Intel® AMT 5.0 - Where can Joe the Plumber find these systems?

By Gael Holmes (Intel) (91 posts) on December 3, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Joe the Plumber has already found Intel® AMT 4.0 systems to purchase, but now he has decided to go look for some Intel AMT 5.0 systems. Having gone through the exercises with his Intel AMT 4.0 systems, this went a little faster. He already had some links from the Intel web sites and he also knew that there would be specific specs to look for on the OEM's website. Here is what Joe found out:

Key Intel® AMT 5.0 Ingredients:

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Processor with vPro™ Technology
Chipset: Intel® Q45 Express Chipset with Intel® ICH10DO
CPUs: Intel® vPro™ technology is supported on Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9xxx and Duo E8xxx series CPUs.

Links that Joe found useful to look at before he started looking for systems:
Where to buy (He then clicked on "Buy a PC with Intel® Core™ 2 processor with vPro™ Technology)

The links led him to the following information:
Buy Online Custom Desktop Configurations

Acer Veriton 3900 Pro, 5900 Pro, 6900 Pro, 7900 Pro
Acma Microplex 8050Vp
Amaxit Microplex 8050Vp
Ateck Atrix PRO4005
Dell OptiPlex 755
Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo Professional PC, E7935, P7935
HP Compaq dc7800
Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p
Max Data MAXDATA PC FAVORIT 5000 I M14
MPC ClientPro 4620
PC Club Enpower EN-400

Joe notices there is no indication of which version of Intel® AMT these systems are capable of but this list is a good starting place. He decides to go to the Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo sites. (There is a list of OEMs who are offering AMT 5.0 systems at the bottom of this blog - the list above is for AMT 3.x!) And later Joe also became acquainted with this very useful link that is on the vPro Expert Center for finding "Activation Ready PCs".

Acer:

Wow - Acer actually specifies right away which systems have vPro. "The new Veriton x900 Pro-series from Acer features a sleek and stylish look, perfect for any office. With the latest Intel® Core™ 2 processor with vPro™ technology and...." etc
Digging a little further, Joe finds that it is the Veriton M670/670G that he would need to purchase. Joe could not find any of the x900 models that the initial web site indicated had vPro. When Joe actuall went to try to buy one, he could not find any of the new systems with AMT 5.0 on their website. He will have to check back later.

DELL:

Again (like his experience when looking for an Intel AMT 4.0 system), nothing on the Dell site jumps out and lets Joe know that the system has vPro. Joe had to go into each model, click on "Choose" for the Optiplex 755 model and then looks at the Tech Specs tab in order to see if the systems was Intel AMT 5.0 Capable. The only problem is that Joe can't find anywhere in the Technical Specs where the chipset is listed. So then he finds the link to the Technical Guide Book. He sees in there that the 755 is an AMT 3.x system. Then he clicks on "Choose" for the Optiplex 960 desktop system. He goes into the "Tech Specs" tab and sees the correct Processors and the Correct, Q45 Express Chipset w/ICH10DO references.

Another thing Joe needs to look for when he is placing his order is the "Remote Management" option. Joe needs to select "Intel® VPro™ Secure Advanced Hardware Enabled Systems Management (Included in Price) in order to make sure he gets a vPro system.

HP:

There is no indication on the page for which model to start with. The 7000 series says it has advanced manageability features so Joe starts there. The 7900 series are the new systems. They also have the Q45 chipset and Joe sees the CPU options that support AMT 5.0. So he was able to find these quickly.

Joe also checked out the 7800 series since they were listed on his original list. He sees that they have the Q35 Express chipsets - they support vPro Technology, but Joe is pretty sure these models are supporting the older version of Intel AMT (3.2) - mainly because they do not have the Q45 chipset. So he does not select the 7800 series.

Lenovo:

Joe sees there is: ThinkCentr vs IdeaCentr

There is a comparison chart, but nothing really jumps out to say "vPro". The ThinkCentre models list "Highest level of data Security" so Joe starts there. There are two series - the A Series (AMD-NOT vPRO) and the M Series.

Joe looks at the M Series:M57/57p: -- Lenovo is nice and actually states that the M57 and M57p are AMT 3.x capable: (Latest Intel® Core™ 2 processor with vPro™ technology: AMT 3.0 new features including industry-standard WS-MAN/DASH, the next-generation management standard)

M58/58p are AMT 5.0!!!: (Global models for easy worldwide deployment; Latest Intel® iAMT 5.0 vPro™ technology available on all form factors)

Well, that was fast. Joe was able to quickly find Desktop systems that support Intel AMT 5.0. By the way, Joe later found out more information about OEMs that are selling Intel AMT 5.0 Systems. Here is the list: