Rockchip RK3568-powered ASUS Tinker Board 3N is now available in three variants

ASUS Tinker Board 3N

The ASUS Tinker board 3 was first unveiled in April 2023 before being renamed as Tinker Board 3N later that year, and the three variants of the Rockchip RK3568 single board computer (SBC) are now available. The standard configuration is the Tinker Board 3N in the commercial temperature range, while the Tinker Board 3N Plus has the same features, except it can operate in the industrial temperature range (-40°C to 85°C). The Tinker Board 3N Lite is a cost-down version in the same form factor, but with a single gigabit Ethernet port without PoE support, no M.2 B-key socket for an NVMe SSD or 4G/5G cellular connectivity, no 16MB SPI flash, fewer serial interfaces, and no CAN Bus. You’ll find a comparison of the specifications for the three variants in the table below. Note the prices above are from Amazon with a 10% discount when applicable. ASUS provides support for […]

2023 Year in review – Top 10 posts, statistics, and what to expect in 2024

CNX Software Happy New Year 2024

It’s the last day and last article of the year, so we will look at some highlights of 2023, some traffic statistics on the CNX Software website, and speculate what interesting developments may happen in 2024. Looking back at 2023 The semiconductor shortage that had happened since 2020 started to fade away in early 2023, and supplies for most electronics components and devices seem to be adequate at this time, so that was a bright spot this year, and hopefully, it will stay that way in 2024 despite geopolitical tensions. We did not have any super exciting new Arm application processors from Rockchip, Amlogic, or Allwinner announced this year, although the Amlogic S928X penta-core Cortex-A76/A55 CPU started to show up in some 8K TV boxes. The launch of the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 processor was probably the main highlight for Arm on this side […]

ASUS ExpertCenter PN42 mini PC with Intel Processor N100 launched for $220 and up

ASUS ExpertCenter PN42

We’ve covered several Intel Processor N100 mini PC, mostly from smaller Chinese companies with models such as the Morefine M9, the ZX01 Plus/Topton M6S, or the Beelink EQ12 which we reviewed with Windows 11, TrueNAS, pfSense, Ubuntu, etc… But if you prefer to rely on more established brands, the MSI Cubi N ADL is an option for $289 on Amazon with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage, or the ASUS ExpertCenter PN42 fanless Intel N100 mini PC which is now listed for pre-order on B&H for $220 and up. ASUS ExperCenter PN42 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics; TDP: 6W System Memory – Up to 16GB single-channel DDR4 3200MHz memory via one SO-DIMM socket Storage – 1x M.2 22080 PCIe 3.0 x4 socket for NVMe SSD Video Output HDMI DisplayPort 1.4 up to 4Kp60 […]

GEEKOM AS 6 mini PC review – Part 3: Ubuntu 22.04 Linux

GEEKOM AS 6 Ubuntu 22.04 Review

We’ve already checked out GEEKOM AS 6 (ASUS PN53) mini PC’s hardware based on AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU, have tested its performance and features in Windows 11 in the second part of the review, and we’ve now taken the time to review GEEKOM AS 6 (Ryzen 9 6900HX) with Ubuntu 22.04 Linux operating system.

We had to disable BitLocker disk encryption in Windows 11, before resizing the partition in the Disk Management program in order to install Ubuntu 22.04 from a USB flash drive. The installation went smoothly once we disable BitLocker.

Ubuntu 22.04 system information

ASUS PRIME N100I-D D4 – An Intel Processor N100 mini-ITX motherboard

ASUS PRIME N100I D D4

ASUS PRIME N100I-D D4 is a fanless mini-ITX motherboard based on the Intel Processor N100 quad-core “Alder Lake-N” processor with up to 16GB DDR4, M.2 NVME SSD and SATA storage, and three video outputs via HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA ports. The motherboard also comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port, six USB 3.2/2.0 ports, a COM port, and a 3.5mm audio jacks combo with Line In, Line Out, and Microphone input, plus a PS/2 connector, and a 24-pin ATX connector for power. ASUS PRIME N100I-D D4 preliminary specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Efficient “Alder Lake-N” processor clocked at up to 3.4 GHz with 24EU Intel UHD graphics up to 750 MHz System Memory – Up to 16B DDR4-3200 memory via DDR4 SO-DIMM slot Storage 1x M.2 2280 socket (PCIe Gen3 x2) for NVMe SSD 1x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connector Video Output 1x HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60 resolution, HDCP […]

GEEKOM AS 6 review – Part 2: An AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

GEEKOM AS 6 Windows 11 Pro

We’ve previously checked out the hardware of the GEEKOM AS 6 mini PC, the retail version of the ASUS PN53, using an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU with unboxing, teardown, and the first boot in the first part of the review. We’ve now spent more time with Windows 11 Pro on GEEKOM AS 6 for a thorough review, it’s one of the fastest mini PCs we’ve tested so far, and there are only a few downsides as we’ll see in the second part of the review. Software overview and features testing Our GEEKOM AS 6 sample shipped with Windows 11 Pro 21H2 build 22000.1281, and Windows system information confirms we have a system with a 3.3 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU and 32GB RAM. If we look at more details, we can confirm the reported specifications match the advertised ones with an 8-core/16-thread CPU, an ASUS PN53 motherboard, etc… […]

AMD Ryzen Z1 “Zen4” processors target Windows-based handheld gaming consoles

AMD Ryzen Z1

AMD has just unveiled the new power-efficient Ryzen Z1 “Zen4” Series processor family designed for handheld gaming consoles running Windows and equipped with AMD RDNA 3 architecture-based graphics. The new series features two processors at launch, namely the Ryzen Z1 hexa-core processor with 4 RDNA 3 Compute Units and the Ryzen Z1 Extreme octa-core processor with 12 RDNA 3 Computer Units for “ultimate high-performance for handheld gaming”. Highlights of Ryzen Z1 and Z1 extreme specifications: Both processors support LPDDR5/LPDDR5x memory, and USB4 interface, as well as the following AMD technologies: AMD Link – Mobile app to connect your phone, tablet, TV, or Windows-based PC, and stream games. AMD Radeon Super Resolution – In-driver feature upscaling lower resolutions set in-game to the native resolution of the active display for higher FPS performance. AMD Radeon Boost – Dynamically lowers the resolution of the entire frame when fast on-screen character motion is detected […]

ASUS unveils Tinker V RISC-V single board computer, Tinker board 3 SBC with Rockchip RK3568 SoC

ASUS Tinker V RISC-V SBC

ASUS IoT has added two new members to the Tinker board family with the Tinker V and Tinker Board 3 single board computers powered by respectively Renesas RZ/Five single-core RISC-V SoC and Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor. ASUS Tinker V RISC-V SBC Tinker V specifications: SoC – Renesas RZ/Five single core AndesCore AX45MP RISC-V processor clocked at 1.0 GHz System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage – MicroSD card slot, optional 16GB eMMC flash, optional SPI flash Networking – 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports USB – 1x Micro USB port, 1x Micro USB (OTG) port Serial – 2x CAN Bus via 6-pin terminal block 2x COM RS232 via 5-pin terminal block Expansion – 20-pin GPIO header with up to 2x UART, 2x I2C, 4x GPIO, 2x ADC, 1x SPI, 3.3V, and GND Debugging – JTAG pin header Power Supply – 10 to 24V DC via 5.5/2.5 mm DC barrel jack […]

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