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April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 13 Comments

Linux and Memory Performance on an Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Phantom Canyon NUC11PHKi7C

I’ve already looked at Windows performance on the NUC11PHKi7C Enthusiast Phantom Canyon which is Intel’s latest NUC 11 flagship product specifically targeting gamers as it includes an NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU. Now it is the turn of Linux and like before I will compare performance against Intel’s previous NUC with a discrete GPU: the NUC 9 Extreme Ghost Canyon. I will also briefly revisit Windows performance by looking at the impact of using 3200MHz memory as opposed to the 2400MHz used during the previous review. Hardware Overview As a reminder, the NUC11PHKi7C physically consists of a 221 x 142 x 42 mm (8.70 x 5.59 x 1.65 inches) rectangular plastic case. It is an actively cooled mini PC and uses Intel’s 10 nm Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake processor which is a quad-core 8-thread 2.80 GHz processor boosting to 4.70 GHz with Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics and the NUC also includes an NVIDIA N18E-G1-B notebook graphics card which is a GeForce […]

April 1, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Ryzen Embedded V2000 COM Express Module supports up to 1TB NVMe SSD, 64GB DDR4

We’ve already covered some COM Express modules based on AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors with products like ADLINK cExpress-AR COM Express Type 6 Compact computer-on-module, but Kontron COMe-bV26 is the first we’ve seen that follow COM Express Basic Type 6 standard. The module supports up to 64GB DDR4 via two SO-DIMM connectors, up to 1TB NVMe onboard SSD, exposes 8x PCIe lanes, and with an 8-core/16-thread Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor is well-suited to IoT edge devices that must perform parallel processing tasks. Kontron COMe-bV26 specifications: AMD Embedded V2000 SoC AMD V2748 octa-core/16-thread processor @ 2.9 GHz / 4.15 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB L2 cache, 7CUs Radeon RX Vega 7 GPU @ 1.6 GHz; TDP: 35-54W AMD V2718 octa-core/16-thread processor @ 1.7 GHz / 4.15 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB L2 cache, 7CUs Radeon RX Vega 7 GPU @ 1.6 GHz; TDP: 10-25W AMD V2546 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 3.0 GHz / 3.95 GHz (turbo) with 3 MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon […]

March 22, 2021March 21, 2021 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 14 Comments

Windows Performance on an Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast Phantom Canyon NUC11PHKi7C

The Enthusiast Phantom Canyon is Intel’s flagship product from its latest NUC 11 range of mini PCs. Specifically targeting gamers it includes an NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU. In this article, I take a brief look at the performance under Windows and compare it against Intel’s previous NUC with a discrete GPU: the NUC 9 Extreme Ghost Canyon. Hardware Overview The NUC11PHKi7C physically consists of a 221 x 142 x 42 mm (8.70 x 5.59 x 1.65 inches) rectangular plastic case which is remarkable because of its size and is similar to just a graphics card like NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition (229 x 113 x 35 mm). It is an actively cooled mini PC and uses Intel’s 10 nm Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake processor which is a quad-core 8-thread 2.80 GHz processor boosting to 4.70 GHz with Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics. But it also includes NVIDIA’s N18E-G1-B notebook graphics card which is a GeForce RTX 2060 mobile GPU. As […]

March 11, 2021April 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Crowbits Master Kit Review – Part 1: A first look at the ESP32 based education kit

Crowbits STEM education kits comprised of magnetic modules launched on Kickstarter a couple of weeks ago. There are five kits increasing in difficulty with the Hello Kit just requiring the student to connect modules to get started, i.e. no programming required, to the Crowbits Master Kit based on a battery-powered ESP32 module suitable to create your own phone, portable game console, radar tower, etc… Elecrow sent me the latter for evaluation, and in the first part of the review, I’ll unbox the kit, see how modules mechanically fit together, and have a quick look at the user manual, before trying one or two projects from the manual in the second part. This is the second STEAM product from Elecrow that I review, as I reviewed CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 laptop last year. Let’s open the package. We have a total of six modules with two joysticks, an ESP32 module with TFT display and battery, a laser ranging sensor, a keyboard, […]

February 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Commell LP-179 Pico-ITX motherboard ships with Intel Tiger Lake UP3 embedded processor

Intel first introduced Core i3/i5/i7 Tiger Lake UP3 processors with Intel Xe graphics in early September 2020, soon followed with embedded versions of Tiger Lake UP3 a couple of weeks later, and then Celeron 6305E, still for embedded & IoT applications, with support for features such as 2.5GbE and quad-display support. We’ve already seen some Tiger Lake UP3 motherboards with AAEON UP Xtreme i11 (122 x 120 mm) and IEI tKINO-ULT6 mini-ITX SBC, but if you’d like a more compact Tiger Lake solution, Commell LP-179 Pico-ITX motherboard may be an option with a choice of Core i7-1185G7E or Celeron 6305E processor. Commell LP-179 specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/octa-thread Tiger Lake UP3 embedded processor @ 1.8 GHz / 4.4 GHz (Turbo) with 12MB cache, 96EU Intel Iris Xe graphics; 12 to 28W TDP Intel Celeron 6305E dual-core Tiger Lake UP3 embedded processor @ 1.8 GHz (No Turbo frequency) with 4MB cache, 48EU Intel UHD Graphics; 12 […]

February 1, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

microByte ESP32 portable game console comes with a 1.3-inch display (Crowdfunding)

microByte ESP32-portable-game console 1.3-inch display

We’ve previously seen programmable, portable game consoles powered by Espressif Systems ESP32 processor with the likes of ODROID-GO or WiFiBoy32 both equipped with a 2.4-inch display, and design to play retro games or create IoT projects with a small display thanks to I/O headers. But if for some reason, you’d like an even more compact ESP32 portable game console based on the WiFi & Bluetooth SoC, Byte-Mix Labs microByte may be what you are looking for thanks to a tiny 1.3-inch square display. microByte specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER-E module with ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz, 8 MB PSRAM, 16 MB flash, and integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna Storage – MIcroSD card slot Display – 1.3-inch ST7789 IPS Screen with 240 x 240 pixel resolution, 60 Hz max refresh frequency Audio – On-board speaker powered by a MAX98357AETE+T I2S amplifier Controls – 13x onboard buttons with 8x Inductive direction and action buttons with rubber membranes, 3x additional buttons (Start, […]

January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Lenovo LAVIE MINI 8-inch mini laptop to come with optional desktop and gaming docks

Lenovo LAVIE MINI mini laptop game controllers

In the last two years or so, we’ve seen several so-called mini laptops with screen sizes from 5-inch to 8-inch mostly from smaller companies like GPD and One Netbook, but also CHUWI to a lesser extent. Now Lenovo has entered the fray with LAVIE MINI mini laptop powered by an Intel Tiger Lake processor and equipped with an 8-inch touchscreen display. The device is also offered with optional accessories including an HDMI desktop docking station and a gaming dock with two game controllers. Lenovo LAVIE MINI preliminary specifications: SoC – Intel Tiger Lake with Intel Xe graphics up to Intel Core i7-1180G7 SoC System Memory – 16GB LPDDR4x-4266 dual-channel memory (soldered) Storage – 256GB SSD Display – 8-inch touchscreen display with 1920 x 1200 resolution, 400 nits brightness Audio – 1.5W stereo speakers Camera – IR camera with Windows Hello face recognition Connectivity – WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.1 User input – Backlit keyboard & optical touch sensor USB – […]

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 mini-STX SBC to power gaming machines, digital signage, PoS…

SAPPHIRE introduced the FS-FP5V 5-inch SBC powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 processor in 2018, followed by FS-FP5R board based on AMD Ryzen R1000 processor the following year. But with the launch of AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor family in 2020, it should come as no surprise that Sapphire has also introduced a new 5″x5″ mini-STX SBC powered by Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoCs with Sapphire (V2000) FS-FP6. Sapphire FS-FP6 specifications Specifications with differences against FS-FP5V highlighted in bold: SoC AMD Ryzen Embedded V2516 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 2.1 GHz / 3.95 GHz (Turbo) with 3MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 10-25W TDP (15W default) AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 3.0 GHz / 3.95 GHz (turbo) with 3 MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 35-54W TDP (45W default) AMD Ryzen Embedded V2718 octa-core/16-thread processor @ 1.7 GHz / 4.15 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB L2 […]