14 DAY TRIAL // Intel may get the bulk of its cash from contracts that land its processors inside various products, but it has certain full PCs of its own for sale. True, the NUC (next unit of computing) isn't selling all that massively, but that hasn't deterred Chipzilla, whose designers have just released something new.
Said “something new” is an open-source single-board miniature personal computer that is smaller than the Raspberry Pi, which itself is as big as a credit card.
Single-board computers do not have the same role as normal PCs, since they are too weak to enable gaming or any sort of sophisticated programming.
However, they do allow electronics designers to come up with new gadgets, robots, lighting installations, entertainment devices, etc.
At least, that is what Intel intends for its latest creation, a miniature computer called Minnowboard Max based on the 1.91 GHz Atom E3845 processor.
As we’ve mentioned in the title, the newcomer is smaller than the Raspberry Pi, but don't think that that will put them in competition.
Even if Intel's creation wasn't so much more expensive than the Raspberry Pi ($99 / €99 versus $35 / €35 or so), the products are made for different things.
Sure, the Raspberry Pi and its various add-ons showed up in certain experimental gadgets, and their modularity lets them combine into larger engineering marvels.
However, in the end, the Pi is primarily an educational tool, meant to help students learn about hardware design and software programming at school. That the Pi is as successful as it is because of its alternative uses is just coincidence.
Anyway, Intel's MinnowBoard Max is a successor, of sorts, to the MinnowBoard Max released back in April 2013, which has a 1 GHz Atom E640 CPU. That CPU lacks the integrated controller and HD 4000 graphics of the newer Atom E3845 SoC (10W TDP).
Break-out boards called Lures can be used to expand the capabilities of the MinnowBoard board PC. Also, there seem to be lower-end models, powered by the 1.46GHz, single-core E3815 (5W TDP), or one of three dual-core models (1.33GHz to 1.75GHz, 6W to 8W TDPs).
Gigabit Ethernet, micro-HDMI, and two USB host ports are available as well (one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0), plus headers for a serial debug interface and various GPIO signals (including two with PWM support), among other things. Up to 4 GB DDR RAM are supported, plus one SATA 3.0 Gbps storage drive. Finally, you can either buy the thing or download the design file.