Back in 2012, the progenitor Raspberry Pi board brought the Arm architecture to the forefront of the SBC market. Since then, Arm devices have ruled the Single-Board Computer domain with an iron fist, with most manufacturers utilizing the energy-efficient architecture in their offerings.

But with x86 boards hitting the consumer market, Arm systems have a major contender vying for the SBC throne. If you’re having a hard time deciding on the ideal architecture for your tiny tinkering companion, here are some major differences between x86 and Arm SBCs.

Pricing

Winner: Arm SBCs, thanks to their inexpensive price tags

SBCs, just like every other computing sector, have experienced a noticeable price spike over the last couple of years, with high-end Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, and Banana Pi boards requiring a sacrifice of over $100. That said, you’ll find an armada of budget-friendly Arm systems that, despite not packing the same firepower as their expensive siblings, can come in handy for several projects. For instance, the Raspberry Pi Zero lineup is polished enough to serve a plethora of projects, all while costing $15.

In contrast, x86 SBCs tend to cost an arm and a leg (pun intended). Don’t get me wrong, systems like the Radxa X4 and LattePanda V1 are pretty cost-effective when pitted against similarly priced Arm boards. But you’ll have a hard time finding a robust x86 SBC under the $50 price tag. Once you move away from the Intel N100, N5015, and other Celeron processors and enter the i5-1340P range, the difference in the prices of Arm and x86 SBCs becomes even more apparent.

Performance

Winner: x86 SBCs, especially for more demanding tasks

Arm SBCs have grown fairly powerful over the last couple of years, with Radxa ROCK 5B, Orange Pi 5 Max, and (my beloved) Raspberry Pi 5 hiding a lot of firepower under the hood. Their performance numbers in synthetic benchmarks and real-life workloads are nothing to scoff at either.

However, x86 devices have the upper hand on the performance front. Even an Intel N100 can deliver a responsive experience on a resource-intensive OS (by SBC standards) like Windows 11. Once you throw the Intel i3 and i5 processors on newer LattePanda SBCs into the equation, it’s clear that x86 boards outperform their consumer-grade Arm counterparts by a huge margin.

Power efficiency

Winner: Arm SBCs and their low energy consumption

Wattage can play a huge role when picking an SBC for your projects, especially if your tinkering ideas involve batteries or PoE provisions. Arm SBCs excel on the power utilization front and many high-end boards from prominent manufacturers tend to remain under the 12W mark even under heavy load.

In contrast, x86 systems can be major power hogs even in the idle state. And well, that is to be expected, considering something as low-end (and I mean that as a compliment) as an Intel N100 has a TDP of 6W. In my own tests, my Radxa X4 can easily hit 15W under normal loads, while my Raspberry Pi 5 consumes around 3-4W while I work on my normal experiments. Factor in the wattage of powerful x86 systems, and you’ll realize that Arm systems contribute a lot less to your energy bills than their rivals.

Thermals

Winner: The (fairly) low temps on Arm boards

As someone with plenty of Arm SBCs, I have to admit that some of the newer boards benefit from heat sinks or active coolers, with the Raspberry Pi 5 in particular idling at surprisingly high temperatures. However, that’s nothing compared to most x86 boards.

Given the superior performance numbers of x86 systems, the high thermals make a lot of sense. When I reviewed the Radxa X4 a couple of months ago, the SBC would quickly overheat without a dedicated cooler – to the point where it would outright shut down if I attempted to install Windows 11. If those were the thermals on an Intel N100 processor, you can well imagine the temperatures high-end x86 systems can attain.

Software and OS compatibility

Winner: x86 SBCs by a long shot

Software support has always been the Achilles' Heel of many non-Raspberry Pi Arm boards. Sure, you could get Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and a handful of other popular distros working on a generic Arm SBC, but trying to build projects is often an uphill battle against waves of bugs and compatibility issues. Heck, I’ve run into my fair share of broken packages on the all-powerful Raspberry Pi series.

On the other hand, x86 systems pair well with most operating systems on the block, be it an everyday distro or a specific-purpose OS. Likewise, you’ll have a wider range of apps available at your disposal with x86 boards, assuming they have enough horsepower, of course.

Arm vs x86 SBCs: So, what’s the verdict?

x86 SBCs for the win…

As much as I love Arm devices, I have to bestow the SBC-sized crown upon x86 boards. Even if you were to disregard their performance advantage due to the higher energy consumption, the lack of compatibility issues with the x86 architecture makes them miles better than their Arm counterparts.

… Though Arm boards have their own perks

Of course, I wouldn’t be an enthusiast if I didn’t give Arm systems credit where it’s due. Their low power consumption makes them significantly better for lightweight projects that you might want to run 24/7. With all the budget-friendly Arm boards floating in the market, they're a lot cheaper to tinker with, especially for newcomers to the SBC landscape.

  • Raspberry Pi 5
    CPU
    Arm Cortex-A76 (quad-core, 2.4GHz)
    Memory
    Up to 8GB LPDDR4X SDRAM
    Operating System
    Raspberry Pi OS (official)
    Ports
    2× USB 3.0, 2× USB 2.0, Ethernet, 2x micro HDMI, 2× 4-lane MIPI transceivers, PCIe Gen 2.0 interface, USB-C, 40-pin GPIO header
    GPU
    VideoCore VII
    Starting Price
    $60
  • Orange Pi 5 Pro 16GB LPDDR5
    Brand
    Orange Pi
    CPU
    Rockchip RK3588S (octo-core 2.4GHz)
    Memory
    16GB LPDDR5
    Operating System
    Orange Pi OS (Droid), Orange Pi OS (Arch), Ubuntu, Debian, Android 12
    Ports
    1 × USB 3.0, 3 × USB 2.0, 1 × Gigabit Ethernet, 3.5 mm audio input/output
    Display
    1 × HDMI 2.1, 1 × HDMI 2.0, 1 × MIPI DSI 4 lane
  • Banana Pi BPI-M5
  • Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W