2.5GbE News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

MINIX X100-0DB fanless Intel N100 mini PC supports 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 networking

Companies keep on releasing new Intel Processor N100 mini PCs, and the latest one is the MINIX X100-DB fanless mini PC with support for 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 networking, and dual display setups through two HDMI ports. The mini PC is said to support up to 32GB RAM, ships with up to 512GB NVMe SSD, and comes with the usual USB 3.2/2.0 ports, microSD card slot, and 3.5mm audio. The “0DB” name comes from the fact that it is a fanless system as shown on the top of the top device with the string “ZERO dB Cooling System”. MINIX X100-0DB specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB DDDR4-3200, upgradable to 32GB Storage 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB M.2 SSD (PCIe Gen3 x4), upgradable […]

December 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM A5 Review – Part 3: An AMD Ryzen 7 5800H mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04

In the first part of GEEKOM A5 mini PC review, we had a look at the hardware with an unboxing and teardown, we then reviewed the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H mini PC with Windows 11 Pro in the second part, and we’ve now had time to test the GEEKOM A5 mini PC with Ubuntu 22.04 to check how well it can work in Linux, and we’ll report our experience in this article. Installing Ubuntu 22.04 on GEEKOM A5 We shrank the Windows 11 partition by half to install Ubuntu 22.04 in dual boot configuration alongside the operating system from Microsoft. Ubuntu 22.04.3 was installed successfully using a USB drive. and everything went relatively smoothly, except WiFi didn’t work reliably (more than that later). So we had to use Ethernet for most of the review, and we used the GL.iNet Spitz AX router (GL-X3000NR) configured in repeater mode using an Ethernet […]

November 27, 2023November 27, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 32 Comments

FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit comes with four M.2 Key-M 2280 PCIe Gen 3 x1 sockets

FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit is a new Rockchip RK3588 board with four M.2 Key-M sockets each with a PCIe Gen 3 x1 interface and designed to take 2280 NVMe SSDs or other M.2 PCIe modules. Equipped with the CM3588 Core system-on-module, the feature-rich CM3588 NAS SDK board also comes with a 2.5GbE RJ45 connector, two HDMI 2.1 video outputs, one HDMI 2.0 video input, MIPI DSI and CSI connectors, several USB 3.0/3.1 ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion. FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit specifications: System-on-Module – CM3588 Core board SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – 4x Cortex‑A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex‑A55 core @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 “Odin” GPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8 Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder AI accelerator – 6 TOPS NPU System Memory – 4GB, […]

November 26, 2023November 26, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT13 review – Part 3: Ubuntu 22.04 tested on an Intel Core i9-13900H mini PC

We published the review of the Core i9-13900H powered GEEKOM Mini IT13 mini PC in Windows 11 Pro earlier this week and have now installed Ubuntu 22.04 and tested the machine with the Linux-based operating system in detail with benchmarks, features testing, networking and storage performance tests, power consumption, and thermal performance which we will report in this third and final part of the review. Installing Ubuntu 22.04 on GEEKOM Mini IT13 I shrank the Windows partition by about 500 MB in Disk Management in Windows 11 (Disk 1) in order to install Ubuntu 22.04.3 in dual boot configuration. The installation went smoothly using WiFi 6 to retrieve newer files and I could log in to the Ubuntu 22.04 desktop. But there was a trick, as I had to go to Windows first to select “Advanced Startup” and select Ubuntu on the next boot since the GRUB menu would just […]

November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Banana Pi BPI-R4 WiFi 7 router board is powered by a MediaTek Filogic 880 processor

Banana Pi BPI-R4 is a WiFi 7 router board powered by the MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Corex-A73 processor with 4GB DDR4 RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, and 128MB SPI-NAND flash. The board also comes with two 10GbE SFP cages, four Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, a USB 3.2 port, as well as an M.2 socket for a 4G/5G modem or an NVMe SSD, and two mini PCIe slots with PCIe 3.0 to support WiFi 7. Banana Pi BPI-R4 specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Corex-A73 processor @ 1.8GHz with AI-powered packet accelerator System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 128MB SPI NAND Flash, microSD card slot, M.2 Key M for NVMe SSD (see Expansion section for details) Networking 2x 10GbE SFP cages (option for 1x 10Gbe SFP cage and 1x 2.5Gbe PHY) 4x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports (1x WAN and 3x LAN) USB – […]

November 23, 2023November 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT13 Review – Part 2: An Intel Core i9-13900H mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

Earlier this month, we had a look at GEEKOM Mini IT13 hardware, a mini PC powered by an Intel Core i9-13900H Raptor Lake processor and equipped with 32GB RAM, a 2TB NVMe SSD, 8K capable HDMI and USB-C video outputs, and several high-speed ports such as 2.5GbE and Thunderbolt 4. We’ve now had time to test the powerful mini PC with the preinstalled Windows 11 Pro operating system, in the second part of the GEEKOM Mini IT13 review, we’ll report our experience with the device with features testing, various benchmarks, power consumption number, and thermal performance under load. Software overview and features testing GEEKOM Mini IT13 ships with Windows 11 Pro 22H2 build 22621.23.61 and the System->About window confirms we have a mini PC powered by an Intel Core i9-13900H and equipped with 32GB RAM. HWiNFO64 provides more details about the Intel Core i9-13900H 14-core/20-thread Raptor Lake processor, the motherboard, […]

November 22, 2023November 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Banana Pi BPI-M7 – A thin Rockchip RK3588 SBC with dual 2.5GbE, M.2 NVMe storage, HDMI 2.1, and more

Banana Pi is working on the upcoming Banana Pi BPI-M7 SBC powered by Rockchip RK3588 SoC whose low profile design reminds me of boards from Khadas such as the Khadas Edge2 or VIM4 SBCs but with a few extra ports thanks to the larger form factor. The Banana Pi BPI-M7 single board computer is equipped with up to 32GB RAM and 128GB eMMC flash, and features an M.2 2280 socket for one NVMe SSD, three display interfaces (HDMI, USB-C, MIPI DSI), two camera connectors, dual 2.5GbE, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, a few USB ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion. Banana Pi BPI-M7 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with CPU – 4x Cortex‑A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex‑A55 core @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 “Odin” GPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, […]

November 21, 2023November 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC and router review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot

iKOOLCORE R2 is an Intel Alder-Lake-N mini PC and network appliance (router/firewall/gateway) that comes with four 2.5GbE ports, up to 16GB RAM, NVMe storage, and the usual HDMI and USB ports, and offered with either Processor N95 or Core i3-N305 SoC. It’s the successor of the iKOOLCORE R1 with four gigabit Ethernet ports and Intel Celeron N5095 or Jasper Lake processor, and the company sent us a sample for testing, so we’ll start with listing the specifications, check out the mini PC and accessories with an unboxing, teardown the multilayer mini PC to check out the hardware design and explain how to update the SSD or install a wireless module, and check whether it can still boot to Windows 11 (default, preinstalled OS) after my adventurous teardown… iKOOCORE R2 specifications Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N95 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD […]