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diff --git a/content/posts/pcengines-comparison/index.org b/content/posts/pcengines-comparison/index.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a80f773 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/pcengines-comparison/index.org @@ -0,0 +1,96 @@ +#+TITLE: PC Engines APU Comparison +#+DATE: 2020-06-17T00:50:06-04:00 +#+DRAFT: false +#+DESCRIPTION: Comparison between PC Engines APU machines +#+TAGS[]: hardware pcengines +#+KEYWORDS[]: hardware pcengines +#+SLUG: +#+SUMMARY: + +#+ATTR_HTML: :alt PC Engines Comparison +#+ATTR_HTML: :title PC Engines Comparison +[[file:pc%20engines%20vs.png]] + +I've been looking at the [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm][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. Because of this they're +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_SRC + 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_SRC + +What do the letters between the numbers mean? What is the significance +of the numbers in the first place? + +Let's take the =apu3c2= as an example. 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 =c= is the revision of that board. It's pretty +much irrelevant for comparison. You'll 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, =2=, is the number of gigabytes +of RAM (in most cases). + +The APU2E2 boards have a single mSATA slot, and a regular SATA +connector, two mPCIe slots, and a SIM tray. 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. Using the SIM tray will remove the ability to use one of the two +mPCIe slots. + +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. Most other components on the boards are the same as +well. 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 +headers, and it has only 2 NICs. + +The APU3 has an extra SIM tray, and the first slot, which is mSATA +only on the APU2, can be used as either an mSATA or USB 3G/LTE Modem +slot. The second slot can only be used for a modem. It also lets you +do GPIO tray swapping and failover, so you can use only a single modem +for 2 SIMs. + +The APU4D2 has 4 NICs instead of 3, and the second slot is modem +only. It has 2 GB of RAM. + +The APU4D4 is the same as the APU4D2, except it has dual SIM trays. It +has 4 GB of RAM. + +I found a lot of this information wasn't really obvious to 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. + +| Board | RAM | Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 | Ethernet Controllers | SIM Slots | USB 2.0 | Headers | +|--------+------+-------------+-------------+--------+----------------------+-----------+---------+---------| +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2d0.htm][apu2d0]] | 2 GB | mSATA | mPCIe/Modem | mPCIe | 2 i211AT | 1 | 2 | No | +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2e2.htm][apu2e2]] | 2 GB | mSATA | mPCIe/Modem | mPCIe | 3 i211AT | 1 | 2 | Yes | +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2e4.htm][apu2e4]] | 4 GB | mSATA | mPCIe/Modem | mPCIe | 3 i210AT | 1 | 2 | Yes | +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu3c2.htm][apu3c2]] | 2 GB | mSATA/Modem | Modem | mPCIe | 3 i211AT | 2 | 4 | Yes | +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu3c4.htm][apu3c4]] | 4 GB | mSATA/Modem | Modem | mPCIe | 3 i211AT | 2 | 4 | Yes | +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu4d2.htm][apu4d2]] | 2 GB | mSATA | Modem | mPCIe | 4 i211AT | 1 | 2 | Yes | +| [[https://www.pcengines.ch/apu4d4.htm][apu4d4]] | 4 GB | mSATA/Modem | Modem | mPCIe | 4 i211AT | 2 | 2 | Yes | |