Replacing Ship's Computer -- Atom vs Celeron?

[cpca2000]

Application
Intel developed the Celeron as a lower-end version of the Pentium, thus placing the latter at the higher tier at the time. The Celeron was introduced for application on entry-level or budget-oriented desktop and laptop PCs. The Atom was designated as a low-power CPU brand. Also, it has a wider application range; Atoms are primarily found on subnotebooks, smartphones and tablet PCs.

Manufacture
Most Celeron and Atom CPUs are single-core processors, which means that each one consists of a processor on an integrated circuit. However, a few of them are dual-core CPUs, which consist of two processors on a chip instead of one. As a result, the dual core CPUs are twice as powerful as the single core ones.

Performance
As of May 2013, the Celeron has a peak clock speed of 3.6GHz with the Celeron D 365, while the Atom peaks at 2.13GHz with the D2700. Although generally slower than the Celeron, the Atom is designed as a more energy-efficient chip, consuming as little as .65 watts with the Z500. By contrast, the lowest power consumption figure for the Celeron is 5 watts from the ULV 353.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by cpca2000

Application
Intel developed the Celeron as a lower-end version of the Pentium, thus placing the latter at the higher tier at the time. The Celeron was introduced for application on entry-level or budget-oriented desktop and laptop PCs. The Atom was designated as a low-power CPU brand. Also, it has a wider application range; Atoms are primarily found on subnotebooks, smartphones and tablet PCs.

Manufacture
Most Celeron and Atom CPUs are single-core processors, which means that each one consists of a processor on an integrated circuit. However, a few of them are dual-core CPUs, which consist of two processors on a chip instead of one. As a result, the dual core CPUs are twice as powerful as the single core ones.

Performance
As of May 2013, the Celeron has a peak clock speed of 3.6GHz with the Celeron D 365, while the Atom peaks at 2.13GHz with the D2700. Although generally slower than the Celeron, the Atom is designed as a more energy-efficient chip, consuming as little as .65 watts with the Z500. By contrast, the lowest power consumption figure for the Celeron is 5 watts from the ULV 353.

May 2013 is four years ago, which is a whole lifetime in computer evolution terms, so all of this information is very much out of date.

Nowadays -- a few generations later -- Atoms come with up to eight (!) cores, and Celerons are apparently also Atoms. The box I ordered has a four-core Atom.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Guy

Maybe add a fan anyway. Running full time our Mini gets hot and will shut down sometimes.

For liveaboards and long-term cruisers dust is a big issue. If you have a computer with a fan you should it open it up a couple of times each year to clear dust from the ducts, fan, and heat sinks. You'll be amazed at how much accumulates.

Originally Posted by hoolie

It runs W10.

I don't think much of Windows 10 for a boat computer. Win 7 Pro is robust and stable. I can still get it on most computers for my customers. None of the "phone home" problems of Win 10.

Originally Posted by Sandero

The key board is blue tooth as is the mouse.

I don't use Bluetooth (BT) for mission critical systems. Navigation including weather and email (HF/SSB w/ Pactor) are important functions. BT shares the ISM radio band with all kinds of other things on boats: microwaves, WiFi, sat phones, remote controls, and more. The potential for interference (and the reality from real world reports) only increases as more systems are WiFi and BT enabled.

BT certainly has a place on board. I use it for a phone and computer headset and to link to my printer. Keyboard and mouse are hard-wired. Pactor modem is hard-wired. Primary navigation is all hard-wired.

[Sandero]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

For liveaboards and long-term cruisers dust is a big issue. If you have a computer with a fan you should it open it up a couple of times each year to clear dust from the ducts, fan, and heat sinks. You'll be amazed at how much accumulates.



I don't think much of Windows 10 for a boat computer. Win 7 Pro is robust and stable. I can still get it on most computers for my customers. None of the "phone home" problems of Win 10.



I don't use Bluetooth (BT) for mission critical systems. Navigation including weather and email (HF/SSB w/ Pactor) are important functions. BT shares the ISM radio band with all kinds of other things on boats: microwaves, WiFi, sat phones, remote controls, and more. The potential for interference (and the reality from real world reports) only increases as more systems are WiFi and BT enabled.

BT certainly has a place on board. I use it for a phone and computer headset and to link to my printer. Keyboard and mouse are hard-wired. Pactor modem is hard-wired. Primary navigation is all hard-wired.

I don't use the computer under way... it is used when the hook is down. My navigation stuff is hard wired NMEA 183 ... and mostly stand alone.

Do not like win10 and loaded winpro7 on my NUC. It's in a locker and I don't hear its fan.

[atlantical]

I replaced my computer with a Panasonic Toughbook CF30, I did this, as every piece of electronic equipment including my Apple Mac laptop, has packed up. Its great if you have a great computer, but its just a bit of ballast when it dosent work.

I have total confidence in the tough book, not the fastest computer, but it does the job. Its waterproof, weather proof, drop proof (tested from a meter switched on by the manufacturer) its very heavy, and not had any problems.

If you don't intend to go to sea, use whatever computer you want, but if you do intend to go to sea, think carefully about keeping the conditions out of the computer.

[barnakiel]

This is too where fan-less passive systems may have an edge. I can imagine colder moist salty sea air being driven around hot board components by the fan may add to premature death of many laptops. I am not sure of this but it would make sense.

Have opened and investigated for damage in both laptops that died onboard over the time. Never seen any traces of rust or deposits but perhaps the damage is minute, as the components these days are very very tiny.

Cheers,
b.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

This is too where fan-less passive systems may have an edge. I can imagine colder moist salty sea air being driven around hot board components by the fan may add to premature death of many laptops. I am not sure of this but it would make sense.


b.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Very good point.

Might think about that when I upgrade.

[NahanniV]

I've been using the Minix Z83-4 on-board for about a year now.
Plugged in a 128G SD card for more storage, Added a stereo AMP. Cut the mains power supply off the cord and wired it directly to my ships 12v supply.
Conneted a 1080P monitor to the HDMI port.

It works perfectly!

Running OpenCpn with Navico 4G RADAR plugin.
Playing music from library.
Watching movies.
Internet Browsing.
Winlink E-Mail at sea.

I had started our trip with an ARM based board, but got tired of having to do major research every time I wanted to do something new like adding a wireless printer driver and getting Winlink to work. Windows 10 Has worked well, although it quickly filled the internal 32G drive and I needed to add an extra 128G using the SD card slot (would have added 256G, but the SD card would have cost as much as the Minix at the time). The computer you ordered only has 2G of RAM, most Win10 systems have 4. Also the internal Wifi antenna on that system would suggest a plastic case; The Minix has a metal case that is part of the cooling system.

[LeaseOnLife]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

I've been using the Minix Z83-4 on-board for about a year now.
Plugged in a 128G SD card for more storage, Added a stereo AMP. Cut the mains power supply off the cord and wired it directly to my ships 12v supply.
Conneted a 1080P monitor to the HDMI port.

It works perfectly!
...

Interesting. Have you done some real life power measurements, i.e when running opencpn with opengl and radar overlay? The Minix comes with a 12Vx3A = 36W power supply,I hope it uses way less during normal use?

Dirk

[barnakiel]

When cutting off the 12V brick wire and plugging this right into the boat, mind not all boards will take this. Some will burn or crash. Some boat 12V installations can be above 15V at times and not all boards like much voltage fluctuation. This seems to be a case by case game.

One of the reasons I am still using laptops (netbooks now) to build boat nav stations. I built one last fall on a 12V netbook and one this year on a 5V one.

Cheers,
b.

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife

Interesting. Have you done some real life power measurements, i.e when running opencpn with opengl and radar overlay? The Minix comes with a 12Vx3A = 36W power supply,I hope it uses way less during normal use?

Dirk

Yes, I did do some testing.

The Minix seems to use just slightly more power than the Nvidia Jetson TK1 ARM board that it replaced.

Power usage can be as little as 3W at idle, but, mostly in the 5-6W range with lite usage, like navigating with OpenCPN.

The 36W power supply is large enough to support peripherals connected to the USB ports (1.2A max/port).

[Three Sisters]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I use a mini-itx setup for my nav station computer. It gives you a lot of flexibility, at a slightly higher cost. You can swap out the CPU board every few years when you want to upgrade. Some examples are here Mini-Box.com - Mini-ITX | Motherboards | Power Supplies | Car PC

Those mini-itx are pretty cool and are available in many flavors
at 6.7 inches x 6.7 inches.

Crammed one into a re-purposed 1u metal enclosure years back, probably an antique at this point. The height was so close that a thin flood coat of epoxy was used on the bottom of the enclosure to prevent the board from bottoming out on the metal.

Building your own, you have to add in the memory, drives, software, and more to the cost.

A 120volt based system, though. Using a full LED Samsung 32 for monitor, the whole ball of wax pulled 68 watts with a dvd player running a movie.

Comical thing about the computer world, when I looked up our re-purposed 1u enclosure, it was listed as a Chase 24 port 10/100 switch. $1600.00

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

I've been using the Minix Z83-4 on-board for about a year now.
Plugged in a 128G SD card for more storage, Added a stereo AMP. Cut the mains power supply off the cord and wired it directly to my ships 12v supply.
Conneted a 1080P monitor to the HDMI port.

It works perfectly!

Running OpenCpn with Navico 4G RADAR plugin.
Playing music from library.
Watching movies.
Internet Browsing.
Winlink E-Mail at sea.

I had started our trip with an ARM based board, but got tired of having to do major research every time I wanted to do something new like adding a wireless printer driver and getting Winlink to work. Windows 10 Has worked well, although it quickly filled the internal 32G drive and I needed to add an extra 128G using the SD card slot (would have added 256G, but the SD card would have cost as much as the Minix at the time). The computer you ordered only has 2G of RAM, most Win10 systems have 4. Also the internal Wifi antenna on that system would suggest a plastic case; The Minix has a metal case that is part of the cooling system.

Cool! That's basically exactly the same 'puter I just ordered.

Could you give more details on your installation, particularly the audio setup?

What kind of keyboard/mouse are you using?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

When cutting off the 12V brick wire and plugging this right into the boat, mind not all boards will take this. Some will burn or crash. Some boat 12V installations can be above 15V at times and not all boards like much voltage fluctuation. This seems to be a case by case game.

One of the reasons I am still using laptops (netbooks now) to build boat nav stations. I built one last fall on a 12V netbook and one this year on a 5V one.

Cheers,
b.

This is not a challenge. Just use a 12v buck convertor from DROK etc.

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Cool! That's basically exactly the same 'puter I just ordered.

Could you give more details on your installation, particularly the audio setup?

What kind of keyboard/mouse are you using?

Audio setup is HDMI to Monitor with headphones at the Nav station, or headphone output from the Minix to a small stereo amp/USB player/FM radio. It's easy to switch between the two outputs using the Win10 volume control. The speaker output from the amp is switched three ways between a mast mounted hailer/fog horn, interior and exterior speakers. The AMP I have is very cheap and a bit noisy (can hear a bit of noise in quiet audio).
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This was easy, cheap and works well, but definitely not for audiophiles. Perhaps a higher priced amp, a USB soundcard with amp or a bluetooth device would be better.

I'm using a full size wireless keyboard with media remote that I had at my house (Logitec S510 with remote). I also have a smaller Logitec K400 with integrated touch pad that I thought would be better underway, but but rarely use it. We just get in the habit of placing the mouse on an anti-skid pad, that is also under the keyboard, when not in use. The keyboard has survived lots of salty fingers and a bit of spray now and then without a problem. The keyboard is really your preference.

The built in WiFi with included antenna works very well. I also have an Alpha USB WiFi adapter with a long USB extension cable for more distance; Fantastic value for the cost.

All these systems come with 32G of storage in order to qualify for an inexpensive Win10 licence. The Minix makes this easy to augment with a built in SD card slot. I also use a USB hard drive for backup and long term storage.