06-22-2019, 01:06 PM
I rather like the Vim2 I have, though it does not have full drivers for it GPU, its one of the few Octacore systems that I find can comfortably handle some serious processing. I don't really like the case its in or the lack of heatsink though that does cause a few issues when seriously strained.
Khadas seem to market these mainly as Android/TV boxes and they do rather well, but a new one is on the horizon that will have some interest for us as game devs and possible AI dev.
https://www.khadas.com/vim?utm_campaign=d0e49486-86fa-419f-b885-a80af7b4aa43&utm_source=so
The Vim3 is using a new CPU to the market though, the hexa core A311D, which probably means it'll be 6months of more before we see any real good OS's, I suspect Armbian are on the job already. But once it beds in it should be quite a nice machine. It has a lot of very nice features that are more common on maker boards than Android/TV boxes so perhaps Kahdas are expanding their target market which is good for coders.
On paper this is a mega fast Arm 4x2.2GHz and 2x1.8Ghz, and should be able to blast out a lot of processing, the fact it also has a PWM fan header means you can put some seriously good cooling onto it to keep that performance at its limits.
It has a next Gen Mali G52 MP4 GPU, which isn't really going to trouble the Jetson or Rockchip systems, but it will outperform almost all the other systems, if/when it has hardware exposed. Amlogic havn't been to easy to get drivers for in the past except for Odroid. All the extras it has could make it very competative with the Rockchip machines.
Priced at $99 it falls under my $100 limit, so its going to join me at some point. There is a slighlty contrived launch discount being offered that can knock it down to $69. If you manage to share their promo material around, sadly I failed to even get a copy link on facebook...(not not just cos I'm stupid,I followed the instructions and the options expected didn't appear).
I'm hoping I can get hold of a sample board and put it through its paces, if not I'll leave it a few months till the OS is in place and try to pick one up.
I hope it does well.
Khadas seem to market these mainly as Android/TV boxes and they do rather well, but a new one is on the horizon that will have some interest for us as game devs and possible AI dev.
https://www.khadas.com/vim?utm_campaign=d0e49486-86fa-419f-b885-a80af7b4aa43&utm_source=so
The Vim3 is using a new CPU to the market though, the hexa core A311D, which probably means it'll be 6months of more before we see any real good OS's, I suspect Armbian are on the job already. But once it beds in it should be quite a nice machine. It has a lot of very nice features that are more common on maker boards than Android/TV boxes so perhaps Kahdas are expanding their target market which is good for coders.
On paper this is a mega fast Arm 4x2.2GHz and 2x1.8Ghz, and should be able to blast out a lot of processing, the fact it also has a PWM fan header means you can put some seriously good cooling onto it to keep that performance at its limits.
It has a next Gen Mali G52 MP4 GPU, which isn't really going to trouble the Jetson or Rockchip systems, but it will outperform almost all the other systems, if/when it has hardware exposed. Amlogic havn't been to easy to get drivers for in the past except for Odroid. All the extras it has could make it very competative with the Rockchip machines.
Priced at $99 it falls under my $100 limit, so its going to join me at some point. There is a slighlty contrived launch discount being offered that can knock it down to $69. If you manage to share their promo material around, sadly I failed to even get a copy link on facebook...(not not just cos I'm stupid,I followed the instructions and the options expected didn't appear).
I'm hoping I can get hold of a sample board and put it through its paces, if not I'll leave it a few months till the OS is in place and try to pick one up.
I hope it does well.
Brian Beuken
Lecturer in Game Programming at Breda University of Applied Sciences.
Author of The Fundamentals of C/C++ Game Programming: Using Target-based Development on SBC's
Lecturer in Game Programming at Breda University of Applied Sciences.
Author of The Fundamentals of C/C++ Game Programming: Using Target-based Development on SBC's