ARM Cortex-A9 DBC boards

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Dirk Broer
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#1 ARM Cortex-A9 DBC boards

Post by Dirk Broer »

DBC? -I can hear you thinking- wasn't it SBC, single-board-computer?

Yes, most ARM development boards are SBCs, but in the Cortex-A9 landscape we've seen some interesting things.
The same Cortex-A9 of which I've written on the AMD Users forum: "Compared to their first ARMv7-A SOC, the ARM Cortex-A8, the Cortex-A9 offered an overall performance enhancement of well above 50%. Unfortunately some licencees saw that as an argument to sell their Cortex-A9 products at a much higher price too..."

We already had the CuBox and the Hummingboard.
Pro's for the HummingBoard and CuBox, both made by SolidRun, are the versailabilty of the design with six carrier boards and six different SOMs (i1Lite, i1, i2, i2eX, i4Pro, i4x4) to combine them with.
As con I've named the price, and that still stands. You'd better buy a quad-core media player with a Cortex-A9, such as the RK3188.

Now there's a competitor in Cortex-A9 land, offering a combination of baseboard and SOM at a very competing price:Image
the LeMaker Guitar
We already know Lemaker of one of the producers of the original Banana Pi and as makers of the Banana Pro. The Guitar is no slouch either.

Let's compare SolidRun's offerings against the quad-core Guitar:
SOM FeatureLeMaker Guitar
SOCActions Semiconductor Torch S500
Speed1300 MHz
VideoPowerVR SGX544
RAM1 or 2 GB
eMMC8 GB (standard), 4 to 32 GB (optional)
PictureImage
Base board FeaturesLeMaker Guitar
WiFiAP6181 802.11 b/g/n
IRYes
BluetoothYes, 4.0
USBmicro USB 3.0 host/device port, 2x USB 2.0 host ports
LAN10/100
PictureImage
Price$45 (1 GB) $60 (2 GB) - both package of board and SOM
What does SolidRun offer, and what prices do they ask for it?
SOM FeatureSom i1 LiteSom i1Som i2Som i2exSom i4ProSom i4x4
SOCFreescale iMX.6 LiteFreescale iMX.6 SoloFreescale iMX.6 Dual LiteFreescale iMX.6 DualFreescale iMX.6 QuadFreescale iMX.6 Quad
Cores112244
Speed1000 MHz1000 MHz1000 MHz1200 MHz1200 MHz1200 MHz
GPUVivante GC320+GC355Vivante GC880+GC320Vivante GC880+GC320Vivante GC2000+GC320+GC355Vivante GC2000+GC320+GC355Vivante GC2000+GC320+GC355
RAM512 MB, 32 bit, 800 MT/s1 GB, 32 bit, 800 MT/s1 GB, 64 bit, 800 MT/s2 GB, 64 bit, 1066 MT/s2 GB, 64 bit, 1066 MT/s4 GB, 64 bit, 1066 MT/s
Price$?$50$67$81$120$130
Carrier board FeaturesCuBox Carrier BaseCuBox Carrier ProHummingboard GateHummingboard EdgeHummingboard BaseHummingboard Pro
USB2x USB 2.02x USB 2.0, 1x micro USB4x USB 2.04x USB 2.02x Host USB 2.02x Host USB 2.0, 2x Header USB 2.0
WiFiNoOptionalOptional802.1 b/g/n (BCM4330)802.1 b/g/n (BCM4330)802.1 b/g/n (BCM4330)
BluetoothNoOptionalOptionalYes, 4.0Yes, 4.0Yes, 4.0
LAN10/10010/10010/10010/100/1000*10/100/1000*10/100/1000*
IRReceive onlyReceive onlyReceive onlyReceive and transmitReceive and transmitReceive and transmit
Price$70$80$70$102$70$85
*= Note that due to internal i.MX6 buses the 1000Mbps interface speed is limited to 470Mbps.

The only thing where the SolidRun offerings seem to have things going for them is the amount of RAM per core and the speed of the LAN connector in their Quads and deluxe dual models.
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Dirk Broer
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#2 Re: ARM Cortex-A9 DBC boards

Post by Dirk Broer »

They don't sit still at Lemaker, they've improved their Guitar. No longer is there a Baseboard and a 1 or 2 GB SoM, you now also can choose between three different Baseboards:
  • Model A (with 14 Grove interfaces) Image
  • Model B/B+
  • Model D (which supports up to four Guitars)Image
So far I can only order the 1 GB SoM with the original Model B board here in the Netherlands. On Amazon.co.uk however....
The 'D' board seems a potential 16-core, 4 to 8GB -headless- cruncher now and might become even more interesting when they bring out more SoMs (e.g. Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A17 -to mix these, or the same with Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A57) to go with their Baseboards.
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