The first RISC-V laptop, known as ROMA, is powered by an unnamed quad-core processor and comes with up to 16 GB of LPDDR4X memory and up to 256 GB of storage. Pricing and specific availability information are not yet available. Additionally, it incorporates a GPU and an NPU and supports the majority of Linux distributions.
The world’s first laptop using the RISC-V instruction set, called ROMA, has reportedly gone up for preorder, according to a report by Phoronix(opens in new tab). China-based DeepComputing and Xcalibyte will create ROMA. With support for RISC-V and most Linux operating systems, the laptop has a quad-core RISC-V processor, up to 16GB of LPDDR4/LPDDR4X memory, and up to 256GB of storage. The ROMA represents an important turning point for the RISC-V community.
The architecture is more common in the server business than it has been in the consumer space. However, this RISC-V model will target app developers who use the RISC-V instruction set, hence it will have very little value as a standard laptop. This is in contrast to conventional consumer laptops. The laptop will employ a “world’s first” 12nm/28nm SoM package, according to the DeepComputing news release.
The processor will include four cores, a GPU, and an NPU for accelerating 3D/2D and AI. There will only be 100 ROMA computers made, all of which are now available for preorder. (new tab opens) Each ROMA will have a distinctive NFT, and if you like, you can have your name or your business name engraved on the notepad.
For all intents and purposes, the RISC-V instruction set architecture, which has been around for a while, is one of the better alternatives to the X86 ISA, which is now ruling the PC industry.
RISC-V has not experienced significant mainstream adoption despite being open source, but with the most recent push that began a few years ago, interest in this technology has been significantly increasing. The first laptop powered by RISC-V is being developed by DeepComputing and Xcalibyte, while SiFive is hard at work on several desktop PC iterations.
The first RISC-V laptop development platform, known as ROMA, has an unreleased quad-core CPU variant that is upgradeable for free with new SoC and SoM components. The laptop also benefits from a GPU/NPU accelerator for video encoding and AI applications, and the processor has security enclave features for further security. ROMA currently supports up to 256 GB of storage and 16 GB of LPDDR4 or LPDDR4X RAM.
While XCalibyte is in charge of the software development, which supports the majority of Linux distributions, DeepComputing is in charge of the hardware development. Given that the laptop’s casing resembles an ultrabook from the press release’s image, we can assume that the processor is a ULV type. There is at least one USB-C port, one USB-A port, and an HDMI video output in the port options.
Additionally, the touchpad has a fingerprint reader. A PoS, NFT, and MetaMask-style wallet are also built into ROMA, making it the perfect tool for Web3 developers. To celebrate the launch of the first laptop with a native RISC-V development platform in the world, the first 100 customers who pre-order ROMA will each receive a special NFT.
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