What is the best alternative to Rock64 (4GB)?

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score 206 · Answer 1

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Top Pro

The most popular

People use this for everything . See More

Top Con

Gets hot

Top Pro

Cheap

Only $35. See More

Top Con

Bad at n64 emulation

It's laggy . See More

Specs

Size:85 x 56 mm

RAM:1, 2 or 8 GB LPDDR4

CPU:Broadcom BCM2711 ( 4 x up to 1,5 GHz)

Storage:microSD card

See All Specs

206 24

score 576 · Answer 2

Udoo x86 Ultra

Top Pro

Capable of running as a day-to-day PC

With 8 GB of RAM and a 2.56 GHz quad-core Intel CPU, the Udoo x86 Ultra is capable of running most applications an average user would need on a daily basis without any particular problems. You can run an office suite, web browser, or an IDE the same way you would in a normal PC. It can also run some PC games such as DotA, League of Legends and Team Fortress 2 on 720p at 20-30 frames per second. See More

Top Con

Very expensive for an SBC

It’s very expensive though, at least as far as single-board computers go. It’s priced at $259. See More

Top Pro

Huge amounts of RAM

The Ultra version has 8GB of RAM, the Advanced version has 4GB and the basic version has 2GB (which is still more than most SBCs). See More

Top Con

Poor wireless connectivity

The Udoo x86 Ultra does not have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth out of the box. However, it has an M.2 slot where an officially supported antenna module can be mounted. This module provides 803.11n Wireless LAN and 5 GHz Bluetooth 4.2 at for $15. Unfortunately, attaching the antenna will occupy the M.2 slot which could have been used for an SSD instead. Edit: there is 2 M2 slots so you can mount SSD and Bluetooth. See More

Top Pro

Helpful guides and community

Has good guides available online and the community is quite helpful, even if a bit small. See More

Top Con

Small community

The Udoo x86 community is small as it’s just off from the Kickstarter. Not many people have their boards yet, but the fact that Udoo raised over $800,000 at Kickstarter sounds promising. The official forum seems fairly active with an average of 200 views and 5 replies per discussion. See More

Top Pro

Good wired connectivity

For wired connectivity, the Udoo x86 stands out: It has three USB 3.0 ports, a SATA connector, M.2 slot, microSD slot, Ethernet, HDMI, two DisplayPort connectors, and even an IR RC5 interface. This is on par with what regular desktop computers require. See More

Top Con

The official documentation is lacking

The official documentation available at the official website is lacking. Apart from the hardware specification sheet, there’s generally not much information or project examples available for the Udoo x86 at the moment. The users will have a lot of tinkering and hacking to do if they want to achieve any positive results with their projects. See More

Top Pro

spped networn in thermoplastics DVS Pro Decent graphics Intel HD graphics 405 up to 700 MHz with 16 execution units.

Intel HD graphics 405 up to 700 MHz with 16 execution units. See More

Top Con

It's possible you'll run into problems that haven't been discussed yet

Even through the community is growing, the product is not considered mainstream. When purchasing this SBC, you should be aware that some tinkering will be required. Prolific users will also most likely run into some sort of problem that might not have yet been discussed on official resources. See More

Top Pro

Shear Power

Its sooooooo good See More

Top Con

Its price comes close to decently powerful laptop

Top Pro

Energy efficient

Even though it sports Quad Core x86 next-gen CPUs made by Intel, it's pretty energy efficient as the complete Udoo board consumes less than 11 watts of energy at any given time. See More

Top Con

Expensive board with noisy fan

Never had such expensive board with such shitty noisy fan. Worst design ever in the metal case. Without the fan get super hot. Had to buy a proper fan from noctua. Unbelievable they let this be sold with that shit installed on the heat sink See More

Top Pro

Best storage capabilities

In terms of storage the Udoo x86 is a clear winner. Out of the box it comes with 32GB eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard, basically a built-in SSD). Then it’s fully up to the user to upgrade the storage as they see fit. If you need fast (but expensive) storage—an SSD is the best option. A microSD card can also be used as a storage option. See More

Top Con

4K only supports 24 FPS

Only supports HDMI 1.4 and DP 1.1a, so 4K is limited to 24 FPS. See More

Top Pro

X86-compatible

Very easy to run all operating systems. In terms of Linux or Android internal 32GB can be used as Read Only and additional SATA HDD/SSD/eMMC drive as /tmp and /home directories. See More

Top Con

Demanding games are virtually unplayable

Demanding games are technically supported, but have such a low framerate that they’re virtually unplayable. See More

Top Pro

Can be used as a gaming emulator

Supports almost all retro gaming emulators available for PC so it can be used as a retro gaming emulator. It can also emulate newer consoles like the Playstation 2 and PSP. See More

Top Pro

Decent GPIO suppoort

The Udoo x86 Ultra comes with 28 GPIO ports in total which may seem small, but considering the fact that it has an Arduino 101 embedded inside, it’s actually a decent amount. The Arduino board has built-in functionality for what some of the pins would be used (like a six-axis accelerometer and gyroscope) and adds 12 additional GPIO pins. Several key communication protocols are also supported: two IIC, two UART, LPC and SDIO. See More

Top Pro

Set-up is easy and straightforward

It’s absolutely straightforward to set up. The installation guides for all supported operating systems are provided in written and video form. See More

Top Pro

Arduino compatible

The Udoo x86 comes with an embedded Arduino 101, with all upgrades enabled (including 6-axis accelerometer, gyroscope and Bluetooth). See More

Top Pro

Great media streaming potential

The relatively high power makes the Udoo x86 Ultra the best single-board computer for high-quality media streaming. It can stream 30Hz 4K video on up to three monitors through HDMI and two mini display ports. This opens the doors for setting up a UHD capable media station. Applications like Netflix, Spotify, Kodi, YouTube, etc. are also supported, as Udoo x86 can run operating systems which support these applications. See More

Specs

Size:Pico-ITX (100 x 72 mm)

RAM:8 GB DDR3L

CPU:Intel Pentium N3710 (4x 1,6 GHz, Intel Burst up to 2.56 GHz)

Storage:32 GB eMMC (embedded MicroMediaCard)

See All Specs

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576 110

score 639 · Answer 3

ODROID-XU4

Top Pro

Fast ethernet

Much faster than 10/100 as it contains a gigabit ethernet port. See More

Top Con

SD card corrupts

SD card corrupts easily with the XU4, use emmc for more stability but even then it is not that reliable. Also need to reimage the memory every so often. See More

Top Pro

Great performance

The performance runs laps around competitors in terms of raw power with its impressive specs and octa-core processing. See More

Top Con

No Audio CODEC

To get Audio out of the XU4 you need to use an HDMI device that has built-in speakers. A USB pdif will work, too. See More

Top Pro

Includes cooling system

Includes fan and heatsink combo standard. Fan spins when CPU is load is high. Other single-board computers require a seperate purchase where fan runs constantly, has improper power supply, or requires complex setup for proper funtion. See More

Top Con

Expensive

It’s expensive for a SBC, for ~$20 more you can get a faster x86 PC barebone. See More

Top Pro

USB 3.0 ports

The ODROID-XU4 has two USB 3.0 ports. Making it one of the few single board computers to have them. See More

Top Con

No SATA port

Top Pro

Great OS support

ODROID supports and can run a full desktop version of Ubuntu. Other than that it can run Android, of which there are some excellent ports for ODROID-XU4. See More

Top Con

Requires a separate power supply (no power via USB OTG)

Top Pro

Supports eMMC 5.0 storage

Top Con

Does not natively support most accessories and sensors on the market

The ODROID GPIO pins operate at 1.8V which means that it cannot support most accessories and sensors on the market which operate at 3.3V or 5V. But this can be fixed for the XU4 with the XU4 Shifter Shield which adapts them for voltages used in the market. It comes at an extra cost of $18 though. See More

Top Pro

Includes a power button

Some single-board computers have no power button, requiring the power supply to be unplugged or customization to add a button. See More

Top Con

SD card corrupts

SD card corrupts easily with the XU4, you can use emmc for more stability but even then it is not that reliable. You will also need to reimage the memory every so often. See More

Top Pro

Fast processor and good memory capacity

It is very good for emulation. See More

Top Con

Unstable USB support

Top Pro

Fast processor and good memory capacity

Very good for emulation See More

Top Pro

Practically very usable general purpose computer experience

Practically very usable general purpose computer experience with much lower power consumption when eMMC 5.0 storage is used for booting. See More

Top Pro

Includes power adapter

Many single-board computers require you to purchase a power adapter separately. See More

Specs

Size:83 x 58 x 22 mm approx.(including cooling fan)

RAM:2Gbyte LPDDR3 RAM PoP stacked

CPU:Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5422 (4x up to 2.1 GHz + 4x up to 1.4 GHz)

Storage:Supports eMMC5.0 HS400 and/orMicro SD

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639 143

score 137 · Answer 4

LattePanda 4G/64GB

Top Pro

Can function as a day-to-day PC

Lattepanda comes with a full Windows 10 installation. While by no means a powerhouse it can easily deal with daily tasks such as checking email, editing documents and browsing the web. See More

Top Con

Only Windows 10 is officially supported

While it may work with other OSes such as Linux or Android, it has no official images for these operating systems and may have compatibility issues. See More

Top Pro

Integrated WiFi and Bluetooth

WiFi and Bluetooth are integrated on the board so your USBs are available for other peripherals. See More

Top Con

Lovely board however, it takes more then 2A on startup.

Power Hungry board. Wow See More

Top Pro

USB 3.0 available

Lattepanda has a USB 3.0 port available. See More

Top Con

Throttles due to poor heatsinks

This thing throttles down to 400 MHz due to poor cooling thus making it useless without some knowledge of computer building and modification. See More

Top Pro

Arduino-compatible

The Lattepanda has a Arduino-compatible coprocessor for any projects which involve an Arduino. See More

Top Con

No support for HDMI-CEC

When you connect it to a TV or projector it sometimes requires extra manual settings on the output device, such as for viewing 3D. Also, you can not control the player on this board with your TV or projector remote via HDMI-CEC. See More

Top Pro

Can fit most Raspberry Pi cases

Since it's almost the same size a the Raspberry Pi 3, it can fit inside most of the cases built for the Pi. See More

Top Pro

HDMI plus LCD and touch ports

On the LattePanda you have the choice of the HDMI output for a normal style monitor screen or you can buy the little 7" LCD and if you wish, the touch-screen option which means you free up the HDMI feed for other tasks such as playing a movie file etc. This also gives you the option of not having to plug in a USB keyboard because the LattePanda will default to providing a touch-screen keyboard style interface via the combination touch-screen and LCD. See More

Top Pro

Integrated arduino

Top Pro

Tablet mode enabled (by code)

With the Atom Cherrytail, you could attach the board to a touchscreen to create an ultimate Surface Pro experience (except for the fact that it doesn't have a camera). See More

Top Pro

Full Windows 10

Comes pre-installed with a full edition of Windows 10, including powerful tools such as Visual Studio, NodeJS, Java, Processing, and more. See More

Top Pro

Faster than most other single-board computers

The 64-bit Intel Atom system-on-a-chip used in the LattePanda board offers greater processing power in comparison to ARM-based single-board computers. See More

Top Pro

System installed on internal flash

System is installed on eMMC rather than an SD card like other SBCs. This means no extra physical components are required in order to get the computer to boot. See More

Specs

RAM:4 GB

CPU:Intel Atom x5-Z8350 Processor

Storage:64 GB eMMC

GPU:Intel HD Graphics, 12 EUs @200-500Mhz

See All Specs

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137 59

score 407 · Answer 5

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

Top Pro

The largest and most active community

Raspberry Pi has the largest following of any single-board computer. The amount of guides, tutorials and software available for the Raspberry Pi is unmatched by any other competitor. A regular user has close to no chance to run into a problem that hasn’t been covered already. If a web search doesn’t yield any results, the users on the official forums are very responsive and will usually reply within a day. See More

Top Con

Combined USB and NIC controller

The NIC is run through USB so they share bandwidth. See More

Top Pro

Affordable

The Raspberry Pi is very affordable. See More

Top Con

Closed-source bootloader and GPU

Top Pro

Easy setup

Setting up a Raspberry Pi is easy enough even for people who have not installed an OS before. The official documentation is very detailed in explaining how to install the official Raspberry Pi OS, called Raspbian and even a beginner can follow it without a problem. See More

Top Con

Slow WiFi

The WiFi adapter cannot support more than 2.5MB/s under perfect conditions; not enough to stream Blu-ray. See More

Top Pro

Large number of operating systems available

There's a massive number of Raspberry Pi OSes available. Most of them are some kind of Linux flavor and general-purpose and some other OSes are available for specific purposes like media streaming or gaming and emulation. See More

Top Con

Limited onboard NIC capabilities

Because the Pi's ethernet port is powered by the USB bus, it is not ideal for high performance routing and switching. While some network monitoring programs may work, using this device as a content firewall or gateway is not ideal. See More

Top Pro

Good GPIO functionality

The Raspberry Pi 3 model B offers 28 GPIO pins plus 12 power and ground pins to be used within their projects. This is a very reasonable number of pins for most projects that will need them. The special communication protocols officially supported are the following: IIC (Inter-Integrated Circuit), SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) and UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter). The GPIO functionality explained above allows the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to be connected with various peripheral devices and, as a result expands the functionality of the board. For example, IIC and SPI buses can be used for attaching multiple analog to digital converters which can be used to “read” analog channels like thermal sensors, humidity sensors, CO2 sensors, etc. Meanwhile UART can be used for communication between multiple Raspberry Pi’s. See More

Top Con

Not as powerful as some other SBCs

While still a very powerful single-board computer, it’s not as powerful as some other SBCs. For example, it has some problems with streaming 4K videos; and even at Full HD, it has problems with YouTube. It is also unable to run newer games even if they are not very demanding such as Team Fortress 2 or DotA. See More

Top Pro

The default OS is great for learning to develop software

Raspbian's main goal is to be used as a teaching tool for schools in CS classes. As such, it has multiple development tools pre-installed. It comes with a Python installation, Wolfram Mathematica and Java IDEs. See More

Top Con

Pretty slow comparatively at the RPI 4B

Top Pro

Great legacy gaming support

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B can be also be used as a console emulator using an OS image called RetroPie. Setting up RetroPie the first time will only take about 30 minutes on average for someone who has never done it before, and even less for experienced users. You can emulate various platforms ranging from early ‘80s legacy consoles like the NES, to more recent ones like the Wii and PlayStation Portable. See More

Top Con

No ADC (analog to digital converter)

This means you need to add an ADC module or use a capacitor charge timing hack to read analog sensors. See More

Top Pro

Can be turned into a fully-functional multimedia center

You can easily turn any Raspberry Pi into a fully functional home media streaming station with its ability to stream 60Hz Full HD videos. You just have to hook the Model B up to a Full HD monitor (through an HDMI cable), decent speakers (the Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity will allow the use of the wireless ones). Then download applications (Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, and Kodi for example are all supported out of the box) and your home multimedia station is ready. Once built, you can even control the media station using an Android or iOS app. See More

Top Con

GPIO voltage too low for some projects

Compared to the 5v of Arduino boards the 3.3v of the GPIO on the Rasberry Pi 3 is much lower and affects project components needed. Although, some add-ons will work with both voltages. See More

Top Pro

Native Bluetooth capabilities

The model 3 B has built-in Bluetooth support. This is very helpful when connecting multiple peripherals and when the number of USB ports on the Pi is not enough. See More

Top Con

No support for UAS

The USB ports do not support USB Attached SCSI to speed up data transfer. See More

Top Pro

Hundreds of apps available through the official store

Raspberry Pi also has an available "Pi Store" which houses hundreds and hundreds of apps ready to download and use on a Pi. See More

Top Con

No SATA

Board has no SATA port or something similar. See More

Top Pro

Many debian (aptitude) packages available in ARM

Many aptitude packages are available for this device. Helping installs go quickly. See More

Top Con

No on-board Microphone

Top Pro

Can handle basic day-to-day operations a PC can without a problem

While older versions of the Pi have had some annoying performance issues, the latest version has had a 50%-60% performance increase from the Raspberry Pi 2. This makes it a pretty decent choice for an everyday PC and it can perform basic tasks like opening and editing documents or browsing the web without a problem. See More

Top Con

Power hungry

The Raspberry Pi 3 is a pretty power hungry single board computer. It needs a power supply of 2.5A to function which may not be already available to users and needs to be bought separately. See More

Top Pro

Good wired connectivity

This SBC's wired connectivity is pretty complete. Users will get four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet, a 3.5mm audio jack, CSI (camera interface), and DSI (display interface). See More

Top Con

Lags while browsing and on day-to-day tasks

Keeping in mind Raspberry were designed keeping teaching and education in mind, asking it to replace our daily PC needs would be unfair. However there are many other SBCs that can serve this task easily. See More

Top Pro

New free Pixel version has a good Chromium browser

The new free Pixel version of Raspbian (a variety of Debian Jessie) has a good Chromium web browser with Flash and Pdf handling included. Can live with little RAM: 1 GB is ok, more is super. See More

Top Con

Problems with USB 3.0 hubs

It is known that Raspberry Pi has an issue with USB 3.0 hubs in conjunction with the use of Full- or Low-speed devices (most mice, most keyboards). If you have any devices with additional USB 3.0 ports (e.g. a keyboard) they won't work on Raspberry Pi. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight and fast booting Raspbian Pixel now also runs on PCs and Mac with i386 processors and little RAM

It is now also available for free ( USB booted) on PC or Mac based on i386 processors. Works well and boots fast. The minimum USB key size needed is 2 GB. Pi promotors are working on a HDD bootable version too. See More

Top Con

Doesn't have built-in storage

A micro SD card is required for Raspberry Pi to function. See More

Top Pro

Very good documentation

Extensive documentation available for beginners and experts. All sorts of projects covered. See More

Top Con

ARM processor

Some programs are incompatible with the ARM-based hardware. See More

Top Pro

Can be used as an everyday PC

Powerful enough to run standard apps, so it can be used as a home PC. See More

Top Pro

Storage can be upgraded

Uses a separate micro SD card, so the storage can be upgraded or even taken out to read from / install a new OS. See More

Top Pro

Bluetooth 4.1LE

Good for lots of connectivity in projects. connects to keyboards and mice. See More

Top Pro

Downloadable magazine

Has it's own magazine, also available in print with very helpful articles and project ideas. See More

Top Pro

Can play 1080p videos at 60fps

The Pi 3 can play 1080p videos at 60fps, which is a significant upgrade from the previous Pi 2 which ran at 30 fps. However, the built-in browser has problem with running YouTube videos at 60fps but by using another browser such as Firefox which is installed separately there should not be any problems with running videos at 60 fps. See More

Top Pro

Does not require much power to run

Runs off a 5V smartphone charger and can also be powered using a battery pack. See More

Top Pro

Can easily switch OSes and profiles by a simple switch of the MicroSD card

It's super-convenient to have multiple MicroSD cards with different images and switch them on demand. Much better than re-installing and re-configuring an OS every time. See More

Top Pro

Plenty of third-party accessories available

Cases, cameras, etc. See More

Top Pro

Visually appealing

The board looks much prettier than, say, the Banana Pi. See More

Top Pro

Has full HDMI-CEC support

Top Pro

Makes a great home web server

Makes a great little web server. Installed "LAMP" Apache, MySQL, and PHP. See More

Specs

RAM:1 GB

CPU:Broadcom BCM2837 (4x up to 1.2 GHz)

Storage:microSD

GPU:Broadcom video core 4

See All Specs

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407 158

score 6 · Answer 6

Novasom Industries M7

Top Pro

Industrial alternative of Pi3

Novasom Industries designed RASPMOOD that helps you to reaplce Pi3 immediately. It's a real plug and play. You can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwn2kviXJZ0&feature=youtu.be See More

Top Pro

This is a real industrial grade product

The users can get a lot more in terms of performance and moreover in industrial safety of the product (wide range protected power, don't eat µSD, available on logistic programmed production flow, technical assistance team always available and so on), without destroying them started project thanks to a compatible HW in form fit and functions. See More

Top Pro

Access to the design team to discuss the options when the real solution requires additional functionality

This allows us to arrive at the optimum solution to our problems. See More

Top Pro

OS works in RAM memory

It's stable and faster than on the MicroSD , and avoid the burn problem of the classic armbian installation. See More

Top Pro

Low cost modification/customization are available.

Jusk ask! See More

Specs

RAM:Up to 4GB LPDDR3 (1600 MHz)

CPU:4 x Quad Core Cortex A53 @1,5 GHz

Storage:microSD + up to 256GByte eMMC

GPU:Mali-450MP4

See All Specs

6 4

score 36 · Answer 7

Intel NUC boards

Top Pro

On paper the J5005 maxes out at 8gb DDR4 RAM however it can accommodate at lease double that

You can have 16GB GSkill DDR4 Memory + 500gb SSD and 10TB external HDD. Go with the kit so you can be assured that it runs Linux and only Linux (or whatever your preference) out of the box and isn't subjected to any unnecessary use/abuse at the hand of Doors. See More

Top Con

Cost as much as other Barebones

Price is almost the same as a full Intel/Zotac barebone, which can also be dismantled. See More

Top Pro

Has at least one SATA port

Top Con

No GPIO

So it is not really useful for DIY projects. See More

Top Pro

DRAM is not soldered

DRAM modules are not soldered to the board so they can be changed, upgraded or replaced. See More

Top Con

No DRAM included

DRAM modules must be bought separately. See More

Top Pro

x86-based

Can run all IBM-PC compatible software. See More

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36 2

score 4 · Answer 8

esp32

Top Pro

Many variants available

Many different variants are available depending how good you are at soldering or how small it needs to be. See More

Top Con

Some variants require soldering

Not all variants include easily plugable pins. Usually only the more expensive variants include these. See More

Top Pro

Very small

Can fit inside small devices. See More

Top Pro

Very cheap

Without case can be below $5. See More

Top Pro

Has ultra-low power mode

Top Pro

Has bluetooth and wifi modules

4 0

score 4 · Answer 9

SanCloud BeagleBone Enhanced WiFi 1G

Top Pro

Pin to Pin Compatible with the BeagleBone Black

Top Pro

Onboard Storage

4GB 8-bit eMMC onboard flash storage for main firmware image and also a micro-SD for programming and extra storage See More

Top Pro

Excellent Support

Super support from SanCloud and the wider BeagleBoard community See More

Top Pro

Connect up to 20 devices.

Connect 10 devices out of the box. Up to 20 devices can be connected by a simple OTG port and config modification. See More

Top Pro

Plenty of I/Os and more speed & power than the BeagleBone Black.

Specs

RAM:1GByte

CPU:TI AM3358 ARM® Cortex A8 1GHz

Bluetooth:2.1/3.0/4.0

Ethernet:Gigabit Network Port

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4 0

score 7 · Answer 10

Olimex A64-OLinuXino

Top Pro

Designed using KiCad

This board is designed using completely free and open source software that may be run on Linux, Windows, or OS X. See More

Top Con

Limited number of supported operating systems

Few operating systems are officially supported, but community-provided ones may be found. See More

Top Pro

Open source hardware

The design files for this board are available on GitHub! See More

Top Con

Small community

The community is small, so existing project designs and references are limited. See More

Top Pro

OLIMEX Ltd. provides active support

OLIMEX Ltd. regularly scans the support forums and provides assistance. See More

Specs

Size:90.0mm×62.5mm

RAM:1GB/2GB DDR3L 672MHz

CPU:Quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.2Ghz

Wi-Fi:Yes (Built-in)

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7 1

score 6 · Answer 11

NanoPi M4

Top Pro

6 core HexaCore, compact nvme extender, 4GB RAM

Top Con

Bleeding edge...

To have mainline kernel requires a bit of tinkering (e.g. installing Armbian). Panfrost drivers for 3d acceleration are not mature and crash sometimes... See More

Top Pro

Open Source

Works with mainline Linux kernel and open source Mesa Panfrost drivers. See More

Top Pro

Many ports

4 x USB3 2 x USB2 available via pins PCI-E available via pins See More

Top Pro

Fast

Rockchip 3399 with two fast A72 cores. Good heatsink limites throttling. See More

6 1

score 348 · Answer 12

Intel NUC

Top Pro

Low TDPs

The Atom based Celeron and Pentium NUCs have a very low TDP of 10 or 15W. See More

Top Con

Intel is a bitch

For an M2-port, HDR, better GPU power or more RAM support Intel wants you to buy the much higher priced iX-based models even if HDR would be possible on Atom GPU's. See More

Top Pro

Intel based GPU

Almost any OS has support for the intel i9xx based GPUs. See More

Top Pro

x86/amd64-based

Plenty of Operating Systems to choose. See More

Top Pro

HDMI-CEC

6th gen+ models have CEC support. See More

Specs

Size:101.6 × 101.6 mm

RAM:SO-DIMM

CPU:Intel Celeron, Pentium, Core

Storage:SATA, M2

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348 33

score 150 · Answer 13

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

Top Pro

Faster CPU than the original Pi 3 Model B

Thanks to a new thermal management plate (heat spreader), as well as better voltage regulation, the CPU gained a nice little 200 MHz bump in clock speed over the Pi 3 Model B. Applications on the Pi 3 B+ are a little faster and snappier than their predecessor. See More

Top Con

Superseded

the newer Model 4 is available for the same price and can do everything this does and more. See More

Top Pro

World-class support and software

What really sets the Raspberry Pi apart from the competition, and makes it leagues apart from every other SBC out there, it the software and support you get from every corner of the ecosystem regarding anything you want to make, build or do with the Pi. The most up-to-date kernels, the widest supported bundles, hats for every occasion, step-by-step instructions, and if you're trying something and get stuck, chances are high someone else has got stuck at the same spot, got past it, and left detailed instructions on how to get past it so nobody ever gets stuck there again. That is the best feature of the Raspberry Pi. See More

Top Con

USB and Ethernet bandwidth shared

For cloud servers (OwnCloud, NextCloud, FTP, Media Hosting, etc...) it will take a dip on the transfer performance (when using ethernet combined with a USB Storage device) as the same controller handles the USB and Ethernet interfaces. Better performance than its predecessor, but something to keep in mind. See More

Top Pro

Faster networking capabilities

Because of the Gigabit ethernet (although still sharing the USB 2.0 bus which limits its speed ceiling), it goes up to 3x faster than the original Pi 3 Model B. The new wireless chip supports 802.111ac, which also increases its throughput to 3x as well. Bluetooth 4.2 LE is much more stable, and it's just a nice little upgrade. See More

Top Con

Only USB 2.0

It only has USB 2.0 ports which are painfully slow but they are also limited to 0.5 A which is not enough to power a HDD reliable. See More

Top Pro

Great community and developer support

The various addons boards means this is the board to go with for starters into development. Without much knowledge you can get a project up and running in a short amount of time. See More

Top Con

Not for power users

The Pi has a 5V/2.5A DC power input which is not enough. See More

Top Con

Bluetooth is very unstable - never fails to fail

Many times after successfully pairing devices it just stops working. One speaker worked for about 5minutes then stopped. Since then it will pair but will not connect. Yes the speakers work in Windows and with a Samsung Galaxy S8. Its seems to have more to do with the Raspbian OS, since using a BlueTooth dongle with it gives the same results. See More

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150 23

score 54 · Answer 14

ESPRESSObin

Top Con

Only one SATA port

It has only one SATA port. See More

Top Pro

3x Gigabit LAN

It has three Gb ethernet ports. See More

Top Pro

Das U-Boot bootloader

It uses the opensource boot loader "Das U-Boot". See More

Top Pro

Fast SATA III port

Top Pro

Mini-PCI-E slot

Few SOC boards have this feature--and there are a couple Mini-PCIE RAID cards on the market that might work nicely See More

Specs

RAM:1GB or 2GB DDR4

CPU:ARM Cortex A53 processor up to 1.2GHz

54 11

score 106 · Answer 15

ASUS Tinker Board S

Top Pro

Fair performance

The Asus Tinker Board S is a more powerful single-board computer than a Raspberry Pi Model B since it has a more powerful microprocessor as well as larger and faster RAM memory. See More

Top Con

Comes without a power supply

You'll need to spend some extra money on a power supply unit since this board doesn't come with the one. See More

Top Pro

Stays cool

The ASUS Tinker Board S doesn't have problems related to overheating because it comes with a massive heatsink that can dissipate all heat generated by the board's powerful microprocessor. See More

Top Con

Once eMMC gets stuck it’s a headache

Once you get the eMMc stuck with switching operating system it’s a real nightmare to fix it See More

Top Pro

Simple setup

All you need to do to set this board up and running is to upload the appropriate Android or Linux image. Both images can be obtained from the ASUS's official web resource in the form of downloadable .zip files. Simply download the files and drivers on your computer and use the Etcher to flash the Tinker Board S. Overall, the process takes around 10 minutes to complete. See More

Top Con

MicroUSB power connector

Top Pro

Has on-board WiFi and Bluetooth

You'll have no problem connecting to a WiFi network or Bluetooth peripherals with the Tinker Board S since it comes with an onboard 802.11 b/g/n - compliant WiFi and Bluetooth transceiver. See More

Top Con

Power-hungry

This single-board computer is quite demanding when it comes to power since it is recommended to be used with a 3A power supply. See More

Top Pro

Has some on-board storage

Unlike the previous version of the ASUS's Tinker Board, the model S comes equipped with a 16GB eMMC storage which means that you'll always have some space to store the computer's OS as well as some extra applications. The eMMC memory performs on par with the more commonly known SD memory used on the majority of other single board computers out there since both of those are based on NAND. See More

Top Pro

Fits the Raspberry Pi's case

You'll not have to tinker around finding the case for this single-board computer since it has the same form factor as the Raspberry Pi 3. You can find a variety of cases that start at around $6.50 here. See More

Top Pro

Multi-OS platform

Right now, Tinker Board S can run both Android and Linux. Linux comes in the form of TinkerOS_Debian that is based on a well-known Debian distribution while the TinkerOS_Android is based on the Android 6. See More

Top Pro

Outputs in 4K

This single board-computer has enough juice to stream the 4K media at the frame rate of 30Hz through its HDMI port. See More

Top Pro

Less risk to fry a board with a cheap power supply

You're less likely to fry this SBC than some of the other ones because the Tinker Board S has the low-voltage detection circuitry which will shut down the computer if it detects inappropriately low voltage coming from the power supply. Usually, cheaper power adapters are the ones that fail to reach the needed 5V mark. See More

Top Pro

Better build

Clear and colorful design. See More

Specs

RAM:2GB DDR3

CPU:Rockchip Quad-Core RK3288

Storage:microSD and 16GB eMMC

GPU:ARM Mali-T764

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106 19

score 129 · Answer 16

Raspberry Pi Zero

Top Pro

Extremely cheap

Intended to be as cost-effective for younger people to learn basics of IT and Computer Science, Raspberry Pi Zero costs around 5$ while it's W and WH variants costs 10$. See More

Top Con

No Ethernet port

The Raspberry Pi Zero has no Ethernet port, which means that the only way to connect to the internet with it is through a WiFi dongle, the built in WiFi from Zero W variants, or a USB Ethernet port. See More

Top Pro

Extremely small size

The Raspberry Pi Zero measures only 6.5cmX3cm and is 0.5cm thick. Making it one of the smallest (if not the smallest) single board computer that can run a desktop OS. The small size makes it extremely portable and manageable, compared for example to the original Raspberry Pi which often looked clunky and large when strapped on something that would be moving. See More

Top Con

Has only two micro-USB ports

Due to its small size (and price) the Raspberry Pi Zero only has two micro-USB ports, and one of them is for power which leaves only one port for peripherals. See More

Top Pro

The largest and most active community

Raspberry Pi has the largest following of any single-board computer. The amount of guides, tutorials and software available for the Raspberry Pi is unmatched by any other competitor. A regular user has close to no chance to run into a problem that hasn’t been covered already. If a web search doesn’t yield any results, the users on the official forums are very responsive and will usually reply within a day. See More

Top Con

No built-in storage

Like its larger Raspberry Pi sisters, Zero does not come with any internal storage and relies heavily on external storage. See More

Top Pro

It for small

great for small projects See More

Top Con

Needs micro to non-micro converters

Because Zero uses small factor I/Os, you need converters like mini-HDMI to HDMI, mini-USB to USB-A, to work with this device. See More

Top Pro

Can easily be powered from any external battery pack

Because of its small size and because of the ARM based processor which is extremely energy efficient, it can be run with any kind of external battery pack, even those that are used to charge phones. This makes it perfect for portable projects that need to be run even when not close to an energy source. See More

Top Con

No built-in Wi-Fi

Raspberry Pi Zero, by default has no WiFi card. This can be circumvented by buying a WiFi dongle or buying the Zero W, which has the WiFi built in. See More

Top Pro

Has three variants

Raspberry Pi Zero has three variants, the Raspberry Pi Zero W, which has a WiFi card included, the Raspberry Pi Zero WH, which has both the WiFi card and has the GPIO headers pre-soldered, and the original Raspberry Pi Zero. See More

Top Pro

Can run a full HD display at 60FPS

The GPU that the Pi Zero uses is relatively powerful. In fact, it should be able to run a full HD display at 60FPS without any problems. See More

Top Pro

Easy to install the official OS

All Raspberry Pi boards run Linux as a default OS, the Debian-based Raspbian specifically. Setting up Raspbian on a Raspberry Pi is a breeze and even someone who has not installed an OS before can easily do it. By simply following the official documentation, you download the relevant software on the microSD card and boot up the board. After this, you can simply follow the instructions to install the OS. See More

Top Pro

Based on the same Raspberry Pi Hardware

Zeroes are basically trimmed down versions of their larger Raspberry Pi sisters. Trimming out unecessary I/O ports and connectivity ports were done to make the factor of the Zero smaller. As of 2018, Zeroes are based on the Raspberry Pi 2 hardware. See More

Top Pro

Has extensive OS support

Unlike its competitors, Zero has extensive OS support from the industry, ranging from Windows 10 IoT core, to Alpine's Raspberry branch. See More

Top Pro

Fast if the OS is compiled properly

If the kernel is compiled properly (like re4son kernel for Kali linux) it's surprisingly fast. See More

Specs

RAM:512MB LPDDR2 SDRAM

CPU:Broadcom BCM2835 1Ghz, Single-core

Storage:Micro SD card slot

USB:Micro USB, USB On-The-Go port

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129 26

score 9 · Answer 17

Onion - Omega 2

Top Con

Not breadboard compatible

The board does not have the standard 2.54 mm pin spacing. See More

Top Pro

It's tiny

Top Con

Support issues

There have been long-lasting periods were everything grew stale, even when it was about fixing security issues etc. have given up on checking since it was frustrating. See More

Top Pro

It has lots of shields available, including Arduino shield

Top Con

Expensive

It has less than 256MB of RAM. See More

9 3

score 50 · Answer 18

Intel NUC Kit NUC7i3BNH

Top Con

Higher initial costs than most other options

It's clearly not a budget option for building a home NAS, but if you want performance and more importantly, scalability, then you'll reap the benefits of the extra upfront costs many times over as you upgrade the memory, add peripherals via USB-C and put that 7th Generation Core i3 processor to work. See More

Top Pro

Comes with appropriate case and mounting hardware for storage drives

While the cost may seem steep compared to other SBC options, seldom are those other options sold with a case that will also house your storage drives and provide adequate cooling for the entire setup. See More

Top Pro

SATA III port and M.2 NVMe connector with on-board RAID-0/RAID-1 controller

The ability to harness the power of a standard 2.5" SATA III drive and an M.2 NVMe drive with four PCI Express 3.0 lanes means that sequential read rates in excess of 3GB/sec if both are SSDs. Add to that hardware RAID support and it's hard to imagine a more powerful digital storage platform anywhere near this size. See More

Specs

Size:4.53" x 4.37" x 2.01"

RAM:Two DDR4 SO-DIMM sockets (up to 32 GB, 2133 MHz)

CPU:Intel Core i3-7100U

Storage:SATA3 port + M.2 NVMe connector

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50 16

score 107 · Answer 19

Helios4

Top Pro

4 X SATA 3.0

Has four SATA 3.0 ports so it can handle up to 48TB of storage (12TB on each SATA port). See More

Top Con

The project fall down

Top Con

No battery or UPS

A PC tailored for NAS usage should have a battery or UPS to prevent data corruption after a power loss. A tiny battery to safely shut it down would be enough. See More

Top Con

Company shut down business!

See their website-shop. See More

Top Con

Expensive

After the preorder It is expensive now. See More

107 32

score 15 · Answer 20

Tessel 2

Top Pro

NodeJS support out of the box

Out of the box it supports Node 4.x LTS and doesn't require any setup to use it. See More

Top Con

Very little memory

64 megabytes of RAM. This places it more in line with an Arduino style board than a SBC on the level of Raspberry Pi. See More

Top Pro

Co-processor system

Runs Linux and user application code on a 580MHz Mediatek router-on-a-chip, with an asynchronous 48MHz SAMD21 coprocessor for GPIO, ADC, I2C, SPI, PWM and UART programming See More

Top Pro

Programmable via USB or Wifi

The process for deploying software, whether it's JavaScript, Python or Rust, is exposed the same way for both USB and Wifi connections. See More

Top Pro

Easy to get started with

The Tessel 2's "Getting Started" experience requires little more than installing Node.js and a single package (the CLI) via npm. Complete walkthroughs for Linux, Mac and Windows are available and up-to-date See More

Specs

CPU:1.9

USB:2

15 6