to balance temp/airflow vs noise.

The PSU is virtually silent, and I haven't once heard the CPU fan over the exhaust fan.

 

[WANg]

The 40x40x20mm exhaust fan, it's as loud as a typical rack mount switch exhaust fan. You could of course replace it with something quieter, but you'll need to balance temp/airflow vs noise.

Well, it's meant to be an industrial PC, so noise isn't really a consideration. I can't imagine the PSU being entirely silent either.

 

[StammesOpfer]

There are options in the BIOS to enable thermal management and set target temps for both case and CPU. It made a huge difference I can't speak for the PSU though I transplanted it into a different mITX case with a picoPSU.

It does go from 0-60 very quickly though so no real middle ground once it gets to target temp.

 

[zack$]

For anyone interested, thought this case looked awfully familiar: Antec Product

 

[WANg]

For anyone interested, thought this case looked awfully familiar: Antec Product

Different case. The DFI is not nearly as nice as the Antec.

 

[gigatexal]

So what's the average decibels of this badboy?
Would you say it's put-it-in-the-garage-and-forget-it or safe-for-home-office use?
Does the CPU support hardware encryption acceleration -- thinking of using as a pfsense box

 

[arglebargle]

So what's the average decibels of this badboy?
Would you say it's put-it-in-the-garage-and-forget-it or safe-for-home-office use?
Does the CPU support hardware encryption acceleration -- thinking of using as a pfsense box

It's on par with a normal 10GbE enterprise switch. It's not a screamer but it's not exactly quiet either, I found it a little annoying to have running in the background in my office but I'm also pretty sensitive to fan noise in a quiet room. I'll try to remember to plug mine in later and measure the dB at idle.

The SoC does support AES acceleration, that's one of the big draws.

 

[arglebargle]

If anyone's still interested in these one of the sellers has dropped the price of the motherboard/PSU combo from $175 (meh) to $139 shipped and is accepting best offers. I'd try $100 and see if they bite. You'll still need an ITX case and ram but these are fairly capable SoCs for the money.

DFI ITOX BE171-77EN-427B 770-BE1711-100G Mini-ITX Motherboard | AMD RX-427BB | eBay

 

[zack$]

Different case. The DFI is not nearly as nice as the Antec.

Exactly, the Antec case is almost identical to the HP T730 case and has built in PSU @ 90 watts, which is also similar.

For those looking to swap out the DFI guts for something quieter, the Antec case looks like a pretty good option.