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June 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$30+ Orange Pi R2S octa-core RISC-V router board features 2x 2.5GbE, 2x GbE, 2x USB ports

Orange Pi has released two RISC-V boards so far: the Orange Pi RV with a StarFive JH7110 quad-core SoC, and the Orange Pi RV2 with a Ky X1 octa-core processor, either a clone of the SpacemIT K1/M1 SoC or one with different CPU markings. The third RISC-V board from the company, named Orange Pi R2S, also features a Ky X1 RISC-V SoC, but is designed for headless and networking applications with two 2.5GbE ports, two GbE ports, and two USB 3.0/2.0 ports, and not much else. Orange Pi R2S specifications: SoC – Ky X1 CPU – 8-core X60 RISC-V (RV64GCVB) processor @ 1.6 GHz GPU – Imagination IMG BXE-2-32 @ 819 MHz with support for OpenGL ES3.2, Vulkan 1.3, OpenCL 3.0; 20 GFLOPS VPU H.265, H.264, VP8, VP9, MPEG4, MPEG2 decoder up to 4K @ 60fps H.265, H.264, VP8, VP9 encoder up to 4K @ 30fps Support simultaneous processing 1080p60 […]

June 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ZimaBoard 2 Review – Part 2: An Intel N150 micro server and mini PC tested with ZimaOS, Ubuntu 24.04

We’ve already checked out the hardware of the ZimaBoard 2 micro server in the first part of the review with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel N150 mini PC, followed by a first boot to ZimaOS and a walk-through of the web dashboard to see what features it had to offer. I’ve now connected two SATA drives to the ZimaBoard 2 and done further testing with ZimaOS, notably checking system information and testing storage and networking performance. I also installed Ubuntu 24.04 on the ZimaBoard 2 for further testing for people preferring to use the system as a mini PC with SATA storage. ZimaOS v1.4.1 update When I connected to the web dashboard again, there was a new update for ZimaOS v1.4.1. Before and after the update is completed, I was shown the change log with new features like a scheduled shutdown function and a list of bug […]

June 6, 2025June 7, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Intel Celeron N4020 dual-core mini PC sells for $45 with 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash

We’ve seen x86 mini PCs for under $100 a few times, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one going for under $50, and that’s exactly what the Wo-we HU-MNPC05-L mini PC has to offer as the system is sold for $44.99 on Amazon with an old Intel Celeron N4020 dual-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor first introduced in 2019. What’s even more surprising is that it’s not a barebone model like cheaper mini PCs usually are, but it ships with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB eMMC flash. No sane person would likely attempt to use the thing as a Windows Desktop, but it may be an option for Linux distributions for workloads similar to what you would typically run on a Raspberry Pi 4/5, or for older Windows applications, or as a basic HTPC. Wo-we HU-MNPC05-L specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4020 dual-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 1.1 […]

May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

UP Squared TWL / Squared Pro TWL boards are powered by Intel Core 3 Processor N355, N250, or N150 Twin Lake CPU

AAEON has just introduced upgrades to its Alder Lake-N-powered UP Squared 7100 and UP Squared Pro 7000 SBCs with the UP Squared TWL and UP Squared Pro TWL development boards equipped with Twin Lake CPUs, either Intel Core 3 Processor N355, Intel Processor N250, or Intel Processor N150. Both SBCs can operate in the -20°C to 70°C temperature range, support up to three independent displays, and offer M.2 expansion sockets for storage and wireless, a 40-pin GPIO header, RS232/RS485 interfaces, and three USB ports. However, the UP Squared TWL is a smaller 90×85.6mm SBC with dual gigabit Ethernet, and the UP Squared Pro TWL has a slightly larger design (101.6×101.6mm) with dual 2.5GbE, a SATA port, MIPI CSI camera support, and optional cellular connectivity. UP Squared TWL Specifications: Twin Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N150 quad-core processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU […]

May 27, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Rockchip RK3588 embedded computer features 3x M.2 sockets, 4x RS232, 2x RS485, 2x DI, 2x DO, and more

Forlinx FCU3501 RK3588 fanless industrial PC

Forlinx FCU3501 is a fanless embedded computer powered by the Rockchip RK3588 SoC, or the RK3588J industrial-grade variant, and offered with up to 16GB LPDDR4x, 128GB eMMC flash, and plenty of features. Those include HDMI output and input ports, three M.2 sockets for NVMe SSD, Hailo-8 AI accelerator for a combined 26+6 TOPS of AI performance, and 4G/5G cellular module, two gigabit Ethernet ports, a built-in WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 module, four RS232 and two RS485 isolated serial interfaces, two digital inputs (DI), two digital outputs (DO), and more. Forlinx FCU3501 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588(J) octa-core processor with CPU – 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4GHz (RK3588) / 1.6 GHz (RK3588J), 4x Cortex-A55 core @ 1.8GHz (RK3588) / 1.3 GHz (RK3588J) CPU Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, 3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan 1.2 VPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 […]

May 26, 2025June 3, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

NanoPi M5 – A Rockchip RK3576 SBC with HDMI, dual GbE, M.2 NVMe and SDIO WiFi sockets, UFS 2.0 storage support

It feels like everybody is now launching hardware based on the Rockchip RK3576 SoC, the little brother of the RK3588 with Cortex-A72/A53 cores instead of Cortex-A76/A55 cores, 4K video output, and a mid-range Mali-G52 GPU, while keeping most of the same interfaces. FriendlyELEC has now joined the fray with the NanoPi M5 SBC equipped with up to 4GB LPDDR4x or 16GB LPDDR5, sockets for a UFS module and an M.2 NVMe SSD, HDMI 2.0 and MIPI DSI display interfaces, two MIPI CSI camera connectors, two gigabit Ethernet ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, two USB 3.0 ports, a 30-pin GPIO header, and more. NanoPi M5 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3576 CPU – Octa-core CPU with 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 2.0 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, and 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, and Vulkan 1.2 NPU – 6 TOPS […]

May 23, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Graperain GR3576_CV2 – A Rockchip RK3576 260-pin SO-DIMM SoM with up to 16GB RAM

Graperain GR3576_CV2 is a 260-pin SO-DIMM system-on-module (SoM) powered by a Rockchip RK3576 octa-core Cortex-A72/A53 SoC with a 6 TOPS NPU, and equipped with up to 16GB RAM and 256GB eMMC flash. The module supports up to six different display interfaces from HDMI to EBC for e-Paper displays, three camera inputs, a range of audio inputs and outputs, as well as USB 3.2, PCIe 2.1, and SATA interfaces, and plenty of other I/Os. Graperain GR3576_CV2 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3576 CPU – Octa-core CPU with 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, and 3.2, OpenCL up to 2.0, and Vulkan 1.1 NPU – 6 TOPS (INT8) AI accelerator with support for INT4/INT8/INT16/BF16/TF32 mixed operations. VPU Video Decoder H.265, VP9, AV1, and AVS2 up to 8Kp30 or 4Kp120 H.264/AVC and MJPEG up to 4Kp60 Video […]

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

TexHoo QN15 – A sub $100 mini PC with Intel Processor N150 CPU

Once entry-level Intel processors have been on the market for long enough, we often start to see systems sell for under $100. The TexHoo QN15 mini PC is offered with a recent Intel Processor N150 Twin Lake CPU for just around $100 in its barebone configuration with WiFi 5, but no RAM, and no storage. The mini PC supports DDR4 memory and NVMe and SATA storage, and offers two 4K-capable HDMI ports, gigabit Ethernet, a M.2 socket for WiFi and Bluetooth, and five USB ports with two USB 3.2, two USB 2.0, and a USB Type-C port. TexHoo QN15 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N150 quad-core Twin Lake processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – SO-DIMM socket for DDR4-2666/32000 up to 32GB Storage M.2 2280 socket for SATA or NVMe SSD 2.5-inch SATA bay (proprietary SATA […]