The First RISC-V Laptop Announced With Quad-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, Linux Support

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www.phoronix.com, Jul. 01, 2022 – 

RISC-V International has relayed word to us that in China the DeepComputing and Xcalibyte organizations have announced pre-orders on the first RISC-V laptop intended for developers. The "ROMA" development platform features a quad-core RISC-V processor, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and should work with most RISC-V Linux distributions.

The ROMA development platform sounds interesting with a quad-core RISC-V CPU (although clock frequencies are not noted), a GPU/NPU accelerator, up to 16GB of LPDDR4/LPDDR4X RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and claims of upgradeability for the laptop "at generous discounts or for free."

DeepComputing and Xcalibyte say this laptop uses an "unannounced" quad-core RISC-V processor so is very light on the details. But frankly if it wasn't a RISC-V International PR contact relaying this to me, it sounds more like a satire announcement.

The ROMA press release today goes on to note, "A Web3-friendly platform with NFT creation and publication plus integrated MetaMask-style wallet, ROMA will create an even more integrated experience with future AR glasses and AI speakers operating entirely on RISC-V software and powered by RISC-V hardware."

Quantities are also said to be limited for this ROMA laptop, which likely will put a pricing premium on it. Their cringe-worthy press release filled with buzzwords and scant technical details goes on to note, "The first 100 customers to pre-order ROMA will receive a unique NFT to mark the birth of the world's first native RISC-V development platform laptop. And you can have your ROMA personally engraved with your name or company name."

Speaking of price, their buzzword-filled press release directs interested customers to this webpage. Though as of writing I don't see any actual pre-order area but rather just a web form to put your name and contact information and desired quantity. No word on firm pricing or expected availability. Heck not even any renders of what this laptop is supposed to look like...

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