The H4 Cube Case can embed an ODROID-H4, H4+ or H4 Ultra board with optional two 2.5″ SATA SSDs, as well as a Net Card and a 92x92x15mm cooling fan. There are four USB ports on the front panel allowing you to easily connect game controllers or input/output devices.

2.5” SATA SSDs (or HDDs) can only be used with the ODROID-H4+ or H4 Ultra. The ODROID-H4 does not include SATA ports. Alternatively, you can use an M.2 2×2 Card (in place of the Net Card) + 2 NVMe SSDs with any of the three H4 board models.

Passionate “old-school” game players from the early 2000’s will be smiling with nostalgia at our homage to a legendary game console released in 2001.

There is a power button with a red LED and a function button with a green LED which is configurable.

The green LED can be controlled by the RTS signal, and the user configurable Function button status can be read by the CTS signal through the 24-pin IO header, so they can be accessed with a simple Python script on Linux. Please refer to this link for the details: How to access the user button and LED

Its shape is close to a cube with size of 150x157x110mm. A big handle on the rear side helps you carry the H4 Cube Case around.

Components in the box

• Case Top
• Case Bottom
• Front panel
• USB hub board
• Rear panel
• SATA SSD bracket x 2
• Cushion for SATA SSD x 2
• M3 screw x 4
• Screw for plastic parts x 13
• Rubber feet x 4
• Screwdriver x 1
• 20mm PCB support plastic M3 x 2 (to be used when a Net Card or M.2 2×2 Card is not installed)
• 16mm PCB support metal M3 x 2 (to be used when a Net Card or M.2 2×2 Card is installed)
• 24-pin wire cable (see WARNING below)

More information : https://staging.hardkernel.com/shop/h4-cube-case/

WARNING: Be careful matching pin 1 of the Cube Case USB hub board and pin 1 of the H4 board header.

After the commercial success of the NetCard 2.5 GbE for the ODROID-H series, we looked into how we could provide new add-on cards to extend further the versatility of your ODROID-H4.

Note: This product is not compatible with the ODROID-H2, H3 series.

The M.2 screws are pre-installed. (4 pcs)

The M.2 4×1 card, provides four M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x1 lanes connectors instead. It allows you to use four M.2 devices: any combination of NVMe drives, Network adapters, WiFi adapters, 5G adapters, etc that leverage the bandwidth of PCIe Gen 3 x1 lane.

Because the PCIe Gen 3 configuration (bifurcation) is embedded in Intel microcode that is merged into the BIOS bin file at build time, you need to flash a different version of the BIOS to use one of these two new cards.

The M.2 4×1 card requires the same BIOS version as the NetCard 2.5 GbE. You find this BIOS on the Wiki pages for the H3 and H4.

Important Note: Make sure to select the right BIOS, for the H4 or for the H3.

Like the NetCard 2.5 GbE, these two new cards are installed under the mainboard, they slide into the mainboard M.2 connector and then are screwed to fix them solidly.

Thanks to this integration, these two new cards are compatible with all the ODROID-H3 and ODROID-H4 series. Note however that if you use tall M.2 devices, you may have to select a case that provides enough bottom vertical space.

M.2 4×1 card (Compatible with ODROID-H4 series only)

You can install four 2280-sized M.2 PCIe devices, and each slot has one PCIe 3.0 lane (1 x 8GT/s)

Multiple SSDs can be installed using the JBOD (Just Bunch of Disks) concept. Since it only uses one PCIe lane per slot, the original PCIe speed is reduced to a quarter, but you can still access files up to 800~900MB/s.

Or you can install PCIe devices such as WiFi, 5GbE Ethernet, 4G/5G modem, AI accelerator TPU/NPU, etc. in M.2 form factor.

As stated earlier, you have to flash another ESF BIOS for 4 bifurcated x1 lanes, since the default BIOS provides non-bifurcated x4 lanes.

Typical Use Cases

These two new M.2 cards are intended for any ODROID-H4 or ODROIR-H3 who want to split off the PCIe Gen 3 x4 lanes for use with two x2 lanes or four x1 lane devices, at the expense of the max theoretical speed provided to each device.

Use Cases

• You want as much SSD space as possible:
  • The M.2 2×2 card with 2 x 4TB NVMe SSD provides 8TB of SSD space.
  • The M.2 4×1 card with 4 x 4TB NVMe SSD provides 16TB of SSD space.
• While keeping an SSD at PCIe Gen 3 x2 or x1 speed, you want to use one of several extra network adapters, a PCI WiFi adapter, a 5G adapter, a PCIe AI adapter, etc.

If your goal is to use an M.2 NVMe SSD at maximum speed (4 x 8GT/sec), keep using the PCIe Gen 3 x4 lanes fully dedicated to the NVMe SSD.

Informational Benchmark

Using a generic NVMe SSD we measured and compared the throughput you gain in each configuration, we also measured the throughput of a 128GB eMMC and a SATA SSD, all using ioZone 3.

We obtained the following results:

The obvious first remark is that reducing the PCIe throughput by a factor of 2 or 4 does not mean the speed of your SSD will also be divided by the factors. The reason is that your NVMe SSD also has its own limits no matter how fast is the PCIe channel(s). The second remark is that in both cases, M.2 2×2 or M.2 4×1 card, the NVMe SSD still provides faster speeds than the SATA SSD and eMMC.

Product Compatibility

(1) The H2 CPU (Celeron J4115) does not support the 2×2 PCIe bifurcation.
(2) The M.2 4×1 card has a larger footprint and does not physically fit under the H2 or H3 boards. Therefore, the card cannot be fixed directly to the board like with a H4. HOWEVER, if you can find an M.2 male/female extension cable plus perform some additional DIY for mounting the card in your box or case, you can use the M.2 4×1 card with the H2 or H3.

WIKI : https://wiki.odroid.com/accessory/add-on_boards/m.2_cards

More information : 

M.2 2×2 Card : https://staging.hardkernel.com/shop/m-2-2×2-card/

M.2 4×1 Card : https://staging.hardkernel.com/shop/m-2-4×1-card/

Again, the new generation is more powerful and offers higher performance. 
It also delivers key new IO that will please many users.

Introducing the ODROID-H4, H4+ and H4 Ultra

Hardkernel is introducing the ODROID-H4, H4+ and H4 Ultra, which is equipped with higher performance and richer interfaces.

The major characteristics of the ODROID-H4 series compared to the ODROID-H3 series are:

1. Faster CPU architecture Alder Lake N vs. Jasper Lake. Plus AVX2 extensions.
2. Faster DRAM interface DDR5 4800 MT/s vs. DDR4 2933 MT/s.
3. Higher base and boost CPU frequencies and more powerful iGPU.
4. The increase from 2 to 4 SATA ports allows connection to a greater number of storage devices, ODROID-H4+ and ODROID H4 Ultra only.
5. An additional DisplayPort added allows the simultaneous use of up to 3 monitors.
6. Low cost ODROID H4 for compute and graphics applications (e.g signage, robot, factory automation,..)
7. Flagship H4 Ultra doubling the number of CPU cores, from 4 to 8 cores.

We also implemented little details following the ODROID-H3 feedback we receive from all of our users, this means you. Examples: 

1. Dual BIOS: If the BIOS is corrupted due to a power outage during update, etc., you can boot into the backup BIOS and recover by moving the jumper next to the DC jack. This feature is only available on ODROID-H4+ and ODROID H4-Ultra.
2. The new H4 cases format has been improved so that a cooling fan can be mounted inside the case.
3. A Mini-ITX kit for seamless integration with generic ITX PC cases.

Let’s look at the detailed table shown below.

Noteworthy Features

Why the N97 instead of the N100?

Bigger numbers aren’t always better. INTEL naming may be deceiving.

We chose the N97 because its Maximum Turbo Frequency is 200MHz higher than the N100, respectively 3.60GHz vs. 3.40GHz. In addition, the GPU Max Dynamic Frequency is a whopping 450MHz higher, respectively 1.2GHz vs. 750MHz.

The TDP value of the N97, which is therefore faster than the N100, is higher, but there is almost no difference in power consumption at idle state. Although the N97 is more expensive, we chose it for its higher performance.

Single-Channel Memory

This is a decision made by Intel. The Alder Lake N processors only offer one single-channel of memory. However, the DDR5 speed of 4800 MT/s as well as the Dual Rank (r2x8) option largely compensate for the double-channel of DDR4 with the H2 and H3 series. The DDR5 4800 MT/s of the H4 series leaves the DDR4 2933 MT/s and DDR4 2400 MT/s of the H3 and H2 series in its rear mirror.

Note: While the Intel ARK pages specify the Alder Lake N max. memory to be 16GB, we validated that 32 and 48 GB DDR5 SO-DIMMs 4800 or 5600 MT/s work as well. The 5600 MT/s will run at 4800 MT/s. The Intel specifications for the H2 and H3 processors were limited as well, but many users were able to (respectfully) pump up the max. memory to 32 and 64 GB.

How many SATA ports and video outputs?

Compared to the previous generation Gemini Lake or Jasper Lake, the design flexibility of the new Alder Lake-N’s high-speed signal interface has been significantly reduced. To enable SATA ports inside the SoC, a choice arose: reducing the number of PCIe lanes for NVMe from 4 to 2 or find another way. In order to avoid compromising the speed of NVMe, it was inevitable to add an external, expensive SATA controller.

Thanks to a controller that supports four SATA ports, the requirement to connect many storage devices has been resolved. As the performance of CPU, GPU, and DRAM increases, it has become possible to drive a large number of displays. Therefore, in addition to the one output each for HDMI and DisplayPort in the existing H series, the new H4 series is equipped with an additional DisplayPort, allowing a total of three 4K monitors to be connected simultaneously.

Because there are more connectors with relatively large footprints, the form factor has changed from 110x110mm to 120x120mm, and the area has increased by about 20%. As a result, form factor compatibility with the existing H2/H3 series has unfortunately disappeared. However, this affects only the case compatibility. Accessories such as the Net Card work on H2, H3 and H4 series.

Which H4 model is the best for you?

To allow you to use a high-performance platform at a relatively low cost, we removed all SATA functions, the second Ethernet port, and the Dual-BIOS feature to create a basic H4 model that focuses on cost-effectiveness. Therefore, it is suitable for application to embedded systems such as digital signage or factory automation or robot control.

On the other hand, the H4+ is equipped with four SATA ports, a second Ethernet port, and Dual-BIOS feature, making it the best choice for users who need mass storage for high-performance NAS and/or use it for routing capabilities.

Finally, although it is more expensive, we have also designed the H4 Ultra model, which can take advantage of powerful performance with twice the number of CPU cores (from 4 to 8) and more GPU execution units. Thanks to its many cores and fast clocks, the H4 Ultra model shows computing performance that can be twice as high as the H4 and H4+ models, based on multithreaded computing benchmarking results.

If you are very sensitive to power consumption, the H4 model would be the most desirable option. This is because the power in idle state is about 1 Watt lower than the H4+ model.

Performance

Thanks to the Intel Alder Lake-N Gracemont architecture, the higher frequencies of the N97, for the H4 and H4+, and N305, for the H4 Ultra, coupled with DDR5 4800 MT/s, the H4 and H4+ in UP mode are on average around 36% more performant than the H3+ in UP mode. The increased performance jumps to around 83% for the H4 Ultra, again compared to the H3+ in UP mode. This is what we witnessed while running 206 mostly non-synthetic benchmarks. We review these benchmarks further down. We will also see that the increased performance climbs to even higher numbers for multi-threaded applications.

Versatility

For the last 4 years, We acquired a lot of experience and feedback from users, meaning you, first with the H2 series, then with the H3 series. We have seen and still see an incredible broad range of applications.

Some users pushed their ODROID to the max with as much memory as possible, disks, discrete graphics cards, additional SATA ports cards or high-bandwidth network cards.

Conversely, other users made their ODROID as frugal as possible, chasing the last tenths of Watt that could be saved. In this matter, see section Power Consumption Characteristics, we worked on many aspects to make significantly low idle power consumption possible, as well as documenting and enabling users to know how to reach idle power that is not at all high compared to ARM series
boards. We believe this is essential, especially for European users where the cost of electrical energy has been rising for years, to which you add the goal of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions, as targeted by the EU, while running 24×7 systems.

These two extremes, and everything in the middle, are possible because the H series boards can be widely customized. We believe the success of the ODROID H-series is in part due to its original DIY design goal with boards that do not restrict you to one kind of application, e.g. TV box.

The ODROID H4 series doubles down on versatility by adding the low cost H4, with stripped down hardware, on one side of the H4+, and the 8-core H4 Ultra flagship on the other side of the H4+.

The table shown below details the H4 series user-level customizations:

Summary

Note: This summary compares the UP versions of the H3+, H4, H4+ and H4 Ultra because we did not run all the benchmarks on the H3+ non-UP. We ran a total number of 206 benchmarks/cases using the UP configurations.

The major facts about these benchmarks are:

• The H4 and H4+ UP are on average around 36% more performant than the H3+ UP.
• With the H4 Ultra UP, the average climbs to around 83%!
• The H4 and H4+ UP can be up to twice faster than the H3+ UP for particular tests.
• The H4 Ultra UP can be up to three and a half faster than the H3+ UP for particular tests.
• The H4 Ultra UP is on average around 36% more performant than the H4 and H4+ UP.
• The H4 Ultra UP can be more than twice faster than the H4 and H4+ UP for particular tests.
• Not too surprising, with 8 cores vs. 4 cores, the H4 Ultra UP top performance occurs with multi-threaded applications
  (e.g. Compilation, Java, Imaging, Stargate, MemCached, OpenSSL, Video Encoding,…) without being kneecapped by thermal throttling, thanks to Unlimited Performance and active cooling.

Demo video

This demo video shows the PS2 and GameCube emulation games on Linux Vulkan GPU driver with Fractional-Scaling technology. We used Batocera.linux x86_64 version 39 for the emulation.

Thanks to the H4’s significantly improved CPU, GPU, and DRAM performance, we can enjoy SD-quality classic masterpiece games in HD quality graphics now.  To play games with this level of graphics on the H3 board, we had to connect an external video card.

Board Description

• A. CPU (Intel N97 or N305 )
• B. 1 x DDR5 SO-DIMM slots (Single channel memory support)
• C. 1 x M.2 PCI Express Module Socket (NGFF-2280)
• D. 1 x eMMC (Embedded Multimedia-Card) Socket
• E. 4 x SATA Power Connectors (2.5mm pitch, JST-XH compatible connector)
• F. 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Data Connectors
• G. 1 x DC Power Jack
• H. 2 x USB 3.0
• I. 2 x USB 2.0
• J. 1 x HDMI 2.0
• K. 2 x DisplayPort 1.2
• L. 2 x RJ45 Ethernet Ports (10/100/1000/2500)
• M. 5 x System LED Indicators
• N. 1 x Peripheral Expansion Header (24-pin)
• O. 1 x Power Switch
• P. 1 x Reset Switch
• Q. 1 x Backup Battery Connector (2-pin)
• R. 1 x Active Cooling Fan Connector (4-pin)
• S. 1 x Audio out, 1 x Audio in, 1 x SPDIF out

Specifications

For the distinction between ODROID-H4, H4+, and H4-Ultra refer to the figure below

Have written H4, H4PLUS, and H4-ULTRA like in the red circle below pictures where on the bottom PCB inside SODIMM DDR5 Socket.

H4	H4+	H4-Ultra

WIKI : https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-h4/start

More Information : https://staging.hardkernel.com/product-category/odroid-board/x86/

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