The new Odroid-N2 single-board pc was revealed at present, with specs that promise to make it one of many quickest sub-$100 computer systems out there.
The long-awaited substitute to final 12 months’s cancelled Odroid-N1 is constructed round a system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed for high-end Android TV home equipment, the Amlogic S922X. The ace up the $63 board’s sleeve is its efficiency, courtesy of 4 1.8GHz Arm Cortex A73-based processors and two 1.9GHz Arm Cortex A53-based processors, with the SoC in a position to change duties between processors to save lots of vitality. These newer Arm Cortex A73 processors promise higher sustained efficiency, as they’re able to run at their 1.8GHz prime pace for longer intervals with out being throttled to scale back temperatures when underneath heavy load, because of being manufactured utilizing a 12nm course of know-how.
In exams, the board’s makers Hardkernel present the CPU working about 7x sooner than a Raspberry Pi 3 throughout a number of benchmarks, though they do not specify whether or not it is a Model B or the marginally sooner Model B+. It must also outperform just lately introduced boards primarily based on the Rockchip RK3399 chipset, such because the Rock Pi 4.
Image: Hardkernel
The A73’s ARMv8 structure additionally helps hardware-accelerated crypto extensions. As with most single-board computer systems, the Odroid N2 is a board for builders engaged on software program and hardware initiatives, however has a variety of potential makes use of, together with as a media middle, file server and even as an on a regular basis pc. The Odroid-N2 trumps the specs of the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, utilizing far sooner DDR4 reminiscence clocked at 1320MHz and providing as much as 4GB RAM, 4 occasions that of the Pi’s flagship board. Graphics and show sensible, the 846MHz Mali-G52 GPU guarantees higher 2D and 3D efficiency, and is designed for clean playback of 4K video, particularly 60FPS of H.265-encoded footage, in addition to supporting varied HDR video codecs.SEE: Raspberry Pi: The inside story of the $35 pc There’s additionally 4 USB 3.0 ports, in comparison with USB 2.0 on the Pi 3 B+, and true Gigabit Ethernet, in comparison with a max throughput of about 300Mbps on the Pi 3 B+. One draw back for the Odroid-N2 relative to the Pi 3 B+, nevertheless, is the dearth of wi-fi connectivity. For storage, you possibly can add as much as 128GB eMMC Flash through a module connector, alongside the Odroid’s microSD card slot. The Odroid may also boot from on-board SPI reminiscence as an alternative of uSD reminiscence or eMMC playing cards and a real-time clock permits it to get up at a set time. The board provides a 40-pin header for hooking it as much as different digital hardware, with varied enhancements over earlier Odroid boards, together with a sooner SPI bus interface with a most frequency of greater than 150MHz. The Odroid-N2 runs the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS working system, which will probably be formally supported till January 2023, with Hardkernel saying it has a hardware-accelerated video decoder prepared for the Odroid-N2 that may play 4K H.265-encoded video at 60FPS.Android 9 Pie can be able to run on the board, and Hardkernel says it can launch a full supply code BSP and pre-built picture quickly. Unlike many single-board pc makers, Hardkernel has an excellent repute for offering steady working system photos for its boards. The firm says it’s persevering with to work on a 64-bit Android system with Vulkan succesful GPU driver, in addition to a Linux Wayland driver for Ubuntu 18.04. There is not any X11 GPU driver resulting from Arm not supporting the X11 Window System on the kind of GPUs used on the Odroid, though Hardkernel says it hopes the Panfrost open-source driver may be ported to the board “soon”. As traditional, nevertheless, the Raspberry Pi stays the simplest board for novice customers to get began with, as a result of energy of its group, the wealth of consumer guides and tutorials, and broad suite of supported working methods and software program. The Odroid-N2 can be round double the value of the flagship Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, costing $63 for 2GB model and $79 for the 4GB mannequin. It will go on sale from late March and ship from early April, with no plans to simply accept pre-orders.
Image: Hardkernel
Odroid-N2 Specs Form Factor Dimensions: 90mm x 90mm x 17mm Heatsink Dimensions: 100mm x 91mm x 24mm Weight: 190g together with heatsink Processor CPU: Amlogic S922X Processor (12nm) Quad-core Cortex-A73(1.8Ghz) and Dual-core Cortex-A53(1.9Ghz). ARMv8-A structure with Neon and Crypto extensions GPU: Mali-G52 GPU with 6 x Execution Engines (846Mhz) Memory 2GB or 4GB DDR4 with 32-bit bus width Data charge: 2640 MT/s (PC4-21333 grade) 1.2Volt low energy design Storage 1 x eMMC connector (8G, 16G, 32G, 64G and 128G can be found) 1 x microSD slot (DS/HS modes as much as UHS-I SDR104) Networking 1 x GbE LAN ports (RJ45, helps 10/100/1000 Mbps) – Realtek RTL8211F (Ethernet transceiver) – LED indicators (Green: 100mbps, Amber: 1000mbps connection) Optional WiFi USB adapters Video 1 x HDMI 2.1 (as much as 4K@60Hz with HDR, CEC, EDID) 1 x Composite video (3.5mm jack) Audio 1 x Stereo Audio line-out (3.5mm jack) 1 x HDMI digital output 1 x Optional SPDIF optical output External I/O 4 x USB 3.0 Host ports (shares one single root hub) 1 x USB 2.0 OTG port for Host or Device mode. (No energy enter) 1 x Debug serial console (UART) 1 x Peripheral Expansion Header (40-pin, 2.54mm pitch) – 2 x DC 5V, 2 x DC 3.3V, 1 x DC 1.8V, 8 x GND – 1 x SPI – 1 x UART – 2 x I2C – 25 x GPIO (Max) – 2 x ADC enter (10bit, 1.8V Max) – All 3.3V I/O sign stage aside from ADC enter at max 1.8Volt. Other options On board RTC(Real Time Clock), IC to maintain date and time 8MiB SPI Flash for future BIOS implementation IR receiver for distant controller Built with a big passive heatsink System LEDS Indicators: – Red (PWR) – Solid gentle when DC energy is linked – Blue (ALIVE) – Flashing like heartbeat whereas Kernel is working. Active Cooling Fan Connector (5V 2-pin) – Optional 60x60mm Active Cooling Fan – Connector (2-pin, 1.25mm pitch) Power 1 x DC jack : outer (unfavourable) diameter 5.5mm, internal(constructive) diameter 2.1mm DC 7.5V ~ 20V (as much as 25W) – DC 12V/2A energy adaptor is really helpful Power consumption: – IDLE : ≃ 1.9W (Performance governor) – CPU Stress : ≃ 5.5W – Power-off : ≃ 0.2W
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