6 ms·

What would you recommend in the x86 space?

magicalhippo 6y ago
I haven't actually purchased it myself so can't recommend as such, but for example the Biostar A10N-8800E looks[2] interesting. Has a quad core AMD APU, 2x DDR4 DIM sockets, PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, one M key M.2 slot, 2x SATA, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1. Board itself with integrated CPU costs just ~20% more than the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB, at least here in Norway. Add in 8GB of value memory and a small/spare PSU and you should be not far off the 2x mark. [1]: http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=935 http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_I... [2]: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/biostar-a10n-8800e/ https://www.techpowerup.com/review/biostar-a10n-8800e/
- mondoshawan 6y ago
  No GPIOs there, though.
  - magicalhippo 6y ago
    Sure, but the post I replied to specifically said > The vendor just doesn't want to acknowledge the real role of Raspberry Pi is not limited to being a cheap tinkerer board anymore To me, tinkering means GPIO. That's why I was asking why the want for a Raspberry Pi, why not get something else that already exist. I'm curious what they're looking for. Of course if they still want GPIO then that's a valid point.
    - qwerty456127 6y ago
      > not limited to being a cheap tinkerer board anymore being not limited to being a cheap tinkerer board doesn't mean not being a [slightly less cheap] tinkerer board among the rest of roles. I didn't mean I don't need GPIO. I actually want more GPIO so I could connect a "hat", an infrared port, a cooler and still have spare pins for actual tinkering. Another cool thing available exclusively with Raspberry Pi is polished Raspbian OS coming with free Mathematica and other goodies. Hardware codecs also feels nice and, AFAIK, you don't get them with x86. At last but not at least (this arguably is the most valuable part actually) it is THE SBC. This means it's easy and efficient to target for a developer (incl hardware developers) and easy and efficient to share problems and solutions for the community.
      - magicalhippo 6y ago
        Ah, fair enough. > At last but not at least (this arguably is the most valuable part actually) it is THE SBC. I'm not sure a significantly more expensive, but more powerful, Raspberry Pi would have the same market appeal. Then again, what do I know :)
- qwerty456127 6y ago
  > 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1. USB 3.1 Gen 1 means simple USB 3.0, right?
  - magicalhippo 6y ago
    Well yes but they couldn't just call it that, now could they?
mondoshawan 6y ago
Any of the Udoo boards, most specifically the x86 Advanced Plus II. Plenty of GPIOs from the Braswell core, and another chunk from an integrated Arduino. Its a bit more than 2x the price, but the flexibility and standard boot and peripherals it offers is worth the cost for hobbiest hacks.

I haven't actually purchased it myself so can't recommend as such, but for example the Biostar A10N-8800E looks[2] interesting. Has a quad core AMD APU, 2x DDR4 DIM sockets, PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, one M key M.2 slot, 2x SATA, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1. Board itself with integrated CPU costs just ~20% more than the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB, at least here in Norway. Add in 8GB of value memory and a small/spare PSU and you should be not far off the 2x mark. [1]: http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=935 http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_I... [2]: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/biostar-a10n-8800e/ https://www.techpowerup.com/review/biostar-a10n-8800e/

mondoshawan 6y ago
No GPIOs there, though.
- magicalhippo 6y ago
  Sure, but the post I replied to specifically said > The vendor just doesn't want to acknowledge the real role of Raspberry Pi is not limited to being a cheap tinkerer board anymore To me, tinkering means GPIO. That's why I was asking why the want for a Raspberry Pi, why not get something else that already exist. I'm curious what they're looking for. Of course if they still want GPIO then that's a valid point.
  - qwerty456127 6y ago
    > not limited to being a cheap tinkerer board anymore being not limited to being a cheap tinkerer board doesn't mean not being a [slightly less cheap] tinkerer board among the rest of roles. I didn't mean I don't need GPIO. I actually want more GPIO so I could connect a "hat", an infrared port, a cooler and still have spare pins for actual tinkering. Another cool thing available exclusively with Raspberry Pi is polished Raspbian OS coming with free Mathematica and other goodies. Hardware codecs also feels nice and, AFAIK, you don't get them with x86. At last but not at least (this arguably is the most valuable part actually) it is THE SBC. This means it's easy and efficient to target for a developer (incl hardware developers) and easy and efficient to share problems and solutions for the community.
    - magicalhippo 6y ago
      Ah, fair enough. > At last but not at least (this arguably is the most valuable part actually) it is THE SBC. I'm not sure a significantly more expensive, but more powerful, Raspberry Pi would have the same market appeal. Then again, what do I know :)
qwerty456127 6y ago
> 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1. USB 3.1 Gen 1 means simple USB 3.0, right?
- magicalhippo 6y ago
  Well yes but they couldn't just call it that, now could they?

mondoshawan 6y ago

Any of the Udoo boards, most specifically the x86 Advanced Plus II. Plenty of GPIOs from the Braswell core, and another chunk from an integrated Arduino. Its a bit more than 2x the price, but the flexibility and standard boot and peripherals it offers is worth the cost for hobbiest hacks.