Odroid H3 Introduction

The ODROID H-series is back

It is more powerful, offers higher performance and comes in two brand new models.

Introducing the ODROID-H3 and ODROID-H3+

Hardkernel is introducing the ODROID-H3 and H3+, which both have the same form factor and similar power efficiency as their predecessor, the ODROID-H2+.

The major characteristics of the ODROID-H3 and H3+ compared to the ODROID-H2+ are:

ODROID-H2+

('2020 Jun)

ODROID-H3

('2022 Oct)

ODROID-H3+

('2022 Oct)

Processor

CPU (INTEL)

Celeron J4115

Celeron N5105

Pentium N6005

Code name

Gemini Lake

Jasper Lake

Launch date

Q4’17

Q1’21

Lithography

14 nm

10 nm (Intel 7)

Microarchitecture

Goldmont Plus

Tremont

Cores / Threads

4C4T

TDP

10W

Base Frequency (GHz)

1.8

2.0 (11% more)

Burst Frequency (GHz)

2.5

2.9 (16% more)

3.3 (32% more)

Memory

Max. Memory address space (GB)

32

64 (100% more)

Max. Memory Speed (MT/s)

2400

2933 (22% more)

iGPU (INTEL UHD Graphics)

Base Frequency (MHz)

250

450 (80% more)

Burst Frequency (MHz)

750

800 (7% more)

900 (20% more)

Execution Units

12

24 (100% more)

32 (167% more)

1. INTEL 10nm (INTEL 7) Jasper Lake vs. INTEL 14nm Gemini Lake processors.

2. Maximum memory (DDR4 2933MT/s) is 64GB vs. 32 GB (DDR4 2400MT/s).

3. Higher base and boost CPU frequencies and more powerful iGPU.

4. PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe vs. PCIe Gen 2.

5. An Unlimited Performance mode allowing the CPU to run in sustained turbo boost mode.

We also implemented little details following the ODROID-H2+ feedback we received from all of our users, this means you. Examples:

(a) The ODROID-H3 and H3+ use a standard PC 12V PWM fan. Yes, you can use whatever

3rd party fan you prefer and plug it into the board with zero hassles.

(b) The BIOS fTPM is enabled by default: Windows 11 compatibility out of the box.

Without further ado, let’s look at the detailed table shown below.

PCIe (via M.2 NVMe slot)

Generation

Gen 2

Gen 3

Lanes

444

Compatibility with optional

4-ports 2.5GbE NetCard

Yes

IO ports

USB 2.0

2 ports

USB 3.0

2 ports

2.5GbE

2 ports

SATA III

2 ports

24pin IO Expansion ports

I2C x 2

USB 2.0 x 1

USB 2.0 x 3

UART x 2

UART x 1

HDMI-CEC x 1

Ext. Power Button x

1

Ext. Power Button x

1

Ext. Power Button x

1

Others

Optional Cooling Fan

92 mm 5Volt

mini 4pin connector

92 mm 12Volt

standard PC 4-pin

92 mm 12Volt

standard PC 4-pin

Dimensions

110x110mm (4.3x4.3

in)

110x110mm (4.3x4.3

in)

110x110mm (4.3x4.3

in)

Recommended Power Supply 1

60W

Recommended Power Supply 2

for supporting booting with two

3.5" hard disks

133W

Unlimited Performance Mode

No

Yes

Security (TPM 2.0)

Couldn't be

supported

fTPM enabled

(Will run Windows 11 out of the box)

Hardkernel H-series cases

DIY assembly

Translucent Blue

Acrylic

DIY assembly

The cases are made of solid and sturdy

PCBs.

Certifications

FCC/CE/KC/RoHS

Pricing

$119

$129

$165

Notable Facts

Performance

While the CPU base frequency increases by 16% (H3) and 32% (H3+) compared to the H2+, the memory bandwidth increases by 22% and while the disk I/O increases by 97% compared to the H2+, one should not forget that the Jasper Lake generation also brings node intrinsic optimizations compared to the Gemini Lake generation. In addition both the H3 and H3+ can be set to run in turbo boost mode with no time limit, a mode we call Unlimited Performance and describe further.

As the saying goes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: While running 300+ benchmarks, a great number of them being non synthetic, we witnessed a performance increase ranging in average from 45% to 73%, with maximum increases being more than twice faster.

Compatibility

The ODROID-H3 and H3+ boards use the same physical format as the H2+ board. As a consequence the H2+ blue acrylic cases and all the 3rd party cases, e.g. users 3D printed cases, are compatible with the ODROID-H3 and H3+. This also means that the ODROID H-series Net card works on the H2+, H3 and H3+ out of the box. Finally 3rd party PCIe cards (Network cards, RAID cards, Graphics cards) that one used and uses with the H2+ can also be used with the H3 and H3+.

Versatility

We have seen and still see an incredible broad range of ODROID-H2+ usage from users like you. We expect to witness the same range with ODROID-H3 and H3+. But we also expect to see users add more use cases thanks to the higher CPU performance as well as graphics and PCIe increased performance which definitely bring new opportunities. The doubling of the maximum memory from 32GB to 64GB offers new possibilities too. We believe the success of the ODROID H-series is in part due to its original DIY design goal with a board that does not restrict you to one kind of application, e.g. TV box. Let us recall the common features through all the ODROID H-series models:

Design

An SBC design that makes sense: All the connectivity is on the rear side, simplifying case design and reducing footprint on a desk.

H-series Net Card

Using the NVMe port, provides 4 additional 2.5 GbE ports, thus tripling the number of

2.5 GbE ports to 6 ports.

Do It Yourself

The ODROID H-series offers you a lot of freedom. You are free to chose:

1. The amount and brand of memory. No soldered memory.

2. The size of the eMMC (including not using one). No soldered eMMC.

3. The size of the NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 SSD (including not using one)(*).

4. To transform the NVMe slot into a PCIe Gen 3 x4 slot for using PCIe cards via optional adapter cable(*).

5. The size of the 1 or 2 SATA III disks or SSDs (including not using them).

6. A case among 7 types of Hardkernel cases or use a custom one you or another user designed (**).

7. Hardkernel cases allow the usage of an optional silent 92mm fan for optimal thermal performance.

8. Any x86-64 flavor of Windows, Linux or BSD operating systems, etc. Plus Android.

9. To upgrade the hardware later with more memory, more NVMe or SSD or hard disk space.

(*) PCIe Gen 2 on the H2/H2+. (**) The acrylic blue cases can be used with the H3/H3+ and conversely the new PCB cases can be used with the H2/H2+.

Comparing the H3 and H3+ to the H2+

In order to evaluate the performance of the H3 and H3+ and compare them to their predecessor, the H2+, we proceeded with real application benchmarks rather than synthetic ones. To do so we ran a battery of Phoronix testing suites. These testing suites are listed below:

● Compilation

● Compression

● Java

● Python

● Imaging

● Audio Encoding

● Databases

● Unigine GPU

● Cryptography

● Video Encoding

The Phoronix Testing Suite is available here: https://www.phoronix-test-suite.com/. As stated on its web site, we quote: “The Phoronix Test Suite [is an OSS project that] makes the process of carrying out automated tests incredibly simple. The Phoronix Test Suite will take care of the entire test process from dependency management to test download/installation, execution, and result aggregation.”

Let us examine the results we obtained with tables and charts showing the H2+ as base 100. Example: Using the line Timed Eigen Compilation in the Compilation Benchmark table shown

below, the H3 is 63% faster, the H3+ 83%, the H3’up 67% and the H3+’up 85%.

What are the H3’up and H3+’up?

The suffix ‘up is a shortcut notation to indicate that the CPU is running in “Unlimited Performance Mode”. This is a mode where the CPU can run in Turbo Boost mode with no time limit, hence the name. The Unlimited Performance Mode is described in the next section.

Compilation Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Timed Apache Compilation

100

143

146

156

176

Timed FFmpeg Compilation

100

131

147

166

Timed Gem5 Compilation

100

131

146

163

Timed ImageMagick

Compilation

100

134

135

150

168

Timed Linux Kernel

Compilation

100

135

151

171

Timed LLVM Compilation

100

128

127

142

159

Timed MPlayer Compilation

100

130

131

146

166

Build2 - Time To Compile

100

128

143

160

Timed Eigen Compilation

100

163

183

167

185

All Compilation

Average

100

135

137

149

168

Min

100

127

142

159

Max

100

163

183

167

185

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/compilation

Compression Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

lzbench

100

141

159

142

160

LZ4 Compression

100

135

149

134

150

Zstd Compression

100

136

144

142

159

Parallel BZIP2 Compression

100

168

180

182

206

Gzip Compression

100

140

159

142

161

XZ Compression

100

119

118

127

138

System GZIP

100

125

143

124

143

System XZ

100

138

155

140

155

System ZLIB

100

151

155

147

172

RAR Compression

100

134

139

147

170

All Compression

Average

100

138

152

141

158

Min

100

112

122

138

Max

100

168

180

182

206

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/compression

Java Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Java SciMark

100

143

161

142

162

Bork File Encrypter

100

184

208

182

209

Java Gradle Build

100

134

143

142

161

DaCapo Benchmark

100

130

131

140

159

Renaissance

100

144

151

175

Java JMH

100

217

233

254

Sunflow Rendering System

100

143

142

149

177

All Java

Average

100

145

154

151

173

Min

100

107

113

116

137

Max

100

217

233

254

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/java

Python Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Numpy

100

164

184

163

183

Cython

100

143

164

145

163

PyBench

100

153

172

153

175

PyPerformance

100

172

193

171

195

Mlpack

100

136

146

142

159

PyHPC

100

154

173

154

173

Scikit-Learn

100

127

134

132

150

All Python

Average

100

159

178

159

180

Min

100

118

120

125

145

Max

100

292

311

275

317

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/python

Imaging Benchmark

H2+ (base 100)

H3

WebP Image Encode

100

135

JPEG XL libjxl

100

149

LibRaw

100

135

LibRaw - Post-Processing Benchmark

100

144

dcraw - RAW To PPM Image Conversion

100

145

WebP2 Image Encode

100

145

OpenJPEG – Encode

100

121

libjpeg-turbo tjbench

100

123

Darktable

100

123

GEGL

100

145

GIMP

100

175

All Imaging

Average

100

143

Min

100

111

Max

100

179

Note: we only ran the Imaging benchmark on the H2+ and H3.

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/imaging

Audio Encoding Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Stargate

100

153

154

166

195

LAME

100

146

166

146

166

Ogg

100

149

169

149

170

Opus

100

146

166

146

166

WavPack

100

129

147

129

147

All Audio Encoding

Average

100

150

157

158

184

Min

100

129

147

129

147

Max

100

157

169

171

200

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/audio-encoding

Databases Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

MariaDB / MySQL

100

148

142

150

163

PostgreSQL

100

170

171

168

190

Memcached

100

246

233

250

294

SQLite

100

134

124

137

130

InfluxDB

100

148

145

165

181

All Databases

Average

100

168

165

169

188

Min

100

105

102

107

105

Max

100

260

245

261

311

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/database (note: we only ran a subset)

Unigine GPU Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Santuary

100

187

211

210

254

Superposition

100

182

216

194

244

Tropics

100

177

191

198

234

Valley

100

184

197

212

242

All Unigine

Average

100

182

209

199

244

Min

100

164

184

180

218

Max

100

200

250

212

275

Note: This benchmark was run in 1280x720 resolution.

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/unigine

Cryptography Benchmark

H2+ (base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Crypto++

100

138

156

138

157

BLAKE2

100

103

117

103

117

Bork File Encrypter

100

185

209

185

211

Nettle

100

145

165

145

166

Botan

100

132

150

132

151

Gcrypt

100

133

151

133

151

Cpuminer-Opt

100

134

141

148

176

SecureMark

100

154

175

153

175

OpenSSL

100

159

161

170

201

Cryptsetup

100

135

153

135

154

GnuPG

100

143

161

144

159

All Cryptography

Average

100

137

152

141

162

Min

100

103

113

103

117

Max

100

226

256

226

257

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/cryptography

Video Encoding Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

libgav1

100

143

146

155

179

dav1d

100

126

139

158

AOM AV1

100

139

140

147

166

Kvazaar

100

138

147

174

rav1e

100

143

147

148

175

SVT-AV1

100

128

130

137

160

VP9

100

135

136

146

170

x264

100

139

148

172

x265

100

125

129

136

158

libavif

100

145

148

153

181

Ffmpeg

100

136

146

168

All Video Encoding

Average

100

137

138

146

169

Min

100

123

135

155

Max

100

200

Benchmark description: https://openbenchmarking.org/suite/pts/video-encoding

Summary Benchmark

H2+

(base 100)

H3

H3+

H3’up

H3+’up

Count

313

259

Average

100

145

154

151

173

>= +25%

271

241

237

255

>= +50%9012594221

>= +75%28452990

>= +100%11171527

>= +125%410719

>= +150%32310

To summarize, we completed 313 benchmarks on the H2+ and H3 and 259 on the H3+, H3’up and H3+’up. The Average line in the table shown below is the flat average on all the tests. For each platform H3/H3+ system, we counted the number of tests where the optimization was more than 25% up to more than 150%.

Benchmarks Configuration

The same WD BLACK 500GB SN750 NVMe was used on all systems.

ODROID-H2+

Ubuntu 22.04, 32GB of DDR4 2400MT/s memory.

ODROID-H3, H3+, H3’up, H3+’up

Ubuntu 22.04, 64GB of DDR4 2933MT/s memory.

PCIe Gen 3 vs. PCIe Gen 2

H3 vs. H2+

random

kB

reclen

write

rewrite

read

reread

read

write

102400

512

49.46%

65.79%

62.03%

84.77%

48.14%

62.63%

102400

1024

70.70%

99.87%

58.19%

67.46%

79.31%

107.46%

102400

16384

93.56%

113.06%

85.47%

94.45%

95.42%

103.81%

H3+ vs. H2+

random

kB

reclen

write

rewrite

read

reread

read

write

102400

512

51.59%

70.76%

61.64%

83.67%

46.05%

64.59%

102400

1024

75.33%

99.44%

68.33%

76.21%

70.57%

108.20%

102400

16384

95.12%

99.99%

78.06%

87.37%

91.42%

103.63%

Odroid H2+

random

kB

reclen

write

rewrite

read

reread

read

write

102400

512

1190434

1084538

1162659

1065556

1207191

1136235

102400

1024

1253288

1053801

1312651

1308492

1215101

1001957

102400

16384

1286232

1249370

1448607

1494140

1499929

1249510

Odroid H3

random

kB

reclen

write

rewrite

read

reread

read

write

102400

512

1779229

1798036

1883841

1968851

1788334

1847871

102400

1024

2139356

2106255

2076440

2191177

2178772

2078681

102400

16384

2489598

2661898

2686789

2905301

2931117

2546662

Odroid H3+

random

kB

reclen

write

rewrite

read

reread

read

write

102400

512

1804601

1851983

1879341

1957072

1763145

1870151

102400

1024

2197332

2101720

2209620

2305690

2072582

2086091

102400

16384

2509677

2498635

2579417

2799642

2871111

2544367

To illustrate the quasi double performance of the PCIe bus on the ODROID-H3 and H3+ compared to the ODROID-H2+, we ran iozone3 tests with relatively big data blocks:

iozone -e -I -a -s 100M -r 512k -r 1024k -r 16384k -i 0 -i 1 -i 2

The two tables shown below list the relative I/O acceleration on the H3 and H3+. One can see that the bigger the data block the closer we get to twice the speed, within margin of error, plus a few % points because the CPUs also run faster.

The 3 tables shown below list the benchmark transfer speed values (in bytes):

Introducing the Unlimited Performance Mode

Starting with the Core 10th generation INTEL introduced Power Limit 4 (PL4) and made it user configurable via the BIOS. What is it? PL4 is the SoC's maximum power limit at the package level. No matter what the CPU is actually doing, it will not pass this limit. The interesting side of the story is that as a user you can set it to 0, which means no limit.

The ODROID-H3 and H3+ BIOS allows you to set this limit to 0. This is what we call Unlimited Performance mode. The default value is 30,000 corresponding to the Balanced mode, meaning around a SoC's maximum power limit of 10W.

Using the Unlimited Performance mode (annotated 'up) with the H3 and H3+ enables the CPU to turbo boost indefinitely: 2.6 GHz all cores and 2.9 GHz one core for the H3 , 2.8 GHz all cores and 3.3 GHz one core for the H3. This results in a significant increase in performance, especially for the H3+. You can see the effect in the benchmarks we included above. In a few cases the H3’up can reach and pass double performance for the same task compared to the H2+.

As you may expect the CPU will get hot quickly (in a matter of minutes) and get close to its T Junction (Tj) temperature which will trigger the emergency shutdown as thermal protection. But the CPU will not reach Tj because it will automatically throttle down when it is about 5 degrees Celsius away from Tj (we tested this multiple times). As soon as the CPU thermally throttles down you start losing the increased performance you were aiming at while still consuming more power compared to the Balanced mode. Not ideal.

In order to prevent thermal throttling when using the Unlimited Performance mode, the solution is simple: Active cooling with a fan.

We designed the H3/H3+ heat sink to make it very efficient: (a) you do not need a fan in Balanced mode and (b) it has a high rate of thermal exchange when coupled with a fan.

Using a fan will decrease the maximal CPU temperature by about 25 to 30 degrees Celsius depending on factors such as the ambient temperature. It is difficult for us to publish precise temperature values because what one witnesses depends on many factors: As already mentioned the ambient temperature, the CPU BGA soldering thickness error, the heat sink assembly tolerance, the type of thermal paste and quantity applied and the cooling fan speed RPM error margin (which can be as high as 5 to 10%). All of these factors can result in a 10+ degrees Celsius difference between one setting and another.

The important point is that with active cooling you get the increased performance you aim at while the CPU stays just comfortably warm while turbo boosting indefinitely, way below temperatures close to Tj. In other words the fan active cooling brings you the best of both worlds. This is what we witnessed and validated while performing many tests in different locations.

Last point: In Unlimited Performance mode, the CPU (and the fan) use more power than they do

in Balanced mode, easily reaching 20+ Watts. However this happens only when the CPU is indeed turbo boosting. When idle, the system will use the same power as in Balanced mode. If your goal is to minimize energy consumption, use Balanced mode. If your goal is to maximize performance use Unlimited Performance mode and again use active cooling with a fan to avoid the CPU to constantly throttle down.

For learning how to change PL4 in the BIOS, as well as change the fan settings, please refer to the related Wiki page.

The official 92x92x25mm 12V PWM cooling fan or a similar 3rd party cooling fan should be mounted on the official cases venting hole to avoid thermal throttling of the CPU in Unlimited Performance mode. We have tested the following 3rd party cooling fan samples.

- Noctua NF-A9 PWM

- Noctua NF-A19x4 PWM

- Noctua NF-B9 REDUX PWM

- Thermalright TL-9015W

Here is the ODROID Stock Fan and a 3rd Party Fan (a Noctua):

Demo video

To test the top CPU computing power and GPU rendering speed of the ODROID-H3/H3+, we tested running Wii U and PS2 games emulation.

This emulation is still very difficult to run on a low power SBC. The games were extremely slow and very far from a playable level on the ODROID-H2+.

On the other hand, during our testing, we enjoyed playing PS2 games on the ODROID-H3+ running in Unlimited Performance mode 💪 👍

We will publish a video showing the ODROID-H3+ in Unlimited Performance mode running the Wii U and PS2 emulation.

Demo video on YouTube

😃

Dual Head 4K Monitor Demo

We can connect two 4K/60Hz monitors to the H3 for both fun and productive work. Thanks to hardware virtualization, Linux and Windows can be operated at the same time. Note also that with a maximum memory of 64GB running guest OSes is no problem.

Picture 1 : Two different 4K YouTube videos flawlessly and simultaneously with Chrome browser on Ubuntu desktop.

Picture 2 : The monitor on the left shows Ubuntu Desktop host OS and the one on the right shows Windows 10 running as a guest OS, using the hardware virtualization VT-x technology.

Picture 3 : The monitor on the left shows the PCB designing KiCAD application running in Ubuntu while the monitor on the right shows the Edge browser in Windows running as a guest OS.

New Cases

Case Type

Color

Net Card

Disks

1

Satin Black

No

Space for 2 x 3.5” SATA drives

2

Satin Black

No

No space for SATA storage.

3

Satin Black

No

Space for 2 x 2.5” SATA drives (max. 15mm thick)

4

Satin Black

No

Space for 1 x 3.5” SATA drive or 2 x 2.5” SATA drives

5

Satin Black

Yes

Space for 2 x 3.5” SATA drives

6

Glossy Royal Blue

Yes

No space for SATA storage.

7

Satin Black

Yes

Space for 2 x 2.5” SATA drives (max. 15mm thick)

The blue acrylic cases we have made so far had the advantage of being translucid, enabling you to see the inside of the system. However we witnessed too many occurrences of broken or cracked panels due to external impact during delivery.

Accordingly, we developed new cases using a relatively thin and rigid PCB made of glass fiber epoxy to prevent these issues. We have seven types of new cases as listed in the table shown below:

Case Type 1

No Net card and space for 2 x 3.5” SATA drives.

Case Type 2

No Net card, no space for SATA storage.

Case Type 3

No Net card and space for 2 x 2.5” SATA drives (max. 15mm thick).

Case Type 4

No Net card and space for 1 x 3.5” SATA drive or 2 x 2.5” SATA drives.

Case Type 5

Space for Net card and 2 x 3.5” SATA drives.

Case Type 6

Space for Net card, no space for SATA storage.

Case Type 7

Space for Net card and 2 x 2.5” SATA drives (max. 15mm thick).

Hardware Details

Board Description

● A. CPU (Intel Celeron N5105(H3+: N6005) )

● B. 2 x DDR4 SO-DIMM slots (Dual channel memory support)

● C. 1 x M.2 PCI Express Module Socket (NGFF-2280)

● D. 1 x eMMC (Embedded Multimedia-Card) Socket

● E. 2 x SATA Power Connectors (2.5mm pitch, JST-XH compatible connector)

● F. 2 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. 1 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

On the H3+ board, a yellow round sticker is attached on the product serial label, and on the H3 board, a green round sticker is attached.

Block diagram

Specifications

Processor

Intel Celeron N5105(H3+: N6005) Processor (10nm, Quad-Core, TDP 10W) H3(N5105) : up to 2.9Ghz H3+(N6005) : up to 3.3Ghz 4MB L2 Cache Intel UHD Graphics (24/32 EU up to 900MHz)

Memory

2 x DDR4 1.2V SO-DIMM slots Dual Channel, up to 2933 MT/s (DDR4-PC23400) Max memory capacity 64GB

DDR3/DDR5 are not supported

Storage

1 x eMMC connector (bootable and selectable on BIOS) Various eMMC modules can be purchased at Hardkernel store 2 x SATA3 6Gbps 1 x M.2 slot (PCIe 3.0 x 4, supports NGFF-2280 cards)

M.2 SATA SSD is not supported

Networking

2 x GbE LAN ports (RJ45, supports 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps) Realtek RTL8125B Supports Wake-On-Lan LED indicators (Green: Link, Amber: Traffic)

Video

1 x DisplayPort 1.2 (up to 4K@60Hz) 1 x HDMI 2.0 (up to 4K@60Hz) Dual simultaneous display support

Audio

1 x Audio out (3.5mm jack) 1 x Audio in (3.5mm jack) 1 x SPDIF out (ALC1200, HDA codec) * HDMI & DP have audio output too.

External I/O

2 x USB 3.0 Host ports 2 x USB 2.0 Host ports 1 x Peripheral Expansion Header (24-pin, 2.54mm pitch) – 1 x DC 5V, 1 x DC 3.3V, 5 x GND – 1 x UART (TXD/RXD/RTS/CTS) – 2 x I2C (SCL/SDA) – 3 x USB 2.0 (D+/D-) – 1 x External Power Button – HDMI CEC, 5VA+ (always on) – All 3.3V I/O signal level

Other features

Passive Heatsink BIOS Backup Battery – Maintains system time and BIOS settings Power Button Reset Button System LEDS Indicators: – Red (PWR) - Solid light when DC power is supplied – Blue (left, SLEEP) - turns off only when the system enters into suspend mode – Blue (right, PMIC) - turns on only when the major power rails are working – Amber (SATA) - Flashes when SATA data transfers – Green (NVMe) - Flashes when NVMe data transfers Active Cooling Fan Connector (12V 4-pin, PWM input + TACHO output) – Active Cooling Fan is optional – Connector (4-pin, 2.54mm pitch)

Power

DC jack : outer (negative) diameter 5.5mm, inner(positive) diameter 2.1mm DC 14V ~ 20V (up to 60W) – DC 15V/4A power adapter is recommended if you don't use two 3.5“ HDDs – DC 19V/7A power adapter is recommended if you two 3.5” HDDs together Power consumption: – IDLE : ≃1..9W – CPU Stress : ≃15W – CPU+GPU Stress : ≃18W – Power-off : ≃0.25W – Suspend : ≃0.6W

Form Factor

110mm x 110mm x 47mm Approx.

Fan Connector

The ODROID-H3 and H3+ use a PC standard 12V PWM 4-pin connector instead of the proprietary 5V mini connector used on the H2/H2+. Therefore, anyone can install a third-party cooling fan that can be easily purchased in the market.

Power consumption

Activity

Power Consumption in Watt

Power Off

0.21

Ubuntu Desktop Booting

12.36

Desktop Idle

2.52

CPU stress

14.17

4K YouTube play on Chrome Browser

12.02

WebGL aquarium demo on Chrome Browser

10.00

WebGL + CPU Stress

16.38

Power Off

0.21

Sleep (Suspend to RAM)

0.85

We used our SmartPower3 (see https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/smartpower-iii/) to test and measure the ODROID-H3 power consumption while performing specific activities. We used an M.2 NVMe storage device, 4K HDMI monitor, Ethernet cable and USB combo keyboard + mouse while measuring the power consumption. The table shown below and its corresponding chart detail the power consumption we witnessed:

H3 Power Consumption

Notes

- In headless mode, the idle state power consumption should be lower than 2 Watt.

- If one runs the H3+ in Unlimited Performance mode and stresses the CPU to its maximum, the system peak power consumption can be near 22 Watt.

The Making of the ODROID-H3 and ODROID-H3+

Until the introduction of the ODROID-H2, we were well-known for our ARM-based SBC such as the XU-4, C-series, N-series and more recently the M-1.

However the x86 platform brings many advantages:

- Most GPU and VPU hardware acceleration drivers are working perfectly fine on the latest Linux Kernel releases and GNU software out of the box.

- Large scale memory expandability, up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM.

- We can have stable and more hardware connectivity: two 2.5GbE ports, two SATA III ports, four lanes of PCIe Gen 3, etc.

- Hardware virtualization VT-x powered virtual machines allow a user to run different operating systems, test applications, and experiment with specific features without worrying about system crashes related to specific hardware differences.

- On the ARM platform, it takes non-trivial human and time resources to port the mainline kernel to a level where the GPU and VPU hardware acceleration functions work properly. In contrast, on the x86 platform, you can usually run the latest operating system with full hardware acceleration.

- As a journalist wrote about the ODROID-H2+, we quote: “x86 tends to do very well with legacy support. We cannot predict the future, but there is a good chance that 5-7 years from now, the hardware we have on the ODROID-H2+ will still be well supported and OSes will be installed out-of-the-box. That is not necessarily the same for the ARM maker board ecosystem to date.”(*)

(*) Quoted from https://www.servethehome.com/odroid-h2-with-h2-net-card-cheap-6x-2-5gbe

Obviously, the ARM platform has numerous benefits of its own and a large number of applications in many markets: usually low cost, very low power allowing usage in millions of devices running on battery (e.g. smartphones, remote controls, sensors, tiny robots, etc) as well as 24x7 appliances where energy consumption must be as low as possible (e.g. TV boxes, home NAS, gateways, home routers, etc). Finally ARM-based SBCs enable DIY users like you or industrial users to design custom boxes, servers, instrumentation devices with sensors, etc. This is why Hardkernel makes a lot of ARM-based SBC.

Our first endeavor into the x86 world with the ODROID-H2 and H2+ was both an engineering and commercial success. This was reflected in multiple articles at

https://www.cnx-software.com/ as well as at STH (see link cited above).

Due to the continuous shortage of semiconductors during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had no choice but to discontinue the popular ODROID-H2+ at the end of last year.

However, there has been continued customer demand for the x86 platform. So, earlier this year,

we started developing new ODROID-H series models which leverage 11th-gen Intel processors made with an advanced 10nm (Intel 7) semiconductor fab and other key components that we can purchase much more reliably.

Many of our B2B customers have requests for long-term stable supply.

The previous generation processor J4115 package size was 25x24mm with 1090 BGA pins while the new N5150 and N6005 package size is 35mmx24mm with 1338 pins. Due to the big difference of the SoC packages, we had a very hard time keeping the same PCB form factor and connectors' positions while we designed the hardware. We have achieved backward compatibility through this difficult design process and efforts.

Thanks to this mechanical and electrical compatibility, H2 series cases and the ODROID H-series Net card can be used on the H3/H3+ as well. Since Intel doesn't guarantee the period of availability, we can't say about the longevity of the H3 series. Perhaps we can only supply the H3 series for 2~3 years in the worst case.

However, we will always do our best to maintain mechanical and electrical compatibility when Intel's next-generation low-power processors are released. We believe that this method enables long-term supply in other ways.

So here we are today with the ODROID-H3 and ODROID-H3+!

All information, product features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Hardkernel and ODROID are copyrighted by Hardkernel co., Ltd. ©2008 All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Odroid H3 Introduction

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual