What would you like to see improved in the x4

#1

Heres a list of what a next version needs.

  1. Same raspberry pi form factor, with GPIO going through board.
  2. Direct GPIO control, with full raspberry pi HATs compatibility.
  3. A fully enclosed case.
  4. Case heatsink needs to make better contact with cpu.
  5. Fan throttling.

Any others?

1 Like
#2

a fully enclosed case
thermal paste packet added to the “accessories” bag
rpm controlled fan

2 Likes
#3

I vote for this… a better enclose shell

#4

Probably I’m alone with this idea, but I almost never use big usb :slight_smile: It may be the time to switch to usb-c only, they should take less space.

  • usb-c/uart debug header via something like CH343 :slight_smile:
3 Likes
#5

I’d like to see a version without built-in WiFi. It’s a needless distraction for some of our use cases.

1 Like
#6

Also they should sell the X4L without a case, like the X2L, instead of having to buy a whole Palmshell.

#9

i would love to see more cores

#10

----i need----
$120 under
n150
ddr5 16g
fanless heatsink + outside 80mm fan cooler(screw, compatibility)
rp2350
usb-c pd monitor
usb-c pd power or dc12v
m.2 3x4 2242

----i don’t need----
wireless lan -> connector

#11

A processor more powerful that is to say having the VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) technology in order to be able to easily virtualize Windows OS.

#12

X4 N100 support VT-d

#13

My bad !

So the improvement I think that would be great : having USB C rather than USB A.

#14

The current X4’s USB-A ports are 10 Gbps, which is very nice. That makes them compatible with 10 Gbps USC-A to USB-C adapters. I think they’re more flexible as-is than USB-C would be, and probably a bit sturdier. IMO, of course. :slight_smile:

An N150 or N355 configuration would be great, but what I’d really love is something like a PLCC slot to do RAM upgrades.

I’d like the GPIO and PoE/12V power pins to be longer. With the current setup, once a hat is attached, there’s no room to mount a decent heatsink on the NVME or any sort of NVMe to whatever adapter with any thickness. I’ve got a 40mm Noctua taped to the side of my X4 with PoE hat to cool the NVME, and it works great, but it’s spectacularly unwieldy.

Honestly, I’m probably in the minority, but I think the X5 should be bigger. A Raspberry Pi-like form factor is super-useful, but since the X-line is not compatible with Pi cases, I don’t think it has to be quite that small. Maybe 1.5-2x the size of the Pi. There’d be more room for components like a proper PWM fan header. Maybe even room for a RAM slot.

1 Like
#15

They are bigger and that helps with durability for sure, usb-c is also ok :slight_smile:
It’s high time to switch to smaller format. Opposite adapters form C to A are also possible. Most laptops today have usb-c as default ports, so we already have cables and many devices.
Small usb-c hub can solve this problem when You really need more usb-A ports. It’s not a big problem to convert from one to another and probably in next few years we will have more and more C devices.