I've found my self very interested on Raspberry Pi. Although, I think it's not powerful enough for my project, so I was wondering how could I build a more powerful SoC computer, with a bigger board, more RAM memory and an ARM chip as powerful as current tablets and smartphones. Is that possible? Do they sell those chips to normal people? How can I build a SoC computer?
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2\$\begingroup\$ This is a vague question. It might be better to start with a smaller goal. \$\endgroup\$– Brian CarltonCommented Nov 28, 2012 at 0:48
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\$\begingroup\$ But I mean, is it even possible nowadays? \$\endgroup\$– danieldaquinoCommented Nov 28, 2012 at 3:30
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1\$\begingroup\$ @user1164161 You would save a ton of money buying one of those tablets that is massively produced and just install what you need. That is NOT easy to design yourself. \$\endgroup\$– KortukCommented Nov 28, 2012 at 10:33
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It's certainly possible - the Raspberry Pi team were self-funded, and did the design themselves. However it is neither cheap nor easy to do it yourself.
1) Cost is much greater for small production volumes. Getting 1 SoC computer PCB made might cost you $100.
2) Not all the chips are available to the public, especially the more cutting-edge ones. The normal purchasing process for the Broadcom chip used in the Pi involves buying thousands. The "stacked RAM" process used isn't friendly to small volumes either.
3) If you think the Raspberry Pi doesn't have enough computing power, you may be misunderstanding your project (you haven't said what it is).
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\$\begingroup\$ I'll second the comment about availability. The primary driver for high-end SoCs is the mobile phone industry. Volumes tend to be 250k units upwards. Package-on-Package memory is not impossible at small volume, but will vastly reduce the choice of assembly contractors you can use. It's also rather more expensive than regular DDR-DRAM. \$\endgroup\$– MarkoCommented Nov 28, 2012 at 10:26