Posts: 31,445
Joined: Jan 2011
S905 (and the whole S900 series) will run Kodi's GUI and various non-video functions very well, even at the default CPU clock.
I think the only reason anyone advertised their S905 products as "up to 2Ghz" was because it was on the spec sheet from Amlogic. Even if the Amlogic-provided kernel allowed up to 2GHz, nearly all of the products out there with S905 default to 1.5 GHz or lower. The user would have to tinker with things to change that setting, and it might even require installing a different OS than what the product ships with (depending on how locked down said OS is).
As mo123 says, the real draw of the S905 is the VPU. Otherwise, people would be still using the Amlogic S812, which has a faster CPU, but a weaker VPU feature set.
Still, it's pretty messed up. Even when HardKernel tested real OC settings, they couldn't get a stable 2GHz, which means Amlogic was being deceptive. I don't know if it's a straight up lie (AML might argue that in the right conditions 2GHz can be stable), but the truth was being obscured. It's still too early to say what is exactly happening, and maybe there is still a chance for stable 2GHz on these products, but either way Amlogic has a lot of explaining to do.
Posts: 25
Joined: Aug 2013
Reputation:
1
livs
Junior Member
Posts: 25
Thank you guys, it is all i want to know.
About faking of specification is another subject.
Posts: 133
Joined: Aug 2016
Reputation:
7
2016-09-01, 13:03
(This post was last modified: 2016-09-01, 13:08 by gsmtech.)
Not just S905 either, the S905X and S912 are also affected. The BL3x blobs where the CPU frequencies are controlled , from what I've read from sources around the net are closed source code which vendors don't have the complete source code to. amlogic modify the BL3x code at request of vendors.
There's no talk anywhere of 2ghz even being an achievable option 1.7ghz apparently being investigated by HK in conjunction with amlogic according to CNX Software.
So far Hard Kernel are the only vendor that seems to be publicly acknowledging the issue and engaging in discussion with end users on their forums. They have also apparently updated their product descriptions to say S905 is 1.5ghz.
The question becomes if S905 is limited to 1.5ghz if your just using kodi , do you really need to spend extra on an odroid C2 vs Rpi3 ? Sure if the extra RAM and emmc modules appeal to you but otherwise no... Not really
Posts: 9,033
Joined: Feb 2012
Reputation:
551
The 2160p, 10bit HEVC users and HD Audio Passthrough guys using LE on the ODROID C2 would very likely disagree vs buying a RPi3. eMMC when scrolling through a large media Library with lots of Thumbnails and Artwork makes a noticeable difference vs SD only performance too.
I've kept quite till now as even this GHz "Discovery" has not degraded LibreELEC Kodi performance on the S905 series of devices at all as they have a pretty decent GPU/VPU already. This is what you need sorted for a decent Kodi media player, let the GPU/VPU do all the grunt work.
The extra performance so far as LE Kodi on AML S905 is concerned with a true 2GHz CPU would be some 1080p H264 Hi10P Anime may be able to be possibly software decoded.
Posts: 8
Joined: Sep 2016
Reputation:
0
Can you trust AMLogic devices being electrically safe, with the manufacturer being so eager to cut corners?
Posts: 133
Joined: Aug 2016
Reputation:
7
If Amlogic lied about the clock speed on their CPU's what else did they potentially lie about that may not have been discovered yet ? 1.5ghz vs 2ghz isn't a small difference it's 25%
How well did "reputable" companies do in discovering this issue ? As of yet have any of them attempted to compensate affected customers ? I see nothing but silence except from Hard Kernel who fair play to them have admitted they they should have spotted this issue and are actively engaging with Amlogic and end users. As mentioned HK have updated their material to state that the S905 is a 1.5ghz SOC.
Other companies may well be talking to Amlogic behind the scenes but I haven't seen any acknowledgement of the issue or attempt to engage with customers on their behalf. Their websites still advertise the products they sell with the affected Amlogic SOC's as 2 GHz.
Posts: 31,445
Joined: Jan 2011
There is no action to take yet. Most venders advertised "up to 2GHz", and for all we know this is still possible (a sort of single-active-core temp boost to 2Hgz could make the statement technically true). You're not going to hear anything from companies until they know what is going on. It is reasonable to ask if Amlogic is being deceptive about anything else, but it's just a question at this point, not a conclusion. It's not like this hasn't happened before, and with much larger companies. Marketing deception is bad and makes me angry too, but it's hardly something that keeps me up at night.
Posts: 6,745
Joined: Oct 2008
Reputation:
317
noggin
Posting Freak
Posts: 6,745
Yes. And real world experience with the S905 is incredibly positive, which is the basis for a lot of people recommending them.
They haven't suddenly stopped doing a great job at video playback. They haven't stopped playing 2160/60p 10 bit HEVC and outputting it over HDMI 2.0 connections at an incredibly low price point...