DeepComputing Unveils the DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard II, an AI-Focused Framework 13 Mainboard
A month after launching the first third-party Mainboard for Framework's Laptop 13, the company's back with a much more powerful successor.
DeepComputing has announced a successor for the world's first third-party Framework Laptop 13 Mainboard, despite having launched it just a month ago: the DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard II, designed with edge artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) in mind.
"This DC-ROMA RISC-V AI PC, aka the DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard II for Framework Laptop 13, enables local execution of large language models (LLMs), allowing AI applications to call local LLM APIs without relying on cloud services," the company says of the device. "This ensures that users maintain full control over their data, enhancing security and privacy. Key AI applications will be supported on this system including Media Player, Developer IDE, Chatbox, Video and Audio AGI [Artificial General Intelligence], and more, offering a seamless and powerful AI development environment."
The unveiling comes a month after the company launched its first-generation Laptop 13 Mainboard, built around the StarFive JH7110 system-on-chip. The company's quieter on what's powering its second-generation successor, stating only that at its heart is "a world-first RISC-V chiplet dual-die connected AI SoC" with eight of SiFive's 64-bit out-of-order execution RISC-V cores and a neural coprocessor delivering a claimed 40 tera-operations per second (TOPS) of minimum-precision compute for on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence workloads.
The board's other specifications include compliance with the ratified RISC-V Vector Extensions (RVV) with a 512b-width vector processing unit, an unspecified 3D graphics processor with up to two tera-operations per second (TOPS) of its own compute, and support for up to 64GB of LPDDR5 memory. With all that, there's no surprise to see DeepComputing positioning the single-board computer as ideal for those looking to experiment with artificial intelligence technology — including large language models (LLMs) and vision language models (LLMs) — locally.
As with its predecessor, the board is designed around Framework's Mainboard specifications — meaning it's a drop-in replacement for existing Mainboards in any model of Framework Laptop 13, and also compatible with third-party desktop cases. It's not compatible, however, with Framework's upcoming Desktop system, which itself targets on-device AI workloads but uses a new board design based on the ITX form factor.
DeepComputing hasn't announced full pricing, but says the DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard II will be launching in the third quarter of this year starting at $299 — with no word yet on how much RAM that gets you. The company is accepting pre-orders on its product page with a $9.90 deposit; the company is also showcasing the device at Embedded World in Nuremberg this week at Hall 5 Booth 5-119.