How powerful can a single-board computer (SBC) be? ZDNet reported that Aaeon tried to find out by cramming Intel's 11th Gen Core G processors, support for up to 32GB of LPDDR4 memory, and an abundance of ports into the PICO-TGU4 product line. But it might also have discovered this category's price ceiling in the process.
The most well-known SBCs, including the ever-popular Raspberry Pi lineup, feature Arm chips that compete on price and power efficiency rather than raw performance. Many of the boards that do feature x86-based processors typically emphasize their support for a far broader software ecosystem and their greater compute power.
| Product | Aaeon PICO-TGU4 |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | Pico-ITX |
| CPU | Intel 11th Generation Core i7/i5/i3/Celeron SoC |
| i7-1185G7E (4C, 1.8GHz, up to 4.4GHz, TDP-up 28W) | |
| i5-1145G7E (4C, 1.5GHz, up to 4.1GHz, TDP-up 28W) | |
| i3-1115G4E (2C, 2.2GHz, up to 3.9GHz, TDP-up 28W) | |
| Celeron 6305E (2C, 1.8GHz,TDP 15W) | |
| (i7-1185GRE/i5-1145GRE/i3-1115GRE by customer's request) | |
| CPU Frequency | Up to 4.4GHz |
| Chipset | 11th Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Celeron SoC |
| Memory Type | LPDDR4x 3200 MHz on board memory, In-Band ECC (select SKUs) |
| Max. Memory Capacity | Up to 32GB |
| Power Requirement | +12V AT/ATX (default) |
| System Cooling | Heat-spreader and cooler optional |
| Dimensions | 3.94 x 2.84 inches (100mm x 72mm) |
| OS support | Windows 10 (64bit), Linux Ubuntu 20.04.2/Kernel 5.8 |
| Chipset | 11th Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Celeron SoC |
| Resolution | HDMI2.0b x 1, 4Kx2K 60Hz, eDP x 1, up to HBR3, 8Kx4K 30Hz |
| Storage/SSD | SATA x 1 |
| Ethernet | Intel i225, 10/100/1000/2500Base, RJ45 x1, Intel i219, 10/100/1000Base, RJ45 x1 |
| USB Port | 2 x USB3.2 Gen 2/rear IO, 2 x USB3.2 Gen 1 header, 4 x USB2.0/header |
| Serial Port | RS-232/422/485 x 2 |
| Expansion Slot | M.2 M key 2280 x 1 (PCIE GEN4 as default, SATA select by HW BOM) |
| Full size mPCIe/mSATA or USB2.0 x 1 (PCIe as default, SATA select by BIOS) | |
| SMBUS/I2C and eSPI x 1 (SMBUS as default, I2C select by HW BOM) |
The PICO-TGU4's specs reveal that it offers far greater performance than a Raspberry Pi 4 despite only being slightly larger. But that performance comes with higher power usage—it requires a 12V power supply; the Pi 4 uses a 5.1V power supply—as well as a much greater up-front cost over the latest Raspberry Pi.
Aaeon lists five models of the PICO-TGU4 equipped with an Intel Celeron 6305E, Core i3-1115G4E, Core i5-1145G7E, Core i7-1185G7E, or Core i7 1185GRE / Core i51145GRE and Core i3 1115GRE processor on request. It currently offers just two of those models in its online store: The Core i3-1115G4E with 4GB of memory and the Core i5-1145G7E with 8GB of memory.
The sold-out Core i3-1115G4E model costs $615; the Core i5-1145G7E costs $949. That's not even the highest-end model—that distinction belongs to the Core i7-1185G7E with 32GB of memory. Yet it already costs more than 10x as much as the highest-end Raspberry Pi 4, which offers 8GB of memory with an MSRP of $75.
There are benefits to choosing a PICO-TGU4 over a Raspberry Pi 4: Aaeon's offering boasts improved performance, additional I/O for standard peripherals, and the vast software ecosystem available to x86 processors. The same is true of other x86-based SBCs, however, the vast majority of which cost less than the PICO-TGU4 lineup.
So don't let the single-board computer form factor fool you—this is a miniature desktop more than anything else.
