To help design and implement high-speed cryptographic algorithms, I maintain a variety of CPUs. Most are either ARM or x86 (the most important architectures at the moment), and most run Arch Linux (which keeps their compilers very current).
AMD Ryzen
▸ ISA: Intel 64 w/ AES, AVX2, BMI
▸ CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 @ 3.0 GHz (8 core) - "Summit Ridge" (2017)
▸ Memory: 8 GB DDR4-2666, 64K I/32K D L1 caches
▸ Cost: $320 CPU, $80 motherboard, $110 RAM (4/2017)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux
MACCHIATObin
▸ ISA: 64-bit ARMv8-A w/ AES
▸ CPU: Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz (4 core) - In Marvell ARMADA 8040 SoC (2016)
▸ Memory: 4 GB DDR4 SDRAM, 48K I/32K D L1 caches
▸ Cost: $360 (10/2017)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux ARM
ESPRESSObin
▸ ISA: 64-bit ARMv8-A w/ AES
▸ CPU: Cortex-A53 @ 1 GHz (2 core) - In Marvell Armada 88F3720 SoC (2016)
▸ Memory: 1 GB DDR3 @ 800 MHz, 32K I/24K D L1 caches
▸ Cost: $50 (5/2017)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux ARM
Intel Airmont
▸ ISA: Intel 64 w/ AES, SSE 4
▸ CPU: Intel Celeron N3150 @ 1.6 GHz (4 core) - In Braswell SoC (2015)
▸ Memory: 8 GB DDR3-1600, 32K I/24K D L1 caches
▸ Cost: $150 ZOTAC CI323 Nano barebone system (5/2016)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux
Intel Skylake
▸ ISA: Intel 64 w/ AES, AVX2, BMI
▸ CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 @ 3.3 GHz (4 core) - Skylake-S (2015)
▸ Memory: 16 GB DDR4-2133, 32K/32K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $220 CPU, $100 motherboard, $90 RAM (9/2015)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux
Samsung ODROID-C1
▸ ISA: 32-bit ARMv7-A w/ NEON
▸ CPU: Cortex-A5 (4 core) @ 1.5 GHz - In Amlogic S805 SoC (2014)
▸ Memory: 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 32K/32K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $38 (6/2015)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux ARM
Cubieboard 2
▸ ISA: 32-bit ARMv7-A w/ NEON
▸ CPU: Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz (2 core) – In an Allwinner A20 SoC (2012)
▸ Memory: 1 GB DDR3 @ 480 MHz (not expandable), 32K/32K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $65 (8/2013)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux ARM
Samsung Chromebook Series 3
▸ ISA: 32-bit ARMv7-A w/ NEON
▸ CPU: Cortex-A15 @ 1.7 GHz (2 core) – In an Exynos 5250 SoC (2012)
▸ Memory: 2 GB DDR3 @ 800 MHz (not expandable), 32K/32K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $230 (8/2013)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux ARM
Via Artigo A1200
▸ ISA: Intel 64 w/ SSE4.1, VIA PadLock
▸ CPU: Via Nano U4200E @ 1.0 GHz (2 core, 2011)
▸ Memory: 2GB DDR3-1066, 64K/64K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $320 (8/2013)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux
TonidoPlug 2
▸ ISA: 32-bit ARMv5TE
▸ CPU: Feroceon 88FR131 @ 800 MHz - In a Marvell 88F6283 (2010)
▸ Memory: 512 MB DDR3, 16K/16K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $120 (11/2013)
▸ Installation: Standard Arch Linux ARM
Lemote Mini PC
▸ ISA: 64-bit MIPS III
▸ CPU: Loongson 2F @ 800 MHz (2008)
▸ Memory: 512 MB DDR2, 64K/64K L1 caches
▸ Cost: $190 (7/2012)
▸ Installation: Officially supported by Debian installer. I couldn’t get grub to work, so I’m using the built in PMON. Steps: Run installer, boot into PMON, load then g the installed kernel, edit boot.cfg for the installed kernel/initrd instead of grub.
Apple Mac Mini G4
▸ ISA: 32-bit PowerPC w/ AltiVec
▸ CPU: Freescale 7447a @ 1.42 GHz (2004)
▸ Memory: 1 GB DDR-333, 32K/32K caches
▸ Cost: $600 (2005)
▸ Installation: Standard Debian installation
Apple Power Macintosh G5
▸ ISA: 64-bit PowerPC w/ AltiVec
▸ CPU: PowerPC 970fx @ 1.8GHz (x2) (2002)
▸ Memory: 4 GB DDR-400, 64K I/32K D L1 caches
▸ Cost: $225 on eBay (3/2010)
▸ Installation: Standard Debian installation