[Updated: Aug. 5] — Nvidia has launched a 260-pin “Jetson TX2 NX” variant of the TX2 with 4GB LPDDR4, 16GB eMMC, and slightly reduced camera, display, and PCIe Gen2 support.

Nvidia has introduced a spin-down of the Jetson TX2 compute module that falls between the TX2 and the lower-end Jetson Nano. The Jetson TX2 NX runs Linux on the same hexa-core CPU and 256-core Pascal GPU with 1.33-TOPS AI performance as the TX2, and it supplies the same 4GB LPDDR4 and 16GB eMMC as the lower-end 4GB TX2 module. However, it moves from a 400-pin board-to-board edge connector to the 260-pin connector found on the Nano and higher-end Jetson Xavier NX, and has fewer PCIe Gen2, MIPI-CSI, MIPI-DSI, and other interfaces.

Jetson TX2 NX

The Jetson TX2 NX delivers up to 2.5X the performance of Jetson Nano, claims Nvidia. It has the same 69.6 x 45mm form factor as the Nano and Xavier NX compared to 87 x 50mm on the TX2.

Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit

The module is software and pin-compatible with the Nano and Xavier NX and is supported with the Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit. The $200 price of the TX2 NX is lower than that of the TX2.

Here is a quick comparison of the Jetson lineup, ranked in order of ascending processing power:

• Jetson Nano — 69.6 x 45mm; 4x -A57 @ 1.43GHz CPU; 128-core Maxwell GPU; 4GB LPDDR4; 16GB eMMC; 5W/10W; 0.5-TOPS
• Jetson TX2 NX — 69.6 x 45mm; 2x Denver and 4x -A57 CPU; 256-core Pascal GPU; 4GB LPDDR4; 16GB eMMC; 7.5W/15W; 1.33-TOPS
• Jetson TX2i — 87 x 55mm; 2x Denver and 4x -A57 CPU; 256-core Pascal GPU; 8GB LPDDR4 (+ ECC); 32GB eMMC; 10W/20W; 1.26-TOPS; opt. WiFi/BT
• Jetson TX2 — 87 x 55mm; 2x Denver and 4x -A57 CPU; 256-core Pascal GPU; 8GB LPDDR4; 32GB eMMC; 7.5W/15W; 1.33-TOPS; opt. WiFi/BT
• Jetson Xavier NX — 69.6 x 45mm; 6x ARMv8.2 Carmel CPU; 384-core Volta GPU; 48 tensor cores; 8GB LPDDR4; 16GB eMMC; 10W/15W; 21-TOPS
• Jetson Xavier AGX — 105 x 87mm; 8x ARMv8.2 Carmel (-A75 like); 512-core Volta GPU; 64 tensor cores; 16GB LPDDR4; 32GB eMMC; 10W/15W/30W; 32-TOPS

Display support is the same as with the Jetson Nano: 2x multi-mode DP 1.2, eDP 1.4, HDMI 2.0, and MIPI-DSI x2. The original TX2 has the same lineup except that it offers 2x MIPI-DSI x4. Like the TX2, the TX2 NX supports 2x 4Kp60, compared to 1x 4Kp60 on the Nano.

Jetson TX2 NX
(click images to enlarge)

The Jetson TX2 NX supports up to 5x cameras compared to 4x for the Nano and 6x for the TX2. All three offer 12x MIPI-CSI lane. Like the Nano, there is a D-PHY 1.1 sync link for DSI, but it achieves up to 30Gbps throughput instead of 18Gbps on the Nano. The TX2 provides D-PHY 1.2 up to 30Gbps. The TX2 NX has the same 2x 4Kp60 video encode as the TX2, compared to 1x 4Kp60 on the Nano.


Jetson TX2 NX block diagram and pinout
(click images to enlarge)

Another major I/O difference with the TX2 can be found with the PCIe Gen2 support. The TX2 NX supplies single x1 and x2 connections while the TX2 provides single x1 and x4 (or x1, x1, and x2). The Nano offers a single PCIe x4 interface.

The Jetson TX2 NX has the same GbE controller, 4x I2S, and single SDIO interface as the TX2 (2x SDIO on the more rugged Jetson TX2i variant). However, other I/O is reduced. The TX2 NX lacks the TX2’s SATA support and offers USB 3.1 (5Gbps) with 3x USB 2.0 compared to up to 3x USB 3.0 and 3x USB 2.0 on the TX2.

Other differences include 3x UART on the TX2 NX compared to 5x UART on the TX2, 2x SPI compared to 3x, 4x I2C vs. 8x, and a single CAN vs. 2x. It is unclear if the GPIO count and -25 to 80°C operating range as the TX2.

Like the other Jetsons, the TX2 NX runs the Ubuntu- and Linux 4.9 based L4T (Linux4Tegra) distribution and is supported with Nvidia’s JetPack SDK. Pre-trained AI models are available for frameworks such as Tensorflow and Caffe from Nvidia NGC and the Nvidia Transfer Learning Toolkit.

 
Further information

The Jetson TX2 NX is available for $200 in single units, with volume discounts. We saw no announcement of the TX2 NX, but the shopping pages and updated Jetson product page were noticed by CNXSoft.

More information may be found at the Arrow shopping page ($200) and Silicon Highway shopping page (140 Euros). Nvidia’s Jetson product page has been updated with a comparison chart that includes the TX2 NX. There is also a TX2 NX datasheet (PDF). The Nvidia Developer download page where the datasheet is located also provides a 3D STEP model, product and thermal design guides, regulatory and fuse spec documents, and supported components resources for registered developers.