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bret.dk

@bret.dk
191 followers 18 following 213 posts

I test #raspberrypi single board computers and the many alternatives at bret.dk so you don't have to 🚀 @bret@fosstodon.org

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bret.dk @bret.dk · 13h
The #RaspberryPi 4/5 2GB SKU price changes are already reflected on sbc.compare/price-changes and the performance per $ results have been updated!
sbc.compare
SBC Price Changes: Drops, Rises & Stock (Last 30 Days) | sbc.compare
2 price drops and 3 price rises on Single Board Computers in the last 30 days, from official stores and retailers checked daily. See which Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, Radxa and other boards got cheaper.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 21/09/2026
I'm slowly building up the price tracking of all boards available over on sbc.compare, and you can get an overview of these at sbc.compare/price-changes as time goes on. You can also see price history on every board page, such as sbc.compare/raspberry-pi...
sbc.compare
SBC Price Changes: Drops, Rises & Stock (Last 30 Days) | sbc.compare
0 price drops and 1 price rises on Single Board Computers in the last 30 days, from official stores and retailers checked daily. See which Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, Radxa and other boards got cheaper.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 02/09/2026
I’ve been struggling with power-related issues with the ODROID C1/C2 boards a lot in the last few days when trying to bench them and hot damn the PSU was hot garbage. Cut the cable off, janked it onto a USB PD trigger board and we are so back.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 01/09/2026
I took a look at the Orange Pi 6 if you're at all interested in their latest CIX P1-based SBC. Even if you're not, please still read it 🥹 I test the Ubuntu Concept image, too! bret.dk/orange-pi-6-...
bret.dk
Orange Pi 6 Initial Thoughts: CIX P1 Benchmarks, Power Draw and Temperatures - bret.dk
Another CIX P1-based SBC has arrived from Orange Pi in the form of the Orange Pi 6. It's smaller, drops 5GbE, and maxes out at 24GB of LPDDR5 of RAM. But is it any good?
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 14/08/2026
Anybody hiding a Dell PowerConnect MPS-1000 16-pin power cable in a drawer and fancy helping an SBC addict out? 🥲
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 02/08/2026
Just bought an old Dell enterprise 48 port PoE switch for 60EUR, how badly will I regret this purchase? Tune in later in the week to find out.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/07/2026
Waking up to the results of last night’s mistakes..
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 27/07/2026
I packed up 30 RJ45 cables to return to Ubiquiti in March 2025 and God bless me procrastinating over sending them back for the last 18 months because I need them now! 🥰
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 27/07/2026
Last week, @raspberrypi.com announced the 10" version of the Touch Display 2, and it's a beaut, though it's Pi 5 and CM only! bret.dk/raspberry-pi...
10 and 7 inch Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 side-by-side
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 26/07/2026
Ditched the ads on bret.dk now, the downturn in the (already fairly low) payouts didn't make it worth the negative UX.. Output has been lower recently, but I'll throw ko-fi.com/bretdk out there in case anyone finds the content/ @sbc.compare useful. Absolutely no pressure though ☺️
ko-fi.com
Support Bret
Support Bret
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 25/07/2026
I had the idea for this before I'd even launched the site, so I'm glad I finally put it out there. It's a bit cheesy, but I think it can also be educational! 😅 sbc.compare/showdown
sbc.compare
SBC Showdown: The Single Board Computer Card Game | sbc.compare
A card game inspired by the classic trump card games, played with real single board computers. Pick a stat, flip the mystery board and see who wins.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 22/06/2026
I should not be allowed on auction websites.. I now have 2 @raspberrypi.com CM3+ on the way because I made the lowest offer I possibly could and it was accepted. This is in addition to the Model A+ that arrives tomorrow, and the Model B+ I'm currently leading bidding (€6..) on
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 20/06/2026
So I've been working on cooler/heatsink testing on the side when I have time, and if we look at the Raspberry Pi 4 page I have up at sbc.compare/coolers/rasp... - how horrible is it? Working with so much data and then enabling comparisons has proven to be quite a challenge for this dumbdumb 😅
sbc.compare
Raspberry Pi 4 Cooler Comparison: Best Cooling Solutions Tested | sbc.compare
Raspberry Pi 4 reaches 78°C under load. The EDATEC ED-Pi4Case-OB reduces temps by 15.0°C. Compare 4 cooling solutions with real benchmark data.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 30/05/2026
I was lucky enough to test the Radxa Dragon Q8B with the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip! I’ve put together a few thoughts, photos, and a whole lotta graphs to see how it compares.. (it blows everything out of the water) bret.dk/radxa-dragon...
bret.dk
Radxa Dragon Q8B: A Laptop Cosplaying as an SBC? - bret.dk
The Radxa Q6A was Radxa's first Qualcomm-based SBC release last year, and even though we're still deep in the midst of RAMageddon, Radxa are announcing the
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 25/05/2026
We have a bit more information on the A733-based @armsom-official.bsky.social Sige6! A Raspberry Pi 3-ish layout with a planned launch date in August? bret.dk/armsom-sige6...
bret.dk
ArmSoM Sige6: A Closer Look At The Allwinner A733 SBC - bret.dk
A first proper look at the ArmSoM Sige6: Allwinner A733 SoC, PCIe M.2 NVMe, LPDDR5, HDMI 2.0 and a full spec rundown from the new block diagram.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 24/05/2026
32GB of Micron RAM under the hood? That’s the kids inheritance sorted..
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 23/05/2026
Playing with some improvements to the graphs for bret.dk going forward.. All of the work on sbc.compare and the data is finally paying off 😅 (please don't all now bundle in and tell you me you hate it 😒)
A graph with data from sbc.compare showing cpuminer-multi results from the Radxa Orion O6N, Raspberry Pi 5, and Orange Pi 5 Plus
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 22/05/2026
Drawing 50W on an SBC wasn't on my 2026 bingo card, that's for sure..
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 07/05/2026
Seems like Radxa are planning some Qualcomm-based consumer NAS products? 😱 (thanks to Meco at sbcwiki.com for tipping me off!) Both an all-flash, and 4-bay HDD options look to be coming, and whilst images are just renders, they look pretty nice. Let's see what happens.
Render of Radxa's potential all-flash consumer NAS productRender of Radxa's potential 4-bay consumer NAS product
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 26/04/2026
We have a bit more information about the Allwinner A733-based @armsom-official.bsky.social Sige6 thanks to a block diagram! I took a quick look and compiled what we know so far 🙏 bret.dk/armsom-sige6...
bret.dk
ArmSoM Sige6: A Closer Look At The Allwinner A733 SBC - bret.dk
A first proper look at the ArmSoM Sige6: Allwinner A733 SoC, PCIe M.2 NVMe, LPDDR5, HDMI 2.0 and a full spec rundown from the new block diagram.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 19/03/2026
I can't believe this was over a year ago already, @biglesp.bsky.social 😅 I thought I'd rewatch it to see how it went but had to turn it off after a few seconds of hearing my own voice back 😂 Though it'd be fun to talk about sbc.compare in some capacity at some point www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdp0...
youtube.com
The Pi Cast (12/10) Talking SBC's with Bret from Bret.dk
YouTube video by Tom's Hardware
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 10/03/2026
Hey guysss, could I ask for some feedback? sbc.compare/coolers/bana... sbc.compare/coolers/rasp... You can then also see more details (including power/CPU freq) on a particular cooler like sbc.compare/coolers/bana... Any comments? Ideas? Should I scrap it all?!
sbc.compare
Banana Pi R4 Cooler Comparison: Best Cooling Solutions Tested | sbc.compare
Banana Pi R4 reaches 69°C under load. The Generic BPI R4 Active Cooler reduces temps by 22.0°C. Compare 2 cooling solutions with real benchmark data.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 10/03/2026
Me seeing all of the EmbeddedWorld posts kicking off today
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 05/03/2026
My curiosity surrounding the @raspberrypi.com Compute Module 0 got the better of me, so I ordered the EDATEC CM0NANO to see it with my own eyes.. bret.dk/raspberry-pi...
bret.dk
Raspberry Pi CM0 & EDATEC CM0NANO - Raspberry Pi's Smallest Compute Module - bret.dk
What IS the Raspberry Pi CM0 exactly, and why haven't we heard a great deal about it?
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 10/02/2026
We now have glmark2, vkmark, and tinymembench up on sbc.compare - albeit only on a few boards for now! All new boards will have these tests run against them, assuming the vendors are nice and their images have drivers 😈 sbc.compare/21-libre-com...
Graph showing the glmark2 results on the Libre Computer Alta, Radxa Q900, and Raspberry Pi CM0 SBCs
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 09/02/2026
Pre-Chinese New Year care package from Radxa, all to be listed on sbc.compare soon! I must say, it’s pretty validating to have one of the big players see the value in having almost their entire range available on the website. Hopefully other vendors will follow suit!
A cardboard box filled with Radxa Single Board Computers
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/01/2026
Sneak peek.. sbc.compare/coolers/stoc... It's a work in progress, build in public kinda vibe. There are some tweaks to be made but this is roughly how it's going to be. What are we thinking?
Graph showing power usage, CPU frequency, and CPU temperature over time
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 26/01/2026
Happy Monday!
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 17/01/2026
Busy busy working on implementing new tests and a better test framework in the background for sbc.compare I've implemented tinymembench and openssl using the same logic as sbc-bench, I'm looking at something with MAME, along with something on the GPU side.. Any requests?!
Screenshot of a dashboard showing single board computer test agents and their benchmark status
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 15/01/2026
A chonkier @raspberrypi.com AI HAT+ 2 dropped today with 8GB of on-board RAM (in this economy?) and 40 TOPS from the Hailo-10H.. bret.dk/raspberry-pi...
bret.dk
Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 Launched - Generative AI on the Pi 5 - bret.dk
Raspberry Pi launches the AI HAT+ 2 for Pi 5. Featuring the Hailo-10H, 40 TOPS of performance, and 8GB of dedicated RAM to run local GenAI models like Llama 3.2 and DeepSeek.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 09/01/2026
For all of the "Speed is great, but what about longevity?" comments I get on my microSD card roundups... This one's for you 😅 I'll throw together a bit of a blog post soon to share more info, but TL;DR, I'm also testing out the endurance of a range of microSD cards to see how they fare 🧐
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 27/12/2025
I thought I’d recreate this for 2025 whilst I did some cleaning in the office ahead of the new year.. This is what was tested to make sbc.compare a reality this year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I wish you all a very Happy New Year, may 2026 bring you everything you need 🥰
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 26/12/2025
What do people use n8n for? I keep seeing people sing its praises so I had a look.. Everything just looks to be AI generated content, or things that should probably just a script and a cron job? 🤔 Maybe I'm looking for a solution to a problem I don't have.. 😅
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 22/12/2025
I’m currently working on an article about the Radxa Fogwise Airbox Q900 (with its 8 “big” Qualcomm A78C cores and 36GB of RAM) and it’s an efficient little guy.. The CIX P1 topped the Linpack Gflops/W table for about 2 weeks before this arrived 😅 sbc.compare/linpack
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 07/12/2025
Sunday night’s play toy is the StarFive VisionFive 2 Lite. Another #RISCV board to add to the collection, with M.2 NVMe support, PoE headers, and some other fun stuff. Up on sbc.compare in the next few days!
VisionFive 2 Lite SBC close up, with the JH7110 S SoC in viewStarFive VisionFive 2 Lite SBC Box
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 05/12/2025
I had something very interesting waiting for me when I got home today.. the Radxa Fogwise Airbox Q900 😍 8 big cores, 36GB LPDDR5 (my retirement is sorted), and 128GB of UFS.. mama mia
Radxa Fogwise Airbox Q900 SBC in its caseRadxa Fogwise Airbox Q900 SBC Box
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 01/12/2025
Raspberry Pi have introduced a 1GB RAM variant alongside price increases for the rest of the range 📈 :old-man-yells-at-ai: bret.dk/1gb-raspberr...
bret.dk
1GB Raspberry Pi 5 Launched Alongside Price Increases - bret.dk
The Raspberry Pi 5 gets a new, 1GB RAM model, and the rest of the Pi 5 range (along with the Pi 4 and Compute Modules) get price increases.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/11/2025
The @officialarduino.bsky.social UNO Q is now up on sbc.compare to.. compare? sbc.compare/96-arduino-u... TL;DR if you're looking for an SBC to do your usual stuff on, it's probably not worth it. Into Arduino things and want to tinker? It's probably a decent enough shout!
A close up of the Qualcomm QRB2210 SoC on the Arduino UNO Q Single Board Computer
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 27/11/2025
I'm posting this far too late to capitalise on the lucrative Black Friday traffic but hey, I can at least confirm that Amazon haven't pulled a bait and switch yet on their Basics microSD cards.. bret.dk/is-the-amazo...
bret.dk
Is the Amazon Basics microSD Card Still Worth It? - bret.dk
Over a year has passed since I first tested 20+ MicroSD Cards and one came out on top. Is the Amazon Basics microSD card still worth it though?
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 26/11/2025
Can I just say, I had this on the way before everyone started mobbing them 🥲 I really wish I could get the 4GB version, but despite them saying November, their support said they have no information on when they’ll be available. AI strikes again.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 26/11/2025
Is CokePi more fun than WukongPi?
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 18/11/2025
When you’re looking for, or comparing SBCs, what is most important to you? Is it peformance? Price/value? Hardware? Software support? Please reply with specifics! Reposts are gladly welcomed too! 🙏
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 15/11/2025
Oh boy.. I'm looking into getting some professional help with SEO on the new site and it is an absolute minefield. I'm sure my budget is playing a large part of it but hot damn is it painful
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 14/11/2025
Lots of people said they wanted more flexible filtering on sbc.compare soooo hopefully this is a step in the right direction :) sbc.compare/browse There's a crap load of data there, and a crap more to come, but feel free to throw feedback my way!
sbc.compare
sbc.compare
Compare single board computers with comprehensive benchmarks, specifications, and real-world performance data. Find the perfect SBC for your project.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 13/11/2025
We have the Orange Pi 6 Plus with the CIX P1 up in the top spot for most tests so far on sbc.compare - hoping to get more with this SoC soon and check out the slight differences! sbc.compare/91-orange-pi... 43W during the HPL run 🧯
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 30/10/2025
Pushed an update to the search on sbc.compare this afternoon allowing a bunch of new search terms (SBC/SoC manufacturer, model, CPU core numbers, RAM generation, GPU/NPU names etc) and fixing some strange behaviours.. Let me know if you still have issues. Full changelog soon!
sbc.compare
Compare Single Board Computers - Single Board Computer Comparison Tool
Compare single board computers with comprehensive benchmarks, specifications, and real-world performance data. Find the perfect SBC for your project.
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/10/2025
I'm not entirely sure if they meant to, but Radxa have confirmed the existence of the Intel N150-based successor to the X4, the Radxa X5! No more GPIO area "notch", a @raspberrypi.com RP2350A, and a 64-bit memory bus 🥰 bret.dk/radxa-x5-rel...
bret.dk
Radxa X5 Release Imminent? - bret.dk
The Radxa X5 hasn't been officially announced yet, but the schematics and component placement maps have quietly appeared in Radxa's download centre. Having
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 19/10/2025
After months of testing and tweaking, I'm extremely happy to finally show off sbc.compare to the world! 🥹 80 boards are available now, and more are on the way. List by benchmark, SBC vendor, or SoC vendor/model 📊 Lots still to do, but let me know what you think 🥰
View of sbc.compare's search page with Raspberry Pi filled out. A selection of Raspberry Pi boards is shown to be added for comparison
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 08/10/2025
When the moon hits your eye, like a big Lichee Pi, that’s a 4A..
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/09/2025
Seeing the test print on my custom build plate from @emberprototypes.bsky.social was a fun surprise this evening 😁 I just need to come up with some bigger prints to actually make use of the pattern now 😅
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