A new laptop heralded as the first to run on RISC-V-based silicon is now available for pre-order (opens in a new tab) online.
The result of a collaboration between DeepComputing and Xcalibyte, the new ROMA laptop will be powered by a mysterious quad-core RISC-V processor and companion GPU, Arm security enclave, up to 16GB of LPDDR4/X RAM and up to 256GB of memory. over. -Storage of boards.
ROMA, which will support most Linux distributions, is designed primarily for developers working on software designed to run natively on RISC-V chips.
“The native compilation of RISC-V is an important milestone,” said (opens in a new tab) Mark Himelstein, CTO of RISC-V International, the body responsible for promoting instruction set architecture (ISA).
“The ROMA platform will benefit developers who want to test their software running natively on RISC-V. And it should be easy to port code developed on this platform to embedded systems. »
RISC-V hits the laptop market
RISC-V is a free and open source ISA built around the same design principles as Arm's proprietary cores, which collect royalties every time they're built into a chip.
At the moment, RISC-V-based CPUs are much less common than Arm or x86-based chips, but the movement appears to be gaining momentum.
For example, China now relies heavily on RISC-V in hopes of minimizing its reliance on Western semiconductor companies. And even Intel is dabbling in the space, presumably having concluded that x86 can't compete for power efficiency in the long run.
The recent success of Arm-based processors such as Apple's M-series chips is evidence that RISC designs may have a future in the PC and workstation market, which has not been lost on RISC.-V International.
Until now, RISC-V has been found exclusively in development kits, embedded technology, etc., but it seems that the jump to full client devices is on the horizon.
"The ROMA Native RISC-V Development Platform laptop demonstrates the power of collaborative culture and the potential of the RISC-V ecosystem," said Calista Redmond, Executive Director of RISC-V International.
“This design is a crucial bridge between development boards and professional RISC-V-based laptops that will be used for everyday work. We salute the contributions of the entire development team that worked together to make this milestone happen.
To sweeten the deal and mark the occasion, the first 100 models sold will also come with a commemorative NFT. Do what you want with it.
There's been no pricing confirmation as of yet (the "pre-order" process currently only extends to the submission of an Expression of Interest), but the ROMA laptop should start selling and shipping in September.
