SBC Reviews

Jeff Geerling's SBC (Single-Board Computer) review and benchmarking data repo.

There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Motivation

I test a lot of SBCs from Raspberry Pi, Radxa, Orange Pi, Pine64, ODROID, ASUS, and more.

Until recently, I would compile all my data in a single project folder and/or blog post, and maybe feature a few specific benchmarks in a video on my YouTube channel.

But I decided I'd rather have a public repository with all the test data and review notes for all the SBCs I use and test.

Unless under NDA, my plan is to compile all my data here, in real-time, as a point of reference for myself and for anyone else who runs into interesting results (e.g. the RK3588 on the Rock 5 model B benchmarking slower than the RK3588S on the Orange Pi 5).

Methodology

For every board I test or review, I will open an Issue with the name of the SBC, and begin compiling data in that issue.

If you would like to see a board added that is not already listed, please start a new Discussion—do not open an Issue until I have confirmed I am going to acquire and test a certain board.

The primary benchmarks I run are:

CPU: Geekbench 5
CPU: Top500 HPL
CPU: TODO
GPU: TODO
Memory: TODO
Disk: disk-benchmark.sh
Disk: PiBenchmarks.com
Network: iperf3 (upstream, downstream, and bidirectional)

I often test a variety of other board-specific features, too, though it depends on the amount of time I'm willing to devote to a specific board, whether I'll deep-dive or just get basic numbers.

List of SBCs

All SBCs I have tested as part of this project are listed below. Click on the name of the SBC to view all the testing and benchmarking details.

SBC Name	Year Introduced
Radxa Rock 5 model B	2023
Orange Pi 5	2023
StarFive VisionFive 2	2022
Pine64 SOQuartz	2021
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4	2020
Raspberry Pi 4 model B	2019

This table should be ordered by the date the board was launched, in descending order. I might add a CSV file (so it's still easy to manage by hand) which could be compiled into this README at some point in the future (that would also allow putting benchmark numbers directly into the CSV...).

SBC Awards

I'm considering crowning certain SBCs with awards every year, like "Fastest storage" or "least functionality." That seems like it could be a fun way to blow off steam when I'm having a terrible experience, or celebrate some truly groundbreaking new features...

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