5 ms·

Any of those x86? or is that mutually exclusive with "cheap"?

X-Cubed 9y ago
UP seem to have a range of x86 boards for comparable prices: https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards
HIPisTheAnswer 9y ago
x86 is mutually exclusive with 'well designed'. Arm slightly less so, especially v8, although GPUs are all still 'secret sauce' (except newer nvidia I read). I'd really like to switch everything from x86 to arm sooner than later.
- alanfranzoni 9y ago
  Would you elaborate on that? I've encountered a lot of ARM (and other archs) around, while, on the contrary, x86 seems to have a pretty decent base (excluding some horribile chinese-designed tablets).
  - masklinn 9y ago
    I guess they're talking about the SoC/ISA rather than the board designed around it. x86 is generally considered a rather clunky/bad ISA and often sniped by — I don't think the term is really good but can't really find a better one — ISA pedants.
mrpippy 9y ago
Depends on how cheap, the Minnowboard starts at $150 https://minnowboard.org https://minnowboard.org
- kachurovskiy 9y ago
  There seem to be better-performing x86 Windows Mini PCs available for less. Come in a proper case and with a power supply.
  - blacksmith_tb 9y ago
    If you need GPIO, I see some mini or smaller ITX mobos available[1], though I don't know how painful it is to get working... 1: http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-JNF9D-2550 http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-JNF9D-2550
- dchest 9y ago
  Also https://www.lattepanda.com https://www.lattepanda.com, around the same price.
rasz 9y ago
$20 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-04W1431-ThinkPad-X220-i3-2310M-2-1GHz-DDR3-Laptop-Motherboard/382431381403 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-04W1431-ThinkPad-X220-i3-231... $30 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Motherboard-FRU-04W3287-w-i5-2520M-2-50GHz-CPU/322591520726 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Motherboard-FR... ~4-10x Raspberry pee 3 speed, SATA, pcie, 1Gbit ethernet, battery backup. Can get them as low as $10 with one USB port broken (either mechanical or fried).
- michrassena 9y ago
  This is an interesting option. Is it possible run that bare motherboard attached to a compatible power supply and nothing else? I don't see heat sinks on the first link, or RAM, or storage on either.
  - rasz 9y ago
    1GB ddr3 sodimms are pretty much free/garbage(friends, IT at work) due to being outdated and too small for anything, or $4 on ebay including shipping if you cant be bothered to ask around. Those were just first random links from ebay, you can get better deals if you search harder, for example EU $15 http://allegro.pl/org-sprawna-plyta-glowna-lenovo-x220-core-i5-gw-fv-i7043900717.html http://allegro.pl/org-sprawna-plyta-glowna-lenovo-x220-core-... whole lower case +wifi +bt +cooling, one usb mechanically broken (out of 3 sockets, 9 more usb available if you solder directly to motherboard in strategic places like camera/mpcie/fingerprint/expresscard/dock connectors). Thinkpads can boot from SD card just like raspberry pee. You boot without keyboard by shorting one pin on keyboard/dock/debug connector. did I mention full schematic? http://plan9.stanleylieber.com/hardware/thinkpad/x220/x220.schematics.pdf http://plan9.stanleylieber.com/hardware/thinkpad/x220/x220.s... mostly open source firmware is also available https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x220 https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x220
    - michrassena 9y ago
      Thank you for your reply. I made some off-topic comment a couple of months ago on HN about the lack of inexpensive, full x86 compatible SBCs. This gets close to the mark, especially if I can run the bare motherboard or something close to it. As an aside, the schematics really take me back to a moment in the late 1980s. Radio Shack sold Tandys and TRS-80s at one point, and I remember an especially thick series of binders full of the system schematics for one (or some) of the computers they sold. I was too young with no money of my own then to buy them, and now I really wish I knew what that was so I could find it on eBay. Little did I know that was the end of an era, and not something I'd see the likes of again until today.
blacksmith_tb 9y ago
I haven't used one, but some of the low-end Liva machines[1] seem viable. Or Compute Sticks of various flavors (depending on what you wanted to do with them - no GPIO on either) 1: http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_LIVA_SPEC.aspx?DetailID=1593&CategoryID=-1&LanID=0 http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_LIVA_SPEC.a...

UP seem to have a range of x86 boards for comparable prices: https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards

HIPisTheAnswer 9y ago

x86 is mutually exclusive with 'well designed'. Arm slightly less so, especially v8, although GPUs are all still 'secret sauce' (except newer nvidia I read). I'd really like to switch everything from x86 to arm sooner than later.

alanfranzoni 9y ago
Would you elaborate on that? I've encountered a lot of ARM (and other archs) around, while, on the contrary, x86 seems to have a pretty decent base (excluding some horribile chinese-designed tablets).
- masklinn 9y ago
  I guess they're talking about the SoC/ISA rather than the board designed around it. x86 is generally considered a rather clunky/bad ISA and often sniped by — I don't think the term is really good but can't really find a better one — ISA pedants.

mrpippy 9y ago

Depends on how cheap, the Minnowboard starts at $150 https://minnowboard.org https://minnowboard.org

kachurovskiy 9y ago
There seem to be better-performing x86 Windows Mini PCs available for less. Come in a proper case and with a power supply.
- blacksmith_tb 9y ago
  If you need GPIO, I see some mini or smaller ITX mobos available[1], though I don't know how painful it is to get working... 1: http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-JNF9D-2550 http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-JNF9D-2550
dchest 9y ago
Also https://www.lattepanda.com https://www.lattepanda.com, around the same price.

rasz 9y ago

$20 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-04W1431-ThinkPad-X220-i3-2310M-2-1GHz-DDR3-Laptop-Motherboard/382431381403 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-04W1431-ThinkPad-X220-i3-231... $30 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Motherboard-FRU-04W3287-w-i5-2520M-2-50GHz-CPU/322591520726 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Motherboard-FR... ~4-10x Raspberry pee 3 speed, SATA, pcie, 1Gbit ethernet, battery backup. Can get them as low as $10 with one USB port broken (either mechanical or fried).

michrassena 9y ago
This is an interesting option. Is it possible run that bare motherboard attached to a compatible power supply and nothing else? I don't see heat sinks on the first link, or RAM, or storage on either.
- rasz 9y ago
  1GB ddr3 sodimms are pretty much free/garbage(friends, IT at work) due to being outdated and too small for anything, or $4 on ebay including shipping if you cant be bothered to ask around. Those were just first random links from ebay, you can get better deals if you search harder, for example EU $15 http://allegro.pl/org-sprawna-plyta-glowna-lenovo-x220-core-i5-gw-fv-i7043900717.html http://allegro.pl/org-sprawna-plyta-glowna-lenovo-x220-core-... whole lower case +wifi +bt +cooling, one usb mechanically broken (out of 3 sockets, 9 more usb available if you solder directly to motherboard in strategic places like camera/mpcie/fingerprint/expresscard/dock connectors). Thinkpads can boot from SD card just like raspberry pee. You boot without keyboard by shorting one pin on keyboard/dock/debug connector. did I mention full schematic? http://plan9.stanleylieber.com/hardware/thinkpad/x220/x220.schematics.pdf http://plan9.stanleylieber.com/hardware/thinkpad/x220/x220.s... mostly open source firmware is also available https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x220 https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x220
  - michrassena 9y ago
    Thank you for your reply. I made some off-topic comment a couple of months ago on HN about the lack of inexpensive, full x86 compatible SBCs. This gets close to the mark, especially if I can run the bare motherboard or something close to it. As an aside, the schematics really take me back to a moment in the late 1980s. Radio Shack sold Tandys and TRS-80s at one point, and I remember an especially thick series of binders full of the system schematics for one (or some) of the computers they sold. I was too young with no money of my own then to buy them, and now I really wish I knew what that was so I could find it on eBay. Little did I know that was the end of an era, and not something I'd see the likes of again until today.

blacksmith_tb 9y ago

I haven't used one, but some of the low-end Liva machines[1] seem viable. Or Compute Sticks of various flavors (depending on what you wanted to do with them - no GPIO on either) 1: http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_LIVA_SPEC.aspx?DetailID=1593&CategoryID=-1&LanID=0 http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_LIVA_SPEC.a...