DFI's GHF51 Single-Board Computer Brings an AMD Ryzen APU to an Ultra-Compact Form Factor

With two cores and four threads of x86 processing, a relatively powerful GPU, and up to 8GB of RAM, the GHF51 is a bit of a beast.

Gareth Halfacree
4 years ago β€’ HW101
DFI is aiming for the performance crowd with the upcoming GHF51. (πŸ“·: DFI)

Embedded electronics manufacturer DFI is preparing to launch a compact single-board computer based on AMD's Ryzen Embedded R1000 Series processor family, bringing x86 compatibility to a form factor similar to the Raspberry Pi.

Highlighted this week by Linux Gizmos, the DFI GHF51 is a single-board computer designed around the Ryzen Embedded R1000 accelerated processing unit (APU) family β€” a low-power part which combines central and graphics processing units (CPU and GPU) without being a fully-fledged system-on-chip (SoC). Drawing 12W of power β€” considerably more, it has to be said, than its direct Arm-based competitors, though with a commensurate leap in performance β€” the dual-core four-thread (2C4T) part runs at either 2.4GHz or 2.6GHz depending on model and boosts as high as 3.5GHz for single-threaded workloads.

This, DFI has promised, will be mated to 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of DDR4 memory over a single channel running at 3,200MHz, while the Vega-based GPU will support dual displays at 2160p24 over dual micro-HDMI 1.4 video outputs. The design also includes on-board storage in the form of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of eMMC flash, while there's a gigabit Ethernet port for network connectivity.

Interestingly, DFI's design includes a full-size mini-PCI Express (mPCIe) slot, offering both PCIe Gen. 2 and USB 2.0 connectivity for additional hardware β€” with the option, the company promises, of including USB 3.1 Gen. 2. This is joined by a single USB 3.1 Gen. 2 Type-C connector on the mainboard itself, along with a 12V power input.

Measuring 84x55mm (around 3.31"x2.17"), the board's design is slightly smaller than a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B β€” though it has yet to be finalised, with DFI aiming for a Q3 2020 release at an as-yet unspecified price. More information, meanwhile, can be found on the official product page.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
Latest articles
Sponsored articles
Related articles
Latest articles
Read more
Related articles