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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 · 17h
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
I’m also hoping I can pick up some more Pine SKUs if the price and specs are right!
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/07/2026
Good to know there are options! I’ll shout when I have the results up (likely in a few weeks, I’m picking it up on a trip back to the UK) but this is more of an “add to the collection” option than something to light up the leaderboards 😅
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 29/07/2026
I've not looked into any kind of software support at this point, though a quick Google now shows Armbian with an image so that's a life saver. Not sure how much I'll get to do with it beyond benchmarking but never say never :D The guy I bought it from also had it from Kickstarter and never used it!
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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
But it's not real until RPi do it!
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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
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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
My 32GB model has some rather expensive Micron chips on it, but I don't see them shifting many at that price :D Here's to hoping supply is good, and they get them out soon!
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 30/05/2026
‪The full test data can be found at sbc.compare/116-radxa-dr... if you want to look at alllll of the data, and compare it with over 100 other SBCs!‬
sbc.compare
Radxa Dragon Q8B 32GB | sbc.compare
Detailed specifications, benchmarks, and performance data for Radxa Dragon Q8B 32GB. Compare with other single board computers.
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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
I may or may not be stealing this idea with immediate effect.. Though it'll likely cost me about 10 times that up here 😅 Neat idea!
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 23/05/2026
I'm going to allow it in this case, no need to apologise
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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
The Chinese source can be found at mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wGbMe2cIhC... for more information!
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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 · 21/03/2026
Pineberry Pi spotted. The police are on their way.
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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
Oh for sure, these are just the 2 examples I picked to work on the UI 😁 I haven’t officially launched the feature yet, but yup, other boards will get their moments!
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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 · 17/02/2026
Damn it! Living out in the continent means I’m not constantly bombarded with reminders and I forgot 🥲
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bret.dk @bret.dk · 10/02/2026
You can see the drivers and versions used in the Test Environment section towards the top of the comparison page! Also, if you just want to check out a leaderboard for these new tests: sbc.compare/tinymembench sbc.compare/glmark2 sbc.compare/vkmark
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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
Luckily the automation will take care of most of it and I'll be mostly sitting around waiting to swap boards out! It'll likely still take me a couple of weeks though with everything else going on.. I should go over the automation and setup I have here at some point..
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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
(the data was a quick test run where the CPU governor wasn't set correctly at the start, and the timestamps along the bottom will start from 0 rather than the current time, but you can still get an idea!)
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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
Definitely on my shortlist!
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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 · 23/12/2025
This kind of reminds me of when I was living in Valencia and Fallas would come around with all of the decorations.. I miss those times :D
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