Radxa Unveils "Desktop-Level" Rock 5 Model B, Powered by a Rockchip RK3588 Eight-Core SoC
Built into a pico-ITX form factor, this compact board packs up to 16GB of RAM, an eight-core processor with NPU, and even an HDMI input.
Radxa has announced the impending launch of a new single-board computer, claimed to offer "desktop-level" performance thanks to a Rockchip RK3588 system-on-chip: the Rock 5 Model B.
Designed around the pico-ITX form factor, measuring just 100×72mm (around 3.94×2.8"), the Rock 5 Model B is based around the Rockchip RK3588 system-on-chip — giving it eight processing cores, split between four low-power Arm Cortex-A55 cores running at up to 1.8GHz and four high-performance Cortex-A76 cores running at up to 2.4GHz, an Arm Mali G610MC4 graphics processor, a neural network coprocessor, and 8k video codecs.
To this the company has added 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB of LPDDR4x memory, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 radios, and 2.5-gigabit Ethernet with Power over Ethernet (PoE) support. There are two HDMI 2.1 outputs supporting 8k resolutions at 60 frames per second, plus USB Type-C with DisplayPort support for a third 8k output — albeit at a reduced 30 frames per second. Interestingly, the board also includes an HDMI input with support for 4k resolutions at 60 frames per second.
Elsewhere on the board is a PCI Express 3.0 M.2 slot, designed for an optional high-speed Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) storage device, and three USB 3.0 ports. Those who don't need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity, meanwhile, can remove the module from the top of the board to expose an M.2 E-key slot for additional hardware. Naturally, there's also a Raspberry Pi-style general-purpose input/output (GPIO) header to the top of the board.
Radxa has confirmed a planned second-quarter 2022 launch for all three models of the board, with pricing set at $129 for the 4GB model, $149 fr the 8GB, and $189 for the range-topping 16GB variant. Those willing to pre-book, however, can pay $5 now to receive a code good for a $50 discount on any model — bringing the prices down to $79, $99, and $139 respectively.
More information on the board, as well as links to resellers for the discount code, are now available on the Radxa forum.