Atomic-Pi is an ultra-small Raspberry-pi alternative made to utilize the power of Linux. With a $35 price tag, the Atomic Pi features more bang per buck and an Intel CPU to boot.
The Atomic Pi comes pre-installed with Linux and has several connector pins, external storage capabilities, faster memory, and a pretty huge heat sink. It is suitable for people who have always wanted to run x86-based apps on their miniature computers.
Linux-Powered Atomic Pi Specs
Atomic Pi uses an x86-based Quad-Core Atom CPU whose performance is similar to that of Snapdragon 801. The CPU model number is x5-Z8500 and it is 80MHz faster than the older Z8500. The Intel Atom CPU uses Turbo Boost very efficiently due to its updated Airmont architecture. Intel Atom CPU has a base clock of 1.44 GHz and a boost clock of 1.92GHz on all cores.
The CPU features Intel Cherrytail integrated graphics. It is quite old and based on Intel 8th Gen architecture. However, the GPU does support 4K/H.26 video acceleration and Direct X 11.2 support. The graphics processor is capable of running at 500MHz and has 12 Execution Units. Its performance is slightly lower than a Qualcomm Adreno 330.
The Linux-powered Atomic Pi has 2GB of DDR3 RAM, which is pretty enough for light computing. The small PC features MediaTek RT5572 broadband Wifi capable of connecting to the 2.4GHz or 5GHz network. For wired connectivity, a Realtek RTL8111G-CG ethernet controller device is also present.
Atomic Pi features Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, HDMI output, 16GB of eMMC flash memory and 256GB expandable storage slots. The small developer PC also features 26 GPIO pins to connect sensors, actuators, etc.
The size of the board with all its components is 130x100x50 mm. Atomic Pi has a large heat sink almost 30mm in size and it features a physical clock and a battery for the increased power requirement of the X86 processor.
The Linux-powered Atomic Pi also supports Windows OS. The base price of the device is $35 but you’ll need an additional power supply that delivers up to 15W to utilize its full potential.
Atomic Pi was on sale on Amazon, however, it is currently unavailable. Users can instead buy the developer board on Digital Loggers for $34.
Raspberry Pie Alternatives
Other alternatives to the Raspberry Pi are also available, but most of them are based on ARM-based CPUs. One unique raspberry Pi alternative is Nitrogen8M_Mini. It features ARM Cortex A53 processors running at 2GHz and a 400MHz Arm Cortex M4F processor.
Nitrogen8M_Mini uses i.MX 8M Mini platform, which switches tasks between high-powered and low-powered CPUs for energy efficiency.
