Recently, I discovered an x86 single-board computer.
Fenghuolun X1
It uses the Intel 11th generation Celeron Jasper Lake N5105 CPU.
Four cores, four threads, 10nm process, 10W TDP, operating frequency from 2GHz to 2.9GHz. It comes with Intel UHD integrated graphics, onboard LPDDR4 memory options of 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB, and onboard eMMC storage options of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.
The cheapest 4GB memory version is priced at 699, while the 8GB version costs an additional 100, totaling 799. The 16GB version is priced at 1199, which is 400 more than the 8GB version.
You can also choose eMMC options: 64GB eMMC for an additional 59, 128GB for 89, and 256GB for 200.
You may find the price increase for the 16GB memory version a bit excessive, so it’s not recommended to choose the 16GB version. If you mainly use SSDs, there’s no need to spend extra on eMMC, as its performance is considerably lower than NVMe SSDs. Moreover, SSD prices are currently affordable, with more options available.
For purchasing advice, the 699 4GB version and the 799 8GB version are recommended.
In terms of interfaces, it features an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD interface (using PCIe 3.0 x4 lanes), which also supports M.2 SATA SSDs.
It has one SATA interface, but requires a separate purchase of an adapter board.
It has a TF card slot.
It also supports NFC communication.
The display interfaces include HDMI 2.0, Micro HDMI 2.0, and a MIPI FPC interface to connect the Fenghuolun 7-inch LCD touchscreen.
It also has two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and two USB 2.0 ports that can be expanded via pins. It features a 3.5mm headphone jack, three UART serial ports, one SPI, one I2C, and five GPIO interfaces.
As a development board, to be honest, the interface positioning is a bit awkward.
If you just want a reasonably performing computer, there are various NAS motherboards based on N5015.
Soft routing motherboards.
In terms of interfaces, you might prefer more SATA ports or multiple network ports. These motherboards are also priced around 600 to 800.
However, these motherboards do not include the price of memory and SSD, and adding those will cost an additional one or two hundred, totaling over 800.
But for personal users, these mini motherboards and mini PCs are generally used as soft routers, NAS, or download machines, or HTPCs for media playback.
Moreover, for ordinary users, now mini PCs with Intel N100, N200, and N305 CPUs have also been launched, without memory and storage, priced over 900. To be honest, this is currently the most worthwhile product for ordinary users. It can only be said that the prices of mini PCs and mini motherboards have reached a certain level of competition.
If you look at the prices of x86 development boards, this development board is quite good, such as the popular Latte Panda 3 Delta.
It also uses the N5105, with an 8+64GB version priced at 1999, while this development board with the same configuration is 858, just the price difference. The Latte Panda just adds a Wi-Fi module and more I/O interfaces, which is actually not much different from directly buying an Arduino Leonardo for a little over ten dollars and plugging it in.
There are also some older x86 development boards that still use Intel Atom Z8300 CPUs, which perform quite poorly.
This development board is mainly aimed at enterprise users, featuring three UART interfaces that can be converted to RS232 or RS485, and can also communicate via CAN, with several usable I/O interfaces for connecting some devices. If you happen to need these interfaces, you can use this development board as a pure industrial control computer.
Or for some light usage scenarios, such as cash registers.
For example, connecting to a cloud host as a cloud computer.
Even in fields such as robotics, this development board can be fully utilized.
Especially if you are not familiar with ARM architecture development and are more familiar with Windows development, or if you seek compatibility and want to avoid various pitfalls in ARM development, you might consider trying Windows. Currently, although ARM software has improved significantly, it still has considerable room for improvement compared to x86 in terms of software.
Moreover, if you want performance from ARM development boards, currently RK3588 and similar ARM development boards are not cheap. An x86 board that runs Windows and Linux perfectly still has certain appeal.
In summary, if you are tired of dealing with ARM development boards, this is a good choice.
Alright, that’s all for today. If you have anything to say, remember to comment. See you next time.
This article has a Bilibili video, you can click the original text to watch.
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