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This little PC looks awesome. I have a little Beelink N100 PC with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB NVME SSD, thing cost like $160 and sips power, even when transcoding

This little PC looks awesome. I have a little Beelink N100 PC with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB NVME SSD, thing cost like $160 and sips power, even when transcoding 4K video for my Jellyfin server. The fact that these are available with 4 and 8 GB of RAM now and with Pi-compatible GPIO could mean some excellent home project opportunities.

emj 2y ago
I am pretty sure RP2040 is not compatible with the Raspberry pi boards, so it will not be enough to replace Raspberry PI.
- mewse-hn 2y ago
  RP2040 is just a microcontroller vs the "full computer" of a normal pi board. This is the distinction people are usually making when they say RP2040 isn't a pi. This board is a full intel computer plus a rp2040 driving the pi-style GPIO pins. It should basically be able to do whatever a pi can do.
  - f1shy 2y ago
    And much more…
  - emj 2y ago
    To be compatible and be able to use all the Pi Hats would be nice but my point is that I am not sure a RP2040 can replace the Pi and be called "compatible". You can do a lot with an MC on the board that is true.
criddell 2y ago
When you say "sips power", what exactly do you mean? I've been watching for an SBC you could use to make something like a TRS-80 Model 100. They ran off 4-AA batteries and would get you 20 hours of continuous use. That translated to at least a week of real world use (you wouldn't want to be typing on one for 4 hours a day...) That was in 1983. Today, it seems like you should be able to make something similar that will run for weeks or months on AA batteries.
- gmoot 2y ago
  My n100 system idles at 10W from the wall. It has many more components to power (2x m.2, sata, 5x nics, etc.) than this SBC though. Much higher than a raspberry pi, but still low in comparison to any desktop server
  - criddell 2y ago
    10W? I think that means 4 AA batteries would keep it running for about an hour.
  - adrian_b 2y ago
    That is quite high for an N100 system, even if it is not uncommon and much of the power may be used by the listed peripherals. Most well designed N100 systems that have only a moderate number of peripherals have an idle power consumption under 5 W.
- vile_wretch 2y ago
  I don't think AA batteries have improved a whole lot over the past 40 years, but power requirements have definitely gone up. The linked SBC needs a 12v/2A power supply minimum. I think the CPU in the Model 100 used something like 1 watt max and even then I recall reading somewhere that it went as far as suspending clock cycles in between key strokes to conserve energy (this may have been something else, I can't find where I read it). So in my very-much-not-an-expert opinion, I don't think it would be feasible to run a modern computer off of AA batteries, let alone for weeks.
  - adrian_b 2y ago
    The minimum power supply is dimensioned to allow for USB powered peripherals. The idle power consumption of such a SBC like Radxa X4 must be significantly below 5 W, probably around 2 to 3 W. That is still too high for standard AA batteries, but rechargeable batteries should work. If a long battery life would be needed, it is likely that one can shut down the N100 CPU and wake it up either periodically or on USB activity caused by the RP2040 MCU. That should reduce the average power consumption to fractions of a watt.

emj 2y ago

I am pretty sure RP2040 is not compatible with the Raspberry pi boards, so it will not be enough to replace Raspberry PI.

mewse-hn 2y ago
RP2040 is just a microcontroller vs the "full computer" of a normal pi board. This is the distinction people are usually making when they say RP2040 isn't a pi. This board is a full intel computer plus a rp2040 driving the pi-style GPIO pins. It should basically be able to do whatever a pi can do.
- f1shy 2y ago
  And much more…
- emj 2y ago
  To be compatible and be able to use all the Pi Hats would be nice but my point is that I am not sure a RP2040 can replace the Pi and be called "compatible". You can do a lot with an MC on the board that is true.

criddell 2y ago

When you say "sips power", what exactly do you mean? I've been watching for an SBC you could use to make something like a TRS-80 Model 100. They ran off 4-AA batteries and would get you 20 hours of continuous use. That translated to at least a week of real world use (you wouldn't want to be typing on one for 4 hours a day...) That was in 1983. Today, it seems like you should be able to make something similar that will run for weeks or months on AA batteries.

gmoot 2y ago
My n100 system idles at 10W from the wall. It has many more components to power (2x m.2, sata, 5x nics, etc.) than this SBC though. Much higher than a raspberry pi, but still low in comparison to any desktop server
- criddell 2y ago
  10W? I think that means 4 AA batteries would keep it running for about an hour.
- adrian_b 2y ago
  That is quite high for an N100 system, even if it is not uncommon and much of the power may be used by the listed peripherals. Most well designed N100 systems that have only a moderate number of peripherals have an idle power consumption under 5 W.
vile_wretch 2y ago
I don't think AA batteries have improved a whole lot over the past 40 years, but power requirements have definitely gone up. The linked SBC needs a 12v/2A power supply minimum. I think the CPU in the Model 100 used something like 1 watt max and even then I recall reading somewhere that it went as far as suspending clock cycles in between key strokes to conserve energy (this may have been something else, I can't find where I read it). So in my very-much-not-an-expert opinion, I don't think it would be feasible to run a modern computer off of AA batteries, let alone for weeks.
- adrian_b 2y ago
  The minimum power supply is dimensioned to allow for USB powered peripherals. The idle power consumption of such a SBC like Radxa X4 must be significantly below 5 W, probably around 2 to 3 W. That is still too high for standard AA batteries, but rechargeable batteries should work. If a long battery life would be needed, it is likely that one can shut down the N100 CPU and wake it up either periodically or on USB activity caused by the RP2040 MCU. That should reduce the average power consumption to fractions of a watt.