Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on NanoPi M4 SBC Metal Case Comes with an NVMe SSD Adapter and Cooling Fan

NanoPi M4 SBC Metal Case Comes with an NVMe SSD Adapter and Cooling Fan

NanoPi M4 Metal Case

There are several single board computers that come with NVMe SSD either directly like on ODROID-H2 SBC or indirectly via an expansion board such as M2X extender board for Khadas VIM3.  But if you’d like an enclosure for your system it either further adds to the cost, or you need to develop the case yourself. If you’d like an SBC that takes an NVMe SSD in a fairly compact enclosure and at a affordable price (under $100 excluding the SSD),  NanoPi M4 metal case kit looks to be a good option and sells for $28 with SSD adapter and fan, or just $26 if you already own the SSD adapter. As a reminder, NanoPi M4 is a Rockchip RK3399 SBC that mostly follows Raspberry Pi form factor comes with 2GB or 4GB RAM with price starting at $50. See NanoPi M4 specifications for more details. One selling point of this board is that Rockchip RK3399’s PCIe signal are exposed through …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments on Khadas VIM3 SBC Launched with Amlogic A311D Processor, 5 TOPS NPU

Khadas VIM3 SBC Launched with Amlogic A311D Processor, 5 TOPS NPU

Khadas VIM3 Amlogic-A311D SBC

We’ve previously written about Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X development board and revealed the price tag for VIM3 Basic ($69.99) and VIM3 Pro ($99.99) with a launch date announced for June 24. As time has passed, this has become “fake news” except for the launch date, as Khadas VIM3 SBC has indeed launched but for $99.99 (Basic) and $139.99 (Pro). What’s going on? Why the large price increase? That’s because Khadas team has decided to provide a more powerful platform to the community, and replace Amlogic S922X processor with Amlogic A311D processor boasting higher clock speeds and a 5.0 TOPS NPU. Another version may also become available later on with the soon-to-be-released Amlogic S922X-B processor whose Cortex-A73 cores are clocked at up to 2.2 GHz, instead of 1.7 GHz for the original Amlogic S922X processor that will be referred to Amlogic S922X-A in the future. New Khadas VIM3 SBC specifications: SoC – Amlogic A311D hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on FriendlyELEC SOM-RK3399 Development Kit Targets AI & Machine Vision Applications

FriendlyELEC SOM-RK3399 Development Kit Targets AI & Machine Vision Applications

SOM-RK3399 Development Kit SSD Modem

FriendlyELEC is better known for their low-cost tiny single board computers, but the company has also introduced systems-on-module in the past such as Smart6818 module powered by Samsung S5P6818 octa-core processor. The company has now launched another system-on-module with SOM-RK3399, which as its name implied features Rockchip RK3399 processor, as well as a corresponding carrier board mostly designed for artificial intelligence and computer vision applications. SOM-RK3399 System-on-Module Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.5GHz, Mali-T864 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, DX11, and AFBC, and VPU capable of handling 4K VP9 and 4K 10bits H265/H264 60fps decoding, Dual VOP, etc System Memory – Dual-Channel 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.1 flash Networking 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo module (AP6356S), dual antenna interface Realtek RTL8211E Gigabit Ethernet transceiver USB – 2x USB-C ports on the module 260-pin edge connector with Storage – …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments on Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X Board to Support M.2 NVMe SSD, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5 Connectivity

Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X Board to Support M.2 NVMe SSD, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5 Connectivity

Khadas VIM3

Ever since the Amlogic S922X powered ODROID-N2 SBC launched last March, I keep reading praise for the processor and board which both deliver great performance at a relatively low price. Hardkernel was the only company that sold such a board so far, but this is about to change with some competition coming from Shenzhen Wesion with their upcoming Khadas VIM3 board that includes 2 to 4GB RAM, 16 to 32GB eMMC flash storage, a wireless module, support for M.2 NVMe SSD, and more. Even though more are planned in the future, two Khadas VIM3 models have been announced so far – Basic and Pro – with the following preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 and 2x Cortex A53 cores, Arm Mali-G52 MP4 GPU, built-in Cortex-M4 core for “always-on” processing MCU – STMicro STM8S003 with Programmable EEPROM for power management, customizations, and boot media configuration System Memory & Storage VIM3 Basic – 2GB LPDDR4/4X RAM, …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on LM-902 USB3.1 Gen2 to NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD Enclosure Sells for $43

LM-902 USB3.1 Gen2 to NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD Enclosure Sells for $43

Yesterday, I wrote about ASMedia ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe NVMe SSD chip that will allow for connecting NVMe SSD into (largish) USB stick enclosures delivering up to 10 Gbps raw throughput. The post generated several comments including that JMicron Technology was also showcasing their own solution at Computex 2018 with JMS583 USB 3.1 Gen 2 to NVMe PCIe Gen3 bridge controller, and that enclosures were already for sale in China. If it is for sale in China, it should also be for sale on Aliexpress, or at least on Taobao. Bingo! LM-902 “USB 3.1 to PCI-e SSD NVMe” enclosure offers just that for $42.93 including shipping  on Aliexpress. Listed features and specifications: Storage I/F – NVMe M.2 M-key socket with PCIe 3.1a USB – USB 3.1 Gen2 type C up to 10 Gbps Features Supports TRIM to the SSD USB Type-C multiplexer& configuration channel(CC) logic NVM Express 1.3 USB Mass Storage Class, Bulk-only Transport Specification(Revision 1.0) etc… That part …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments on ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe Chip is Designed for USB NVMe SSD Drives

ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe Chip is Designed for USB NVMe SSD Drives

ASM2362

Most USB enclosure or expansion drive are designed with a SATA interface that tops out at 6 Gbp. That’s fine in most cases,  but if your host computer comes with USB 3.1 Gen2 SuperSpeed 10 Gbps (SuperSpeed+) port capable of even better performance, ASMedia now has a solution for faster USB drives with their ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe NVMe SSD chip. The solution is pretty new, and ASMedia has not setup a product page on their website yet, but they showcased a demo at Computex 2018.  In the photo above a Samsung 960 Pro SSD M.2 is connected to  another USB board  ASMedia – likely based on AS3142 Gen2 xHCI Host Controller – itself connected to a computer with a USB 3.1 Gen2 port.  The photo below shows CrystalDiskMark benchmark results comparing ASM2362 USB to NVMe solution to a standard USB to SATA enclosure. While the USB to SATA SSD achieves around 550 MB/s, the USB 3.1 to …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Intel Compute Card and Dock Hands On, Windows 10 and Ubuntu Benchmarks

Intel Compute Card and Dock Hands On, Windows 10 and Ubuntu Benchmarks

We’ve recently seen Intel introduced Dock DK132EPJ for their Compute Cards, and released some pricing info. Ian Morrison (Linuxium) got sent a full kit by Intel with the dock and Compute Card CD1M3128MK powered by a dual core / quad Core m3-7Y30 processor with 4GB RAM, 128GB PCIe SSD, and Intel Wireless-AC 8265 module. You can get the full details in Ian’s post, but I’ll provide a summary of the key points here. While the compute card and dock are thinner than most product, the computer card is quite wider than TV sticks, and the dock larger than an Intel NUC. It also comes with a fan, and cooling works well with maximum CPU temperature under being 70°C. The Compute Cards do not come with any operating system, but you get to the BIOS easily, and install Windows or Linux distributions. Ian’s started with Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation, and ran several benchmarks including PCMark 8 Home Accelerated 3.0. As expected, …

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