What's Next?

NXP LX2160
1

So I only learned about Solid Run today, and forgive me if I sound like I am on drugs or something, but I am just excited.

Years ago I swore I would never purchase another x86-based computer. My next laptop will be an M2 MacBook Pro, because hopefully, it will be ARM V9, and my current MacBook Pro is almost 10 years old.

My current desktop is a Dell T3500, which is even older, but finding an ARM-based Desktop/Workstation is difficult because there are too few products. The LX2 looks promising, and I have built my own systems before. I especially like some of the design philosophies.

First of all, I am a computer enthusiast with over 50 of computer experience, and second of all, I am a professional software developer with over 40 years of professional experience, so I want a really kewl desktop workstation, that I can play with, but also use day-to-day. Some of my requirements include

  1. Run Microsoft Windows 11. Will this run on the LX2?
    1. Not that I like WIndows, just that in my profession it is a necessary evil
    2. Run Windows Hyper-V
  2. Run Linux.
  3. Optionally, run Hackintosh
  4. Support two 4k displays
    1. Optionally support a high-end PCIe graphics card

While I could just purchase a Mac Studio or Apple Silicon Mac Pro, I would like to have more than Apple hardware.

My wish list is for Sold Run or nVidia to produce a motherboard with a CPU carrier board similar to the LX2 design philosophy, but instead of the LX2162A with Cortex A72, I want the nVidia Grace in either the Hopper or Superchip configuration. This is where you might wonder what drugs I am on, but I don’t know if nVidia has any plans to release a desktop workstation based on this technology, and I wonder would it be possible for Solid Run to build a motherboard that can carry this?

2

I doubt we will be doing a collaboration with NVidia any time soon, they are most interested in vertical integration of their SOCs. Keep your ears out for an announcement we will most likely be making in the the second half of 2022. I have a feeling it will interest you very much.

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3

I can hardly wait…

Some other wishlist items

  1. ARM V9
    • More cores
    • Faster clock
  2. More USB 4.0 (Thunderbolt 4.0)
    • less legacy USB
  3. DDR5
  4. PCIe 5.0

I am not familiar with SerDes, are there COTS adapters for this, besides just Ethernet?

4

Unfortunately, we have no control over any of those things. We just build the boards around other companies SOCs. If they aren’t available on the market, and in a product life-cycle price point that works for us then we generally won’t use them.

5

Fair enough… I learned to always ask for what you want, regardless of whether you can get it… set your expectations low, but be open to serendipity…

A stepping stone might be to buy one of your solutions to play with, as the cost is affordable, and keep hoping for what I really want and I am willing to pay big money for.

I look forward to your September announcements.

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6

No harm in asking. As I have told other HoneyComb users, the platform is a great starter for a desktop / workstation but will easily slot into a 10Gbps home network appliance as newer better platforms come out.

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7

Going a bit off-topic: I’ve seen that MediaTek have some interesting 1200-series.
They have PCIe 2.0 (suitable for mPCIe) + PCIe 3.0, GPU, 4xCortex-A78+4xCortex-A55 at 2.2GHz.
Only GbE, but still would make for an interesting NAS, build-node or ray-tracer application.
Could probably fit a 10GbE PCIe card in there as well.