{"id":2678,"date":"2026-05-01T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futurenews24.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T04:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T04:59:06","slug":"deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futurenews24.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/","title":{"rendered":"SBC Clusters are a horrible worth, however they’re enjoyable anyway"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pictured above is the brand new DeskPi Super4C put in in an 8U mini rack. The Super4C is a 4-node Raspberry Pi CM5 cluster board that solves two ache factors I had with the older Super6C.<\/p>\n
I used to be testing this board across the similar time I helped kick off the SBCC 2026, the Single Board Cluster Competitors for college kids. A dozen or so college groups squared off to run one of the best mini HPC cluster with a price range of $6,000, and a pair days to benchmark six HPC workloads.<\/p>\n
I made a decision to populate the Super4C DeskPi despatched me to check with 4 16GB CM5s I acquired final yr, again once they have been $125 every. They’re about $300 at present, after the newest spherical of value will increase.<\/p>\n
I made a video reviewing the Super4C and a brand new mini rack from Waveshare, the HomeRack, and I posted it on YouTube:<\/p>\n
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In that rack construct, I additionally examined Waveshare’s HomeRack Pi 7″ Contact Panel mount, in addition to a Tripp-Lite mini UPS that slots properly into the underside. Should you’re within the {hardware}, go watch the video.<\/p>\n
The Goldilocks Cluster<\/h2>\n
The primary factor I wished to level out on this weblog submit are the 2 annoyances DeskPi mounted within the Super4C\u2014which I feel they mounted by lowering the variety of Compute Modules from 6 to 4 (thus gaining precious board house):<\/p>\n
Distant Administration: There’s now an ESP32 you possibly can entry over WiFi (or, quickly, Ethernet) for ‘lights out’ administration of the cluster\u2014no less than for energy management and monitoring.Redundant Ethernet and Energy: This board has two Ethernet connections to every CM5 slot (one 2.5 Gbps NIC off the USB 3.0 bus, and one 1 Gbps connection by the CM5’s personal Broadcom NIC). It additionally has twin 19V DC barrel jack energy inputs, and can change between them to whichever one has the upper voltage.<\/p>\n
The video has extra element about different board options, however I point out that it is sort of a ‘Goldilocks’ board for the SBC Cluster fanatic; it has simply sufficient options to resolve the ache factors I had with the Super6C, however not a lot complexity the value is pushed past a hobbyist’s price range.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
I do not advocate a cluster like this for worth. The explanation you’d purchase one thing like that is for HPC tinkering, on a tiny scale, at your desk, with no bunch of power-hungry used mini PCs or outdated servers heating up your room.<\/p>\n
It is also helpful in another area of interest use circumstances:<\/p>\n
A multi-camera \/ multi-node imaginative and prescient processing system, with one or two cameras per CM5 (as much as 8 cameras complete, with an AI accelerator for every Pi)A tiny 4-computer board that has an HDMI show on every nodeA small construct farm for Arm tasks or CIA tiny redundant edge cluster for light-weight functions<\/p>\n
Should you simply wish to construct slightly homelab, although, and you do not care about studying networking or multi-node deployment\/coordination: purchase a mini PC. You will get an honest one these days for $500-600 with 32 GB of RAM, even with inflated reminiscence pricing.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
As it’s, a minimal cluster construct with 4 Pi CM5s with eMMC and a pair of GB of RAM will price practically $600. And the cluster as pictured above is nearer to $1,400! Like I stated, it is not about worth, versus a single beefy machine.<\/p>\n
The Competitors<\/h2>\n
It is enjoyable to see how this cluster operating on 4 CM5s with a complete of 16 A76 CPU cores and 64 GB of LPDDR5 RAM compares to the SBCC scholar clusters.<\/p>\n
Here is the way it stacks up operating HPL:<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Not a foul exhibiting, general! In my kickoff speech, I instructed the scholars I suspected the group with a cluster of Orange Pi 5 Max boards would have an excellent shot on the title\u2014and operating HPL no less than, they have been second!<\/p>\n
Taking a look at effectivity, my Super4C cluster was additionally in the midst of the pack:<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
The opposite cluster (PlumJuice) that is neck-in-neck can be operating on Raspberry Pi 5s (9 of them), so it is good to see that consistency in effectivity from cluster to cluster.<\/p>\n
The outlier in each circumstances was a cluster of 4 Minisforum X1 Professional-370 mini PCs\u2014with their boards ripped out of them in order that they have been extra within the spirit of ‘Single Board’ computer systems \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Here is a take a look at all of the specs for the clusters within the high of the HPL outcomes:<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
The NTHU group’s AMD nodes have been underclocked for higher effectivity (AMD and Intel appear to push default clocks approach past what’s needed, I assume to one-up one another), and so they additionally compiled HPL with ROCm towards the iGPU for a little bit of a speedup, too.<\/p>\n
You’ll be able to name that dishonest, since most individuals do not take a look at Minisforum PCs and suppose “SBC”, however I name it a artistic interpretation of the principles.<\/p>\n
Apart from, the NTHU group did not win the general competitors. Group Kent Ridge did, with a cluster of 16 Orange Pi 5 Max’s.<\/p>\n
I want the SBCC existed again once I was in faculty. Because it did not, I am glad I can no less than Cosplay as a Sysadmin and construct my very own little clusters to match at present.<\/p>\n
These cluster tasks do not make sense anymore when you simply must run a homelab. However they’re fairly enjoyable if you wish to be taught HPC with a cluster that sits in your desk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"DeskPi](\"\/blog\/2026\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/deskpi-super4c-in-waveshare-homerack-mini-rack.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"DeskPi](\"\/blog\/2026\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/deskpi-super4c-esp32.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"DeskPi](\"\/blog\/2026\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/deskpi-super4c-4x-raspberry-pi-cm5.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"DeskPi](\"\/blog\/2026\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/hpl-graphs.002.performance-with-super4c.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"DeskPi](\"\/blog\/2026\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/hpl-graphs.003.efficiency.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"DeskPi](\"\/blog\/2026\/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster\/hpl-graphs.004.nodes.jpg\")
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