The Pi Zero is actually only a single-core 1GHz board with 512mb RAM. It's fairly slow compared to the rest of the lineup. I couldn't even upgrade my Pi 2 to a Zero in a few of my projects.
I am pretty sure it is not comparable to the RPI zero. The SoC this is based on is Rockchip rk3326. Dual core A35 @ 1GHz each, g31 (bifrost) GPU. RPI zero uses the older arm11 cores.
Except the pi zero has a 1ghz quad core processor and 512mb ram. This has 64mb and a terrible 400mhz single core processor (i think). So not really that comparable.
Also not forgetting that without modifying the chip it gives the Chinese company that makes it complete access to any files that go near it if it gets internet access.
They're not really in the same category though. This is a bare metal microcontroller. The Pi Zero is normally used with Linux. I guess maybe you can use it bare metal but nobody does.
Interesting stuff - and thanks for digging! Here's what I just got.
Q: Which is faster, a Pi Zero or a 486/33?
A: It is difficult to compare the speed of a Raspberry Pi Zero with a 486/33, as they are built on different architectures and were designed for different purposes.
However, in general, the 486/33 is likely to be faster than the Raspberry Pi Zero. The 486/33 is a desktop-class processor from the early 1990s, while the Raspberry Pi Zero is a low-power, single-board computer designed for embedded systems and IoT projects.
The 486/33 has a clock speed of 33MHz and typically had a performance of around 30-40 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second), while the Raspberry Pi Zero has a clock speed of 1GHz and a performance of around 1,000 MIPS. However, it is important to note that performance depends on the specific tasks and applications being run on each system.
Edit: Asking exactly the same question as you (in a new chat) it concluded the Pi Zero was indeed faster. The answer includes this little gem:-
">The 486/33 has a 32-bit architecture, which means that it can process data in larger chunks than the Pi Zero, which has a 64-bit architecture."
I'm not knocking it - it's very impressive - so really I'm exploring the limitations of it as an everyday tool.
Don't just look at MHz/$. The Raspberry Pi has a ARM v6 compatible core vs the PandaBoard which has a v7-A core, i.e., Raspberry Pi MHz < PandaBoard MHz.
Is this the sort of result you were getting? That looks ok to me?
> In the role of an expert System Administrator and with strong hardware knowledge, explain in detail which is faster: a Pi Zero or a 483/33?
As an expert System Administrator with strong hardware knowledge, I can provide a comparison between the Raspberry Pi Zero and an Intel 486DX2-66, which is the closest to a "483/33" (possibly a typo [I did indeed fat-finger that]) in terms of existing processors.
Raspberry Pi Zero:
The Raspberry Pi Zero is a single-board computer (SBC) released in 2015 by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It is based on the Broadcom BCM2835 system on a chip (SoC) which includes a 1 GHz ARM11 single-core processor (ARM1176JZF-S) and a VideoCore IV GPU. It has 512 MB of shared LPDDR2 RAM.
Intel 486DX2-66 (closest to "483/33"):
The Intel 486DX2-66 is a microprocessor released in 1992 by Intel. It is based on the 80486 microarchitecture and features a 66 MHz clock speed with a 33 MHz bus speed. The processor has a 32-bit data bus, an integrated FPU (Floating-Point Unit), and 8 KB of L1 cache (unified). The 486DX2-66 does not have any integrated graphics or memory controller.
Comparison:
While both Raspberry Pi Zero and Intel 486DX2-66 are dated by today's standards, it's important to consider their specifications in order to determine which one is faster.
The Raspberry Pi Zero features a 1 GHz ARM11 processor, which is significantly faster than the Intel 486DX2-66's 66 MHz clock speed. Additionally, the Raspberry Pi Zero has a more modern ARM-based architecture, which is generally more efficient in terms of instructions per clock (IPC) than the older x86 architecture of the 486DX2-66.
In terms of memory, the Raspberry Pi Zero has 512 MB of LPDDR2 RAM, while the Intel 486DX2-66 requires separate RAM modules, and would typically be paired with a maximum of 16 to 64 MB of EDO or FPM DRAM, depending on the motherboard and chipset in use. The Raspberry Pi Zero's integrated memory controller also provides a more streamlined communication between the CPU and the memory.
Lastly, the Raspberry Pi Zero has an integrated GPU (VideoCore IV), which allows it to handle graphical tasks better than the Intel 486DX2-66, which lacks an integrated GPU and relies on separate graphics cards.
In conclusion, the Raspberry Pi Zero is significantly faster than the Intel 486DX2-66, both in terms of processing power and memory capabilities. Additionally, the Pi Zero's integrated GPU provides better graphics support than the Intel 486DX2-66.
The Pi Zero is single core at 1GHz so it's not a totally fair comparison. There are plenty of times I wish I had more cores, even if they were half the speed. Compiling anything on the zero is incredibly slow. It also has slower DDR2 RAM and no USB3 (which makes a big difference for many peripherals).
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