Rockchip RK3566 and RK3568 datasheets and features comparison

We first covered Rockchip RK3566 processor in February, but we’ve been informed the specifications have changed since then, and earlier this month, we also wrote about RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with the same base features but some extra I/Os.

But due to NDAs, people familiar with the chips could not release too many details, so we did not get the full picture. This has just changed as the datasheets for both processors have just dropped from somewhere here and there, and we can get a much closer look.

RK3566 and RK3568  specifications

RK3566 vs RK3568I’ve highlighted the obvious differences above, with the big ones being the PCIe interface and RK3568 having dual Gigabit Ethernet. The other features comparison can be found in the table below.

Rockchip RK3566
Rockchip RK3568
CPU
Quad-core Cortex-A55
GPU
Mali-G52 EE
AI accelerator
0.8 TOPS NPU
Memory DDR3/DDR3L/DDR4 LPDDR3/LPDDR4/LPDDR4XDDR3/DDR3L/DDR4 with ECC, LPDDR3/LPDDR4/LPDDR4X
Storage NOR flash, SPI NAND, eMMC 5.1 , SATA 3.0, 8K OTPNOR flash, SPI NAND, eMMC 5.1 , 3x SATA 3.0, 8K OTP
Display I/F RGB, LVDS or MIPI DSI, HDMI 2.0a, eDP 1.3, e-Ink; dual-display supportRGB, LVDS or MIPI DSI, HDMI 2.0a, eDP 1.3, e-Ink; triple display support
VPU

Video decode – 4Kp60 H.264/H.265/VP9
Video encode – 1080p60 H.264/H.265
Camera I/F

8M ISP with HDR

4-lane / 2x 2-lane MIPI CSI2 @ 2.5 Gbps per lane
16-bit DVP camera support with BT.656/601/1120
Audio
8-channel I2S/TDM, 2x 2-channel I2S
8-channel PDM
S/PDIF out
Networking1x Gigabit Ethernet (GMAC)2x Gigabit Ethernet (GMAC)
Quad serial gigabit media-independent interface (QSGMII)*
USB 2x USB 2.0 host, 1x USB 2.0 OTG, USB 3.0 host2x USB 2.0 host, USB 3.0/2.0 OTG, USB 3.0 host
PCIePCIe 2.1 1x1 lanePCIe 2.1 1×1 lane
PCIe 3.0 1×2 lane or 2x 1-lane @ 8 Gbps
Other I/OsSDIO 3.0
10x UART, 4x SPI, 16x PWM, 6x I2C, 2x SARADC
SDIO 3.0
10x UART, 4x SPI, 16x PWM, 6x I2C, 3x CAN FD, 8x SARADC
PackageFCCSP565L (body: 15.5mm x 14.4mm; ball size: 0.3mm; ball pitch: 0.65 & 0.4mm)FCBGA636L (body: 19mm x 19mm; ball size: 0.3mm; ball pitch: 0.65mm)

Multiplexed interfaces.

Important note. Rockchip RK3566 and RK3568 are using Multi-PHY Interfaces, and while the table above lists all possible interfaces, they can not all be used at the same time. PCIe, SATA, USB 3.0 are multiplexed in most cases as shown in the diagram below for RK3568.

RK3568 multiplexed sata usb 3.0, pcie
RK3568 multi-PHY interfaces

There are a fair amount of differences, and notably, both processors are not pin-to-pin compatible, so the upcoming Pine64 RK3566 SBC can not be easily upgraded to RK3568. People interested in ECC memory support will have to go with the latter, and so the ones wanting multiple SATA interfaces, PCIe 3.0 support, CAN bus, and/or dual Gigabit Ethernet.

Update: You can check our post about RK3566 benchmarks on Android 11 for more information about performance.

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Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications