Performance: Intel "Skylake" Core processor power

Since they are generally used for specific and well-defined custom applications, rugged vehicle-mount computer like the RuggON VX-601 rarely require the raw computing power of a general-purpose desktop or laptop computer. The device must be quick and responsive enough to get the job done, but not so powerful that heat dissipation and high cost become an issue. Processor experts call this "targeted" performance, i.e. exactly enough performance for a given or anticipated application.

RuggON VX-601 CPU options	Core i5	Celeron
Model	6300U	3955U
Code name	Skylake	Skylake
Introduced	Q3/2015	Q4/2015
Cores/Threads	2/4	2/2
Lithography	14mn	14mn
Base Clock Speed	2.40 GHz	2.00 GHz
Turbo Speed	3.00 GHz	no turbo
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	15 watts	15 watts
Cache	3MB Smart Cache	2MB Smart Cache
Integrated graphics	HD Graphics 520	HD Graphics 510
Graphics base speed	300 MHz	300 MHz
Graphics max speed	1,000 MHz	900 MHz
Memory type	DDR4/LPDDR3/DDR3L	DDR4/LPDDR3/DDR3L
Intel vPro	Yes	No

However, high performance may be required and, much to the company's credit, RuggON is making it available with the VX-601 in the form of a powerful Intel 6th generation Core processor, the Core i5-6300U. This chip provides significantly more performance than is commonly available in vehicle-mount computers.

Targeted by RuggON at diverse applications such as intralogistics, cold chain logistics, waste management, mining, harbor freight handling, agriculture and construction, the VX-601 should be plenty powerful enough to handle even complex high-end applications.

For deployments with lesser performance requirements, the company offers the VX-601 also with an Intel Celeron 3955U. Also a Skylake chip, the 3955U lacks high-end features such as turbo boost, multi-threading, and a variety of integrated Intel technologies, but uses the same processor architecture lithography as the 6300U. The table above to the right shows some of the pertinent specs of the two processor options RuggON offers for the VX-601. And here's the tale of two chips:

While both of the available processors are part of Intel's 6th generation "Skylake" chip lineup, the Core i5-6300U provides both turbo boost (i.e. the ability to operate at a higher "turbo" clock speed for a limited period of time) and hyper-threading (i.e. splitting the processing of a core into two separate threads). The 3955U has neither. As a result, while the 3955U is certainly a competent chip, PassMark suggests a average CPU Mark score of 4,368 for the i5-6300U but only 1,740 for the 3955U.

For graphics, the i5-6300U has integrated Intel HD Graphics 520 with 24 execution units, whereas the 3955U uses integrated Intel HD Graphics 510 with only 12 execution units, again a substantial difference..

To provide an idea where the Core i5-6300U-powered version of the RuggON VX-601 fits into the overall computing performance universe we ran our two standard performance benchmark suites on our evaluation machine. Passmark Software's PerformanceTest 6.1 runs about 30 tests covering CPU, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, memory, and disk and then computes scores for each category and an overall PassMark score. As a cross check, we also always use the CrystalMark benchmark suite that tests various subsystems and then provides an overall score.

For comparison we're also listing JLT Mobile's VERSO 1-0+, and Winmate's FM10, all vehicle-mount computer systems.

The numbers are as follows:

RuggON VX-601 performance in perspective

PERFORMANCE COMPARISON	RuggON	JLT Mobile	Winmate
Model	VX-601	VERSO 10+	FM10
Type	Vehicle-mount PC	Vehicle-mount PC	Vehicle-mount PC
Year tested	2018	2015	2016
Intel processor	Core i5-6300U	Core i5-4300U	Atom E3845
Cores/threads	2/4	2/4	4/4
CPU base speed	2.40GHz	1.90GHz	1.91GHz
CPU turbo speed	3.00GHz	2.90GHz	no turbo
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	15 watts	15 watts	10 watts
CPU Mark	4,360.2	3,519.7	1,562.8
2D Graphics Mark	652.5	563.6	142.8
Memory Mark	1,495.5	1,114.7	487.2
Disk Mark	2,104.8	688.5	2,037.3
3D Graphics Mark	760.6	434.1	141.6
Overall PassMark	2,225.7	1,419.7	954.1
CM ALU	46,810	44,810	25,191
CM FPU	46,820	41,133	21,715
CM MEM	32,975	39,430	20,242
CM HDD	43,513	16,473	31,593
CM GDI	13,237	17,630	4,667
CM D2D	5,161	8,318	3,709
CM OGL	12,517	11,951	3,145
Overall CrystalMark	201,033	179,745	110,262

In looking at the above benchmark results, do understand that in terms of overall performance, you generally do get what you pay for. Intel makes very inexpensive processors with performance and features suitable for many, but not all, projects and deployments. If more performance is needed, Intel's high end processors provide that, but at a significantly higher cost. As an example, the Core i5-6300U processor in the VX-601 alone costs almost six times as much as the E3845 in two of the other listed products. And that even though both are quad-core chips.

Looking at the results, you can see that as a rule of thumb, you get twice the overall performance from a device with a high-end Intel Core processor than you get with an Intel economy chip. That may or may not be worth the price difference. If your applications need the performance, it's definitely worth the higher cost.

Also look at the disk benchmarks. There is a very large performance difference between rotating media and solid state disks. And also a large performance difference between different kinds of solid state disks. So keep that in mind when making purchasing decisions.

Bottomline here: Anyone interested in the RuggON VX-601 should not get fixated on the price difference between the two processor options. The performance difference is so large that it is entirely the job at hand that should determine which CPU option makes the most sense.

Meticulous design and construction

The die-cast aluminum alloy housing of the VX-601 is impressive to look at, has a trust-inspiring heft to it when you pick it up, and feels all around invulnerable. The metal RuggON used for the housing — ADC-12 die-cast aluminum alloy — contains precisely proportioned amounts of silicon, copper, magnesium, iron, manganese and zinc, resulting in the desired material properties as well as suitability for intricate machining and environmental resistance. The material can withstand very high operating temperatures, offers good thermal conductivity, doesn't corrode, and provides excellent EMI and RFI shielding properties.

The backside of the VX-601 contains access to the units internal expansion, to the battery, and to all of the external ports.

Internal expansion sits beneath a big, thick, and heavily finned access door that's thick and strong enough to also include the unit's VESA 100 x 100 and 75 x 75 screw mount patterns. It's secured with ten large Philips head screws and includes a tongue-and-grove seal design keeps liquids out. The groove contains a replaceable black O-ring which must be in perfect condition, since any liquid that gets past this cover goes right into the guts of the computer.

Here you find a mini PCIe daughter board with dual micro SIM card slots for a mobile broadband module. There's a second mini PCIe that can be used for a WiFi and Bluetooth combo card, and a third slot for a dedicated GPS module. All of these slots have the prerequisite antenna wires already in place and waiting to be plugged in.

Also easily accessible are two SIM card connectors for RAM. Our demo unit came with a 4GB PC3-12800 module. Also in plain sight is an M.2 2280-type solid state disk.

Note that all electronic modules receive passive cooling via the VX-601's massive housing that serves as a very efficient heat spreader and dissipator.

The good impressions continue inside. Aluminum alloy housings can be either cast or machined. Each method has its pros and cons. As is, RuggON did a fabulous job both in die-cast housing design and surface quality, which is very smooth and even, and none of the imperfections often seen in cast designs.

The VX-601 housing consists of a very strong box-like cast aluminum rear, and a strong cast aluminum front. The two are secured against each other via 18 long hex screws. Sealing between the two consists of a replaceable black double-lipped pressure seal that sits in a groove/guide on the rear part of the housing.

The front part contains the LCD display, digitizer and ancillary electronics, all mounted on and protected by a strong steel subframe. There are three cables between the two parts of the housing, so some caution is advised on disassembling. There are no expansion ports or configuration options here, so most customer may never have the need to separate the halves.

The roughly 10 x 6 inch motherboard in the shape of a fat letter L is highly integrated and miniaturized. Many connectors are secured with black tape to guard against vibrating themselves loose. Most of the white plugs and connectors are marked with a line so that there is no doubt which side is up and down when working on the unit. A great low-tech trick.

While in most deployment the VX-601 will rely exclusively on vehicle power, the unit also has an externally accessible 48.6 watt-hour battery that acts as an uninterruptible power supply and also guards against unstable power during vehicle operation. The battery sits in a compartment that also includes the unit's micro SD card slot.

All of the unit's I/O sits in a detachable module that plugs into the backside of the VX-601. We're not talking separate cables here that go from port to a connector on the motherboard. Instead, all I/O is edge-mounted onto a single I/O board that plugs right onto the motherboard through sealed openings in the back of the housing.

Finally, below, some details. From left to right, the micro-SD card slot inside the battery compartment which isn't very easy to get to, how amazingly similar in size RAM and mass storage is these days, and then the mPCIe connector on its daughterboard with dual SIM card caddys.

Display

A good display is crucial in any computer, and especially so in a vehicle mount system where operators may work in the dim lighting of a warehouse or out in bright sunshine, and also in rapidly changing lighting conditions. That requires a display that can handle those conditions, as well as all the physical abuse inherent to vehicle mounts.

How did RuggON address the display issue? With an industrial-grade 12.1" 1024 x 768 pixel LCD, which makes for 106 pixels per inch.

That's not terribly sharp when compared to consumer tablets or smartphones (the latter can reach over 500 ppi), but it's about the same as a non-retina iMac 27. That's plenty sharp enough for vehicular use.

The display comes in two luminance options, either 700 nits or 1,200 nits. The former works just fine inside an enclosed vehicle, the latter is the choice when using the VX-601 in settings more directly exposed to the sun.

There is very responsive auto-dimming, and the display brightness can be manually adjusted via hardware buttons in ten steps. The non-glossy display also benefits from rather effective anti-reflective treatment.

Unlike so many consumer notebooks and tablets that become unreadable either to weak backlights or insufficient reflection control, the VX-601 remains readable under almost any condition,

We could not determine the LCD's origin and thus did not have access to its complete specs. Visual inspection shows a wide horizontal and vertical viewing angle that, however, manifest with fairly significant contrast and color shifts.

This is less of an issue in fixed-mount vehicle computers than it would be in a laptop or tablet, because fixed-mount means the operator will look at the screen from the same angle every time. So as long as the panel is optimally mounted, such contrast and color shifts won't be an issue.

Resistive touch, with capacitive option

Not too long ago, virtually all panel and vehicle-mount computers used resistive touch. Today, thanks to the smartphone and tablet revolution, capacitive multi-touch touch with its effortless tapping, swiping, pinching and zooming has become consumers' interface technology of choice. In the last couple of years, capacitive touch has become increasingly popular in panel computers as well.

With the VX-601, however, RuggON decided to stay with 5-wire resistive touch. Compared to standard 4-wire resistive touch where an upper and lower layer each contain electrodes, in 5-wire designs only the bottom layer has electrodes. This makes 5-wire touch screens more durable and more suitable for use in harsh environments

There are several reasons why the older resistive touch technology is preferable to capacitive touch:

First, classic Microsoft Windows was very specifically designed for use with a mouse or a pointy stylus. All of Windows' tiny check boxes, scrollers, and pulldown menus just don't work very well with capacitive finger touch. Second, standard capacitive touch doesn't work with gloves on or in the rain. Wetness doesn't affect resistive touch, and it can easily be operated with gloves. And third, it's very easy to customize and configure resistive touch interfaces, whereas that's not easily possible with capacitive touch.

It's probably for all those reasons, and perhaps others, that RuggON decided to stay with resistive touch on the VX-601. The included HIDeGalaxTouch tool allows sizing the click area, making the display beep on touch (including frequency and duration), as well as enabling "constant touch" so that the screen recognizes a push with a custom-sized area.

RuggON, however, also makes projected capacitive touch available as an option.

Operating systems

As far as operating systems go, RuggON currently lists Windows 10 IoT Enterprise and Windows 7 Professional Embedded in the VX-601 specs. Additional OS versions are likely available, including Linux. As always, the choice of OS depends entirely on the intended application and its associated software infrastructure.

Our review machine came with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, but given that as of February 2018, over 40% of all Windows users still use Windows 7, many customers will likely still prefer that version to the current Windows 10. And since RuggON chose a 6th generation Intel Core processor for its high-end vehicle system, they can. Anything running on a 7th gen "Kaby Lake" chip will no longer officially support Windows 7 or earlier. Here's some commentary on the pros and cons of OS types which those who are familiar with embedded operating systems can skip:

A general purpose OS, like Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 7 Professional, is just that, general purpose. You can do anything you want with it, and run anything you want on it. With that in mind, Microsoft equipped its consumer and enterprise Windows versions with all the drivers and software and utilities one could possibly need. The result is a rather large OS with numerous processes and services running all the time, all consuming storage, memory and power.

An embedded operating system is inherently different. The idea is to only use what you need to perform a certain task and leave everything else behind. This greatly reduces the size of the operating system and dramatically reduces hardware requirements. Windows 7 Professional Embedded, for example, is generally used for smart, connected and service oriented commercial and industrial devices that do not need all of Windows 7, yet can still run thousands of existing Windows applications. A minimum bootable image of Windows Embedded Standard 7 is just 500MB, a fraction of what full Windows 7 Professional takes.

Embedded operating systems are not one-size-fits all. A company will determine exactly what a machine is for and what it should be able to do. They then include as many components (hence the term "componentized" operating system) as they need. There are over 10,000 available and it's easy to create lean, nimble embedded OS platforms that can still do sophisticated high level tasks like advanced multimedia, browsing, communications or whatever a task requires. An embedded OS can even run as a real-time OS via third party plug-ins. Essentially you get the power of the basic Windows engine, but without any overhead you don't need.

All of this is changed to a good extent in Windows 10, which uses a "common core" approach with separate drivers and features for different classes of devices. There is no longer a difference between the full and embedded binaries of Windows 10. The difference Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise only means a difference in the license terms about how the respective operating systems can be used.

Ruggedness

A vehicle-mount computer's ruggedness characteristics are inherently different from those of a rugged mobile system. Vehicle-mounts aren't generally carried around (though the VX-601 can, due to its internal battery) and thus won't be dropped. So the drop spec that's so important in hand-carried mobile devices isn't an issue. Vehicle-mounts, on the other hand, are exposed to much more vibration and shock. And temperature resistance is important because, depending on the mounting location, it can get quite hot and cold inside vehicle.

Available environmental specs of the RuggON VX-601 are quite impressive. The device has an extremely wide operating temperature range of -22 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 to 50 degrees Celsius). This means RuggON's tough vehicle-mount computer can be operated even in freezers and on other assignments where it will encounter very low temperatures. Since LCD displays can struggle with low temperatures, the panel has a dedicated integrated display defroster with hardware defrost/defog button.

In the past, rotating hard disks were one of the primary sources of failure in rugged computing systems due to temperature extremes as well as bumps and grinds that caused head crashes.

Thanks to the decreasing cost of solid state storage media, Solid State Disks have almost completely replaced hard disks in rugged computing gear, including the VX-601. They really shouldn't even be called "disks" anymore; they are just small memory modules.

Water and dust protection is at the IP66 equivalent, where the 6 stands for total protection against dust, and the 6 for protection against strong jets of water from all directions.

The latter is especially relevant because it means that VX-601 computer mounted in construction and similar open machines can be hosed down with the rest of the vehicle.

As far as resistance to vibration goes, RuggON refers to the MIL-STD-810G 514.6 procedures that describe vibration exposure testing for US highway trucks (Figure 514.6C-1 Category 4), composite two-wheeled trailers (Figure 514.6C-2 Category 4), and composite wheeled vehicles (Figure 514.6C-2 Category 4). RuggON also refers to IEC 60721-3-5 Class 5M3.

Since ruggedness testing results can be extensive, manufacturers usually only include highlights into their tech specs. We recommend to always request all available ruggedness testing results, especially as they pertain to planned deployment of a device.

The RuggON VX-601 vehicle mount: bottom line

With the VX-601, RuggON Corporation provides a powerful, versatile, expertly designed and manufactured ultra-rugged vehicle mount computer for use in a very wide variety of deployments that require a high-performance, fixed-mount system. With a footprint compact enough to still allow mounting almost anywhere, the super-solid all-metal VX-601 addresses the needs of customers who require substantial general purpose computing power and functionality in a package that's virtually indestructible. Despite its industrial-grade toughness, the VX-601 sports and attractive, ergonomic design with an elegant fine spray-paint finish that feels invulnerable. This machine is clearly built to stand up to even the roughest handling.

Designed for a wide variety of vehicle application needs, the VX-601 is powered either by a high-end Intel "Skylake" Core processor, or a lower-end Intel Celeron chip. Thanks to passive thermal cooling both options allow for a fanless device without potentially troublesome cooling fan.

The VX-601 uses standard SATA/600 M.2 solid state storage, which is quicker and far less damage-prone than rotating hard disks. RuggON offers two operating system choices. Our Windows 10 IoT Enterprise-based evaluation unit was very fast and responsive.

The 12.1" display is very bright and has a responsive 5-wire resistive touch screen. A capacitive touch option is available. Our test unit had the optional super-bright 1,200 nits luminance display (700 nits is standard) that easily allows the unit to be used broad daylight. The display is semi-matt and offers very good reflection control.

The VX-601 is an extremely rugged device whose IP66 sealing makes it impervious to dust and capable of being hosed off when dirty. It has an exceptionally wide operating temperature range (-22 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit), as well as a special defrost and defog heater.

The vehicle-mount offers excellent onboard connectivity via two USB ports, gigabit LAN, dual legacy serial ports, DIO/CANBUS ports, and video, all located in the back of the unit, facing down. There is dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and integrated Bluetooth, as well as all the requisite antenna pass throughs. The VX-601 uses external vehicle power, offering two wide-range options, and also has a powerful internal 48.6 watt-hour UPS backup to guard against power fluctuations and provide over two hours of battery operation.

In summary, the RuggON VX-601 is a very rugged vehicle mount computer using the latest WiFi and PAN communication standards, high-end Intel 6th generation Core processing, and a large and very bright resistive touch display, while also offering CAN (Controller Area Network) and legacy serial interface support. -- Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, February 2018

Added/changed	Added 04/2017, full review 02/2018
Type	Rugged Vehicle Mount PC
Processor	Intel 6th generation "Skylake" Core i5-6300U
Processor clock speed	2.40GHz (3.00GHz max turbo speed)
Processor TDP speed	15 watts
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 520 (Graphics Base Frequency: 300 MHz; Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency: 1.00 GHz)
OS	Windows 10 IoT, Windows 7 Professional Embedded
Standard/Max RAM	4GB to 32GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM
Disk/drive	64GB M.2 2280-type Solid State Disk
Display type	TFT LCD with LED backlighting
Display size/resolution	12.1-inch XGA 1024 x 768 pixel TFT with 700 or 1,200 nits luminance (MIL-STD-85762A), LED backlight, autodimming, AR, polarizer optional defroster
Digitizer	5-wire resistive touch (glove-capable capacitive touch optionally available)
Keyboard/keys	Optional external; 9 x programmable buttons, brightness, volume, display on/off, optional defrost/defog button
Navigation	Touch
Expansion slots	2 x Micro SIM, 1 x mini-PCIe for WWAN,
Housing	ADC-12 die-cast aluminum alloy
Size	12.8" x 10.3" x 2.7" (325 mm x 262 mm x 67 mm)
Weight	4.6kg (10.2 pounds)
Operating temperature	-22° to 131°F (-30° to 55°C) in accordance with MIL-STD-810G 501.6 High Temperature Procedure II and MIL-STD-810G 502.6 Low Temperature Procedure II
Ingress protection	IP66 - IEC 60529:2001 (totally dustproof, sealed against strong water jets from all directions)
Humidity	Est: 5 to 95% non-condensing
Shock	MIL-STD-810G: 40G at 11ms terminal sawtooth
Vibration	MIL-STD-810G, Method 514.6 Category 4 as shown in 514.7 c2/c3/c4 IEC 60721-3-5 class 5M3
Altitude	810G in applicable areas
ESD	Unknown
Power	Wide range isolated 9~60VDC, ignition sense, remote wake (SMS/RTC), integrated battery (10.8V, 4,500mAH, 48.6 watt-hour)
Camera	None; optional 4 ports video-in (SDK included)
Sensors	3-axis G-sensor
Communication	Dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth v4.0 Class 2; optional GNSS (GPS/QZSS or GLONASS), optional 4G LTE/GPRS/HSPA+ WWAN
Interface	1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x RS232/422/485, 1 x R232, 1 x RJ45 LAN, 2 x CAN, 2 x GPIO, audio in/out, power; optional 4 x video-in
Price	Inquire
Spec sheet	RuggON VX-601 brochure (PDF)
Web page	RuggON VX-601 web page

Contact

RuggON Corporation 4F., No. 298, Yang Guang St., NeiHu Dist. Taipei City 11491, Taiwan Telephone: 886-2-8797-1778 Fax: 886-2-8797-1881 Web: www.ruggon.com info@ruggon.com