Giveaway Week – DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded SBC

DFI GHF51

Let’s end this year’s Giveaway Week with a bang courtesy of DFI GHF51 single board computer, that’s about the size of the Raspberry Pi, but is powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G dual-core processor coupled with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage. With Gigabit Ethernet, dual micro HDMI output, and a single USB-C port, the board is clearly designed for industrial machines, digital signage, and robotics, but it can also be used as a standard computer via a USB-C hub. I tested the SBC with WIndows 10 Enterprise LTSC and Ubuntu 20.04, and it worked well in Windows, except for some issue with one of my USB hard drives where transfers would just stall from time to time. I had the same issue in Ubuntu plus some artifacts while running the UNIGINE 3D benchmark. For testing, I set up dual-boot for Windows 10 and Ubuntu 20.04, so considering there’s just […]

MINISFORUM EliteMini H31G Coffee Lake Mini PC Review with Windows & Linux

EliteMini H31G RAM & SSD

MINISFORUM have launched their EliteMini H31G which combines a desktop CPU with a discrete graphics card in a mini PC form factor. It supports various Intel 9th and 8th gen desktop processors combined with an NVIDIA Geforce GTX1050 Ti graphics card and targets both gamers and content creators. Available as a barebones device and in various configurations MINISFORUM sent a fully configured model for review. Hardware overview The MINISFORUM EliteMini H31G is a remarkably small mini PC for what it offers and physically consists of a 154 mm x 153 mm x 62 mm (6.06 x 6.02 x 2.44 inches) rectangular plastic case with a metal base. It is an actively cooled mini PC that uses Intel’s LGA 1151 socket and supports desktop processors up to a maximum TDP of 65W. The review model came with an Intel Core i5 9500F Coffee Lake processor pre-installed which is a six-core 6-thread […]

Chuwi LarkBox Pro mini PC gets a faster Celeron J4125 processor, sells for $179

Chuwi Larkbox Pro

CHUWI Larkbox is a 2.4-inch mini PC that can fit in the palm of your kid’s hand and that launched last year on Indiegogo for as low as $149. It’s powered by an Intel Celeron J4115 Gemini Lake Refresh processor that currently in the process of being discontinued. So the company has now come up with an upgrade and launched the Chuwi Larkbox Pro with exactly the same specifications, except for the (slightly) faster Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core GLK Refresh processor with a 2.0 GHz base frequency and 2.7 GHz Turbo frequency, against 1.8 and 2.5 GHz respectively for J4115. Chuwi Larkbox Pro specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) / 2.4 GHz (Turbo all cores) with Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250/750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – 6GB LPDDR4 Storage – 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash, M.2 2244 socket […]

One Netbook A1 7-inch laptop features Ethernet and COM port for IT Pros

One Netbook A1

We’ve seen many Intel-powered mini-laptops with 6 to 9-inch display in the last coupled of years mainly from GPD and One Netbook, but also CHUWI. Most models are tinier versions of ultrabooks with wireless-only connectivity, but last year GPD MicroPC 6-inch mini-laptop added Ethernet and RS-232 COM port for IT professionals such as sysadmins. But there’s now another option with One Netbook A1 equipped with a 7-inch display, powered by an Intel Core m3-8100Y Amber Lake processor, and also featuring Ethernet and COM ports, plus the usual USB and HDMI ports. One Netbook A1 specifications: SoC – Intel Core m3-8100Y dual-core/quad-thread Amber Lake processor @ 1.1 / 3.4 (Turbo) GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 615; 5W TDP System Memory – 8GB RAM Storage – 256GB or 512GB M.2 SSD; microSD card slot Display – 7-inch touchscreen IPS LCD with 1920 x 1200 resolution IPS LCD;  support for stylus with 4096 […]

MINISFORUM X35G review – An Intel Core i3-1005G1 Mini PC tested with Windows & Ubuntu

MINISFORUM X35G Review

MINISFORUM have recently launched their X35G mini PC on Indiegogo which differentiates itself from the many Gemini Lake mini PCs by using a 10th generation Intel “Ice Lake” Core mobile processor with Gen11 graphics. Available as a barebones device and in various configurations MINISFORUM sent a fully configured model for review. MINISFORUM X35G Hardware overview Also known as DeskMini X35G, the MINISFORUM X35G is a slightly larger mini PC physically consisting of a 136.5 mm x 121.5 mm x 40.5 mm (5.37 x 4.78 x 1.59 inches) rectangular metal case with a plastic base. It is an actively cooled mini PC that uses Intel’s second-generation 10 nm+ Core i3-1005G1 processor which is a dual-core 4-thread 1.2 GHz processor boosting to 3.4 GHz with Intel’s Gen11 UHD graphics. The front panel has a power button, a Thunderbolt 3/Type-C USB port that supports video, and two 3.1 USB ports. Also on the […]

Enabling AV1 Hardware Video Decoding in Windows 10

Windows 10 AV1 Hardware Video Decoding

AOMedia AV1 royalty-free video codec delivers up to 50% better compression than H.264 and up to 20% better than VP9 for the same video content, so streaming companies like Netflix and YouTube enabled the codec a while ago. When I play a YouTube video in Chrome in Ubuntu 20.04 and check the stats for nerds info, it will usually show the video is played with “av01.0” codec which refers to AV1, but it’s played with software video decoding using libraries like Dav1d leveraging SIMD instructions. But ideally, you’d want hardware video decoding for lower power consumption for increased battery life, and potentially smoother videos. One good news is that Microsoft has recently announced support for AV1 GPU-accelerated hardware video decoding in Windows 10. The less good news is that support will be limited to recent and fairly powerful GPUs. So for instance, if you own mini PCs with older Intel […]

Vecow SPC-6000 Fanless Embedded PC is Powered by an Atom x6425RE Elkhart Lake Processor

Elkhart Lake Fanless Embedded PC

Since the official launch of the Elkhart Lake processor family last month, we’ve covered a Pico-ITX SBC, a 3.5-inch SBC, and several CoM’s following SMARC, Q7, COM Express, and other system-on-module standards. So far, we had not found any Elkhart Lake mini PCs, but Vecow SPC-6000 fanless embedded PC powered by an Intel Atom x6425RE processor is one of the first such solutions offered from the market, and supports 2.5 Gbps Ethernet with TSN support. Vecow SPC-6000 specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x6425RE quad-core Elkhart Lake processor @ 1.90 GHz with 1.5MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics; 12W TDP System Memory – Up to 32GB DDR4 3200MHz via a single SO-DIMM socket Storage – 1x M.2 Key M Socket (2280, PCIe x2), and 1x SATA III (6Gbps) Video Output DVI-I up to 3840 x 2160 @ 60Hz DisplayPort up to 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz Audio Realtek ALC892, 5.1 Channel […]

Kontron Introduces Tiger Lake 3U VPX Computer Blade and COM Express Type 6 Module

Tiger Lake 3U VPX Computer-Blade SBC COM Express

Intel launched several new embedded processors last month including the brand new Elkhart Lake family and some additional Tiger Lake UP3 processors designed for the IoT edge market. There’ve been several products announced with the new processors, but here are more with Kontron introducing two new Tiger Lake embedded hardware with COMe-cTL6 COM Express Compact Type 6 module and VX3060 3U VPX computer blade. As shown in the collage above, a 3.5-inch SBC is also in the works, but while we do not have the full details yet, the company expect the board to comes with SATA 3.0, M.2 socket, 2.5 GbE LAN, as well as four DP channels driving up to four independent 4Kp60 displays. VX3060 3U VPX computer blade Key features for both “3E” and “XG” variants: SoC – Intel quad-core Tiger Lake UP3 processor up to 2.5 GHz with up to 96EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics  – […]