Raspberry Pi 4 Benchmarks – Heatsink Edition

Raspberry Pi 4 Heatsink

A few days ago, I ran some benchmarks in Raspberry Pi 4, and quickly found out that using the board without a cooling solution will cause serious performance issues, as in some cases my board was slower than Raspberry Pi 3 model B due to severe overheating. After playing with LibreELEC yesterday, I’ve now reinstalled Raspbian Buster Desktop on the board, and fitted it with a largish heatsink and some old thermal paste. So I’ll run benchmarks again with and without heatsink. I’ll only run sbc-bench this time. SBC Bench Installation Open a terminal windows or connect to the board through SSH and run:

Raspbian Buster will automatically fetch the latest operating systems packages upon first boot, but apparently not the latest firmware:

So I ran rpi-update to get the very latest firmware as well, and rebooted the board:

Normally, you should not have to do it, […]

NanoPi M4 RK3399 SBC Price Drops to $50 and Up

NanoPi M4

The launch of Raspberry Pi 4 SBC has generated lots of interest, especially with the extra performance and low $35 price tag that has made most alternatives suddenly less interesting. However, Raspberry Pi 4 benchmarks show it’s not quite the fastest board around, and for example, Rockchip RK3399 platforms are still quite faster, sometimes as much as twice as fast. They do cost much more though, often more than twice, and so far one of the cheapest RK3399 boards was NanoPi M4 going for $65. FriendlyELEC has now decided, certainly in response to Raspberry Pi 4 offering, to lower the price to $50 for the 2GB RAM version which compares to $45 with Raspberry Pi 4 2GB, as well as $75 for the 4GB RAM version (was $95). NanoPi M4 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexa-core processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A72 @ up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ up […]

MediaTek Helio P65 Octa-core Processor Combines Cortex-A75/A55 Cores with Arm Mali-G52 GPU

Mediatek Helio P65

MediaTek Helio P65 is a mainstream’s octa-core processor with two Arm Cortex-A75 clocked at up to 2.0 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores combined with an Arm Mali-G52 2EEMC2 GPU. What does 2EEMC2 mean you may ask? Well, I have absolutely no idea either, and MediaTek did not bother expanding on the subject. Nevertheless, Helio P65 is said to deliver 25% performance improvement over “competitor alternatives that use older generation cores”, and twice the AI performance over previous generation mainstream Helio series, and up to 30% faster performance versus direct competitor SoCs in AI-camera tasks such as object recognition (Google Lens). The processor also implements VoW (Voice on Wakeup) capability which the company claims “optimizes platform size and power use”, and separates the audio channels for voice commands and calls from media and games in order to deliver better audio quality. MediaTek Helio P65 specifications: Processor – 6x Arm Cortex-A55, 2x […]

Pi-Top [4] mini-PC runs the New Raspberry Pi 4

pi top [4]

The features and design have changed, but the reliability and the advanced processing capability are all the well-known new Raspberry Pi 4, housed in the new Pi-Top [4]. The popular platform has come out with a portable design with expanded connectivity, scalability, and increased processing capabilities. It boasts an OLED display in a mini-PC form-factor that the company has announced will go on sale on Kickstarter. The SBC industry is seeing a general increase in features and processing ability. Added device connectivity, especially in multimedia capability. The Pi-Top [4] is no exception. The laptop version of Pi-Top is still a viable computer with many features for an SBC footprint. The new Pi-Top [4] mini-PC has expanded RAM, increased ports, and comes with an inventor’s kit. The Pi-Top [4] comes with a roster of accessories that include; sensors, LED’s, and potentiometers to get those just beginning their journey on the path […]

4K Video Playback on Raspberry Pi 4 with LibreELEC (Alpha)

LibreELEC Raspberry Pi 4K

In my short Raspberry Pi 4 review, I tested 4K video output and playback in Raspbian, and sadly neither are working properly, with video output stuck to 1080p60 even after selecting 4K HDMI in the settings and yes, I double checked for “hdmi_enable_4k=1” in config.txt, while H.265 video playback is still clearly using software decode in both VLC and omxplayer. However, LibreELEC team announced support for Raspberry Pi 4 in LibreELEC 9.2 Alpha1 release based on Kodi 18.3 and Linux 4.19.x. So I downloaded LibreELEC-RPi4.arm-9.1.001.img.gz and flash it to a microSD card with balenaEtcher. The good news is that I could manually set the resolution to 3840×2160 and confirm it works with my TV, but the refresh is limited to 30 Hz maximum. Other refresh rates currently available include 23.98 Hz, 24 Hz, 25 Hz, and 29.97 Hz. The hardware is capable if 4K 60Hz, so it’s just a question […]

GPD P2 Max 8.9″ Ultrabook Launched on Indiegogo for $530 and Up

GPD P2 Max

The previously unveiled GPD Pocket 2 Max has now launched on Indiegogo under the name GPD P2 Max. The mini laptop, which the company refers to as an Ultrabook, is powered by an Intel Core m3-8100Y Amber Lake processor coupled with up to 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage and features an 8.9″ high-resolution touchscreen display. Beside the Amber Lake processor, the company is also offering a lower cost model with an Intel Celeron 3965Y Kaby Lake-Y processor going for $530 in Indiegogo, against the $705 asked for the Intel Core m3-8100Y Ultrabook. GPD P2 Max Ultrabook specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Celeron 3965Y dual-core Kaby Lake processor @ 1.50 GHz with Intel HD graphics 615; 6W TDP Intel Core m3-8100Y dual-core/quad-thread Amber Lake processor @ 1.1 / 3.4 (Turbo) GHz with 24EU Intel UHD Graphics 615; 5W TDP, but configured with TDP-up @ 8W System Memory & […]

Banana BPI-P2 Maker SBC with PoE Support Sells for $13 and Up (Promo)

Banana Pi BPI-P2 Maker PoE Module

Last year SinoVoIP introduced Banana BPI-P2 Zero board powered by Allwinner H2+ processor with 512MB, 10/100M Ethernet with Power-over-Ethernet, WiFi & Bluetooth, a mini HDMI port, and an 8 GB eMMC flash. They also launched a lower cost version without eMMC flash nor wireless module for $16, and the optional PoE module going for $6 extra. The company is now selling the board at a promotional price of $13 without PoE, and $19 with RT9600 POE module. The shipping fee is not included in those prices however, and in my case, the prices end up at respectively about $25 and $31 with shipping. Banana Pi BPI-P2 Maker specifications: SoC – Allwinner H2+ quad-core Arm Cortex A7 processor with Mali-400MP GPU. System Memory – 512MB DDR3 SDRAM. Storage – microSD card slot Video Output – mini HDMI port Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet with optional PoE support Camera I/F – Parallel CSI […]

Vosen V1 S905X2 Android TV Box Doubles as a Home Gateway with IR Blaster and Z-Wave Support

Vosen V1 4K TV Box & Automation Gateway

At first look, Vosen V1 appears to be like any other 4K HDR Android TV box powered by Amlogic S905X2 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, but it offers a bit more thanks to a built-in IR blaster allowing you to control other appliances in the room such as air conditioner, television, or A/V receiver. The box can be further enhanced by plugging-in a Z-Wave USB adapter to control & monitor even more compatible devices around the house such as light bulbs or water-leak sensors. Vosen V1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X2 quad core Arm Cortex-A53 with Mali-G31 MP2  GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot up to 32GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.1 output up to 4K @ 75 Hz with HDR, 3.5mm AV port (composite + stereo audio) Video Codecs –  VP9 Profile-2 up to 4K 60fps, 10-bit H.265/HEVC up to […]

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