The market for single-board computers (SBCs) is an ever-evolving one, with constant innovations being made to improve their function and reliability.
One of the most recent advances has been the introduction of boards powered by the open-source RISC-V architecture, marking a slow move away from the industry standard, Arm.
Some popular names that have begun shipping RISC-V-powered SBCs are ArmSoM and Milk-V, who have a wide range of products to cater to various use cases, including AI.
Another name in the SBC space that comes to mind is Orange Pi; they have been around for some time, and know the market quite well. But, they never had a RISC-V product.
Well, that changes now. 😃
Orange Pi RV: What to Expect?
Marking the Shenzhen-based outfit's entry into the RISC-V ecosystem, the Orange Pi RV is a compact SBC that has been designed to be high-performing but with low-power features and a capable GPU that can do H.264/H.265 video encoding/decoding.
The RISC-V chip it uses is the same one as found on the Milk-V Mars, with Orange Pi pointing out that it can run Linux distributions, pointing to Debian Linux on its download page.
At the time of writing this, it was not available to download yet. So, you can wait it out before you can find a supported image.
Some key specs include:
CPU: StarFive JH7110 with 4x RV64GC cores running @1.5 GHz
RAM: 2 GB/4 GB/8 GB LPDDR4 @2800 MT/s
Power: Type-C 5V/4A power supply
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5.0 + BT 5.0
GPU: RISC-V architecture
Weight: 54 g
Potential use cases for the Orange Pi RV include things like real-time processing on edge, complex image/video processing, intelligent visual computing, industrial automation, video surveillance, traffic control, and more.
Orange Pi RV ports.
On the I/O port side of things, the Orange Pi RV has a bunch:
4x USB 3.0
1x HDMI 2.0
1x Gigabit Ethernet
40-pin GPIO header
1x 3.5 mm (no mic support)
1x M.2 M-key 2280 (with support for PCIe 2.0)
💰 Pricing and Availability
At the time of writing, the Orange Pi RV was listed on the official website and Amazon (partner link), but was not available for purchase. I suggest you keep an eye out for when it comes in stock on those two sites.
It's FOSS turns 13! 13 years of helping people use Linux ❤️
And we need your help to go on for 13 more years. Support us with a Plus membership and enjoy an ad-free reading experience and get a Linux eBook for free.
To celebrate 13 years of It's FOSS, we have a lifetime membership option with reduced pricing of just $76. This is valid until 25th June only.
If you ever wanted to appreciate our work with Plus membership but didn't like the recurring subscription, this is your chance 😃
Ankush Das
