LattePanda Sigma - An Intel Core i5-1340P Raptor Lake SBC with ATmega32U4 MCU for Arduino support

LattePanda Sigma is a 3.5-inch single board computer (SBC) with an Intel Core i5-1340P Raptor Lake-P processor and a Microchip ATmega32U4 microcontroller to control I/Os with Arduino programming.

The board comes with 16GB soldered-on LPDDR5 RAM, supports M.2 NVMe/SATA SSDs and SATA drives for storage, offers HDMI 2.1, eDP, and USB-C DisplayPort video outputs, dual 2.5GbE networking, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and three M.2 sockets for expansion sich as WiFi or 4G/5G modules.

LattePanda Sigma specification

SoC – Intel Core i5-1340P 12-core (4P+8E)/16-thread Raptor Lake hybrid processor @ up to 4.6 GHz (Performance cores), 3.4GHz (Efficient cores), 12MB L2 Cache, 80EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics @ up to 1.45 GHz; PBP: 28 W
MCU – Microchip ATmega32U4-MU 8-bit AVR microcontroller with 32 KB flash, 2.5 KB SRAM, 1 KB EEPROM
System Memory – 16GB dual-channel LPDDR5-6400
Storage – M.2 SSD (NVMe/SATA) socket, SATA III port
Display I/F
- HDMI 2.1 up to 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
- 40-pin Embedded Display Port (eDP) 1.4b up to 4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
- 2x USB Type-C port with DP 1.4a alt-mode up to 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz (one monitor only at 8K resolution)
- Support for up to four independent displays
Audio – 3.5mm heapdhone+mic jack, digital audio for HDMI and USB-C
Networking
- 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Intel i225-V controllers with WoL support
- Support for M.2 Wireless Module (PCIe/CNVio)
- Support for M.2 4G LTE/5G cellular module + plus micro SIM card slot
USB
- 2x USB4/Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) ports
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) Type-A ports
- 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
- 4-pin header with USB 2.0
Serial – 9-pin header for RS232/RS485
Expansion
- M.2 M Key 2280 socket (PCIe 3.0 x4)
- M.2 B Key 2242/2252/2280 socket (SATA III/PCIe 3.0 x1, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, SIM)
- M.2 E Key 2230 socket (PCIe 3.0 x1, USB 2.0, Intel CNVio)
- 34-pin GPIO header with ATmega32U4 I/O pins, 5V power, S0/S3/S4 state pins
Security – TPM 2.0
Misc
- 4-pin header for 12V PWM fan
- 2.54mm pitch 9-pin front panel header for Power & Reset buttons, various LEDs
- 2.54mm pitch 9-pin audio header for Line-Out, Mic-in
- RTC battery holder (3V CR1220)
- BIOS features: auto power on, watchdog timer, serial redirection
Power Supply
- 12V to 20V DC via 5.5mm x 2.5mm power barrel jack
- Up to 20V USB Type C (PD) port
- 8-pin power connector for integration into devices like robots or drones
- 1.27mm pitch 2-pin connector for 3.3V
Dimensions – 146 x 102 mm (3.5-inch SBC)
Temperature Range – 0 to 45°C
Relative Humidity – 0%~80%

The LattePanda Sigma ships with a pre-assembled cooling fan, a metal protective bottom plate, two thermal pads for M.2 SSDs, a 19VDC/4.74A (90W) power adapter with DC cable and adapter for EU, US, and UK ACp plugs, an RTC battery (assembled), and a user manual.

DFRobot lists Windows 10, Windows 11, and Ubuntu 22.04 operating systems for the board, but the work-in-progress wiki also mentions other supported operating systems including Rocky Linux
9.1, TrueNAS CORE 13.0-U4, or OPNsense 23.1. However, Android and ChromeOS Flex do not seem to be supported at all, while Proxmox, VMware ESXi, and Windows Server will only work after installing some drivers.

The Intel Core i5-1340P processor found in the LattePanda Sigma is shown to outperform Intel Core i9-9900K, Apple M2, and AMD Ryzen 7 2700X in Cinebench R23 multi-core benchmarks with the 16 threads certainly helping here.

DFRobot does not highlight Arduino support with the ATMega32u microcontroller, but the LattePanda Sigma is a descendant of the LattePanda V1 SBC launched in 2015 with an Intel Atom x5-Z8500 processor that features the exact same Atmel (now Microchip) ATMega32U MCU, and latter followed by the LattePanda Alpha and Delta with respectively Kaby Lake & Gemini Lake processors.

Two models of the LattePanda Sigma SBC are available for $579 and up on the DFRobot shop. The DFR1080 with 16GB RAM, but no SSD nor WiFi, and the DFR1081 going for $648 with a 500GB SSD and a WiFi 6E M.2 module. The company also offers a Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) for $65 to people who order their Raptor Lake SBC. They say they have enough stock and the Pi will be shipped along with the Sigma board. I suppose that’s a way to purchase a hard-to-get Raspberry Pi 4 if you also happen to need an x86 SBC, and the “promotion” is valid until May 31.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.