Quartz64 Zero – A customizable, cost-optimized Rockchip RK3566T SBC with Raspberry Pi PCIe connector

The Quartz64 Zero is a thinner, cheaper version of the Quartz64 Model B with a Rockchip RK3566T quad-core Cortex-A55 SoC clocked at 1.6 GHz, 1GB LPDDR4, and HDMI and USB ports.

The Quartz64 Zero has almost the same design as the Quartz64 with footprints for optional components (more on that later). Two noticeable differences are the presence of the 20-pin PCIe connector compatible with the one found on the Raspberry Pi 5 instead of a mini PCIe socket, and WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 support instead of just WiFi 5/Bluetooth 5.0.

Quartz64 Zero specifications (changes highlighted in bold and strikethrough when items have been removed):

• SoC – Rockchip RK3566T
  • CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.6 GHz
  • GPU – Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1
  • NPU – 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration (Unclear whether it’s present, not listed in the specs)
    
• System Memory – 1GB LPDDR4
• Storage
  • 128 Mbit SPI Flash (Footprint present)
    
  • optional eMMC module from 16GB up to 128GB capacity
  • bootable SDHC/SDXC MicroSD card up to 2TB
• Video Output / Display Interfaces
  • HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60
  • 2-lane MIPI DSI up to 1080p (Footprint present)
• Camera I/F – 2-lane MIPI CSI camera Interface up to 5MP (Footprint present)
• Audio – 3.5mm audio (headephone+mic) jack (Footprint present)
• Networking
  • 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE expansion (Footprint present)
  • Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.4 via AICSemi AIC8800DC
• USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports (Footprint present), 1xUSB 3.0 host port
• Expansion
  • 40-pin GPIO header with I2C, SPI, and UART (Note: headers not soldered)
  • mini PCIe socket
  • Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector
• Misc – RTC battery connector, IR receiver
• Power Supply – 5V/3A DC input via 3.5/1.35mm DC barrel jack
• Dimensions – 85 x 56 mm

The Cortex-A55 cores are clocked at up to 1.6 GHz on the Rockchip RK3566T instead of 1.8GHz for the RK3566 found on the Quartz64 Model B. While both boards are similar, there was no working OS image when the company first launched the board:

Attention: As of July 2024, Quartz64 Zero is a new released SBC and OS build still not yet ready.

So I waited a bit before covering it, and now there’s an Android 13 SDK and image for the Zero. Linux images have not been released although we’re told “All Quartz64 software options should work right out-of-the-box on this board without any major optimizations”. You’ll also find some hardware documentation (schematics, PCB component placement) on the wiki.

So why did Pine64 keep footprints for components and connectors (Ethernet, audio jack, USB 2.0, etc…) on the new board that’s not sold with those? That’s because the Quartz64 Zero has been designed as a low-cost solution for commercial projects and will be sold with a guaranteed supply until at least 2028. Customers can customize the board with the extra components or connectors without asking for PCB changes as long as they order at least 2,000 pieces.

But don’t worry, you can still get a sample for $15.99 in the default configuration. Pine64’s RK3566T SBC can also be found on Ameridroid for $24.95 and “CNXSOFT” coupon lowers the price by one dollar…

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