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diff --git a/content/posts/pcengines-comparison.org b/content/posts/pcengines-comparison.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e68fd6f --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/pcengines-comparison.org @@ -0,0 +1,96 @@ +#+TITLE: PC Engines APU Comparison +#+DATE: 2020-06-16T23:43:02-04:00 +#+DRAFT: true +#+DESCRIPTION: Comparison between PC Engines APU machines +#+TAGS[]: hardware pcengines +#+KEYWORDS[]: hardware pcengines +#+SLUG: +#+SUMMARY: + +I've been looking at the PC Engines APU line for a while. They're a +line of medium size single board PCs with a DB9 serial connector and +no VGA port. They also have gigabit Ethernet and are often used as +firewall machines. + +I want to get one and use it as either the home router, or an +experimental server to mess around with. Quite a few OpenBSD folks use +them and recommend them as OpenBSD router and server hardware. They +aren't too expensive, have decent specs and a small physical +footprint. + +One thing that's always confused me was the naming scheme, which is a +little confusing at first. Initially there was the APU, then the APU2, +as described on their site, which makes sense. Then the APU model +numbers get a little confusing. They come in several variants, I'll +list them here for context. + +#+CAPTION: Taken from the PC Engines website +#+BEGIN_QUOTE + apu2d0 (2 GB DRAM, 2 i211AT NICs) + apu2e2 (2 GB DRAM, 3 i211AT NICs) + apu2e4 (4 GB DRAM, 3 i210AT NICs) + apu3c2 (2 GB DRAM, 3 i211AT NICs, optimized for 3G/LTE modems) + apu3c4 (4 GB DRAM, 3 i211AT NICs, optimized for 3G/LTE modems) + apu4d2 (2 GB DRAM, 4 i211AT NICs) + apu4d4 (4 GB DRAM, 4 i211AT NICs) + #+END_QUOTE + +What do the letters between the numbers mean? What is the significance +of the numbers in the first place? + +Let's take the example =apu3c2=. The 3 here means it's version 3 of +the APU board. The APU 1 is no longer sold, so it's left out of the +list on the PC Engines website, along with most of their +re-sellers. The letter between the numbers is the revision of that +board. It's pretty much irrelevant for comparison, other than you want +to get the most recent one, as listed on the PC Engines website. The +revisions are mostly minor tweaks to the board. The final number is +the number of gigabytes of RAM (in most cases). + +The APU2 boards have a single mSATA slot, and a regular SATA +connector, two mPCIe slots, and a SIM tray. Using the SIM tray will +remove the ability to use one of the two mPCIe slots. It comes with 2 +external USB 3.0 type A ports, 2 internal USB 2.0 ports (header only), +an SD card slot, and a GPIO header. It also has 3 Intel i211AT gigabit +NICs, with the exception of the APU2D0, as mentioned below. + +So what are the major differences between version numbers? They all +use the same CPU, the quad core AMD Embedded G series GX-412TC running +at 1 GHz. Everything else about the boards are practically identical +too. I'll give a description of the differences relative to the APU2 +board. + +The APU2D0 is the same as the regular APU2, but without a GPIO header, +and it has only 2 NICs. + +The APU3 has an extra SIM tray, and the first slot, which on the APU2 +is mSATA only can be used as either an mSATA or mPCIe slot. If you +were to choose to use both SIM trays, you would lose the ability to +use both the first mSATA/mPCIe slot and second mPCIe slot, meaning you +would be unable to use an mSATA drive. It also lets you do GPIO tray +swapping and failover. Other than that everything else appears to be +the same. + +The APU4D2 has 4 NICs instead of 3, like the APU2. It also has three +mPCIe slots, with the first one being a dual mPCIe/mSATA slot, like +with the APU3. It only has one SIM slot, same as the APU2. + +The APU4D4 is the same as the APU4D2, except it has dual SIM trays. + +A lot of this information wasn't really obvious to me upon first +reading the PC Engines website, as there's no direct comparison +between the board, and the site relies on you flipping between +pages to find the details. The re-seller website I looked at also +didn't elaborate on the differences. + +Here's a small table describing the differences. + +| Board | RAM | Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 | Ethernet Controllers | SIM Slots | USB 2.0 Connections | GPIO Headers | +|--------+------+-----------------+-----------+--------+----------------------+-----------+---------------------+--------------| +| apu2d0 | 2 GB | mSATA | mPCIe/SIM | mPCIe | 2 i211AT | 1 | 2 | No | +| apu2e2 | 2 GB | mSATA | mPCIe/SIM | mPCIe | 3 i211AT | 1 | 2 | Yes | +| apu2e4 | 4 GB | mSATA | mPCIe/SIM | mPCIe | 3 i210AT | 1 | 2 | Yes | +| apu3c2 | 2 GB | mSATA/LTE Modem | LTE Modem | mPCIe | 3 i211AT | 2 | 4 | Yes | +| apu3c4 | 4 GB | mSATA/LTE Modem | LTE Modem | mPCIe | 3 i211AT | 2 | 4 | Yes | +| apu4d2 | 2 GB | mSATA | LTE Modem | mPCIe | 4 i211AT | 1 | 2 | Yes | +| apu4d4 | 4 GB | mSATA/LTE Modem | LTE Modem | mPCIe | 4 i211AT | 2 | 2 | Yes | |