7 ms·

Funny, just today I google on ThunderX boards and tried to track down the latest AMD Opteron A1100 developments. I wish there were simple, stripped down develop

by mntmn 10y ago

Funny, just today I google on ThunderX boards and tried to track down the latest AMD Opteron A1100 developments. I wish there were simple, stripped down development boards for these kind of processors available. I would certainly enjoy building a personal computer from them. Sadly, there seems to be no viable competition today in terms of performance to x86/Core i7. If you wanted to design a simple computer PCB with a RISC CPU in the GHz range (or 500 Mhz+), what would you choose?

dman 10y ago
http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php
- subway 10y ago
  The ODROID-C2 is a neat device, but not at all comparable with an A1100. The A1100 has 8 A57 cores, while the ODROID only has 4 A53s. Mainline kernel support for the A1100 (and HuskyBoard, etc) has been relatively solid for a while now, while the C-2's SoC only made it into 4.6, and we're seeing the beginnings of a device tree in 4.7. edit: Some A1100s only have 4 cores. They're still 4 beefier cores than the S905.
  - rjsw 10y ago
    You can buy an ODROID-C2 today, which A1100 systems are available ?
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - imtringued 10y ago
      And that's the fundamental problem with ARM servers...
    - ptomato 10y ago
      none, as far as I know. First likely to become available is probably going to be http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html - they're claiming Q2 2016.
tcoppi 10y ago
You can certainly make a usable PC from a raspberry pi, one of the varieties of beaglebones, etc. Assuming you don't mind early-2000s levels of performance they are perfectly serviceable. There isn't anything a hobbyist could reasonably be able to put together that is anywhere close to x86 performance though.
- merb 10y ago
  actually for some cool server performance stuff a raspberry pi is not really great, especially since he is missing at least some sata interface. Beagleboard is better but still misses sata
  - tcoppi 10y ago
    The new Beaglebone has eSATA, indeed it will not be that great for high-performance SSDs or many server applications but it could be perfectly fine for a PC.
    - berkeleynerd 10y ago
      Dual gigabit Ethernet ports and USB 3 round out the impressive X-15's impressive features. It's not available yet but should be by the end of the month or early July based on the wiki. If it runs OpenBSD I might choose it over Soekris.
      - tcoppi 10y ago
        Ah yes I forgot about the dual ethernet ports, it might be really nice paired with a good ethernet switch as a router system!
rwmj 10y ago
Probably the answer is AMD Cello[1]. This has a quad core Seattle. However I have had mine on preorder since April, and it still hasn't shipped (still 15 days to go in "Q2" though :-) [1] http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html
- tcoppi 10y ago
  If this ever ships I'd be interested in getting one. I didn't realize anyone was actually making A1100 in boards you could actually buy, I thought they were all sold to integrators and they were only going to do the next iteration downmarket.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

by mntmn 10y ago

dman 10y ago

http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php

subway 10y ago
The ODROID-C2 is a neat device, but not at all comparable with an A1100. The A1100 has 8 A57 cores, while the ODROID only has 4 A53s. Mainline kernel support for the A1100 (and HuskyBoard, etc) has been relatively solid for a while now, while the C-2's SoC only made it into 4.6, and we're seeing the beginnings of a device tree in 4.7. edit: Some A1100s only have 4 cores. They're still 4 beefier cores than the S905.
- rjsw 10y ago
  You can buy an ODROID-C2 today, which A1100 systems are available ?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - imtringued 10y ago
    And that's the fundamental problem with ARM servers...
  - ptomato 10y ago
    none, as far as I know. First likely to become available is probably going to be http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html - they're claiming Q2 2016.

tcoppi 10y ago

You can certainly make a usable PC from a raspberry pi, one of the varieties of beaglebones, etc. Assuming you don't mind early-2000s levels of performance they are perfectly serviceable. There isn't anything a hobbyist could reasonably be able to put together that is anywhere close to x86 performance though.

merb 10y ago
actually for some cool server performance stuff a raspberry pi is not really great, especially since he is missing at least some sata interface. Beagleboard is better but still misses sata
- tcoppi 10y ago
  The new Beaglebone has eSATA, indeed it will not be that great for high-performance SSDs or many server applications but it could be perfectly fine for a PC.
  - berkeleynerd 10y ago
    Dual gigabit Ethernet ports and USB 3 round out the impressive X-15's impressive features. It's not available yet but should be by the end of the month or early July based on the wiki. If it runs OpenBSD I might choose it over Soekris.
    - tcoppi 10y ago
      Ah yes I forgot about the dual ethernet ports, it might be really nice paired with a good ethernet switch as a router system!

rwmj 10y ago

Probably the answer is AMD Cello[1]. This has a quad core Seattle. However I have had mine on preorder since April, and it still hasn't shipped (still 15 days to go in "Q2" though :-) [1] http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html http://www.lenovator.com/product/103.html

tcoppi 10y ago
If this ever ships I'd be interested in getting one. I didn't realize anyone was actually making A1100 in boards you could actually buy, I thought they were all sold to integrators and they were only going to do the next iteration downmarket.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]