In this review, I’ll show how I installed Debian on the ROCK 5 ITX mini-ITX motherboard powered by a Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Arm Cortex-A76/A55 processor, before building a computer/NAS with the Arm mini-ITX motherboard, testing various features and running benchmarks. In the first part of the review, we checked out the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX (Arm) and Jupiter (RISC-V) mini-ITX motherboards with specifications and unboxing, and the Auriga 6-Bay NAS mini-ITX chassis used in this review. I already built the computer with the Jupiter RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard, so here I simply switched the RISC-V motherboard with the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX Arm motherboard and installed a few SATA drives. Radxa ROCK 5 ITX first boot – A tricky start… Radxa provides getting started instructions on the documentation website which I mostly follow to hopefully boot within a few minutes. I had to prepare the hardware first. So I installed a […]
DFI RPP051 Pico-ITX SBC features 13th Gen Intel Core embedded SoC from Processor U300E to Intel Core i7-1365UE
DFI RPP051 is a 2.5-inch Pico-ITX SBC built around 13th Gen Intel Core processors ranging from the dual-core Intel Processor U300E to the 10-core Intel Core i7-1365UE. It supports up to 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and accommodates M.2 NVMe and SATA storage devices. Connectivity options include a 2.5GbE LAN port, DP++ and eDP display interfaces, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and USB 2.0 ports, RS-232/422/485 interfaces, along with I2C and GPIO for expansion. The DFI RPP051 first came to our attention while covering the AAEON PICO-RAP4 which is also an SBC with a Pico-ITX form factor, we have also written about many x86 and Arm Pico-ITX boards including AAEON PICO-MTU4, the AAEON RICO-3568, the GIGAIPC PICO-N97A and many other feel free to check them out if you are looking for compact and powerful SBCs. DFI RPP051 Pico-ITX SBC Specification 13th gen Raptor Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1365UE 10C/12T […]
AAEON PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC features Intel Core Ultra 5/7 “Meteor Lake” SoC
The AAEON PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC may be the world’s smallest platform based on 14th Gen Intel Core Ultra 5/7 SoCs part of the Meteor Lake-U family and follows the company’s UP Xtreme i14 SBC introduced a couple of months ago with the same processors, although the new model is limited to 15W parts due to its small size (100x72mm). The Core Ultra 5/7 Pico-ITX SBC comes with up to 64GB DDR5 memory, supports NVMe and SATA storage, offers 2.5GbE and GbE networking, M.2 Key-M and Key-E sockets for storage or/and wireless expansion, dual display support through HDMI and eDP, a few USB interfaces, and two RS232/RS422/RS485 interfaces. AAEON PICO-MTU4 specifications: Meteor Lake-U SoC (one of the other) Intel Core Ultra 7 165U 12-core (2P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 1.7 / 4.9 GHz with 12MB cache, Intel 4Xe LPG graphics @ 2.0 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; TDP: 15W Intel Core Ultra 7 […]
Pineboards introduces Ai Bundle (Hailo 8L) Raspberry Pi HAT+ with AI accelerator and NVMe SSD support
Pineboards has launched yet another Raspberry Pi 5 HAT+ expansion board with the Ai Bundle (Hailo 8L) which includes a 13 TOPS Hailo 8L AI accelerator and an M.2 PCIe socket for an NVMe SSD. The latest Raspberry Pi 5 HAT+ from Pineboards combines the capabilities of the official Raspberry Pi AI Kit and Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ into a single board, while supporting longer M.2 2280 NVMe SSD drives, besides shorted 2230 and 2242-sized SSDs. Pineboards Ai Bundle (Hailo 8L) specifications: Compatible SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 Storage – M.2 2230/2242/2280 M-Key socket for NVMe SSD AI accelerator – M.2 2230 A/E-Key socket fitted with Hailo 8L AI Accelerator (and thermal pad) PCIe switch – ASMedia ASM1182e PCIe Gen2 x1 to 2x PCIe Gen2 x1 Host interface – 20-pin Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector Accessories – FPC cable, metal screws and spacers (no low-quality plastic screws…) Dimensions – About […]
Review of Pironman 5 mini PC case for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC
SunFounder has sent me a review sample of the Pironman 5 tower PC case for the Raspberry Pi 5. I had already reviewed the Pironman case for Raspberry Pi 4 last year, so I’ll do something similar this time around with the new Pironman 5 case adding support for NVMe SSD using the PCIe interface from the Pi 5 SBC. The Pironman 5 review will include unboxing and an assembly guide, followed by software installation and features testing (e.g. OLED display, RGB LED control, remote control. soft power off, etc…), before testing the cooling efficiency of the device with some benchmarks. Pironman 5 unboxing The Pironman 5 comes in a package that will be smaller than most people expect. The main features are listed on the side with 5V/5A power input, a 0.96-inch OLED, a tower cooler, M.2 NVMe SSD support, an IR receiver, a CR1220 battery (included), four RGB […]
Radxa X4 low-cost, credit card-sized Intel N100 SBC goes for $60 and up
Radxa X4 is a credit card-sized Intel Processor N100 single board computer (SBC) that costs almost the same as a Raspberry Pi 5 with the 4GB RAM model going for about $60 and the 8GB RAM variant around $80. The x86 SBC offers many of the same features as the Raspberry Pi 5 including dual micro HDMI output, four USB 3.2/2.0 ports, Ethernet and WiFi networking, and the 40-pin GPIO header handled through a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller. Networking is better with 2.5GbE and WiFi 6, M.2 SSD support is built-in and four to eight times faster compared to PCIe HAT for the Pi 5, and the USB 3.2 ports are capable of 10 Gbps speed. So let’s little not too like, and the main downside is the lack of MIPI CSI and DSI connectors for projects requiring those camera and display interfaces. Radxa X4 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor […]
Cincoze DS-1402 modular embedded computer review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot
Cincoze has sent me a sample of the DS-1402 modular embedded computer for review. The system is offered with a range of 12th Gen Alder Lake-S or 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S processors and features various expansion options with two PCIe slots, two CMI module slots, a CFM module slot, and three MEC (mini PCIe) module slots. The review sample is equipped with an Intel Core i9-12900E 16-core Alder Lake-S processor, 64GB DDR5 memory, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and an NVIDIA GTX1630 graphics card inserted into one of the PCIe slots. The company also fitted the embedded system with two CMI modules on the front panel with four GbE (Intel I210) RJ45 each. Cincoze DS-1402 specifications When we first wrote about the Cincoze DS-1400 series in 2022 only 12th Gen Alder Lake-S processors were available, but the company has now added 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S processors to the list of options. […]
GEEKOM A8 Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 24.04 tested on an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS mini PC
We’ve already checked out GEEKOM A8 mini PC hardware with an unboxing and a teardown, before testing the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS mini PC in Windows 11 Pro, and we’ll now report our experience with the GEEKOM A8 running Ubuntu 24.04 to see how it performs in Linux. We tested most features of the GEEKOM A8 mini PC on Ubuntu 24.04, ran several benchmarks to compare it to the similar GEEKOM A7 mini PC, performed storage and networking performance testing, ran stress test to check thermal performance, and measured fan noise and power consumption under various conditions. Installing Ubuntu 24.04 on the GEEKOM A8 mini PC As usual, we resized the Windows 11 partition to install Ubuntu 24.04 alongside Microsoft OS using a bootable USB flash drive created with the Ubuntu ISO. But you’ll notice BitLocker is enabled so the Ubuntu 24.04 installation can’t proceed. The installation wizard will ask […]