MINISFORUM have recently launched their X35G mini PC on Indiegogo which differentiates itself from the many Gemini Lake mini PCs by using a 10th generation Intel “Ice Lake” Core mobile processor with Gen11 graphics. Available as a barebones device and in various configurations MINISFORUM sent a fully configured model for review. MINISFORUM X35G Hardware overview Also known as DeskMini X35G, the MINISFORUM X35G is a slightly larger mini PC physically consisting of a 136.5 mm x 121.5 mm x 40.5 mm (5.37 x 4.78 x 1.59 inches) rectangular metal case with a plastic base. It is an actively cooled mini PC that uses Intel’s second-generation 10 nm+ Core i3-1005G1 processor which is a dual-core 4-thread 1.2 GHz processor boosting to 3.4 GHz with Intel’s Gen11 UHD graphics. The front panel has a power button, a Thunderbolt 3/Type-C USB port that supports video, and two 3.1 USB ports. Also on the […]
Intel NUC 9 Extreme “Ghost Canyon” Kit – NUC9i9QNX Review
I’ve previously written about Intel’s (relatively) new NUC 9 range of mini PCs and now I am following up with my experiences of having bought one. Whilst I’ll cover some performance metrics from both Windows and Ubuntu I’ll also discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using either OS together with a comparison of gaming, thermals, and power usage as well as a brief look at overclocking potential and implications together with highlighting the issues encountered. NUC9i9QNX Hardware Overview The model I purchased and will be reviewing here is the NUC9i9QNX from Intel’s Ghost Canyon lineup and is formally known as the Intel NUC 9 Extreme Kit – NUC9i9QNX. It contains a “Compute Element” with an i9-9980HK which is an eight-core 16-thread 2.40 GHz processor boosting to 5.00 GHz with Intel’s UHD Graphics 630. The full specifications of the NUC9i9QNX include: The NUC9i9QNX is sold as a kit which essentially means […]
AMD Ryzen Embedded SBC Review with Ubuntu 20.04
Last June, we reviewed DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded R1606G SBC with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. We had to send back the board to Taiwan, as the company wanted to double-check some of the issues we reported, and we got the board to review it with Ubuntu 20.04. So I downloaded Ubuntu 20.04.1 ISO flashed it to a USB flash drive, and could install it on the eMMC flash drive without issue. I selected to keep Windows 10, so I have a dual-boot system on a 32GB eMMC flash. Yes, I do like a challenge! 🙂 DFI GHF51 Ubuntu 20.04 System Info We can check some of the information from the system in the terminal:
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jaufranc@CNX:~$ lsb_release -a No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS Release: 20.04 Codename: focal jaufranc@CNX:~$ uname -a Linux CNX 5.4.0-42-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 10 00:24:02 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux jaufranc@CNX:~$ inxi -Fc0 System: Host: CNX Kernel: 5.4.0-42-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Console: tty 2 Distro: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (Focal Fossa) Machine: Type: Desktop Mobo: DFI model: GHF51 serial: <superuser/root required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: B206.10TA date: 06/10/2020 CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G with Radeon Vega Gfx bits: 64 type: MT MCP L2 cache: 1024 KiB Speed: 1397 MHz min/max: 1400/2600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1397 2: 1396 3: 1402 4: 1406 Graphics: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Picasso driver: amdgpu v: kernel Display: server: X.org 1.20.8 driver: amdgpu tty: 116x24 Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console. Try -G --display Audio: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio driver: snd_hda_intel Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor driver: snd_rn_pci_acp3x Device-3: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-42-generic Network: Device-1: Intel I211 Gigabit Network driver: igb IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:01:29:9f:23:64 Drives: Local Storage: total: 29.12 GiB used: 22.08 GiB (75.8%) ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: DG4032 size: 29.12 GiB Partition: ID-1: / size: 7.81 GiB used: 6.43 GiB (82.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p4 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 58.5 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 58 C Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A Info: Processes: 230 Uptime: 20h 49m Memory: 3.31 GiB used: 1.41 GiB (42.7%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.38 jaufranc@CNX:~$ df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on udev 1.7G 0 1.7G 0% /dev tmpfs 339M 1.7M 338M 1% /run /dev/mmcblk0p4 7.9G 6.5G 984M 88% / tmpfs 1.7G 73M 1.6G 5% /dev/shm tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock tmpfs 1.7G 0 1.7G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup /dev/mmcblk0p1 96M 33M 64M 34% /boot/efi /dev/loop0 28M 28M 0 100% /snap/snapd/7264 /dev/loop1 55M 55M 0 100% /snap/core18/1705 /dev/loop2 241M 241M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/24 /dev/loop3 63M 63M 0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506 /dev/loop4 50M 50M 0 100% /snap/snap-store/433 tmpfs 339M 104K 339M 1% /run/user/1000 /dev/mmcblk0p3 21G 16G 5.3G 75% /media/jaufranc/Windows /dev/loop5 30M 30M 0 100% /snap/snapd/8542 /dev/loop6 55M 55M 0 100% /snap/core18/1880 /dev/loop7 50M 50M 0 100% /snap/snap-store/467 /dev/loop8 256M 256M 0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/36 jaufranc@CNX:~$ lsblk -a NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT loop0 7:0 0 27.1M 1 loop /snap/snapd/7264 loop1 7:1 0 55M 1 loop /snap/core18/1705 loop2 7:2 0 240.8M 1 loop /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/24 loop3 7:3 0 62.1M 1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506 loop4 7:4 0 49.8M 1 loop /snap/snap-store/433 loop5 7:5 0 29.9M 1 loop /snap/snapd/8542 loop6 7:6 0 55M 1 loop /snap/core18/1880 loop7 7:7 0 49.8M 1 loop /snap/snap-store/467 loop8 7:8 0 255.6M 1 loop /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/36 sda 8:0 1 0 disk mmcblk0 179:0 0 29.1G 0 disk ├─mmcblk0p1 179:1 0 100M 0 part /boot/efi ├─mmcblk0p2 179:2 0 128M 0 part ├─mmcblk0p3 179:3 0 20.9G 0 part /media/jaufranc/Windows └─mmcblk0p4 179:4 0 8G 0 part / mmcblk0boot0 179:8 0 4M 1 disk mmcblk0boot1 179:16 0 4M 1 disk jaufranc@CNX:~$ sudo lshw -C cpu *-cpu description: CPU product: AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G with Radeon Vega Gfx vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] physical id: 11 bus info: cpu@0 version: AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G with Radeon Vega Gfx serial: Unknown slot: FP5 size: 2554MHz capacity: 3500MHz width: 64 bits clock: 100MHz capabilities: lm fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc rep_good nopl nonstop_tsc cpuid extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw skinit wdt tce topoext perfctr_core perfctr_nb bpext perfctr_llc mwaitx cpb hw_pstate sme ssbd sev ibpb vmmcall fsgsbase bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 rdseed adx smap clflushopt sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves clzero irperf xsaveerptr arat npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold avic v_vmsave_vmload vgif overflow_recov succor smca cpufreq configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 threads=4 jaufranc@CNX:~$ sudo lshw -C memory *-firmware description: BIOS vendor: American Megatrends Inc. physical id: 0 version: B206.10TA date: 06/10/2020 size: 64KiB capacity: 8MiB capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int14serial int17printer acpi usb biosbootspecification uefi *-memory description: System Memory physical id: c slot: System board or motherboard size: 4GiB *-bank:0 description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered) 2400 MHz (0.4 ns) product: M471A5244BB0-CRC vendor: Samsung physical id: 0 serial: 00000000 slot: DIMM 0 size: 4GiB width: 64 bits clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns) *-bank:1 description: [empty] product: Unknown vendor: Unknown physical id: 1 serial: Unknown slot: DIMM 0 *-cache:0 description: L1 cache physical id: e slot: L1 - Cache size: 192KiB capacity: 192KiB clock: 1GHz (1.0ns) capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified configuration: level=1 *-cache:1 description: L2 cache physical id: f slot: L2 - Cache size: 1MiB capacity: 1MiB clock: 1GHz (1.0ns) capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified configuration: level=2 *-cache:2 description: L3 cache physical id: 10 slot: L3 - Cache size: 4MiB capacity: 4MiB clock: 1GHz (1.0ns) capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified configuration: level=3 jaufranc@CNX:~$ free -mh total used free shared buff/cache available Mem: 3.3Gi 1.2Gi 201Mi 92Mi 1.9Gi 1.7Gi Swap: 376Mi 44Mi 332Mi jaufranc@CNX:~$ sudo lshw -C network *-network description: Ethernet interface product: I211 Gigabit Network Connection vendor: Intel Corporation physical id: 0 bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0 logical name: eno1 version: 03 serial: 00:01:29:9f:23:64 size: 1Gbit/s capacity: 1Gbit/s width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=igb driverversion=5.6.0-k duplex=full firmware=0. 6-1 ip=192.168.1.9 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s resources: irq:34 memory:fcf00000-fcf1ffff ioport:f000(size=32) memory:fcf20000-fcf23fff jaufranc@CNX:~$ lsusb Bus 002 Device 003: ID 2537:1081 VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2109:0813 VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1a2c:0002 China Resource Semico Co., Ltd Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f2:1718 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd Bus 001 Device 005: ID 2109:0100 VIA Labs, Inc. Bus 001 Device 003: ID 14cd:8601 Super Top 4-Port hub Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:2813 VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub jaufranc@CNX:~$ lspci 00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Root Complex 00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-1fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge 00:01.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Zeppelin Switch Upstream (PCIE SW.US) 00:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-1fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge 00:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus A 00:08.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus B 00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 61) 00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 51) 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 0 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 1 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 2 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 3 00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 4 00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 5 00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 6 00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 7 01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation I211 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03) 02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Picasso (rev 91) 02:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio Controller 02:00.2 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) Platform Security Processor 02:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven2 USB 3.1 02:00.5 Multimedia controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor 02:00.6 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) HD Audio Controller 02:00.7 Non-VGA unclassified device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2/Renoir Non-Sensor Fusion Hub KMDF driver 03:00.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 61) |
So I have a 7.9GB partition to play with Ubuntu 20.04.1, but I could do all tests without issues, although I had to remove Phoronix benchmark program and data after completing the benchmark. Features Testing […]
Beelink GT-R Review – An AMD Ryzen 5 Mini PC Tested with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 20.04
Whilst Windows mini PCs have traditionally used Intel processors similar small form factor (SFF) devices using AMD based processors have recently been announced and Beelink is amongst the first manufacturers to deliver one with their newly released GT-R mini PC. Available as a barebones device and in various configurations Beelink sent a fully configured model for review. Hardware overview The Beelink GT-R is a slightly larger mini PC physically consisting of a 168 mm x 120 mm x 39 mm (6.61 x 4.72 x 1.54 inches) rectangular metal case with a plastic top. It is an actively cooled mini PC that uses a (previous generation) Zen+ microarchitecture 12 nm Ryzen 5 3550H mobile processor which is a quad-core 8-thread 2.1 GHz processor boosting to 3.7 GHz with Radeon Vega 8 Graphics. The front panel has a power button, two 3.0 USB ports, a headphone jack, and a Type-C USB port […]
Beelink GS-King X Review with Android 9 – Video & Audio Playback, NAS/File Server Function, and Benchmarks
Last month I received Beelink GS-King X for review and started with an unboxing and teardown to check out the hardware. I’ve now had time to test the device with Android 9 including the file server function, a key selling point since of the device since it supports up to two 3.5″ SATA drives internally. A Tedious and Frustrating Start Eventually, I managed to boot the TV box and access the launcher, but it was no pleasure cruise. The first time, I connected the power, there was nothing at all, with the LED turned off, and no noise from the device. I thought the device was dead. The company asked me to check the power supply, and indeed a quick check with a multimeter confirmed it was dead despite the blue LED (on the power supply) implying the contrary. Nevermind, bad things happen, and the company sent me a new […]
DFI Ryzen Embedded R1606G SBC Review – Part 2: Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC
DFI GHF51 is an AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G SBC for industrial application that’s about the size of the Raspberry Pi Model B board, and after checking out the hardware in the first of part of the review “DFI GHF51 AMD Ryzen Embedded SBC Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Assembly“, I’ve now had time to play with the board running the pre-installed Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC operating system. DFI GHF51 Hardware Connections Since there aren’t any full-sized USB ports, you’ll need a USB-C hub to get started as you’ll probably want to connect a USB keyboard and mouse for development and testing, as well as a Micro HDMI cable to connect to a TV or display. I tried both MINIX NEO C Plus and Dodocool DC30S USB Type-C hubs, and the former did not work at all, while the latter mostly worked. I also connected an HDMI cable to the […]
$50 ODROID-C4 Raspberry Pi 4 Competitor Combines Amlogic S905X3 SoC with 4GB RAM
Hardkernel has just launched an update to its ODROID-C2 board, with ODROID-C4 SBC equipped with a 2.0 GHz Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor combined with up to 4GB RAM, four USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0 video output, and the usual 40-pin I/O header. That makes it a worthy competitor to Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB RAM, especially since it supports Ubuntu 20.04, CoreELEC, Android 9, and LineageOS operating systems, and comes with a proper heatsink for cooling for just $50 plus shipping. ODROID-C4 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 2.0GHz with Arm Mali-G31MP2 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.0 and OpenCL 2.0 System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage 1x eMMC connector (8/16/32/64GB modules available) 1x Micro SD slot with support for DS/HS mode up to UHS-I SDR104 Video & Output – HDMI 2.0 port up to 4K@60Hz with HDR, CEC, EDID Audio – Digital […]
Beelink Gemini T45 Pentium N4200 Mini PC Review
No sooner had I written ‘Beelink T45 Review with Windows and Linux, and Tweaking BIOS Power Limits’ than Beelink announce they wouldn’t in fact sell that configuration but an ‘updated’ version. And it is significantly different because this new version is now actively cooled and uses an Apollo Lake N4200 processor. It also still has the same name: the Beelink Gemini T45. I’ve now reviewed this new version and you may experience déjà vu on reading the following as in keeping with Beelink’s philosophy I’ve basically reused the same text as before and just updated where appropriate. Beelink have further extended their ‘Gemini’ range of mini PCs by adding the T45. This is an actively cooled mini PC that uses the slightly older Apollo Lake Intel Pentium N4200 CPU which is a quad-core 4-thread 1.10 GHz processor boosting to 2.50 GHz with Intel’s HD Graphics 505. The T45 is a […]