When Rockchip RK3188 powered mini PC started to show up in March 2013, many were priced around $90, which some shops aggressively (and temporarily) pricing UG007B at $74. But it’s now possible to purchase QC802, a quad core mini PC with 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash, for just $61.75 excluding shipping from a seller with good feedback. Adding shipping will bring it to about $70 depending where you live, but applying “registernewbuyer5” coupon brings it back to $65 or even a bit less. QC802 is by far the cheap RK3188 device I’ve found.
Just a quick reminder of the specs:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.6 Ghz + Mali-400MP4 GPU
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 8 GB internal flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB)
- Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1
- Video Output – HDMI (male)
- USB – 1x USB Host 2.0, 2x micro USB ports including one for power, one USB Host.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Lol I didn’t realise it was ‘article worthy’… Waiting for $50 & Picuntu myself :p
See also
http://www.aliexpress.com/item//930220258.html
@onebir
I was not so sure, but it’s $12 cheaper than the cheapest current price I knew before, so I decided to write about it. At $65, it starts to be quite competitive compared to RK3066 mini PCs, even if it’s just for the 2GB RAM extra. The 2 extra cores do not actually help that much in practice. Next article at $50, but I think it will take a little while.
The only problems with QC802 is firmware. The stock firmware is not available, so if something goes wrong you’re stuck with a brick, and there’s no community around it. I’m a bit confused as to why T428, one of the most expensive, but with about the same features, seems to be the most popular.
The other item you linked to is not so cheap for me, as there’s no China Post option, at least to Thailand.
If you need GNU/Linux and general hackability, the GK802 is still a better choice.
Geekbuying is selling them for $69.99 again, now even no coupon is required:
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Unii-GK802-Fresscale-i-MX6-Quad-Dure-Cortex-A9-DDR3-1GB-RAM-8GB-ROM-TV-Box-Dongle—-Black-312807.html
I think 2GB RK3188 devices should start to hit $50 by end-October, based on the way tablet/arm device prices have been developing over the last year or so.
Don’t the extra two cores help when lots of processes are running simultaneously? Esp with 2GB ram to minimise disk/rom access?
Both items are from the same seller; likely any difference in shipping prices/policy is a mistake…
@rm
Could you explain why GK802 is better for Linux etc?
@onebir
Because you can go right now grab an image and run a standard Debian installer on it: http://projectgus.com/2013/05/debian-installer-for-zealz-gk802-android-tv-quad-core-arm-minipc/
Is there anything similar for RK3188?
Also cnx-soft described some more reasons in http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/03/26/zealz-gk802-is-temporarly-available-for-69-99-on-geekbuying/
Well well you guys seem to forget that the T428 has a better wifi chip with dual band support (wifi ac support as well) + Bluetooth 4.0. That’s what makes it more expensive.
@QK
I understand T428 has some more expensive hardware, but most extra features are not really useful to most people.
1. T428 has a dual band Wi-FI chip, but I found performance to be weak on my setup compared to most other devices.
Also: How many people are using 5GHz band? Has 802.11ac support been confirmed?
I’m only using Bluetooth with a game controller, so I haven’t tested other BT features. Does it support High Speed transfer, and is it compatible with Low Energy (SMART)? If not, it’s just like the Bluetooth 2.1.
@rm
Sorry, I forgot GK802 isn’t RK3188 too…
@cnxsoft
Good comparison or RK3188 & RK3066 under tablet usage here:
http://www.topnotchtablets.com/pipo-max-m9-review
(In “PERFORMANCE – System and Application” section)
This confirms your suggestion that the RK3188 didn’t have compelling advantages except maybe with 2GB DDR. But have things changed? (eg are the CPU/GPU clocked faster now? Does the firmware exploit the extra cores better?)
Perhaps the more valid comparison now is RK3168 vs RK3188?
@onebir
When I use those sticks I often tick “Show CPU Usage” in the developers options, and most of the time it’s using less than 2 cores, except at boot time, when it installs some apps in the background, or during benchmarks. It’s not really a hardware issue, it’s just the current software does not handle multiple cores for most tasks, either because it’s not really needed, or because it has not been implemented yet.
@cnxsoft
Ok, any idea about the CPU/GPU clock speeds? Seemed like there was room for improvement there; significant in the case of the GPU…
@onebir
Yes, RK3188 can be clocked to 1.8Ghz in theory, I must have read/heard somewhere they’ll do it for next revision of the chip.
I don’t really know about the GPU clock speed.
@onebir
libv (Lima developer) could overclock Mali-400 MP4 in Exynos 4412 from 440MHz to 800Mhz.
See results http://people.freedesktop.org/~libv/limare_q3a_timedemo_exynos4412.png from post: http://libv.livejournal.com/24735.html
So it might be possible to overclock the GPU in RK3188 (since it’s the same), but it will lead to higher power consumption, and possibly overheating.
@cnxsoft
Ta – it’s just that the article I linked to mentioned that the 3188/s Mali was specced to be overclocked (relative to 3066) but didn’t seem to be in the tablet being reviewed (back in March).
Actually there now seem to be quite a lot of sellers offering 2GB sticks at $69-70:
http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?shipCountry=us&shipCompanies=&SearchText=rk3188&exception=&isFreeShip=y&isRtl=yes&CatId=0&g=y&SortType=price_asc&initiative_id=SB_20130614111832&isPremium=y&filterCat=70803003%2C200004329%2C5092303&groupsort=1&needQuery=y&maxPrice=72
So plenty of places to get a 2GB/8GB RK3188 stick (MK809 III/UG007B/QC802) for ~$65-67 (after $5 coupon). CX-919 & HI702 (only 1GB DDR, but external wifi aerial) is also available at this price.
@onebir
Interesting, and for some reasons, most of them charge exactly US $69.49.
@cnxsoft
I think they watch each others’ prices, and sellers who’ve overstocked undercut in 50c decrements. Could be an interesting microeconomic study…
And DealExtreme enters the fight at $67.40 (without coupon, and only 1GB RAM) :http://dx.com/p/jesurun-cx-919-quad-core-android-4-1-google-tv-player-w-1gb-ram-8gb-rom-xbmc-netflix-black-221314
@cnxsoft
Surprisingly cheap for that CX-919 on DX…
MK809 III $59.29 shipped before any coupons, but from a newish (not totally new) seller:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item//1021006645.html
(Isn’t this one of the ones Picuntu is being ported to?)
@onebir
Oops – looks like seller’s messed up; title/description are inconsistent.
@onebir
MK809 III = RK3066, MK809 IV = RK3188
We have the source code for Rikomagic MK802 IV (RK3188)
The problem with Chinese sellers is that you always have to read the full description, and check the picture in details, to make sure what they are selling is actually what they’ve described.
MK809 “III” (?) RK3188 2GB/8GB ~$60 shipped:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item//919120329.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item//1092121687.html
“DDR3 2GB ,( 4GB optional ,you may contact us for big RAM)”! 🙂
Is this one of the ones with a Linux-friendly wifi chip?
Also UG007B at ~$63:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item//1119848567.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item//960047358.html
@onebir
The 4GB model is $75, but only available in batches of 20 🙁
@onebir
That’s **4GB**RAM**.
If there’s enough retail demand, it should soon be possible to get RK3188 mini PCs with 4GB RAM…