The 11th edition of CNX Software giveaway week is underway! We have seven items to give away this time around: six review samples I will send myself and one from a company offering one of its cellular IoT development kits… The contest is open worldwide, and CNX Software Thailand is also joining the fun with four additional items available to people with an address in Thailand. The first prize of this year’s giveaway is Shenzhen MILK-V Technology’s Jupiter RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard powered by a 1.8 GHz SpacemiT K1/M1 octa-core processor, equipped with 16GB LPDDR4x, and various interfaces and features such as M.2 PCIe 2.0 x2 socket for an NVMe SSD, a 4K-capable HDMI video output, two gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5 module, and more. I reviewed the Jupiter mini-ITX motherboard with Ubuntu-based Bianbu OS and an Auriga 6-Bay NAS mini-ITX chassis last August and the results were […]
GEEKOM GT1 Mega AI mini PC Review – Part 1: Specifications, unboxing, teardown, and first boot
GEEKOM GT1 Mega is an AI mini PC based on the latest Intel Core Ultra 5/7/9 Meteor Lake processor. We received a review sample from the company with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H SoC, 32GB DDR5 memory, and a 2TB NVMe SSD as well as an Intel BE200 WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 module. As usual, we’ll do a three-part review starting with an article with the specifications, an unboxing, and a teardown followed by a thorough review with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro operating system, and finally with the latest Ubuntu 24.04.1 OS. GEEKOM GT1 Mega specifications GEEKOM provides the following specifications for the GT1 Mega mini PC and motherboard: Meteor Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 16-core (6P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 2.5 / 3.8 / 5.1 GHz (Turbo) with 24MB cache, 8x Xe-cores Intel Arc graphics @ 2.35 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; […]
NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX development kit comes with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 5
Waveshare’s Jetson Orin NX Development Kit is an AI edge computing platform tailored for robotics and AI-driven applications built around the NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX module 8GB/16GB delivering up to 70 TOPS and 100 TOPS of AI performance, respectively. It features the JETSON-ORIN-IO-BASE base board, which provides essential interfaces like an M.2 socket, DisplayPort (DP) video output, and USB ports, making it easy for users to connect multiple sensors and peripherals for high-performance AI tasks. The kit includes a 128GB NVMe SSD for high-speed storage and comes pre-installed with the AW-CB375NF wireless network card, which supports dual-band Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. The Jetson Orin NX module operates within a configurable power range of 10W to 25W, delivering up to 5x the performance of the Jetson Xavier NX module. This development kit is suitable for large-scale AI projects requiring multiple concurrent inference pipelines and high-speed data processing. Previously, we covered […]
UnifyDrive UT2 – A compact NAS powered by Rockchip RK3588C with NVMe SSD support and AI-driven storage management (Crowdfunding)
The UnifyDrive UT2 is a compact network-attached storage (NAS) device powered by the Rockchip RK3588C processor. It supports WiFi 6, and Bluetooth, and has multiple ports for connectivity. Equipped with two M.2 2280 slots for PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSDs, it offers up to 16 TB of storage. The device can connect to networks via 2.5 GbE or WiFi and also function as a WiFi access point, allowing file transfers even without an internet connection. A built-in battery provides uninterruptible power supply (UPS) functionality, enabling continued operation when unplugged. Designed for both home and mobile use, the UnifyDrive UT2 offers AI-driven storage management in a portable form factor. Its versatile networking options allow remote access, backups, and on-the-go file transfers. Despite its size, it delivers robust functionality, serving as a full-featured NAS solution in a variety of settings. I didn’t find any significant differences between the Rockchip RK3588 and RK3588C. This […]
Low-cost Raspberry Pi 5 HAT+ combines M.2 socket for NVMe SSD and PoE power input
With a cost of only about $25, Waveshare has recently introduced the PoE M.2 HAT+ for the Raspberry Pi 5, which is much cheaper than the similar N-Fuse PoE HAT that we’ve written about previously. As the name implies, this new Waveshare board supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) and features an M.2 slot to add NVMe SSD storage to the latest Raspberry Pi SBC. This new Waveshare HAT complies with the 802.3af/at standards and can deliver up to 25.5W of power to the Pi 5, enabling both power and network connectivity over a single Ethernet cable. Additionally, it features onboard 5V & 12V header outputs for powering additional devices like cooling fans, and there are also two LEDs for status. A fast storage device and the ability to power the device with ethernet makes this device suitable for applications such as network-attached storage, media centers, and edge computing applications. Waveshare […]
Radxa ROCK 5 ITX RK3588 mini-ITX motherboard review – Building an Arm PC and NAS with Debian KDE
In this review, I’ll show how I installed Debian on the ROCK 5 ITX mini-ITX motherboard powered by a Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Arm Cortex-A76/A55 processor, before building a computer/NAS with the Arm mini-ITX motherboard, testing various features and running benchmarks. In the first part of the review, we checked out the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX (Arm) and Jupiter (RISC-V) mini-ITX motherboards with specifications and unboxing, and the Auriga 6-Bay NAS mini-ITX chassis used in this review. I already built the computer with the Jupiter RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard, so here I simply switched the RISC-V motherboard with the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX Arm motherboard and installed a few SATA drives. Radxa ROCK 5 ITX first boot – A tricky start… Radxa provides getting started instructions on the documentation website which I mostly follow to hopefully boot within a few minutes. I had to prepare the hardware first. So I installed a […]
DFI RPP051 Pico-ITX SBC features 13th Gen Intel Core embedded SoC from Processor U300E to Intel Core i7-1365UE
DFI RPP051 is a 2.5-inch Pico-ITX SBC built around 13th Gen Intel Core processors ranging from the dual-core Intel Processor U300E to the 10-core Intel Core i7-1365UE. It supports up to 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and accommodates M.2 NVMe and SATA storage devices. Connectivity options include a 2.5GbE LAN port, DP++ and eDP display interfaces, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and USB 2.0 ports, RS-232/422/485 interfaces, along with I2C and GPIO for expansion. The DFI RPP051 first came to our attention while covering the AAEON PICO-RAP4 which is also an SBC with a Pico-ITX form factor, we have also written about many x86 and Arm Pico-ITX boards including AAEON PICO-MTU4, the AAEON RICO-3568, the GIGAIPC PICO-N97A and many other feel free to check them out if you are looking for compact and powerful SBCs. DFI RPP051 Pico-ITX SBC Specification 13th gen Raptor Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1365UE 10C/12T […]
AAEON PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC features Intel Core Ultra 5/7 “Meteor Lake” SoC
The AAEON PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC may be the world’s smallest platform based on 14th Gen Intel Core Ultra 5/7 SoCs part of the Meteor Lake-U family and follows the company’s UP Xtreme i14 SBC introduced a couple of months ago with the same processors, although the new model is limited to 15W parts due to its small size (100x72mm). The Core Ultra 5/7 Pico-ITX SBC comes with up to 64GB DDR5 memory, supports NVMe and SATA storage, offers 2.5GbE and GbE networking, M.2 Key-M and Key-E sockets for storage or/and wireless expansion, dual display support through HDMI and eDP, a few USB interfaces, and two RS232/RS422/RS485 interfaces. AAEON PICO-MTU4 specifications: Meteor Lake-U SoC (one of the other) Intel Core Ultra 7 165U 12-core (2P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 1.7 / 4.9 GHz with 12MB cache, Intel 4Xe LPG graphics @ 2.0 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; TDP: 15W Intel Core Ultra 7 […]