Not sure why there's so much focus on the Pi and it's availability, that's not what the article is about.
The article is about the RK3588, it's a substantial upgrade in CPU performance, I/O performance, and network performance over the PI4. It also connects things directly to a much faster PCIe instead of relying on USB connected chips. I think of the Pi4 as popular, but a toy.
I compiled either rust or go (I did both, so I forget) 7 times faster than a 8GB ram Pi4 with my rk3588. It's really in a different class than the Pi4.
The rk3588 is in the order it today, get it this week type availability. I found it for sale in 3 places, 2 with ship times of 2 weeks, 1 with a get it the day after tomorrow.
MiniPCs are in the similar class, but compared to a $120 rk3588 with 8GB ram are often a bit lacking. Often MiniPCs are used, less than 8GB ram, don't have two 2.5G ethernet, require a custom wall wart+barrel connector, often have a fan, are usually in a cheap/plastic case (instead of a CNC machined case with integrated heat sink for $20), and in a much larger case. My case is 3.75" x 2.75" x 1" or so.
So yes, you can get a used MiniPC, maybe you don't mind missing a 2nd ethernet port, and sure you can buy more storage/ram. But for the size and power efficiency it's going to be hard to match. I suspect the x86 in the $120-$140 range (with 8GB of ram) are going to be slower, but I'm hoping someone posts some benchmarks to compare.
The article is about the RK3588, it's a substantial upgrade in CPU performance, I/O performance, and network performance over the PI4. It also connects things directly to a much faster PCIe instead of relying on USB connected chips. I think of the Pi4 as popular, but a toy.
I compiled either rust or go (I did both, so I forget) 7 times faster than a 8GB ram Pi4 with my rk3588. It's really in a different class than the Pi4.
The rk3588 is in the order it today, get it this week type availability. I found it for sale in 3 places, 2 with ship times of 2 weeks, 1 with a get it the day after tomorrow.
MiniPCs are in the similar class, but compared to a $120 rk3588 with 8GB ram are often a bit lacking. Often MiniPCs are used, less than 8GB ram, don't have two 2.5G ethernet, require a custom wall wart+barrel connector, often have a fan, are usually in a cheap/plastic case (instead of a CNC machined case with integrated heat sink for $20), and in a much larger case. My case is 3.75" x 2.75" x 1" or so.
So yes, you can get a used MiniPC, maybe you don't mind missing a 2nd ethernet port, and sure you can buy more storage/ram. But for the size and power efficiency it's going to be hard to match. I suspect the x86 in the $120-$140 range (with 8GB of ram) are going to be slower, but I'm hoping someone posts some benchmarks to compare.