Compact PC systems have gained significant market share over the past decade. Improvements in processor performance per watt have enabled the replacement of large desktops with ultra-compact form factor (UCFF) and small form factor (SFF) machines. The Meteor Lake series of processors is Intel’s latest offering in this market. They have been a long time coming, since the first information was officially shared in September 2023. The tile-based chiplet configuration, held together by the Foveros packaging, represented a significant change in Intel’s approach to the consumer market, with notebook platforms being the primary focus. This has not stopped many vendors from introducing SFF/UCFF desktop systems using Meteor Lake Ultra H-series (MTL-H) processors.
ACEMAGIC got us a taste of their F2A 125H offering around the time we were finishing up our evaluations of the ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-155H and ASUS NUC14RVHv7 UCFF systems. The F2A has a larger physical surface area compared to either of those systems. This allows for a better thermal solution, allowing the internal CPU (Core Ultra 5 125H) to operate at a fixed power limit (PL1) of 65W.
In this review, we will take a detailed look at the features and performance profile of the ACEMAGIC F2A 125H processor. The analysis also provides some information on the optimal operating power setting for MTL-H processors.
Introduction and Product Impressions
The last decade has seen significant advances in processor performance, as well as energy efficiency. Combined with advances in thermal solutions, we’ve seen compact, low-power SoC systems become capable of replacing large desktops in many use cases. This trend gained mainstream attention with Intel’s introduction of the ultra-compact (4” x 4”) NUC form factor in the early 2010s.
In recent years, we’ve seen steady progress in the power supply of the processors integrated into these systems. The first generation of NUCs had processors with TDPs ranging from 6W to 15W. By the late 2010s, 28W processors were the flagship line. With Tiger Lake, Intel introduced the Panther Canyon NUC with a 40W limit. 65W proved nearly impossible to cool within the constraints of UCFF – and that prompted ASUS to introduce the NUC14 Pro+ with a slightly larger footprint. The F2A ACEMAGIC also supports the processor at 65W, although it has an even larger footprint than the NUC14 Pro+.
The F2A system measures 147mm x 147mm x 52mm (compared to the 144mm x 112mm x 41mm of the NUC14 Pro+ and the 117mm x 112mm x 54mm of the tall 4″x4″ NUC14 Pro). Promotion of the computer’s AI features is abundant in both the outer packaging and in marketing materials. The package contents include a 120W power supply (19V @ 6.3A), a geo-specific power cord, an HDMI cable, a user manual, and a mounting plate with screws in addition to the main unit.
ACEMAGIC sells the F2A as a ready-to-use system with 32GB of DDR5-5600 SODIMM memory 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 vendors like ACEMAGIC to wipe the drive and install their own copy of the OS after obtaining a key from the original installation.
Our sample uses Kingston SODIMM memory modules and an OEM SSD from Kingston Design-In (BiCS5 TLC NAND memory with a Silicon Motion SM2267XT DRAM-less controller).
The SSD and SODIMM slots are 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 for SSD and SODIMM should result in good thermal performance, and this is one of the aspects we will evaluate further in this review.
Full specifications of the review unit can be found in the table below.
| ACEMAGIC F2A 125H Specifications (as tested) |
|
| Editor | Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor Meteor Lake-H 4P + 8E + 2LPE / 18T, up to 4.5 GHz (P) up to 3.6 GHz (E) up to 2.5 GHz (LPE) Intel 4 (CPU) / TSMC N5 (iGPU), 18MB L2, Min/Max/Base TDP: 20W/115W/28W PL1 = 65W, PL2 = 90W |
| Memory | Kingston CBD56S46BS8HA-16 DDR5-5600 SODIMM 46-45-45-90 at 5600MHz 2x16GB |
| Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics (7 times)me– cores @ up to 2.2 GHz) |
| Disk(s) | Kingston Design-In OM8SEP41024Q-A0 SSD (1TB; M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe;) (Kioxia BiCS5 (112L) 3D TLC; Silicon Motion SM2267XT DRAM-free SSD controller) |
| Networking | 1x 2.5 GbE RJ-45 (Realtek RTL8125) Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 Network Card (2×2 802.11be – 5.8 Gbps) |
| Audio | Conexant SN6140 (3.5mm audio jack front) Digital audio with bitstreaming support via HDMI and Display Port (Type C) |
| Video | 2x HDMI 2.0 (back) 1x DisplayPort 1.4 via Type-C Alt-Mode (Front / USB 3.2 Gen 2) |
| Various input/output ports | 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (front) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (Front, with DP Alt Mode) 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (back) |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Enterprise (22631.3593) |
| Quotation | $699 (Amazon) $569 (ACEMAGIC Storefront) (as configured, with Win 11 Home) |
| Full specification | ACEMAGIC F2A 125H Specifications |
In the next section, we will look at the system setup and perform a detailed analysis of the platform.
