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The review shows ARM64 software support is still painful vs x86. For $200 for the 16gb model, this is the price point where you could just get an Intel N150 min

The review shows ARM64 software support is still painful vs x86. For $200 for the 16gb model, this is the price point where you could just get an Intel N150 mini PC in the same form factor. And those usually come with cases. They also tend to pull 5-8w at idle, while this is 15w. Cool if you really want ARM64, but at this end of the performance spectrum, why not stick with the x86 stack where everything just works a lot easier?

baobun 10mo ago
With RAM it will be costing notably more, with 4 cores instead of 12. I'd expect this to run circles around an N150 for single-threaded perf too. They are not in the same class, which is reflected in the power envelope. BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? Y'all Intel shareholders or something? I run both but not to the exclusion of everything else. There is nothing I've failed to run successfully on my ARM ones and the only thing I haven't tried is gaming.
- trollied 10mo ago
  No idea - the ryzen based ones are better!
  - rufo 10mo ago
    Depends on what you need - for pure performance regardless of power usage and 3D use cases like gaming, agreed. For performance per watt under load and video transcoding use cases, the 12th-gen E-core CPUs ala the N100 are _really_ hard to beat.
- eleventyseven 10mo ago
  1. Wow, never thought I'd need to do an investment disclosure for an HN comment. But sure thing: I'm sure Intel is somewhere in my 401K's index funds, but also probably Qualcomm. But I'm not a corporate shill, thank you very much for the good faith. Just a hobbyist looking to not get seduced by the lastest trend. If I were an ARM developer that'd be different, I get that. 2. The review says single core Geekbench performance is 1290, same as i5-10500 which is also similar to N150, which is 1235. 3. You can still get N150s with 16gb ram in a case for $200 all in.
  - ekianjo 10mo ago
    > review says single core Geekbench performance is 1290, same as i5-10500 which is also similar to N150, which is 1235. Single core, yes. Multi core score is much higher for this SBC vs the N150.
    - drnick1 10mo ago
      But realistically, most workloads of the kind you would run on these machines don't scale benefit from multithreading as much as single core performance. At least at home these machines will do things like video streaming, router, or serving files. Even if you want to use it in the living room as a console/emulator, you are better off with higher single core performance and fewer cores than the opposite.
      - ekianjo 10mo ago
        > in the living room as a console/emulator, if you are talking about ancient hardware, yes, it's mostly driven by single core performance. But any console more recent than the 2000s will hugely benefit from multiple cores (because of the split between CPU and GPU, and the fact that more recent consoles also had multiple cores, too).
      - Marsymars 10mo ago
        > But realistically, most workloads of the kind you would run on these machines don't scale benefit from multithreading as much as single core performance. At least at home these machines will do things like video streaming, router, or serving files. You're probably right about "most workloads", but as a single counter-example, I added several seasons of shows to my N305 Plex server last night, and it pinned all eight threads for quite a while doing its intro/credit detection. I actually went and checked if it would be at all practical to move my Plex server to a VM on my bigger home server where it could get 16 Skymont threads (at 4.6ghz vs 8 Gracemont threads at ~3ghz - so something like 3x the multithreaded potential on E-cores). Doesn't really seem workable to use Intel Quick Sync on Linux guests with a Hyper-V host though.
- anonym29 10mo ago
  Are you sure you don't have single-threaded and multi-threaded backwards? Why would the A720 at 2.8 GHz run circles around the N150 that boosts up to 3.6 GHz in single-threaded workloads, while the 12-core chip would wouldn't beat the 4-core chip in multithreaded workloads? Obviously, the Intel chip wins in single-threaded performance while losing in multi-threaded: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/6304vs6617/Intel-N150-vs-CIX-P1-CD8180 https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/6304vs6617/Intel-N150-v... I can't speak to why other people bring up the N150 in ARM SBC threads any more than "AMD doesn't compete in the ~$200 SBC segment". FWIW, as far as SBC/NUCs go, I've had a Pi 4, an RK3399 board, an RK3568 board, an N100 NUC from GMKTec, and a N150 NUC from Geekom, and the N150 has by far been my favorite out of those for real-world workloads rather than tinkering. The gap between the x86 software ecosystem and the ARM software ecosystem is no joke. P.S. Stay away from GMKTec. Even if you don't get burned, your SODIMM cards will. There are stoves, ovens, and hot plates with better heat dissipation and thermals than GMKTec NUCs.
- zzzoom 10mo ago
  Because most ARM SBCs are still limited to whatever linux distro they added support to. Intel SBCs might underperform but you can be sure it will run anything built for x86-64.
- bitwize 10mo ago
  x86 based small computers are just so much easier to work with than most second- and third-string ARM vendors. The x86 scene has had standards in place for a long time, like PCIe and the PC BIOS (now UEFI) for hardware initialization and mapping, that make it a doddle to just boot a kernel and let it get the hardware working. ARM boards don't have that yet, requiring per-board support in the kernel which board manufacturers famously drag their feet on implementing openly let alone upstreaming. Raspberry Pi has its own setup, which means kernel support for the Pi series is pretty good, but it doesn't generalize to other boards, which means users and integrators may be stuck with whatever last version of Ubuntu or Android the vendor thought to ship. Which means if you want a little network appliance like a router, firewall, Jellyfin server, etc. it often makes more sense to go with an N150 bitty box than an ARM SBC because the former is going to be price- and power-draw-competitive with the latter while being able to draw on the OS support of the well-tested PC ecosystem. ARM actually has a spec in place called SystemReady that standardizes on UEFI, which should make bringup of ARM systems much less jank. But few have implemented it yet. I keep saying, the first cheap Chinese vendor that ships a SystemReady-compliant SBC is gonna make a killing.
  - baby_souffle 10mo ago
    > I keep saying, the first cheap Chinese vendor that ships a SystemReady-compliant SBC is gonna make a killing. Agree. When ARM announced the initiative, I thought that the raspberry pi people would be quick but they haven't even announced a plan to eventually support it. I don't know what the hold up is! Is it really that difficult to implement?
    - wpm 10mo ago
      The Pi boots on its GPU, which is a closed off Broadcom design. Likely complicates things a bit.
    - bitwize 10mo ago
      Apparently Pine64 and Radxa sell SystemReady-compliant SBCs; even a Raspberry Pi 4 can be made compliant (presumably by booting a UEFI firmware from the Raspberry's GPU-based custom-schmustom boot procedure, which then loads your OS).
- greenavocado 10mo ago
  ARM SBCs that cost over $90 are totally not worth it considering those Nxxx options exist
  - geerlingguy 10mo ago
    Many of the NXXX options are, sadly, going up in price a lot right now due to the RAM shortages.
- Aurornis 10mo ago
  > I'd expect this to run circles around an N150 for single-threaded perf too It has basically the same single-core performance as an N150 box Random N150 result: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/10992465 https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/10992465 > BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? At this point I expect a lot of people have been enticed by niche SBCs and then discovered that driver support is a nightmare, as this article shows. So in time, everyone discovers that cheap x86-64 boxes accomplish their generic computing goals easier than these niche SBCs, even if the multi-core performance isn't the same. Being able to install a mainline OS and common drivers and just get to work is valuable.
- teruakohatu 10mo ago
  > BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? Because they have a great watt/performance ratio along with a GPU that is very well supported by a wide range of devices and mainline kernel support. In other words a great general purpose SBC. Meanwhile people are using ARM SBCs, with SoCs designed for embedded or mobile devices, as general purpose computers. I will admit with RAM and SSD prices sky rocketing these ARM SBC look more attractive.
- heavyset_go 10mo ago
  > BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? For 90% of use cases, ARM SBCs are not appropriate and will not meet expectations over time. People expect them to be little PCs, and intend to use them that way, but they are not. Mini PCs, on the other hand, are literally little PCs and will meet the expectations users have when dealing with PCs.
ekianjo 10mo ago
Yes x86 will win for convenience on about every metric (at least for now), but this SoC's CPU is much faster than a mere Intel N150 (especially for multicore use cases).
- rpcope1 10mo ago
  I've got i3 and i5 systems that do 15W or better idle, and I don't have to worry about the absolute clusterfuck of ARM hardware (and those systems used can be had for less and will probably long outlive mystery meat ARM SBCs).
  - overfeed 10mo ago
    One of my Arm systems idles at leas than 1W and has a max TDP less than your idle draw (10W). I also have an N200 box, and a 16-core workstation with an obscene power draw - each platform has its pros and cons. I noticed nuance is the first thing discarded in the recurring x86 vs Arm flame wars, with each side minimizing the strength of the "opposing" platform. Pick the right tool for the right job, there are use-cases where the Orange Pi 6 is the right choice.
cmrdporcupine 10mo ago
I've got two RK3588 boards here doing Linux-y things around my place (Jellyfin, Forgejo builders, Immich, etc) and ... I don't think I've run into pain? They're running various debian and just ... work? I can't think of a single package that I couldn't get for ARM64. Likewise my VPS @ Hetzner is running Aarch64. No drama. Only pain is how brutal the Rust cross-compile is from my x86 machine. I mean, here's Geerling running a bunch of Steam games flawlessly on a Aarch64 NVIDIA GB10 machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRKvKC4ntw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRKvKC4ntw (Those things are expensive, but I just ordered one [the ASUS variant] for myself.) Meanwhile Apple is pushing the ARM64 architecture hard, and Windows is apparently actually quite viable now? Personally... it's totally irrational, but I have always had a grudge against x86 since it "won" in the early 90s and I had to switch from 68k. I want diversity in ISAs. RISC-V would be nice, but I'll settle for ARM for now.
drnick1 10mo ago
Agreed, at least for a likely "home use" case, such as a TV box, router, or general purpose file server or Docker host, I don't see how this board is better than something like a Beelink mini PC. The Orange Pi does not even come with a case, power supply or cooler. Contrast that with a Beelink that has a built-in power supply (no external brick) and of course a case and cooler.
- ekianjo 10mo ago
  This OrangePi 6 Plus board comes with cooling and a power supply (usb-c). No case, though.
  - drnick1 10mo ago
    Fair enough, but I suppose it does not come which storage (NVME). Typically ready to use NUCs that retail for around $200 do. That's often only about 0.5GB, so not a use amount of storage, but more than enough for a streaming box or retro console, say.
    - ekianjo 10mo ago
      Correct, you have to buy the NVME storage separately.
Youden 10mo ago
From the article: "[...] the Linux support for various parts of the boards, not being upstreamed and mainlined, is very likely to be stuck on an older version. This is usually what causes headaches down the road [...]". The problem isn't support for the ARM architecture in general, it's the support for this particular board. Other boards like the Raspberry Pi and many boards based on Rockchip SoCs have most of the necessary support mainlined, so the experience is quite painless. Many are starting to get support for UEFI as well.
- eleventyseven 10mo ago
  That makes sense, as the Pi is as easy as x86 at this point. I almost never have to compile from scratch. I'm not a compiler expert... But it seems each ARM64 board needs its own custom kernel support, but once that is done, it can support anything compiled to ARM64 as a general target? Or will we still need to have separate builds for RPi, for this board, etc?
  - ZiiS 10mo ago
    Apart from very rare cases, this will run any linux-arm64 binary.
  - StephenHerlihyy 10mo ago
    Little bit of both. Pi still uses a sort of unique boot sequence due to it’s heritage. Most devices will have the CPU load the bootloader and then have the OS bring up the GPU. Pi sort of inverts this, having the GPU leading the charge with the CPU held at reset until after the GPU has finished it’s boot sequence. Once you get into the CPU though the Aarch64 registers become more standardized. You still have drivers and such to worry about and differing memory offsets for the peripherals - but since you have the kernel running it’s easier to kind of poke around until you find it. Pi 5 added someone complexity to this with the RP1 South Bridge which adds another layer of abstraction. Hopefully that all makes sense. Basically the Pi itself is backwards while everything else should conform. It’s not Arm specific, but how the Pi does things.
  - ekianjo 10mo ago
chvid 10mo ago
It allows you to build for what is coming. In a couple of years arm hardware this powerful will cheap and common.
knowitnone3 10mo ago
the high end of the performance is impressive and this has idle power similar to the processors in it's performance range(AMD Ryzen 7 4800H idles at 45W). This is certainly not meant for lower power computing.
plagiarist 10mo ago
I was soured on ARM SBCs by the Orange Pi 5, which does not have an option to ignore its SD card during boot. Something trivial on basically every x86 platform I had been taking for granted.
kbar13 10mo ago
i use the rpi zero 2 for the IO pins 4b / 5 for the camera stuff. i don’t think using these boards for just compute makes a lot of sense unless it’s for toy stuff like an ssh shell or pihole
Saris 10mo ago
I feel like SBC stuff hasn't been worth it over x86 boxes like that for awhile now. Other than the GPIO being useful in certain use cases. N100 boxes are cheap and use so little power, while having normal OS support and boot setup.

baobun 10mo ago

With RAM it will be costing notably more, with 4 cores instead of 12. I'd expect this to run circles around an N150 for single-threaded perf too. They are not in the same class, which is reflected in the power envelope. BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? Y'all Intel shareholders or something? I run both but not to the exclusion of everything else. There is nothing I've failed to run successfully on my ARM ones and the only thing I haven't tried is gaming.

trollied 10mo ago
No idea - the ryzen based ones are better!
- rufo 10mo ago
  Depends on what you need - for pure performance regardless of power usage and 3D use cases like gaming, agreed. For performance per watt under load and video transcoding use cases, the 12th-gen E-core CPUs ala the N100 are _really_ hard to beat.
eleventyseven 10mo ago
1. Wow, never thought I'd need to do an investment disclosure for an HN comment. But sure thing: I'm sure Intel is somewhere in my 401K's index funds, but also probably Qualcomm. But I'm not a corporate shill, thank you very much for the good faith. Just a hobbyist looking to not get seduced by the lastest trend. If I were an ARM developer that'd be different, I get that. 2. The review says single core Geekbench performance is 1290, same as i5-10500 which is also similar to N150, which is 1235. 3. You can still get N150s with 16gb ram in a case for $200 all in.
- ekianjo 10mo ago
  > review says single core Geekbench performance is 1290, same as i5-10500 which is also similar to N150, which is 1235. Single core, yes. Multi core score is much higher for this SBC vs the N150.
  - drnick1 10mo ago
    But realistically, most workloads of the kind you would run on these machines don't scale benefit from multithreading as much as single core performance. At least at home these machines will do things like video streaming, router, or serving files. Even if you want to use it in the living room as a console/emulator, you are better off with higher single core performance and fewer cores than the opposite.
    - ekianjo 10mo ago
      > in the living room as a console/emulator, if you are talking about ancient hardware, yes, it's mostly driven by single core performance. But any console more recent than the 2000s will hugely benefit from multiple cores (because of the split between CPU and GPU, and the fact that more recent consoles also had multiple cores, too).
    - Marsymars 10mo ago
      > But realistically, most workloads of the kind you would run on these machines don't scale benefit from multithreading as much as single core performance. At least at home these machines will do things like video streaming, router, or serving files. You're probably right about "most workloads", but as a single counter-example, I added several seasons of shows to my N305 Plex server last night, and it pinned all eight threads for quite a while doing its intro/credit detection. I actually went and checked if it would be at all practical to move my Plex server to a VM on my bigger home server where it could get 16 Skymont threads (at 4.6ghz vs 8 Gracemont threads at ~3ghz - so something like 3x the multithreaded potential on E-cores). Doesn't really seem workable to use Intel Quick Sync on Linux guests with a Hyper-V host though.
anonym29 10mo ago
Are you sure you don't have single-threaded and multi-threaded backwards? Why would the A720 at 2.8 GHz run circles around the N150 that boosts up to 3.6 GHz in single-threaded workloads, while the 12-core chip would wouldn't beat the 4-core chip in multithreaded workloads? Obviously, the Intel chip wins in single-threaded performance while losing in multi-threaded: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/6304vs6617/Intel-N150-vs-CIX-P1-CD8180 https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/6304vs6617/Intel-N150-v... I can't speak to why other people bring up the N150 in ARM SBC threads any more than "AMD doesn't compete in the ~$200 SBC segment". FWIW, as far as SBC/NUCs go, I've had a Pi 4, an RK3399 board, an RK3568 board, an N100 NUC from GMKTec, and a N150 NUC from Geekom, and the N150 has by far been my favorite out of those for real-world workloads rather than tinkering. The gap between the x86 software ecosystem and the ARM software ecosystem is no joke. P.S. Stay away from GMKTec. Even if you don't get burned, your SODIMM cards will. There are stoves, ovens, and hot plates with better heat dissipation and thermals than GMKTec NUCs.
zzzoom 10mo ago
Because most ARM SBCs are still limited to whatever linux distro they added support to. Intel SBCs might underperform but you can be sure it will run anything built for x86-64.
bitwize 10mo ago
x86 based small computers are just so much easier to work with than most second- and third-string ARM vendors. The x86 scene has had standards in place for a long time, like PCIe and the PC BIOS (now UEFI) for hardware initialization and mapping, that make it a doddle to just boot a kernel and let it get the hardware working. ARM boards don't have that yet, requiring per-board support in the kernel which board manufacturers famously drag their feet on implementing openly let alone upstreaming. Raspberry Pi has its own setup, which means kernel support for the Pi series is pretty good, but it doesn't generalize to other boards, which means users and integrators may be stuck with whatever last version of Ubuntu or Android the vendor thought to ship. Which means if you want a little network appliance like a router, firewall, Jellyfin server, etc. it often makes more sense to go with an N150 bitty box than an ARM SBC because the former is going to be price- and power-draw-competitive with the latter while being able to draw on the OS support of the well-tested PC ecosystem. ARM actually has a spec in place called SystemReady that standardizes on UEFI, which should make bringup of ARM systems much less jank. But few have implemented it yet. I keep saying, the first cheap Chinese vendor that ships a SystemReady-compliant SBC is gonna make a killing.
- baby_souffle 10mo ago
  > I keep saying, the first cheap Chinese vendor that ships a SystemReady-compliant SBC is gonna make a killing. Agree. When ARM announced the initiative, I thought that the raspberry pi people would be quick but they haven't even announced a plan to eventually support it. I don't know what the hold up is! Is it really that difficult to implement?
  - wpm 10mo ago
    The Pi boots on its GPU, which is a closed off Broadcom design. Likely complicates things a bit.
  - bitwize 10mo ago
    Apparently Pine64 and Radxa sell SystemReady-compliant SBCs; even a Raspberry Pi 4 can be made compliant (presumably by booting a UEFI firmware from the Raspberry's GPU-based custom-schmustom boot procedure, which then loads your OS).
greenavocado 10mo ago
ARM SBCs that cost over $90 are totally not worth it considering those Nxxx options exist
- geerlingguy 10mo ago
  Many of the NXXX options are, sadly, going up in price a lot right now due to the RAM shortages.
Aurornis 10mo ago
> I'd expect this to run circles around an N150 for single-threaded perf too It has basically the same single-core performance as an N150 box Random N150 result: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/10992465 https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/10992465 > BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? At this point I expect a lot of people have been enticed by niche SBCs and then discovered that driver support is a nightmare, as this article shows. So in time, everyone discovers that cheap x86-64 boxes accomplish their generic computing goals easier than these niche SBCs, even if the multi-core performance isn't the same. Being able to install a mainline OS and common drivers and just get to work is valuable.
teruakohatu 10mo ago
> BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? Because they have a great watt/performance ratio along with a GPU that is very well supported by a wide range of devices and mainline kernel support. In other words a great general purpose SBC. Meanwhile people are using ARM SBCs, with SoCs designed for embedded or mobile devices, as general purpose computers. I will admit with RAM and SSD prices sky rocketing these ARM SBC look more attractive.
heavyset_go 10mo ago
> BTW what's up with people pushing N150 and N300 in every single ARM SBC thread? For 90% of use cases, ARM SBCs are not appropriate and will not meet expectations over time. People expect them to be little PCs, and intend to use them that way, but they are not. Mini PCs, on the other hand, are literally little PCs and will meet the expectations users have when dealing with PCs.

ekianjo 10mo ago

Yes x86 will win for convenience on about every metric (at least for now), but this SoC's CPU is much faster than a mere Intel N150 (especially for multicore use cases).

rpcope1 10mo ago
I've got i3 and i5 systems that do 15W or better idle, and I don't have to worry about the absolute clusterfuck of ARM hardware (and those systems used can be had for less and will probably long outlive mystery meat ARM SBCs).
- overfeed 10mo ago
  One of my Arm systems idles at leas than 1W and has a max TDP less than your idle draw (10W). I also have an N200 box, and a 16-core workstation with an obscene power draw - each platform has its pros and cons. I noticed nuance is the first thing discarded in the recurring x86 vs Arm flame wars, with each side minimizing the strength of the "opposing" platform. Pick the right tool for the right job, there are use-cases where the Orange Pi 6 is the right choice.

cmrdporcupine 10mo ago

I've got two RK3588 boards here doing Linux-y things around my place (Jellyfin, Forgejo builders, Immich, etc) and ... I don't think I've run into pain? They're running various debian and just ... work? I can't think of a single package that I couldn't get for ARM64. Likewise my VPS @ Hetzner is running Aarch64. No drama. Only pain is how brutal the Rust cross-compile is from my x86 machine. I mean, here's Geerling running a bunch of Steam games flawlessly on a Aarch64 NVIDIA GB10 machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRKvKC4ntw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRKvKC4ntw (Those things are expensive, but I just ordered one [the ASUS variant] for myself.) Meanwhile Apple is pushing the ARM64 architecture hard, and Windows is apparently actually quite viable now? Personally... it's totally irrational, but I have always had a grudge against x86 since it "won" in the early 90s and I had to switch from 68k. I want diversity in ISAs. RISC-V would be nice, but I'll settle for ARM for now.

drnick1 10mo ago

Agreed, at least for a likely "home use" case, such as a TV box, router, or general purpose file server or Docker host, I don't see how this board is better than something like a Beelink mini PC. The Orange Pi does not even come with a case, power supply or cooler. Contrast that with a Beelink that has a built-in power supply (no external brick) and of course a case and cooler.

ekianjo 10mo ago
This OrangePi 6 Plus board comes with cooling and a power supply (usb-c). No case, though.
- drnick1 10mo ago
  Fair enough, but I suppose it does not come which storage (NVME). Typically ready to use NUCs that retail for around $200 do. That's often only about 0.5GB, so not a use amount of storage, but more than enough for a streaming box or retro console, say.
  - ekianjo 10mo ago
    Correct, you have to buy the NVME storage separately.

Youden 10mo ago

From the article: "[...] the Linux support for various parts of the boards, not being upstreamed and mainlined, is very likely to be stuck on an older version. This is usually what causes headaches down the road [...]". The problem isn't support for the ARM architecture in general, it's the support for this particular board. Other boards like the Raspberry Pi and many boards based on Rockchip SoCs have most of the necessary support mainlined, so the experience is quite painless. Many are starting to get support for UEFI as well.

eleventyseven 10mo ago
That makes sense, as the Pi is as easy as x86 at this point. I almost never have to compile from scratch. I'm not a compiler expert... But it seems each ARM64 board needs its own custom kernel support, but once that is done, it can support anything compiled to ARM64 as a general target? Or will we still need to have separate builds for RPi, for this board, etc?
- ZiiS 10mo ago
  Apart from very rare cases, this will run any linux-arm64 binary.
- StephenHerlihyy 10mo ago
  Little bit of both. Pi still uses a sort of unique boot sequence due to it’s heritage. Most devices will have the CPU load the bootloader and then have the OS bring up the GPU. Pi sort of inverts this, having the GPU leading the charge with the CPU held at reset until after the GPU has finished it’s boot sequence. Once you get into the CPU though the Aarch64 registers become more standardized. You still have drivers and such to worry about and differing memory offsets for the peripherals - but since you have the kernel running it’s easier to kind of poke around until you find it. Pi 5 added someone complexity to this with the RP1 South Bridge which adds another layer of abstraction. Hopefully that all makes sense. Basically the Pi itself is backwards while everything else should conform. It’s not Arm specific, but how the Pi does things.
- ekianjo 10mo ago

chvid 10mo ago

It allows you to build for what is coming. In a couple of years arm hardware this powerful will cheap and common.

knowitnone3 10mo ago

the high end of the performance is impressive and this has idle power similar to the processors in it's performance range(AMD Ryzen 7 4800H idles at 45W). This is certainly not meant for lower power computing.

plagiarist 10mo ago

I was soured on ARM SBCs by the Orange Pi 5, which does not have an option to ignore its SD card during boot. Something trivial on basically every x86 platform I had been taking for granted.

kbar13 10mo ago

i use the rpi zero 2 for the IO pins 4b / 5 for the camera stuff. i don’t think using these boards for just compute makes a lot of sense unless it’s for toy stuff like an ssh shell or pihole

Saris 10mo ago

I feel like SBC stuff hasn't been worth it over x86 boxes like that for awhile now. Other than the GPIO being useful in certain use cases. N100 boxes are cheap and use so little power, while having normal OS support and boot setup.