• Subject: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 has been released

    From Faux Dameron@3:770/3 to All on Mon Oct 19 10:01:02 2020
    Specs:

    Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz H.265
    (HEVC) (up to 4Kp60 decode), H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode) OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics Options for 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM (depending on variant)
    Options for 0GB ("Lite"), 8GB, 16GB or 32GB eMMC Flash memory (depending
    on variant)
    Option for fully certified radio module:
    2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless;
    Bluetooth 5.0, BLE;
    On-board electronic switch to select either external or PCB trace antenna

    More info: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/compute-module-4/?variant=raspberry- pi-cm4001000

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  • From Computer Nerd Kev@3:770/3 to Faux Dameron on Mon Oct 19 21:39:42 2020
    Faux Dameron <fauxdameron@mailfence.com> wrote:
    Specs:

    Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz H.265 (HEVC) (up to 4Kp60 decode), H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode) OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics Options for 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM (depending on variant)
    Options for 0GB ("Lite"), 8GB, 16GB or 32GB eMMC Flash memory (depending
    on variant)
    Option for fully certified radio module:
    2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless;
    Bluetooth 5.0, BLE;
    On-board electronic switch to select either external or PCB trace antenna

    More info: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/compute-module-4/?variant=raspberry- pi-cm4001000

    Thanks for posting, it wasn't clear that they were going to do a CM
    version of the Pi4 when I looked into it a while ago. Interesting
    change in design.

    --
    __ __
    #_ < |\| |< _#

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  • From Martin Gregorie@3:770/3 to Computer Nerd Kev on Mon Oct 19 22:29:08 2020
    On Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:39:42 +0000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:

    Faux Dameron <fauxdameron@mailfence.com> wrote:
    Specs:

    Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz
    H.265 (HEVC) (up to 4Kp60 decode), H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode, 1080p30
    encode)
    OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics Options for 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4-3200
    SDRAM (depending on variant)
    Options for 0GB ("Lite"), 8GB, 16GB or 32GB eMMC Flash memory
    (depending on variant)
    Option for fully certified radio module:
    2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless;
    Bluetooth 5.0, BLE;
    On-board electronic switch to select either external or PCB trace
    antenna

    More info:
    https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/compute-module-4/?
    variant=raspberry-
    pi-cm4001000

    Thanks for posting, it wasn't clear that they were going to do a CM
    version of the Pi4 when I looked into it a while ago. Interesting change
    in design.

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if
    similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.


    --
    Martin | martin at
    Gregorie | gregorie dot org

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  • From Ahem A Rivet's Shot@3:770/3 to Martin Gregorie on Tue Oct 20 03:19:23 2020
    On Mon, 19 Oct 2020 22:29:08 -0000 (UTC)
    Martin Gregorie <martin@mydomain.invalid> wrote:

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if
    similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.

    It is a great deal smaller than a mini-ITX motherboard at 55mmx40mm. You could pack a pretty large cluster of them in a mini-ITX case with a
    little ingenuity and a good fan.

    --
    Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
    The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
    You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/

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  • From A. Dumas@3:770/3 to Ahem A Rivet's Shot on Tue Oct 20 09:18:59 2020
    On 20-10-2020 04:19, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
    On Mon, 19 Oct 2020 22:29:08 -0000 (UTC)
    Martin Gregorie <martin@mydomain.invalid> wrote:

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if
    similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.

    It is a great deal smaller than a mini-ITX motherboard at 55mmx40mm. You could pack a pretty large cluster of them in a mini-ITX case with a little ingenuity and a good fan.

    In fact that is precisely what TuringPi does (aims to do). For now their ingenuity stops at 4, though: https://turingpi.com and https://turingpi.com/turing-pi-2-announcement/

    It seems to be an evolution of their V1 solution for the CM3 in SO-DIMM
    form where they managed to get seven on the mainboard, now with four
    CM4's on SO-DIMM-like adapter boards. Probably room for improvement.

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  • From Andy Burns@3:770/3 to Martin Gregorie on Tue Oct 20 07:50:30 2020
    Martin Gregorie wrote:

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if
    similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.

    CM4 is 55x40mm
    miniITX is 170x170mm

    Or were you thinking of PC/104?
    Either way you'd only be able to use one mounting hole

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  • From Andy Burns@3:770/3 to A. Dumas on Tue Oct 20 09:53:57 2020
    A. Dumas wrote:

    Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:

    You could pack a pretty large cluster of them in a mini-ITX case with a
    little ingenuity and a good fan.

    In fact that is precisely what TuringPi does (aims to do). For now their ingenuity stops at 4, though: https://turingpi.com and https://turingpi.com/turing-pi-2-announcement/

    Is that just intended as a "fun" project?

    If so, then fine, have fun; but if not, I can't see a four x CM4 cluster
    being faster or cheaper than a workaday PC, even Oracle's one thousand x
    Pi3 cluster seems kinda pointless ...

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  • From Ahem A Rivet's Shot@3:770/3 to Andy Burns on Tue Oct 20 10:21:34 2020
    On Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:50:30 +0100
    Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

    Martin Gregorie wrote:

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.

    CM4 is 55x40mm
    miniITX is 170x170mm

    Hmm rows of three mounted vertically, probably need about a 2cm
    pitch (height isn't specified) so a mini-ITX board with 24 compute modules could probably be built. The case would probably need to be mostly fan.

    --
    Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
    The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
    You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/

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  • From Theo@3:770/3 to Andy Burns on Tue Oct 20 10:22:27 2020
    Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
    A. Dumas wrote:

    Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:

    You could pack a pretty large cluster of them in a mini-ITX case with a
    little ingenuity and a good fan.

    In fact that is precisely what TuringPi does (aims to do). For now their ingenuity stops at 4, though: https://turingpi.com and https://turingpi.com/turing-pi-2-announcement/

    Is that just intended as a "fun" project?

    If so, then fine, have fun; but if not, I can't see a four x CM4 cluster being faster or cheaper than a workaday PC, even Oracle's one thousand x
    Pi3 cluster seems kinda pointless ...

    In many such clusters, having multiple nodes is the whole point. They're
    good for prototyping platformss like Kubernetes, which in production might
    have dozens or hundreds of servers in a datacentre. A Pi cluster makes that cheap enough to have that a whole cloud on your desk. You can then test the cloud features, like load balancing and resiliency (pull the plug on a Pi
    and check it fails over correctly). When you're done, deploy your app to
    the production datacentre (at the cost of $100 per hour or whatever).

    Another use case is where you might end up running a pile of VMs on a PC -
    it can end up more efficient to run one task per Pi instead.

    Theo

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  • From A. Dumas@3:770/3 to Ahem A Rivet's Shot on Tue Oct 20 11:51:20 2020
    On 20-10-2020 11:21, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
    On Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:50:30 +0100
    Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

    Martin Gregorie wrote:

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if
    similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.

    CM4 is 55x40mm
    miniITX is 170x170mm

    Hmm rows of three mounted vertically, probably need about a 2cm
    pitch (height isn't specified) so a mini-ITX board with 24 compute modules could probably be built. The case would probably need to be mostly fan.

    The connectors are on the bottom, though, not on the side like with the SODIMM-like CM3, so you'd need some sort of adapter board which adds to
    the height, plus room for up to 200 connections for each CM4. Well, I
    haven't counted the actual number of signals... From the RPi blog: "two high-density perpendicular connectors (one for power and low-speed
    interfaces, and one for high-speed interfaces)" and from the datasheet:
    "The electrical interface of the CM4 is via two 100-pin high density connectors" and "The Module is 4.7 mm deep, but when connected the
    height will be 5.078 or 6.578 mm depending on the stacking height
    chosen." It also lists the complete pin-out: https://datasheets.raspberrypi.org/cm4/cm4-datasheet.pdf

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  • From Martin Gregorie@3:770/3 to Andy Burns on Tue Oct 20 10:52:07 2020
    On Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:50:30 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

    Martin Gregorie wrote:

    I wonder how close in size that it to a mini-ITX motherboard and, if
    similar, do it's hold-downs match the mounting lugs in a mini-ITX case.

    CM4 is 55x40mm miniITX is 170x170mm

    Or were you thinking of PC/104?
    Either way you'd only be able to use one mounting hole

    Thanks - I've been thinking on and off about using mini-ITX-type cases to
    house much smaller servers and more power-efficient desktop stuff rather
    than the big old whitebox dual-Athlon thats my current house server. The TuringPi setup is interesting, but very much overkill for what I need if/
    when the dual Athlon goes bang.

    Currently it looks like a single RPi 4 or a plain mini-ITX system would
    fit my requirements rather better.


    --
    Martin | martin at
    Gregorie | gregorie dot org

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  • From Ahem A Rivet's Shot@3:770/3 to A. Dumas on Tue Oct 20 14:41:01 2020
    On Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:51:20 +0200
    "A. Dumas" <alexandre@dumas.fr.invalid> wrote:

    "The electrical interface of the CM4 is via two 100-pin high density connectors" and "The Module is 4.7 mm deep, but when connected the
    height will be 5.078 or 6.578 mm depending on the stacking height
    chosen." It also lists the complete pin-out:

    OK so 2cm pitch should work - that motherboard is going to need a
    lot of layers though :)

    --
    Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
    The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
    You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/

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  • From Mike@3:770/3 to steveo@eircom.net on Tue Oct 20 20:39:29 2020
    In article <20201020102134.8e3aa681dfff8e346c3cf329@eircom.net>,
    Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
    The case would probably need to be mostly fan.

    Gives a whole new meaning to "box fan" ...

    Buy six, make a box out of them!

    Added points if the thing can levitate and move around.
    --
    --------------------------------------+------------------------------------ Mike Brown: mjb[-at-]signal11.org.uk | http://www.signal11.org.uk

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