BLACK FRIDAY (Ebay) sale of brand new Intel processor development board device is a total bust.   "Funds are being returned to your PayPal account due to demand exceeding supply".  Vendor says he put a quantity cap on the deal that didn't work right and Ebone actually took in 10x more orders than he can supply at that price.

It has been a long slow road searching and looking for my next computing device.    It has had some bumps in the road to be sure .....

ARM had to grow up, a lot it had to grow up,   It still hasn't grown up enough.

Intel had to get theatened, get competitive for features, get competitive in their pricing and now actually go compete and beat on features at the lower price levels (finally !!!),

Standards had to develop that were supported in a wide spread fashion.

Well, the time has arrived finally and I have actually done gone and tried to buy one of them there new fangle computery thangs for my Christmas present "from everybody".  

It is a dual core INTEL chipset believe it or not, at 3 gigahertz per core backed up with two (2) 3000k on-chip caches, two separate caches, 3000k for each of the two cores.  

Why the per core separate pipeline caches?   They claim it can THEORETICALLY do fully separate hyper style multi-threading, assuming your OS actually really supports such (many don't really and never have, it is pretty much unheard of in the hand-held world).  

So really, this is a sort of  "vapor feature" to me at this point in time.  The only time Linux would ever try to use this feature is if you were doing two massive calculation threads in two open windows at the same exact time, something which I will certainly never do.

Look for Intel's pet OS Tizen to be the first one to really be able to "do it" for real .....  

And, shipping included the whole thing cost me only $80 (special Black Friday free shipping pricing which has now ended)

And will be able to run my favorite form of Linux, Linux Mint -- Mate version, with the device being fully supported by the distro itself from this next upcoming LTS version going on forward out into the future.    Yeaaaaaaa !!!

Now that is a bloody miracle, something supported by the distro itself.

Bad news is that it is a bit of an energy hog, at 65w measured in the old fashioned non Intel max full loaded draw method, so it isn't going to make any battery powered device really happy for more than a few hours at most at full tilt -- but mine will always be plugged into wall socket power all the time anyway so that really doesn't hurt my feelings for much.  

If you like the "averaged over time" current draw method that Intel prefers to report in, then it is a 25w processor.   ( ha !! )



I/O on the device is really good, with like 4 readily accessible full sized USB 2.0s ports, a SATA connection, a HDMI/DVI and a VGA+ port.   VGA+ is supported, it is a bloody miracle to all be found in a device for only $80.

Most of the new ARM based development boards bottom out at $90 -- plus the shipping cost all the way from China --- and they don't have VGA and they don't break 2 ghz on the processor cores either.   They might have quad core though, but the current crop of Android OSs don't use the quad cores very well, much less them 8 core versions.

GPU is Intel, so don't get overly excited about any super fast game playing and all that sort of stuff.   Intel does do graphics, but is generally considered "competent and so-so" which is the best general description going for a Intel GPU.  

Still, the Intel graphics GPU is supported by 4 gigabytes of memory so it shouldn't be too poky and stuttery (I hope).   Shared video memory doesn't scare me for much, as games use the GPU and calculations use the CPU and there are few things that do both at the same time at full bore levels.

So, I bought mine through Ebay, and it will arrive inside of 10 days supposedly.

It will require some fiddling with binary blob drivers to get it all set up right, but what is that compared to getting everything I ever wanted in a device for only $80 shipped?



   .....   Merry Christmas to me,   Merry Christmas to me,   Mistletoe and toe jam,  Merry Christmas to me.




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Now, did I actually manage to meet my "triple up on the old white box for under $100" goals?

Yes, the old white box only had a single CPU core at 1 ghz, so a dual core at 3 ghz per core kicks that in the butt by 4x or better.  And even if the video memory is shared with the CPU cores in some fashion it still has 4 gigabytes available vs the old white box that only came with 512 meg of video memory and 512 meg of systems memory (upgraded to a gig and a half over the course of the intervening years).  

So CPU/graphics memory is a 4x as well, 4x on both the amount and the memory speed as well.


    The Cost Ratio between the two devices is a whopping 0.036363636      
$80/$2,200  or the new device only costs 3.63% of what the old one did.

Energy ratio between the two devices is a considerable 0.10
25w/250w or the new devices only uses 10% of the power used by the old one (and yes, I am being optimistic and using Intel's methodology).

Cost/Power ratio between the two devices is like ($2,200/1 ghz) / ($80/3ghz) or  82.5 times better ......


    progress, she comes ....   hey, it will be even better next year when you do it.

And I hope by then Ebay and its vendors have their act together much much better.

OF, you are a constant source of amazement & befuddlement. YOur knowledge of computer stuff is just so far beyond mine I cant really follow what you say.. I need the REaders Digest version. Im interested in what yhoure saying, its just beyond me.. My ? is

Just what is it that youre talking about? Would it replace a laptop?

Its a minimalist thing..... smaller is better....not always true but in the designs now-a-days not a bad idea.

Stupid ideas.... galaxy 5 phone/tablet  with matching watchband for phone/internet use. This thing is a gimic that will cause more motor vehicle accidents than texting ever would..... just buy a blue tooth ear piece at walmart for $19 and talk handsfree ya goofs!

As far as computing goes, the bare bones little boxes being built with all the power inside is a great idea.... you just plug in what you need and away you go!

I'm looking forward to the roll up monitor screens just like the roll up keyboards you see now days. I don't think it will be long before they are developed, it would make a home pc small and easy to use and portable to boot. Just think along the lines of that mars movie with the big electronic dog thingie... Val Kilmer had a roll out touch screen computer.

I think phones will be a thing of the past, as big tablets will take over all the functions they do, a screen any smaller than 7" is too small for the baby boomers to use and that is going to be the biggest market now-days.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 12/02/13 at 07:39:21:




Justin, just understanding the trick that Intel is just retreading their old 2009 and later laptop chipset designs and running them on lithographic processes that are twice as small as the original to give them extra umph and extra energy efficiency and a much smaller footprint.  

Then, to polish the apple, slapping an energy nanny chip on the daughter board affair to enforce a low ARM level energy consumption -- then it becomes easy to say these new puppies can replace a laptop chipset because it WAS originally a laptop chipset back in 2009.  

All they have to do for a laptop on the current chip is leave off or defeat the energy nanny chip and the new mini-chip will run at full speed (and it will require a heat sink and a fan just like the original 2009 chipset did).

Now, for the blow your mind part, you can buy the new tiny version of the chipset today for around $80 (every day price and shipping are higher of course) OR you could go buy a Dell Refurbished business PC unit complete with the original chipset and a case and all the trimmings from the Dell Auction site for less than $100.

Either way could get me my 3x or better machine for less than $100.

In ether path, you get  the mojo of a year 2009 Dell business desktop along with good driver support, etc. for Linux Mint.

I now find it completely understandable why you can get "promised good support" for these newly released Intel chipsets, especially since the support has already been there (assuming they are really really close to the original chipsets like they now seem to be -- just smaller).

And, taking a look at the Dell Auction site it seems like Dell has been using the most energy efficient of the Intel processors in their little Optiplex machines all along, so I suspect Dell will drop these new cut down joy boys into their business boxes to save money and start claiming Intel's "10w-25w power draw" BS as a selling feature since businesses DO care about power bills and stuff like that .....  

And looking at the list of stuff Intel has promised to release out through 2016 it seems like they may take the Intel Core I-5 stuff (quad core) and do the same shrink the lithography thing in a year or so.   It is today's 32nm process chipset, so it may become 2016's 14nm "new" chipset as well.

Intel's existing chip designs are PLENTY POWERFUL enough for phones, tablets and laptops -- and as Dell has proven over the years for mini-desktops as well.

Intel CAN complete, but they don't like doing it at the lower price points.   They like what Qualcomm is doing for them, which is drifting the upper end price point up into their neighborhood.  

But will you like a $1,000 computing device or a $80 computing device?

I know which one I like ....      

ARM is still going to rule the lower price end of things as the upper end slowly drifts up into ridiculous prices compared to the ARM end.

Core 2 duo was the 4 year old (2009) dual core chipset that this stuff was patterned after.  When it went quad core it became the Core 1-5 family of chipsets which are current and are at 32 nm going to 22 nm at this time.  

Drivers for the Core 2 duo chipsets and the matching Intel GMA 4500 generation of on-board video systems are already in the Linux kernel and have been for nearly 2 years now.

If this new stuff is a straight out and out copy of the old stuff using the twice as small 22nm lithography, all should be good driver wise.   If it is different in any significant fashion, Linux won't have kernel level drivers for this new new stuff until somebody writes some, which can take a year especially since Linaro is focused on getting 64 bit ARM support done and released right now.

If Intel uses their most modern on-board graphics with the "new" chipset then Linux support will not be complete (no accelerated graphics stuff) in the Linux kernel at this time for the new combination.

Intel will have released a binary blob type driver and Mint might have it in repository since they will do proprietary drivers (Ubuntu for example will not).

In Linux, too modern can get you trouble because it hasn't been developed yet for the most modern most current stuff.

Dell Optiplex stuff does come around after a few years apparently, since a lot of the rental machines come back in on upgrade and get sold off on the used PC market.   Linux support tends to happen about then since there is a need.

Optiplex models that ran XP are all long gone now, but used Optiplex core 2 duo machines that ran Vista are still around fairly cheaply, just now coming off those 4 year lease agreements.

There are some Dell units coming off lease that are running Windows 7, but the going price is a couple of hundred dollars per unit more than the Vista units, partially because Intel Core I-5 quad core processors were used in the more modern WIN 7 units.

Fact: it is always plugged into the wall so power isn't so much of a thing to me.  

Too modern does get you some issues with the Linux support not being fully cooked yet.


================


OK, what do I really need?   What am I using up now on the old white box resource-wise?

I use about half of the 1 ghz Athlon's processor cycles just to run this one web page.  I use only 40% of my systems memory and it never varies, so I am keeping within 550 meg of my 1.5 gig of total resources just running the OS.  

This is likely a system setting thing I need to fix as I have 3 times that much systems memory available.

I hit some real dragginess whenever I am bouncing around the web with multiple mutiple web pages open.   I peg the 1 ghz processor ongoing and I start some mild hard drive swapping when I run out of allocated memory.


==================

Investigation says:

Old white box has shared systems memory with the AMD/ATI integrated graphics, so Linux automatically allocates what Linux really needs (512 meg per core) and then it creates a matching hard drive swap partition for some "plus systems memory" and then gives the rest of the shared systems memory over to the video system.  

Since i rarely touch the hard drive swap partition I am not being memory bound, but am likely being video card and main processor limited when I open too many sites up at one time.   I only have the one processor available, so I have to dump memory and reload all the time when hopping from place to place.

Would a core 2 duo equivalent help fix this?

3 gighertz vs 1 gigahertz plus two cores vs 1 core.   Processor wise, yes.

Memory wise, if Linux only takes 512 meg per core that would leave 3 gig for video which is more than any non-intergrated video card out there right now.    

Integrated graphics are strange, and I suspect they are somewhat inefficient in Linux right now.   New would not be an advantage I do not think -- drivers not cooked and in the kernel yet.

Web pages don't require a massive amount of video systems power but they do take up some processor power especially when you switch out a lot.


=================



I bet I can find a system on campus that uses a core 2 duo (Dell) inside one of the labs and I can kick its tires to see what sort of response it gets when web page hopping.

I could even carry in a boot-able Linux CD with me and boot the machine on Linux Mint to actually try it out .....


     A plan ...... a plan  

     The man's got a plan !!

Whoa, Whoa WHOA!!

Now, for the blow your mind part, you can buy the new tiny version of the chipset today for around $80 (every day price and shipping are higher of course) OR you could go buy a Dell Refurbished business PC unit complete with the original chipset and a case and all the trimmings from the Dell Auction site for less than $100.


You tellin me I can get a Dell tower for that kinda Munneee!??

Dellauction.com gets you to the endless rolling auction.

They also have an eBay Dell section where you  can find all the big rebuilders and what they are selling.

And yes, last time I looked they had units under $100.

Look, but be aware of some things about Dell.

Dell units are built for easy cheap assembly. They have all sorts of nifty neat assembly methods that "snap" together or have push/pull thingies to release them.   Some of these releases ARE NOT OBVIOUS and the units get damaged because people force them and bust them plastic latches.

I have never seen a small thin Dell unit that didn't have something plastic latch busted about it .....  something busted/not latching right is the normal state of affairs on a used Dell desktop unit.  

Refurb houses will sometimes glue the stuff back together with a black soft case glue and guess what, it don't unlatch any more ever again without parting that soft glue with a knife.

Next, Dell totally obeys current standards.  Don't expect your old PS/2 keyboard to work or your old hard drive to have a ribbon cable slot.

Power supplies and all such like components are Dell custom jobbies that have just enough power to do the job the thing was built for originally.

Silly stuff, like adding a video card can sometimes run afoul of a "power supply too small" issue.   There is no excess anything to a Dell.   Since Dell uses custom parts, you can only upgrade with Dell components that fit that model.


=========================


With a Dell, buy it fully configured the way you want it from Dell.   The same model of Dell can come to you in a myriad of configurations so don't let that throw you ....

If buying used, buy from one of the large refurb boys and GET THEM TO PUT IT TOGETHER THE WAY YOU WANT IT AND HAVE THEM TEST IT OUT THAT WAY (they generally have all the necessary parts to do this).

Dell starts out cheap, but by the time you have it the way you really want it, sometimes a stock standard configuration HP or Lenovo unit comes out cheaper.


=======================


All that said, if you can live with the limitations of what is offered used then a used Dell can be a really really cheap unit.  

(many times it was spec'd by the IT bean pickers to fit an office drone's minimum job requirements, so take the time to understand what those requirements were before buying that machine used)

IT departments like Dell, they have zero issues with them inside the 4 year lease period and then they trade them in on more current technology when they come off lease.   It comes out a lot cheaper doing it that way than buying and then scrapping the units out for technological obsolescence.  

Provided, of course, they can keep the users out from inside them.  



It is not "accidental" that the cable lock system that keeps the machine on the desk also latches the unit access panel firmly closed.