xtianbetz / arm-dev-board-shootout

Comparison of Various ARM Development Boards

ARM Development Board Shootout

Goals

• Demonstrate capabilities of embedded platforms in a reproducible manner

  • CPU Performance
  • Memory Bandwidth
  • GPU
  • VPU
  • Zero-Copy VPU + GPU

• Rate SoCs on ease of use for development and maintenance

  • Find the Most Recent Fully Functioning Kernel Version (MRFFKR)
  • Document the binary blobs and non-OSS licenses required to make full-use of SoC features

Vendors, SoC Families, and Boards Covered

• TI

  • OMAP
    • Beagleboard rev C3 (OMAP3530, PowerVR SGX 530)
    • Beagleboard XM rev B (DM3730, PowerVR SGX 530)
  • AM335x
    • Beaglebone Rev C (AM3358)

• Samsung

  • Exynos
    • Samsung Origen Development Board (Exynos 4412)
    • O-droid U2 (Exynos 4412)

• NXP (Formerly Freescale)

  • i.MX6
    • Cubox i4 Pro (i.MX6)
    • Zealz GK 802 (i.MX6 Quad)

• Broadcom

  • BCM28XX
    • Raspberry Pi (BCM2835)
    • Raspberry Pi 2 (BCM2836)

Per SoC Model Data Points

• Year SoC introduced
• Year board introduced
• CPU Arch
• Core Type
• Process Size
• Number of Cores
• Clock Speed
• GPU Arch
• Number of Shaders/Cores
• Clock Speed
• VPU/DSP

Per Board Data Points

• Amount of Memory

Per Board Performance Characteristics

• Benchmark Results (CPU, Memory, Disk)
• For each of Video Only, GPU, and VPU+GPU
  • Framerate at Maximum Resolution
  • Resolution at Maximum Framerate
  • 30fps or better resolution
  • 60fps or better resolution