Posted on

The Raspberry Pi 5 SBC is now available with 2GB RAM for just $50

The Raspberry Pi 5 has now a cheaper variant with 2GB of RAM going for just $50 following the launch of the Broadcom BCM2712 SBC in October 2023 with either 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM for respectively $60 and $80. At the time of the release, we also noted that cheaper variants with 1GB and 2GB RAM should become available later on simply because of the options on the silkscreen. When Eben Upton contacted CNX Software about the release of the Raspberry Pi 5 2GB RAM he explained that Raspberry Pi was “bringing the power of our most modern platform, and all of the optimisations we’ve developed since the launch of the larger memory SKUs last autumn, to a new lower price point”. Raspberry Pi 5 2GB RAM specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2712 (cost-optimised D0 stepping) CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor @ 2.4 GHz with crypto extensions, 512KB per-core […]

Posted on

Mixtile Edge 2 Kit review with Home Assistant, 2-in-1 Zigbee & Z-Wave mPCIe module

We received the Edge 2 Kit IoT gateway on the Rockchip RK3568-powered Edge2 single board computer (SBC) and a 2-in-1 Zigbee and Z-Wave mPCIe card from Mixtile which we will be reviewing from the perspective of smart home applications using Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. Let’s dive into the details. Unboxing Mixtile Edge 2 Kit CNX Software previously reported on the Mixtile Edge 2 Kit in 2022 and you can check the detailed specifications and block diagram in that earlier article. Since then, Mixtile has found a wider range of applications for the device and is also promoting it as an Edge AI Box that performs AI object detection using the Edge 2 Kit (or the more powerful Mixtile Blade 3) using the built-in NPU (Neural Processing Unit) with up to 1 TOPS of AI performance for tasks such as object detection. Let’s unbox it and take a closer […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
Posted on

MILK-V Jupiter review – A RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard and PC tested with Ubuntu-based Bianbu OS

In this review or preview of the the Shenzhen Milk-V Jupiter RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard, I’ll assemble the motherboard into a mini-ITX chassis, before installing the Ubuntu 23.10 Mantic-based Bianbu OS optimized for RISC-V platforms, and testing the device to see how much progress has been done on RISC-V since I tested the StarFive VisionFive 2 SBC with Debian 12 about 18 months ago. In the first part of the review, we checked out the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX (Rockchip RK3588 Arm) and Jupiter (SpacemIT K1 RISC-V) mini-ITX motherboards with specifications and unboxing, and the Auriga 6-Bay NAS mini-ITX chassis used in this review. I planned to start with the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX, but due to logistics and technical issues, I went ahead testing the RISC-V motherboard first. Installing Bianbu OS to the Jupiter RISC-V motherboard The board does not come with storage, so no operating system is installed. So […]

Posted on

VIA launches MediaTek Genio 700 SMARC SoM, Pico-ITX SBC, and fanless Edge AI embedded system

VIA Technologies has launched three new Edge AI solutions based on the MediaTek Genio 700 mid-range Cortex-A78/A55 AI SoC with the SOM-5000 SMARC 2.1.1 system-on-module, VAB-5000 single board computer (SBC), and ARTiGO A5000 fanless embedded system. All three platforms come with 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4 memory, 16GB eMMC flash, gigabit Ethernet, video interfaces, and camera inputs, and are designed for intelligent edge computing across a range of industrial, commercial, and consumer applications. VIA SOM-5000 system-on-module Specifications: SoC – MediaTek Genio 700 (MT8390) CPU – Octa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A78 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz, 6x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G57 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL ES 2.2, and Vulkan 1.0/1.1 APIs VPU Encoding up to 4Kp30 with H.265/HEVC or H.264 Decoding up to 4Kp75, AV1, VP9, HEVC, H.264 codecs supported AI accelerator – Mediatek DLA + VP6 with INT8, […]

Posted on

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 […]

Posted on

Tachyon is a business card-sized SBC based on Qualcomm QCM6490 Arm AI SoC with 5G and WiFi 6 connectivity (Crowdfunding)

Particle Tachyon is a credit card-sized SBC for AIoT projects powered by a Qualcomm QCM6490 octa-core Cortex-A78/A55 SoC with 12 TOPS of AI performance, 4GB RAM, 64GB UFS storage, and support for 5G cellular and WiFi 6 connectivity. The Tachyon integrates MIPI DSI and CSI display/camera interfaces, two USB-C ports including one with DisplayPort Alt mode, and also leverages some Raspberry Pi 5’s hardware features with a 40-pin GPIO header for HAT expansion boards and the 20-pin PCIe FFC for PCIe add-ons. Tachyon specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QCM6490 CPU – Octa-core Kryo 670 with 1x Gold Plus core (Cortex-A78) @ 2.7 GHz, 3x Gold cores (Cortex-A78) @ 2.4 GHz, 4x Silver cores (Cortex-A55) @ up to 1.9 GHz GPU – Adreno 643L GPU @ 812 MHz with support for Open GL ES 3.2, Open CL 2.0, Vulkan 1.x, DX FL 12 DSP – Hexagon DSP with dual HVX and 4K […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on

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 […]

Posted on

Upgraded Radxa ROCK 5B+ SBC gets LPDDR5 memory, eMMC flash, WiFi 6, two M.2 M-Key sockets, 4G LTE/5G support, and more

The Radxa ROCK 5B+ (“ROCK 5B Plus”) is an upgrade to the Rockchip RK3588-powered ROCK 5B Pico-ITX SBC with the same form factor but various changes including a switch from LPDDR4x to LPDDR5, optional built-in eMMC flash, and an onboard WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module instead of one connected through an M.2 Key-E connector. Other changes include replacing the M.2 Key-M PCIe Gen 3 x4 socket with two M.2 Key-M PCIe Gen3 x2 sockets, adding a SIM card slot and M.2 Key-B socket for 4G LTE or 5G cellular connectivity, adding an extra USB-C port for power only (was multiplexed with USB-C Display Port connected in ROCK 5B), and the HDMI input relies on a full-size HDMI port instead of a micro HDMI port. Other small changes can be found in the specifications below with differences highlighted in bold and strikethrough. Radxa ROCK 5B+ specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC