Axiomtek's Raspberry Pi Rival Flexes AMD Embedded Ryzen Muscle
If you are looking for a way to pass the time in isolation, a mini PC is a great starting point, as it opens the door to a wealth of clever and unique projects—cocktail machine or a home brewed VR headset are just two of many examples. While the Raspberry Pi gets the bulk of the attention in the mini PC maker space, there are alternatives. One of them is Axiomtek's new CAPA13R.
Behind the rather boring model designation is an interesting foundation. It is built around an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1807B or V1605B processor with integrated Radeon Vega graphics. That makes it a bit more capable than a Raspberry Pi for certain applications, like gaming and anything that involves 3D graphics work.
"The new AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 series is the best choice for embedded solutions that require a high-resolution display and full-graphics features, and offers the benefits of a smaller footprint," said Michelle Mi, Product Manager of Embedded Board and Technology Business Unit at Axiomtek. "The CAPA13R has four GbE LAN ports to connect with industrial cameras for machine vision applications and four independent displays for graphics-oriented appreciations, like digital signage, gaming, infotainment, etc."
Quad display support comes by way of two HDMI ports, a DisplayPort, and one LVDS interface. It also features up to 16GB of DDR4-2400 on the V1605B variant, and up to 16GB of DDR4-3200 kRAM on the V1807B model.
Axiomtek said it positioned the CPU on the backside of the PCB to help dissipate heat, and for easier system integration with little maintenance. And of course this is where the air cooler would go. The PCB itself measures 146mm x 104mm—a bit bigger than the Raspberry Pi 4, but also still very much a compact board.
Other features include two USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, four GbE LAN ports, two M.2 slots, HD audio, and hardware monitoring for keep track of temperatures, voltage, fan speed, and so forth. And because this is a x86 setup, it works just fine with Windows 10.
Axiomtek has not announced pricing, though the CAPA13R will undoubtedly cost more than a Raspberry Pi.
