Supermicro E102-13R-H Review: A Raptor Lake-P 3.5-inch SBC System for Embedded Applications

GPU Performance: Synthetic Benchmarks

GPUs in embedded SBCs are intended to be used for a variety of workloads such as driving digital signage and kiosk GUIs, as well as limited applications such as arcade gaming. The focus is more on being able to drive a large number of displays, rather than raw gaming performance. The GPU in the Intel Core i7-1370PE is based on the Iris (Xe) iGPU microarchitecture. With 96 EUs, this is the top-end in the Raptor Lake family with a clock speed of 1.4 GHz. As we shall see in the benchmark numbers below, there is not much of an extra power headroom due to the 28W PL1 limitation for the processor package.

The Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the Supermicro SYS-E102-13R-H is an integrated GPU based on a reworked scalable architecture. In the consumer market, it is a couple of generations old, but that is not much of a concern for embedded systems.

GFXBench

The DirectX 12-based GFXBench tests from Kishonti are cross-platform, and available all the way down to smartphones. As such, they are not very taxing for discrete GPUs and modern integrated GPUs. We processed the offscreen versions of the 'Aztec Ruins' benchmark.

The top-end iGPU in the Core i7-1370PE allows the SYS-E102-13R-H to punch above its weight (read, power budget) and sneak into the upper half of the above graphs. The systems above it have a much higher processor TDP and/or more powerful iGPU microarchitecture.

UL 3DMark

Four different workload sets were processed in 3DMark - Fire Strike, Time Spy, Night Raid, and Wild Life.

3DMark Fire Strike

The Fire Strike benchmark has three workloads. The base version is meant for high-performance gaming PCs. It uses DirectX 11 (feature level 11) to render frames at 1920 x 1080. The Extreme version targets 1440p gaming requirements, while the Ultra version targets 4K gaming system, and renders at 3840 x 2160. The graph below presents the overall score for the Fire Strike Extreme and Fire Strike Ultra benchmark across all the systems that are being compared.

Despite the lower PL1 compared to many other systems, the EU count helps the SYS-E102-13R-H to get into the upper half of the pack at both resolutions.

3DMark Time Spy

The Time Spy workload has two levels with different complexities. Both use DirectX 12 (feature level 11). However, the plain version targets high-performance gaming PCs with a 2560 x 1440 render resolution, while the Extreme version renders at 3840 x 2160 resolution. The graphs below present both numbers for all the systems that are being compared in this review.

The higher resolution benchmark shows the benefits of the extra EU count in the Core i7-1370PE. At 1440p, the system performs similar to a bunch of other Raptor Lake-P/-H mini-PCs, with their scores being in the realm of run-to-run variations.

3DMark Wild Life

The Wild Life workload was initially introduced as a cross-platform GPU benchmark in 2020. It renders at a 2560 x 1440 resolution using Vulkan 1.1 APIs on Windows. It is a relatively short-running test, reflective of mobile GPU usage. In mid-2021, UL released the Wild Life Extreme workload that was a more demanding version that renders at 3840 x 2160 and runs for a much longer duration reflective of typical desktop gaming usage.

This benchmark appears to benefit systems with higher power budget, rather than the EU count in the iGPU. Despite that, the SYS-E102-13R-H manages to make its mark in the upper half of the compared set.

3DMark Night Raid

The Night Raid workload is a DirectX 12 benchmark test. It is less demanding than Time Spy, and is optimized for integrated graphics. The graph below presents the overall score in this workload for different system configurations.

Similar to most of the other benchmark numbers presented above, the EU count helps the SYS-E102-13R-H perform well enough to be in the upper half of the graph despite the limited power budget.