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How to Check CPU Throttling in Windows 10 or Windows 11

Recent processors all have the ability to adjust the operating frequency to either decrease power consumption or make sure the processor does not overheat. That’s why for example Intel processors have a maximum junction temperature (Tj max) so that if this temperature is reached the processor can slow down (throttle) to cool things off and avoid damaging itself. That also explains why computers with the same processor, storage, and memory may have greatly different performance under load depending on their thermal design. I’m currently testing a fanless mini PC with an Intel Celeron N3150 Braswell processor, and yesterday I noticed the frequency would be stuck at 0.22 GHZ (yes, that’s 220 MHz) at all times, even when starting the web browser and loading long web pages. It was very slow, and I had a few “windows not responding” in the process. I checked the metal box temperature with an IR […]

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WeTek Play+ Amlogic S905 Android Set-Top Box Features a Tuner with a SmartCard Reader and an mSATA SSD Bay

When WeTek announced the WeTek Core, some people were disappointed that they did not include a tuner like in the original WeTek Play, but the company has been working on a successor called Wetek Play+ that is based on Amlogic S905-H quad core processor and supports DVB-S/S2, DVB-C/T/T2, ISDB-T and ATSC tuners with a smartcard reader, as well as an extra store with an half-size SSD slot. WeTek Play+ specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905-H (Revision C) quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with  penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 GB eMMC 5.0 flash + micro SD card slot + mSATA SSD socket (implemented via USB to SATA) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with HDCP 2.2 support, and AV port Audio – HDMI, AV (stereo), optical S/PDIF Tuners – Support for DVB-S2, DVB-C/T/T2, ISDB-T and […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
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Ugoos AM1 4K Android TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Together with Ugoos UT4 octa-core Android mini PC, Ugoos sent me Ugoos AM1 TV box based on Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor. There are basically two category of products with S905: entry level with 1GB RAM, and 8GB flash, which represents the majority of devices on the market, and mid range with 2GB RAM, 16 GB eMMC flash, 802.11ac WiFi and Gigabit Ethernet with devices such as MINIX NEO U1 or Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos. Ugoos AM1 is part of the second category so it will be interesting to compare its performance to the other two. But in the meantime, I’ve taken some pictures of the media player and its board to find out more about the hardware design. Ugoos AM1 Unboxing Pictures and Video All new Ugoos devices look alike, and even the retail package follows the same theme across their new devices. I got a blue […]

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Tronsmart Orion R68 TV Box Discounted to $39? Nope.

Tronsmart Orion R68 is an octa-core Android TV box powered by Rockchip RK3368 processor with 2GB RAM, and 16GB internal storage. I actually received a sample a a few months ago, but I have not reviewed it yet as I’ve been waiting for a firmware upgrade to fix some of the issues I had in Beelink i68, but it has yet to come. Nevertheless, the device which normally sells for $75 on GeekBuying, is now sold for $39 shipped on Aliexpress in what looks like am amazingly good deal reported by AndroidPC.es. At first, I was about to write a post about this excellent deal, especially as I saw the link indicated 114 orders, but then on the top left corner, I noticed “Hot CCTV” seller had no feedback score and the store opened on December 9, 2015. It’s quite possible a store will do a promotion to gain attention, but […]

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GeekBox and Landingship Android Overview and Benchmarks

This week-end I checked out GeekBox TV box, and Landingship baseboard, explained how to connect the two together and install various optional accessories such as an RTC battery and a cooling fan. GeekBox comes pre-loaded with Android 5.1 + Ubuntu dual boot image, and as I’ve already reviewed other Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes, and GeekBox is also a development platform, I’ll simply run several benchmarks on GeekBox, as well as test SATA performance with an SSD connected to Landingship carrier board in Android, before checking out the Linux part a little latter. That’s no quite how you want to place the fan, but I wanted to show the USB to TTL debug board and other wires can be connected with the case closed. This allowed me to easily check whether the fan was spinning during testing, and it never did… According to one forum post, the temperature currently needs to […]

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MXQ S905 / G9C 4K Android Media Player Unboxing and Teardown

Beside Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos, I’ve received another Amlogic S905 device with MXQ G9C, which was the first Amlogic S905 TV box to have surfaces in the news back in June, and a sample has been sent to me by Shenzhen Tomato. Since the company provides ODM/OEM services instead of catering to end users, the specs are flexible, but the device I received is with the default configuration namely 1GB RAM and 8GB flash, and with similar specs to Beelink MINI MX or KI Plus for example. Today, I’ll start by checking out the hardware, before reviewing the full package a little later. MXQ S905 / G9C TV Box Unboxing I received the parcel via DHL, with the device in a retail white brand package reading “MXQ”, “S905”, and “IPTV box”, with some features on the back such as Airplay, DLNA, Miracast, or Widewine, Playready, and Verimatrix. But I’m pretty […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
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MINI MX 4K Android Media Player Unboxing and Teardown

I received my first Amlogic S905 TV box last week with K1 Plus, and although I have not reviewed it yet due to some issues with Google Play, I’ve run some benchmarks on the Amlogic S905 platform, which some people mentioning that results could have been impacted by the small heatsink leading to CPU throttling. The good news is that I know have a new Amlogic SD905 TV Box to play with as GearBest sent me Beelink MINI MX TV box. Today, I’ll take a few photos of the device and the board, before hopefully publishing the full review early next week. Beelink MINI MX Unboxing I received the package via DHL, and thanks to its low price I did not have to pay custom duties or VAT. The package does not show any specific brand, only Mini MX 4K Movies products, as well as the specifications on the back. […]

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Ubuntu 14.04 / 15.04 Tested in Tronsmart Ara X5 Cherry Trail Mini PC

After reviewing Tronsmart Ara X5 with Windows 10, I decided to give a try at Ubuntu. Initially I downloaded Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop 64-bit ISO image, and prepare a bootable USB drive with UNetbootin in my computer running Ubuntu 14.04. But after inserting the USB flash drive into Ara X5, and pressing F7, there was no options to select the drive, so I went to UEFI settings, and the drive was clearly detected, but not available as a bootable device. Finally, having heard one company booted Ubuntu on MeegoPad T04 using Rufus, and Tronsmart confirming Ubuntu 14.04 could boot on Ara X5 using Pendrive Linux USB installer, I decided to try again with Windows tools, and prepared an Ubuntu 15.04 image with Rufus. Great! Pressing F7 would show the USB flash drive, and I could boot Ubuntu 15.04. But unfortunately audio output is not working (only Dummy output), nor is WiFi […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC