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Polls Are any SBCs ready to replace desktop computers?
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  • Author Author: johnbeetem
  • Date Created: 16 Nov 2014 11:51 PM Date Created
  • Last Updated Last Updated: 11 Oct 2021 3:01 PM
  • Views 4427 views
  • Likes 1 like
  • Comments 27 comments
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Are any SBCs ready to replace desktop computers?

I would love to replace my power-hungry desktop PC with an inexpensive SBC with no audible fan.  However, so far the SBCs I've tried lately (BeagleBone, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBoard) don't have enough processing power to be a viable desktop PC.

 

So, are any of the higher-performance SBCs that have been released lately up to the task?  I'm looking for a GNU/Linux computer that can do a decent job surfing the Internet (I don't care about video or audio performance) and a decent job compiling C programs.  I would say it needs at least 1 GB RAM and SATA for a disk drive.  100 Mb/s Ethernet is adequate, but I'd prefer not going through a USB hub.  Reasonable number of USB ports and HDMI output.  Wi-Fi is not needed or desired.

 

Here are some of the SBCs I've been watching and might consider.  Feel free to add others!  Most of these are OSHW, which is of course preferred.

 

Banana Pi: Allwinner A20 Dual ARM Cortex-A7, 1 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

CubieTruck: Allwinner A20 Dual ARM Cortex-A7, 2 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

Intel Next Unit of Computing (NUC): Intel Atom or other, up to 8 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

MinnowBoard MAX: Intel Atom, 1 or 2 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

Olimex LIME2: Allwinner A20 Dual ARM Cortex-A7, 1 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

PCduino3Nano: Allwinner A20 Dual ARM Cortex-A7, 1 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

RIoTboard: Freescale i.MX6 ARM Cortex-A9, 1GB DDR3, no SATA, GBE.

Wandboard Quad: Freescale i.MX6 Quad ARM Cortex-A9, 2 GB DDR3, SATA, GBE.

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Top Comments

  • shabaz
    shabaz over 10 years ago +5
    Hi John! I've not used many of these, so I can't comment with much knowledge, but I suspect RIoTboard is getting there, certainly running Android it is speedy (if one is happy running Android to do work…
  • Problemchild
    Problemchild over 10 years ago in reply to Problemchild +3
    A nice pic of my XU on the back of one of my monitors.
  • fustini
    fustini over 10 years ago in reply to fustini +3
    johnbeetem - I've been using the MinnowBoard MAX as my 3-D printing workstation and love it! I have a USB 3.0 memory stick for the main disk running Ubuntu. It is really the first time I've used a single…
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  • jezt48@gmail.com
    jezt48@gmail.com over 9 years ago

    Raspberry Pi 3 All the way!

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  • jezt48@gmail.com
    jezt48@gmail.com over 9 years ago

    Raspberry Pi 3 All the way!

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