The Khadas VIM4 single board computer was first unveiled last October with the Amlogic A311D2 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53, 8GB LPDDR4X processor, but it was only launched today, and you can now buy the Khadas VIM4 card for less than $200.
It’s an upgrade to Khadas VIM3 Pro launched with the hexa-core Amlogiv A311D processor a few years ago, and our testing under Android 11 revealed that the main benefit could be the GPU upgrade which provided a 67% increase in 3DMark, but multi-core CPU performance and memory bandwidth will also see some advantages over Amlogic A311D, even against overclocked systems like ODROID N2+.
Here is a reminder of the Khadas VIM4 specifications:
- SoC – Amlogic A311D2 octa-core processor with 4 Arm Cortex-A73 cores at 2.2 GHz and 4 Cortex A53 cores at 2.0 GHz, Arm Mali-G52 MP (8EE) GPU, NPU
- System memory – 8 GB LPDDR4X @ 2112 MHz
- Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 32MB SPI flash, microSD card slot, M.2 NVMe SSD support via new M2X expansion card
- MCU – 64 MHz STMicro STM32G031 Cortex-M0+ microcontroller for power management, customizations and bootable media configuration
- Video outputs
- HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60
- 30-pin 0.5mm pitch FPC connector for 4-way MIPI-DSI interface up to 1920 x 1080
- eDP interface
- LVDS and V-by-One interfaces
- Video input – 1x Micro HDMI port up to 4Kp60
- Video
- Decoding
- Encoding – 4Kp50 H.265/H.264 60fps decoder
- Audio – 8 channel I2S for microphone array applications on M2. connector
- Camera – FPC connector for 2x 4-way MIPI CSI with dual camera support; ISP 16MP
- Connectivity
- Gigabit Ethernet with WoL support
- Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax WiFI 6, 2X2 MIMO and Bluetooth 5.2 via Ampak 6275S module
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A port, 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-C port
- Sensor – KXTJ3-1057 3-Axis Digital Accelerometer
- Expansion
- M.2 socket with single lane PCIe 2.0, USB 2.0, I2S, I2C, ADC, 100M Ethernet PHY interface, GPIO, MCU_PA2
- 40-pin 2.54 mm pitch header exposing:
- Processor signals – USB, I2C, I2S, SPDIF, UART, PWM, ADC
- MCU signals – SWIM, NRST, PA1
- Miscellaneous – 2x IR receivers; RTC and battery header; 4-pin cooling fan header with PWM speed control; 3 user LEDs; power, function and reset buttons; XPWR pads for an external power button
- Power – 5V to 20V via USB-C port or pogo pads
- Dimensions – 82.0 x 58.0 x 13mm (4x M2 mounting holes)
My VIM4 board comes with a heatsink and a PWM fan that keeps it cool under load. It’s off most of the time even in a room with an ambient temperature of 28°C, and I found it very quiet when firing under load.
The company also offers a variety of optional accessories, some of which you can find in our Khadas VIM4 unboxing:
- VIM Heatsink
- 3705 Cooling fan
- TS050 touch screen
- New M2X expansion card for M.2 SSD and/or M.2 4G LTE modem
- RTC battery
- USB-C adapter
- 4G module
- 5G module
- WWAN M2X
- VBO-LCD module
On the software side, the Khadas VIM4 board supports the OOWOW system to easily download and install operating systems from the cloud, and currently lists Android 11, Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop, and Ubuntu 22.04 Server. The Android 11 OS is not designed for end users with an AOSP-based image without services like Google Play, but it offers features like display orientation, micro HDMI input, Wake -on-LAN, etc.
I just installed Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop, and a full review is coming, but in the meantime I ran sbc-bench.sh to compare it to the benchmark results I got with ODROID-N2+ (Amlogic [email protected] 2.4GHz):
sudo /bin/bash ./sbc-bench.sh -c sbc-bench v0.9.4 Installing the necessary tools. This may take a while…./sbc-bench.sh: line 1328:: No such file or directory Completed. Checking cpufreq OPP. Done (results will be available in 14-19 minutes). Running tinymembench. Fact. Running the OpenSSL benchmark. Fact. Running the 7-zip benchmark. Fact. Checking cpufreq OPP. Done (20 minutes elapsed). Memory performance (different CPU cores measured individually): memcpy: 7816.6 MB/s (0.2%) memset: 11717.9 MB/s memcpy: 2127.4 MB/s memset: 10588 , 1 MB/s, 12028,12132 OpenSSL Results (Different CPU Cores Measured Individually): Type 16 bytes 64 bytes 256 bytes 1024 bytes 8192 bytes 16384 bytes AES-128-CBC 340689.15K 881206.06K 1410492.07K 164971 -128-cbc 149831.11 k 461121.77k 943687.08k 1308184.58k 1472618.50k 1461382.04k aes-192-cbc 319216.09k 796967.81k 1195461.89k 1387976.70k 1458872.32k 1463440.73k aes-192-cbc 143651.73k 414755.01k 777326.76k 1012672.51k 1110059.69k 1117558.10k AES-256-CBC 309348.38K 723233.54K 1063064.92K 1197730.82K 1251726.68K 125576.92K AES-256-CBC 139829.49K 384315.90K 677202.69K 849066.3
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sudo /trash/hit ./sbc–bench.sh –vs sbc–bench v0.9.4 Facility needed tools. This may to take some weather..../sbc–bench.sh: double 1328: : Nope Phone case or phone book Fact. Verification cpufreq Ontario Provincial Police. Fact (results will be be available in 14–19 minutes). Execution small member. Fact. Execution OpenSSL reference. Fact. Execution 7–Zip*: French reference. Fact. Verification cpufreq Ontario Provincial Police. Fact (20 minutes elapsed). Memory performance (different CPU cores measure individually): memcpy: 7816.6 Mo/s (0.2%) memory game: 11717.9 Mo/s memcpy: 2127.4 Mo/s memory game: 10588.1 Mo/s 7–Zip*: French total scores (3 consecutive short): 12016,12028,12132 OpenSSL results (different CPU cores measure individually): type 16 bytes 64 bytes 256 bytes 1024 bytes 8192 bytes 16384 bytes aes–128–Radio Canada 340689.15k 881206.06k 1410492.07k 1649971.88k 1748642.47k 1754764.63k aes–128–Radio Canada 149831.11k 461121.77k 943687.08k 1308184.58k 1472618.50k 1461382.04k aes–192–Radio Canada 319216.09k 796967.81k 1195461.89k 1387976.70k 1458872.32k 1463440.73k aes–192–Radio Canada 143651.73k 414755.01k 777326.76k 1012672.51k 1110059.69k 1117558.10k aes–256–Radio Canada 309348.38k 723233.54k 1063064.92k 1197730.82k 1251726.68k 1255576.92k aes–256–Radio Canada 139829.49k 384315.90k 677202.69k 849066.33k 916553.73k 921638.23k Full results downloaded for http://ix.io/3Xna. |
If we compare the two platforms in graphical form, we can see that the memory bandwidth is much higher in Khadas VIM4, the 7-zip multi-thread score is also significantly higher, but AES-256 16 KB is higher slow probably because it’s a single-threaded benchmark, and the Amlogic A311D2 Cortex-A73 cores run at 2.2 GHz, while the Amlogic S922X Cortex-A73 cores go up to 2.4 GHz in ODROID-N2+. With the CPU temperature never exceeding 58.2°C in the sbc-bench benchmark, I suspect Khadas could also deliver an image with higher DRAM timing if desired.
You can buy the Khadas VIM4 card now for $199.90 on the company store. But that’s without the recommended heatsink and fan, you might prefer to opt for the $219.90 “VIM4 Active Cooling Kit” instead. These are promotional prices with a $20 discount until June 10, 2022.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 on a part-time basis, before stepping down as director of software engineering and starting writing daily news and reviews full-time later in 2011.
