The Element: Intel's latest weapon to modularize personal computers

Intel just announced a new dual-slot PCIe card, which they named "The Element," though the official product name is still unknown. The Element is integrated inside the processor, memory, hard drive, and other interfaces like Thunderbolt 3, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and USB ports.

The Element was developed by the Intel System Product Group , the team behind the NUC (Next Unit of Computing) and the NUC Compute Element. It is known that Intel showed a working prototype of The Element at an event held in London. The Element is housed in a dual-slot box of unknown size, shaped like a graphics card.

Intel developed The Element to be able to attach to a board with PCIe slots, and it could be combined with other graphics cards or accelerators. Its idea is that you can upgrade the system by hot swapping a single module instead of removing a bunch of different components. Unfortunately, for the time being, you'll still have to remove the SSD yourself.

The Element sample we see below is equipped with an unidentified Intel BGA Xeon processor, 2 SO-DIMM LPDDR4 and M.2 memory slots, users can attach the desired components here. . Onboard controllers will take over functions such as wireless networking, monitors, and other types of connections. The rear bumper has 2 Ethernet ports, 4 USB 3.0 ports, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports, and an HDMI port that takes advantage of the GPU built into the Xeon chip. The Element has a cooling fan to ensure the system always has a stable temperature. It is worth noting that we are seeing a concept device, so the finished product will likely be very different from the prototype.

The Element is placed in a dual-slot box with an unknown size.

The Element communicates with the board via a standard PCIe x16 interface. Maybe this is the PCIe 3.0 standard, but Intel does not confirm this. The chip manufacturer only said it has set a specific route for The Element. Therefore, it is possible that the device when officially launched will take advantage of the newer PCIe 4.0 interface, or even PCIe 5.0 in future generations.

In terms of power consumption, The Element can use up to 225W of total power (75W from the PCIe slot and 150W from the 8-pin PCIe power connector). However, it is important to note here that this 225W is evenly divided by processor, memory, and storage device. Depending on the configuration, it is possible that the processor will not receive enough power, so the number of processor options you can use for The Element will probably be a bit limited. Fortunately, this device is still in the prototype stage, and there is still enough time for Intel to further improve the design.

The Element has a cooling fan to ensure the system always has a stable temperature.

Intel thinks its partners can produce The Element themselves. Because of that, there won't be any AIB (add-in board) partners for The Element, you shouldn't expect to see third-party The Element models with unique designs or crazy RGB lighting. crazy Basically, The Element targets OEMs so they can use it inside their pre-assembled systems. However, Intel will allow OEMs to change the design and create their own circuit boards.

Surprisingly, The Element is in the same category as the NUC, which means that this device will likely hit the consumer market. However, there will probably be quite a few consumers who choose it other than companies that need specialized equipment, because it will have a rather expensive price. After all, this is an enterprise-level technology.

Intel is optimistic that it will transfer The Element (or whatever else it will call it in the future) to OEMs in the first quarter of 2020. There is no specific pricing and configuration of the device yet. device.