One Year of sbc.compare: Everything New Since Launch
sbc.compare launched on 19 October 2025. A year on, here's everything we've added: new benchmarks, cooler testing, price tracking, better search and more.
One year of sbc.compare feels crazy to think about, and it feels like it's gone by so quickly. From humble beginnings, we now have over 120 SBCs tested, more benchmarks, more data, and more.. everything?
Where It Started#
In the 1st iteration, the website was quite primitive, and it left a lot to be desired. It was the culmination of about 9 months of work, and I was incredibly proud of it, but after hitting the top spot of HackerNews on launch day, it was clear that there were a lot of features and data-sets missing.
A Year in Numbers#
- 116
- Boards with verified results
- 45
- New boards in the period
- 52
- Verified benchmark runs
- 23
- SoCs added to the database
- $71
- Median board price
When the website launched we had 71 SBCs with benchmark results, and we're now at 116 (unique boards, we have multiple variants of the same boards too!) We've also tested 29 cooling setups, which is up from um.. 0..
New Benchmarks#
The test suite has grown from mostly CPU tests to memory, storage, GPU, gaming and emulation. Every benchmark now has its own ranking page, linked from the comparison graphs.
TinyMemBench (January 2026)#
Memory bandwidth and latency, on the TinyMemBench ranking page and on comparisons.
glmark2 and vkmark (February 2026)#
Our first GPU benchmarks: OpenGL ES with glmark2 and Vulkan with vkmark.
I was hesitant to go with any GPU benchmarks at the beginning because GPU drivers and the situation surrounding them in OS images available to the masses. These are fairly straightforward, and they just use whatever the OS images include. If a vendor provides a bodged GPU setup, the results will show it!
Fastest SBC Storage (February 2026)#
A leaderboard of fio results for every drive and board we've tested, from microSD to NVMe: Fastest SBC Storage.
SuperTuxKart (July 2026)#
A real game as a GPU benchmark, with a ranking page and a gaming chart on comparisons.
Once the 1st GPU benchmarks were introduced, it felt natural to look at what else we could bring in. SuperTuxKart is a classic, and since they introduced a benchmark mode, it felt a perfect option to throw in to the mix.
Geekbench 7 (July 2026)#
Geekbench 7 results alongside Geekbench 6, across comparisons, browse and Showdown.
vkpeak (September 2026)#
Peak Vulkan compute throughput at FP32, FP16 and INT8: vkpeak.
MAME (October 2026)#
Arcade emulation speed, game by game. Pick a game on the MAME ranking page and every comparison gets one graph per game.
Coolers and Thermals#
Brand new this year: cooler testing, starting in January 2026.
Thermal charts with each test phase marked, plus temperature, clock speed and power on one chart.
Whether a board throttles, how long until it first throttles, and its lowest clock speed under load.
Every cooler tested on a board side by side, with cost per degree and "Best" picks.
"Case (No Cooling)" results (August 2026), showing how a board copes inside a case.
Thermals are incredibly important when it comes to your SBC, and having collected a mass of coolers, this felt like a natural progression.
Board and SoC Pages#
Tested Setups (January 2026, Reworked October 2026)#
A board can now have more than one tested setup, such as a different OS, a carrier board or an overclock, and you can compare setups side by side. A RAM size switcher moves between variants of the same board.
This becomes incredibly useful when looking for performance regressions/improvements between releases, though the magic will happen when we start getting more interesting differences such as Windows on ARM, or Android?
How Each Result Ranks (October 2026)#
Every result on a board page shows where it ranks against every board we've tested, not just the boards on screen.
With this, you can quickly see where an individual board stands within all of our tested SBCs.
SoC Pages (June 2026)#
Every chip has its own page, covering the boards built on it, the fastest and slowest of them, and since September its process node, release year, NPU, video codecs and RAM types.
Finding the Right Board#
Many more filters (November 2025): CPU core types, GPU, release year, SoM, eMMC, SATA, mainline Linux, Armbian, SIM, SFP, USB and power, each with a result count.
General Search (September 2026): type "pi 5" or "rk3588" and it searches across names, makers and chips.
Scores on the cards (October 2026): 7-Zip headline scores, board photos and a performance-first sort on browse.
I think the general search box is one of the more interesting "filters" for me. Whilst the mass of filter options allow you to be incredibly granular, the search lets you type "pi 5" and quickly see what's there.
Prices#
Price Changes (September 2026): drops, rises and stock changes, checked daily.
Price history graphs on board pages, with current offers from the stores we track.
Discontinued boards show their original RRP and where they're still for sale.
This may be one the best overall updates in the first year if I say so myself. The price history graphs are one part, being able to see whether it's in stock or not is another, but the great bit? The performance per $ values on any tests that have them get updated automatically once the price change is approved.
Just for Fun: SBC Showdown#
SBC Showdown (July 2026) is a Top Trumps-style card game played with real benchmark results.
This was a bit of a random one, but I had the idea very early on and it remained a to-do item for when the time came. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it super technical? No, buuut it is a bit of fun!
Behind the Scenes#
All of this is only possible because of what I have going on behind the scenes in the form of my benchmark automation. This has arguably gone through even more improvements than the public-facing side of things, and whilst I won't go into things too much here as I'm planning a future article (or video?) about the entire setup, I'm incredibly proud of everything that's been built, and everything powering the website.
What's Next#
Realistically, who knows? I imagine there'll be new tests and new boards, that's a given, but what else? A really ambitious 3D printing project perhaps?
Thank You#
Finally, from the bottom of my heart I want to say a massive thank you to all of the readers, vendors, people that have linked to the data, and the people I've bugged with ideas, previews etc, you're the real ones and I truly appreciate you.
Here's to the 2nd year?
SBC benchmarking specialist with 5+ years of dedicated testing experience. Tested over 100 single board computers to provide accurate, real-world performance data.
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