Industrial PCs are designed for operation in environments where ordinary office PCs fail within minutes. They must be able to withstand dust, vibration, moisture, extreme temperatures, and constant load - often 24/7.
In this guide, you get a quick and practical overview of which type of industrial PC to choose for your environment, and which models from DANBIT are best suited for the different scenarios.
1. Operating environments – what does your setup require?
Industrial PCs are typically selected based on five main factors:
- Temperature – e.g. -40°C to +70°C
- Dust / moisture – requirements for IP65 / IP67
- Vibration / shock – e.g. transport, robots, machinery
- Cooling – fanless (passive) vs. active cooling
- I/O requirements – COM ports, LAN, PoE+, digital I/O, GPU, etc.
Below you will find the most common environment types and the best matches from our range.
2. Environments with dust, metal shavings, particles (production / workshop)
Here, fanless systems with a sealed enclosure and passive cooling are recommended. Fans draw dust inside, so a fanless embedded PC is always the safe choice.
Recommended product:
EPC-I7G14-2S2L4UDH – Powerful fanless IPC with 12th/13th/14th gen Intel®
Perfect for dusty environments, as it is fully enclosed and passively cooled.
- Intel® Core™ i5/i7 12th–14th gen
- 8× USB, 3× LAN, RS232/422/485
- M.2 NVMe + SATA
- Operating: -20°C to +60°C
Use it for: production machines, automation systems, sensor networks, dashboards.
3. High heat, freezer rooms, outdoor installations
Here you can choose an IPC with wide-temperature components and certified operation at -25°C, -40°C, or +60°C.
Recommended product:
EPC-IX4E8U4SHDDIO – Core™ Ultra AI-ready industrial PC (-40°C to +60°C)
One of our most advanced machines and future-proof.
- Intel® Core™ Ultra 5/7 (AI accelerator + GPU + NPU)
- 4× 2.5GbE + 1GbE
- 2× hot-swap 2.5" SSD
- 9–60V DC
- Operating: -40°C to +60°C
Use it for: outdoor camera systems, temperature-critical production, AI analytics, edge computing.
4. Mobile installations (vehicles, AGV, transport, vibration)
Here, vibration is the biggest challenge. You should choose an IPC with:
- MIL-STD-810G
- EN50155 (rail / transport)
- Secured RAM/SSD
- Rugged enclosure without moving parts
Recommended product:
EPC-GEN14-PCIE – Rugged embedded PC with PCIe and -40°C to +70°C
- Intel® 14th/13th/12th gen
- 2× PCI/PCIe slots (can support GPUs)
- EN50155 / MIL-STD-810G
- Operating: -40°C to +70°C
Use it for: fleet management, mobile machinery, construction vehicles, railway technology.
5. Moisture, water, cleaning – IP65/IP67 areas
Environments such as food production, outdoor, offshore, and wash-down installations require IP67 sealing and M12 connectors.
Recommended product:
EPC-CEL-J6412-IP67 – Waterproof industrial PC (IP67)
- Intel® Celeron® J6412
- HDMI, 2× USB, 2× LAN (M12)
- Built-in WiFi + Bluetooth
- IP67 enclosure
- Operating: -10°C to +55°C
Use it for: food industry, food processing lines, displays with direct wash-down, outdoor equipment.
6. AI, vision, and GPU-intensive tasks
For machine vision, AI, and deep learning, you need an industrial PC with room for powerful GPUs and high stability under load.
Recommended product:
IPC-GEN12/13/14-GPU – Industrial GPU Embedded PC
Key points:
- Intel® Core™ 12th/13th/14th gen (up to 65 W)
- Supports single or dual full-length GPU (up to 500 W total)
- Up to 96 GB DDR5, 4× hot-swap 2.5" SATA + M.2 NVMe
- RAID 0/1/5/10
- 4× 2.5 GbE (option: 10 GbE)
- Operating: -40°C to +70°C
- Certified to MIL-STD-810H
Ideal for: AI vision, deep learning, edge computing, and advanced camera installations.
7. Compact automation, DIN rail, and control cabinet installation
For PLC cabinets, control panels, and compact installations, you should choose a DIN-rail PC.
Recommended product:
EPC-CEL-3G2S1DP1H – Celeron J6412 DIN-mount Fanless PC (-20°C to +70°C)
- Intel Celeron J6412 Quad Core
- 3× LAN
- 2× COM
- 6× USB
- HDMI + DP
- Wide temp -20°C ~ +70°C
Use it for:
PLC control, gateway, automation, data acquisition, and light SCADA systems.
8. Light industry, controlled environments, and low-power solutions
For installations without extreme requirements but where reliability is still important.
Recommended product:
EPC-CEL-4E2S4UHD – Fanless industrial PC with Celeron® J641
- Intel® Celeron® J6412 Quad Core
- Fanless and compact
- 4× LAN (1× i210 + 3× 2.5GbE)
- 2× RS232/422/485
- 2× USB 3.1 + 2× USB 2.0
- HDMI + DisplayPort (4K)
- M.2 SSD + SIM slot for 4G/IoT
Use it for:
IoT gateways, small SCADA/HMI tasks, dashboards, data acquisition, and light industrial equipment.
Quick overview – which industrial PC should you choose?
| Environment type | Requirements | Best match |
|---|---|---|
| Dust / workshop | Fanless, sealed chassis | EPC-I7G14-2S2L4UDH |
| Extreme temp. | Wide temp, AI/NPU | EPC-IX4E8U4SHDDIO |
| Vibration / vehicle | EN50155, MIL-STD | EPC-GEN14-PCIE |
| Moisture / water / cleaning | IP67, M12 | EPC-CEL-J6412-IP67 |
| AI / Machine vision | GPU, RTX support | EPC-GEN14-GPU-5E9UVD |
| Control cabinets / DIN rail | Compact, DIN-mount | EPC-CEL-3G2S1DP1H |
| Light industry | Price/performance | EPC-GEN12/13 |
Conclusion: choose IPC based on environment – not just specifications
Many companies choose an industrial PC based on CPU or price, but it is the physical conditions that determine stability and lifespan:
- Fanless = longer lifetime
- Wide-temperature = fewer failures
- DIN-mount = easy solution for automation
- GPU = AI and vision
- IP67 = food industry and outdoor use