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Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Rock Pi X Intel Cherry Trail Board to Sell for as low as $39
Most low cost (sub $100) single board computers are based on Arm processors because Intel processors are normally more expensive, but there are some exceptions with AAEON Up Board and Atomic Pi both powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor and selling for $99 and $35 respectively.
The former follows Raspberry Pi form factor and is easy to use, but the latter requires some more work to wire power supply unless you buy an extra baseboard. There should however soon be a third option for low-cost Intel SBCs with Radxa Rock Pi X board powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Cherry Trail processor and is expected to sell for as little as $39.
Rock Pi X just showed up in Hackerboards database, and there will be two models, namely Rock Pi X model A and Rock Pi X model B with the following specifications:
- SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad-core processor @ 1.44 GHz / 1.84 GHz (Turbo) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics @ 500 MHz
- System Memory – 1 GB, 2 GB. or 4GB LPDDR3-1866
- Storage – MicroSD card socket, eMMC flash socket
- Video Output / Display I/F – HDMI 1.4 port up to 4K @ 30 Hz, eDP and MIPI DSI connectors
- Audio I/O – Via HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack
- Connectivity
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Model B only – 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2 Classic + LE
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB OTG Type-C port
- Camera I/F – MIPI CSI connector
- Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header with GPIOs, 2x ADC, 2x PWM, 2x I2C
- Misc – RTC
- Power Supply
- 5V-20V up to 3A/1A Via USB-C port with QC and PD fast charging support;
- AXP288C PMIC
- Model B only – optional PoE support via additional HAT
- Dimensions – 85 x 52 mm
[...] Apart from the Intel processor and the lack of an M.2 slot, the specifications are very similar to the company’s Arm-based Rock Pi 4 SBC with the differences between model A and model B being the addition of a wireless module and support for PoE for the latter. If you’re worried about cooling, a variant of Rock Pi 4 heatsink ($7.99) will certainly be made.
(Score: 5, Informative) by janrinok on Friday September 13 2019, @09:05AM (1 child)
The latest RPi's and similar can support a desktop if you only use it for web browsing, email and an office suite of applications. However, they are not really up to compiling large programs or managing a business in my opinion. Some will say otherwise, but it depends very much how much grunt power you actually need for your normal usage. Looking at pictures or watching a streamed video is perfectly possible, video editing I would say is not or rather I imagine that it would be slow and tedious - although I have never actually bothered to try it. I'm guessing, but I would say it would match most smart phones in power for usual desktop tasks, but with the benefit that you can have a full size keyboard and display if that is what you want.
I know that some RPi's have been used as point-of-sale terminals however, I have not seen any reporting on how happy the users have been with them. The limit is really your imagination but the majority are used, not as stand-alone desktops, but to do those tasks for which a full-size computer would be overkill in terms of power and cost e.g. as as a local server, or extending the range of a wifi router, etc [computerworld.com]. I have one that is permanently logged on to SN (and simultaneously doing other tasks) and triggering a warning if stories are not being published, or if the site is unavailable. I could use it for the editing role, but as I already have multiple screens running from a multi-core desktop that is my preferred choice when work needs to be done.
Only you can decide if the RPi would meet your needs in a desktop computer. A RPi cannot compete with a modern multi-core processor, 16Gb+ of memory, and a dedicated graphics card but could easily hold it's own against Windows XP or similar - and there are thousands of computers doing just that around the globe. The advantage of having Linux as the OS is that it is vary easy to install only those programs that you want and thus you are not trying to run a full equivalent of Windows 10 with all of the additional apps that you get with such an install. If you choose a sensible browser the web experience can be perfectly acceptable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 13 2019, @10:10AM
Thank you.
I'm surprised that streaming videos can work, but I guess it's the hardware acceleration that's doing it.
In principle these are more powerful than typical desktops 20 years ago, and if they are as resilient then I would personally see them as desktop computers in many settings.