I'm posting this here because, these platforms can be used to do so much retro computing STUFF and thats what I use them for - I'd like anyones input;

Since Raspberry Pi's are going to be tough to get until the END of 2o23, I've been taking a hard l00k at the Rockchip RK3588 in two flavors;

Orange Pi 5 4GB=$76 8GB=$93 16GB=$127

Rock 5 4GB=$145 8GB=$170 16GB=$220

So basically, the Rock 5 is double the price, but I'm not seeing double the oomph;

Orange Pi 5
Rockchip RK3588S - 8 core 64bit 2.4Ghz
Mali G-610 GPU 3D/2D Image Acceleration, 8K capable
HDMIx1, M.2 PCIe 2.0 NVMe, USB-Cx1, Gigabit LAN, USB2.0x2, USB3.0x1, 26-Pin GPIO
Built-In Mic/Speaker

https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Pi-Frequency-Development-Android12/dp/B0BN18R21N ?th=1

Rock 5
Rockchip RK3588
Mali G-610 GPU
8K Encoder/Decoder
2.5Gb LAN, USB3.1x2, HDMIx2, PCIe 3.0 NVMe, USB-Cx1, 40-Pin GPIO

https://ameridroid.com/products/rock5-model-b?variant=39918166573090

So the Rock 5 has better PCIe and 2.5Gb LAN connections and more GPIO pins, but at 1/2 the price, I don't know why I'd need those perks - the Orange Pi 5 seems like a decent deal @ around $75 bucks...

Has anyone else tried the Rockchip's yet? Theres certainly not as much user support as the Pi platform, but they have a few Linux flavors available and Android if thats yer gig... and I think the Rockchip support is moving along.

I'm gonna dive in; I wish I could splurge and order both in 16GB versions, but what do ya'll think???



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Orange Pi 5 4GB=$76 8GB=$93 16GB=$127

Rock 5 4GB=$145 8GB=$170 16GB=$220

I don't really know anything about either of these. But past experience with Orange suggests you want to carefully check the components and ensure there
are drivers for whatever O/S you want to use it with. They have been noted before for loading all sorts of stuff, but with no effective way to use it.

If you're sure it'll support what you want then I'd go for it, they've been good from a reliability standpoint for me.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
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I don't really know anything about either of these. But past experience with Orange suggests you want to carefully check the components and
ensure there are drivers for whatever O/S you want to use it with.

Good point - understood. They support debian, so I can build whatever I need from that base... but it would be nice to have more options like you get w/ Pi's...



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
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Good point - understood. They support debian, so I can build whatever I

Hmm just to clarify... Orange have had devices for which no drivers exist regardless of O/S supported by the board. Two that come to mind are an old wifi chipset and one of their "early" ethernet ports, on a two port board.

Thats why I say make sure there are drivers.... you can't rely on the O/S to support all board features.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: A camel is a horse designed by a committee. (21:3/101)

On 12/9/22 21:27, Spectre wrote:

pa> Good point - understood. They support debian, so I can build whatever I

Hmm just to clarify... Orange have had devices for which no drivers exist regardless of O/S supported by the board. Two that come to mind are an old wifi chipset and one of their "early" ethernet ports, on a two port board.

Thats why I say make sure there are drivers.... you can't rely on the O/S to support all board features.

A friend wound up with one that has the funky wifi, was having trouble
getting boards he wanted, and tried an Orange one. Couldn't manage to
get it working, getting the OS updated was a pain and still no
drivers... basically not even heavy enough to use as a paper weight.

Only thing I will say is that the RPi has been really well supported
hardware wise. If the OP, had been considering getting 3 of the 16gb
RockPi5 models for a Kubernetes cluster to play with at home.
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Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
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A friend wound up with one that has the funky wifi, was having trouble getting boards he wanted, and tried an Orange one. Couldn't manage to

I have the same one here I expect. Apparently its not just driver but the chipset is also faulty in design so it'll never work properly. It's a little bit like they have a bunch of kids playing in the design dept and just throw anything at the board.. anything that sticks stays whether its any good or
not or they don't check that end of it, just plumb it together.

Having crossed that though, in use, so long as the device has proper support driver and device wise, they've been rock solid.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: A camel is a horse designed by a committee. (21:3/101)