StarFive Opens Crowdfunding for the VisionFive 2 RISC-V SBC, Beginning at Simply $49

StarFive has opened crowdfunding for its second hobbyist-focused RISC-V single-board laptop (SBC), the VisionFive 2 — promising a quicker machine with twice the cores, a GPU, and twin gigabit Ethernet ports.

The unique VisionFive, unveiled late final yr and offered completely in 8GB kind from March this yr, was a robust preliminary design however not with out its troubles: as our testing confirmed, design flaws within the silicon hampered efficiency whereas reliance on an outdated end-of-life working system — a state of affairs now resolved by Canonical’s latest launch of an official Ubuntu Server 22.04.1 picture for the board — introduced its personal difficulties.

The VisionFive 2, although, relies on StarFive’s next-generation JH7110 system-on-chip (SoC) — not solely fixing the recognized flaws within the authentic JH7100 chip however doubling the variety of usable processors from two to 4 and growing the clock pace from 1GHz to 1.5GHz.

The most important change, although: the introduction of a graphics processing unit (GPU), the Creativeness Applied sciences IMG BXE-32-4, which unlocks new workload prospects for the board and will significantly enhance the desktop expertise.

“As RISC-V growth accelerates, we’re thrilled to proceed our collaboration with StarFive,” says Creativeness’s James Liu of the launch. “Collectively we recognise this structure’s significance, and we share a typical aim of driving ecosystem progress. We’re happy to see StarFive leveraging our GPU’s compatibility with RISC-V to unlock a variety of SBC implementations throughout main markets, accelerating innovation and supporting open-source growth.”

Different modifications within the design embody the addition of a second gigabit Ethernet port, official assist for each Fedora and Debian Linux distributions, assist for 4k30 video from the HDMI port, and a four-lane DSI port with 2k30 output alongside the present two-lane DSI port. Not all of the modifications will likely be welcomed, nonetheless: the brand new board drops the unique’s on-board Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, although in favor of a extra versatile M.2 M-key slot on the board’s underside, and the 2 CSI digicam ports have been trimmed all the way down to a single two-lane port.

In contrast to its predecessor, the VisionFive 2 is to take pleasure in a full manufacturing run — that means it will likely be obtainable in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB variants. The 2GB and 8GB fashions will ship in February subsequent yr, StarFive has promised, whereas a pre-production model of the 4GB mannequin will likely be obtainable in November this yr for early adopters — however can have one gigabit Ethernet and one 10/100 Ethernet port, instead of the 2 gigabit ports within the ultimate design.

StarFive is funding the boards’ manufacturing through Kickstarter, with bodily rewards starting at $49 for the early chicken 2GB fashions — an enormous discount from the $179 retail worth of the unique VisionFive.