[GTALUG] inexpensive X86 Single Board Computer

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Mon, Oct 05, 2020 at 10:54:51AM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
> Seeed sent me an ad/newsletter describing a potentially interesting SBC.
> 
> <https://www.seeedstudio.com/Rock-Pi-X-Model-B-4GB-p-4277.html>
> 
> (Seeed is a Chinese company that's a bit like Adafruit.  If you like
> SBCs and playing with circuit's, Seeed's newsletter is worth
> subscribing to.  It's not just advertising.)
> 
> Summary: quite a bit of machine for the price.  But fairly niche.  You
> will likely want to add a case , a power supply, and a battery for the
> clock.  Software support is really easy since it is X86-64.
> 
> Details:
> 
> Rock Pi X B4E32 pre-order: US$75 + shipping
> 
> - Atom X5-Z8350 (old Atom; 64-bit)
> 
> - 4GiB RAM (64-bit dual channel)
> 
> - 32G eMMC. Should be faster than SD.  Large enough for a full Linux
>   distro.
> 
> - microSD socket
> 
> - HDMI 2.0 up to 4k at 30Hz (I would have expected HDMI 1.x; this doesn't 
>   seem to match Intel's spec for the chip)

Not sure what makes it HDMI 2.0, since 4k at 30Hz is HDMI 1.4 speed.
Could also be they are wrong and it is in fact HDMI 1.4.

> - WiFi 802.11ac
> 
> - BlueTooth 4.2
> 
> - gigabit ethernet
> 
> - one USB 3.0 (OTG: can be host or device, if I understand correctly)
> 
> - three USB 2.0
> 
> - a 40-pin expansion header for hanging your circuits off
> 
> 
> My Impression:
> 
> - quite a lot for the same price as a Raspberry Pi 4 with 8GiB of RAM
> 
> - processor is old: introduced in early 2016 but little different from 
>   z8500 introduced in early 2015.  "Cherry Trail"
> 
> - I have a tiny PC (a Kangaroo) with the similar z8500 processor.  It 
>   doesn't quite cut it for streaming video under Windows 10 at FullHD.  
>   By that I mean:  it works but sometimes struggles.  Intel's site 
>   suggests that the Z8500 should be faster but perhaps cooling is an issue 
>   on my Kangaroo or the 2 GiB RAM is pinching
> 	<https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=85474,93361>

Interesting little board though.  Not that I have any use for one at
this time.

-- 
Len Sorensen