According to Liliputing, the Topton N11 mini-ITX motherboard, designed primarily for NAS builds, networking, and storage solutions, is now available. It incorporates a high-performance AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor and offers expansive storage and networking capabilities, making it an excellent choice for those interested in servers, Linux, DevOps, and home labs.

Specifications of the Topton N11 include:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS with 8 Zen 4 CPU cores, 16 threads, up to 5.1 GHz speeds, and a TDP range of 35-54W.
• Graphics: AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics with 12 RDNA 3 GPU cores.
• AI Processing: AMD Ryzen AI neural processing unit with up to 10 TOPS.
• Memory: 2 x DDR5-5600 SODIMM slots (dual-channel), supporting up to 64GB total.
• Storage:
  • 2 x M.2 2280 slots for PCIe 4.0 x2 NVMe SSDs.
  • 1 x SATA 3.0 socket.
  • 2 x SFF-8643 sockets for 1 to 4 SATA 3.0 cables each, allowing up to 9 SATA drives in total.
• Networking: 4 x Intel i226-V 2.5 Gbps RJ45 Ethernet ports.
• Expansion: 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 socket (PCie x8 signal).
• Display Outputs: 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0.
• USB Ports: 1 x USB4, 3 x USB 3.2 Type-A, plus internal USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.2 signal pin.
• Audio: 1 x 3.5mm audio jack.
• Other Features: Support for up to three displays and up to 11 storage devices using M.2 slots and SATA connections. Includes an RTC battery.

The Topton N11 is currently retailing on AliExpress starting at $489. It measures 170 x 170mm, providing a compact yet powerful solution for various computing needs, particularly in networking and storage-focused setups. There’s also a hint of a forthcoming Ryzen 9 7940HS model, expanding options for users seeking even greater performance.

Source: Liliputing.

ASRock Industrial has announced 25 industrial motherboards powered by 14th gen Raptor Lake-S Refresh processors with up to 24 cores and 32 threads.

These motherboards support up to 96GB DDR5 memory and are available in mini-ITX, micro-ATX, and ATX form factors. They offer features such as support for up to four 4K displays, PCIe Gen5 interfaces, multiple Ethernet ports, and USB 3.2 Gen2x2 ports. The motherboards are designed for applications in factory automation, robotics, machine vision, smart retail, kiosks, digital signage, gaming, and security. ASRock Industrial has updated the BIOS of its existing motherboards to support the new 14th gen processors. The industrial motherboards are split into main families with either DDR5 or DDR4 memory, and various chipset options are available.

Even though these motherboards are designed for industrial tasks, they could potentially find use in a home lab setting, as well.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

Milk-V, known for its work on the Milk-V Duo and high-end Pioneer board, has recently announced the Oasis as a mini-ITX RISC-V board in development. This board is expected to feature 16 cores and up to 64GB of LPDDR5 system memory.

The Milk-V Oasis aims to provide a “truly desktop-grade RISC-V PC” within a compact mini-ITX form factor. It is powered by the Sophgo SG2380 SoC, which includes 16 cores: twelve P (performance) cores clocked up to 2.5GHz, and four E (efficiency) cores clocked up to 1.6GHz. The SG2380 utilizes SiFive P670 cores for its design and also includes Imagination AXT-16-512 graphics.

In addition to the powerful CPU, the Milk-V Oasis will have an 8-core SiFive X280 NPU, up to 64GB LPDDR5-5500 memory, a plugable UFS module, a microSD card slot, an M.2 slot for NVMe SSD storage, four SATA ports, USB 3.0 connectivity, USB-C with DP Alt-Mode support, and dual 2.5Gb Ethernet.

The specifications of the Milk-V Oasis are intriguing, especially considering its price. Pre-orders are expected to start at $120 USD. However, it is important to note that the board is not expected to be ready for another ten months, and there are currently no pictures of the board available, only spec sheets and design documents. The SG2380 SoC itself is also still being finalized. The estimated shipping date for the board is Q3 2024.

Despite these limitations, Milk-V’s track record with shipping other RISC-V products instills hope that the Milk-V Oasis will be an exciting 16-core RISC-V board. The price is expected to be around $150 USD after the pre-order period, assuming everything goes according to plan. More information about the Milk-V Oasis can be found in their official announcementhttps://community.milkv.io/t/introducing-the-milk-v-oasis-with-sg2380-a-revolutionary-risc-v-desktop-experience/780.

Source: Phoronix.

Sophgo SG2380 is an upcoming 2.5 GHz 16-core RISC-V processor based on SiFive Performance P670 cores and equipped with a 20 TOPS AI accelerator using SiFive Intelligence X280 and Sophgo TPU. It will be featured in a $120 desktop-class mini-ITX motherboard in the second half of 2024. The RISC-V processor supports up to 64GB RAM, UFS 3.2 and SATA 3.0 storage, an Imagination GPU for 3D graphics, and a VPU capable of 4Kp60 video decoding. The system can manage locally deployed larger-scale LLMs like LLaMA-65B without the need for external NVIDIA or AMD accelerator cards.

Sophgo SG2380 specifications:

• CPU
  • 16-core SiFive P670 (RV64GCVH) 64-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 2.5GHz with RISC-V Vector v1.0, Vector Crypto
  • Cluster configuration – 12x 2.5 GHz performance cores, 4x 1.6 GHz efficiency cores
  • Full RISC-V RVA22 profile compliance
• GPU
  • Imagination AXT-16-512 high-mid-performance 3D GPU with support for Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL 3.0, OpenGL ES 3.x/2.0/1.1; 0.5 TFLOPS, 16 Gpixels, and 2 TOPS
  • 2D graphic engine
• Video Processing Unit (VPU)
  • Up to 4Kp60 10-bit H.265/HEVC, 8-bit H.264/AVC, 8-/10-bit AV1, 8-/10-bit VP9
  • No hardware video encoder
• AI accelerators
  • 8-core SiFive Intelligence X280 with support for BF16 / FP16 / FP32 / FP64, INT8 up to INT64
  • Sophgo TPU coprocessor through VCIX interface up to 20 TOPS @ INT8 compatible with OpenXLA/IREE
• Memory I/F
  • Up to 64GB RAM through a 128-bit DDR interface
  • Support for LPDDR4 and LPDDR4x 3733Mbps with in–line ECC
  • Support for DDR4 UDIMM, SODIMM @ 3200Mbps (no ECC)
• Storage I/F
  • “UFS 3.2” (Note: currently published standards are UFS 3.1 and UFS 4.0)
  • SATA 3.0
  • QSPI NOR/NAND flash interface
• Video Output
  • eDP 1.2 up to 4Kp60
  • DP 1.2 up to 4Kp60 (USB-C Alt mode)
  • HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 with CEC and eARC support
  • MIPI DSI up to 2Kp60
  • Support for dual video output up to 4Kp60
• Camera
  • Sophgo AI ISP with dual pipe
  • 6x 2-Lane / 4 + 4 x 2 Lane image sensor input
  • Interfaces – MIPI CSI2, Sub LVDS, HiSPi
  • 2x I2C dedicated to image sensor interface
  • Up to 6x 2MP cameras
• Audio
  • HD Audio codec
  • 3x DMIC
  • 3x I2S, 1 of them share pin with HD Audio
  • 1x PCM
• Networking – Gigabit Ethernet (RGMII interface)
• USB
  • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) with DP Alt Mode, Power Delivery capable
  • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 2x USB 2.0 interfaces
• PCIe – PCIe Gen3 with 8x+4x+2x+1x+1x Lanes
• Other peripheral interfaces
  • 3x SDIO/SD3.0
  • 2x CAN 2.0
  • 4x UART without traffic control function or 2x UART with traffic control function
  • 8x I2C, SMBUS supported
  • SPI/eSPI with 4 CS
  • LPC
  • PWM
  • Fan detect
• Security
  • Hardware AES/DES/SHA256
  • True Random Number Generator (TRNG)
  • Secure key storage, secure boot,
  • SiFive WorldGuard
  • 32Kb OTP flash
• Power Management – DVFS and ACPI support
• TDP – 5 to 30 Watts
• Junction temperature – -0°C to +105°C
• Package – FCBGA

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.