Yesterday, Rockchip had an event for their Atom x3-C3230RK SoCs (previously known as Sofia) developed in collaboration with Intel, and upcoming Android 5.1 tablets and smartphones based on the new platform, as well as progress with their first 64-bit ARM SoC (RK3368) that is now integrated into Android TV boxes, albeit still in development. Padnews wrote a summary of the event, but in this post I’ll focus on Rockchip RK3368 hardware.
One of the first product will be X6 TV box. Padnews did not have a readable picture with the specs, but Eric of Geekbuying also went to the event, and kindly provided a clear picture with the specs (Mali-600MP is however not the GPU used in RK3368):
- SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor with PowerVR G6110 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.x/2.0/3.x, OpenGL 3.2, DirectX 9.3, OpenCL 1.2 EP, and Renderscript
- System Memory – 1 or 2 GB RAM
- Storage – 8 to 16 GB eMMC flash
- Video Output – HDMI, composite RCA
- Audio Output – HDMI, stereo RCA
- Connectivity – Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
- USB – 1x USB host port, 1x USB OTG port (full size)
- Dimensions – 188 x 115 x 34 mm
The device will run Android 5.0.
Traditionally, Rockchip has gone with Mali GPUs, except with RK3168, and now, RK3368 that features PowerVR G6110, the most powerful GPU of imagination’s entry-level PowerVR Series6XE family.
Don’t expect amazing performance, as RK3368 will not be quite as fast as RK3288, but it will be more cost effective. I’ve also been told X6 has been designed or the Chinese market only, and won’t be sold overseas, but that other RK3368 products are being developed for the rest of the world…
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Is it only quad-core, not octa-core?
This RK3368 is octa core , 64 bit.
@Eric
@Gabe
Oops.. my bad. Yes, it’s indeed an 8 core processor.
does is support TV tuners ??
@natsu
you’ll need to root it and cross-compile the kernel modules
@TC
but, I think Rockchip is a closed source :p
No its not anymore , used to be though
So its the next gen and 64bit but its not even as fast as the past gen and still doesnt support GB Ethernet or 802.11ac wifi? This has fail written all over it
It’s still closed source as they dont share anything for Android SDK and so on….
@kusta
Then what is this, isn’t it their Android SDK?
https://bitbucket.org/T-Firefly/firefly-rk3288
http://git.jp.linux-rockchip.org/?p=rk3288_r-box_android4.4.2_sdk.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/master
when the h..
they move to X86 as Intel CEO said ???
never ?? 🙂
it is 2 year old story from Intel peon
No information about a possible RK3388 ?
You are ofc wrong my friend everything you need is out there way back to RK3066 you just need skills to tweak to own needs
A typo?
>and now, RK3288 that features PowerVR G6110
It should be 3368, right?
Also, why do you think 64 bit octa core A53 will be less fast than A17 quad core? You mean processor frequency rather than overall performance…?
@olin ah you may be right. A17 dmips / processor cycle ratio is 4, while A53 ratio is only 2.3.
@olin
I’ve fixed the typo.
Cortex A53 is the 64-bit successor of Cortex A7 core. (2.3 DMIPS/MHz vs 1.9 DMIPS/MHz)
So it’s a low power core. To get any performance improvement over current Cortex A15/A17 processor, we’ll need to see Cortex A57 or A72 processors.
Maybe I should write a post with a chart to explain this.
I thought one of the main changes in RK3368 was support for HDMI 2.0 and 4K@60fps HEVC decode with 4K@60Hz output?
Eny Technology told me they made that box (maybe it’s one of their partners through).
One more picture: http://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/X6_TV_box.jpg
@Harley
There are actually RK3288 boxes that have HDMI 2.0 and output 4K@60hz.
HPH NT-V6B & UGOOS UT3S
Some more detail, check this link: http://www.enybox.com/En/news/html/?451.html
More cost effective than RK3288, does that mean it will be below $70?
@Gabe
Be very careful of cheap products. They usually come with low quality RAM/EMMC, no heatsinks with no firmware updates afterwards and locked bootloaders. I think the RK3288 still has lots more firmware support and troubleshooting done and it will take several months before RK3368 is as stable, software wise.
@mo123
They don’t work with all 4K TVs however, only the ones that support YPbPr 4:4:4, but maybe RK3368 will properly support 4:2:0 mode mode.
No RK3388, Rockchip chose “RK3368” because the number “38” is not a lucky number (they do not like, like our “13” and similar).
Confirmed by them just now
Here a picture of the ZERO Devices Z64, powered by RK3368:
http://www.zero-devices.com/images/ZERO_Devices_Z64_1.jpg
http://chinagadgetsreviews.blogspot.ro/2015/05/photo-gallery-csq-csa90-android.html
@Javi
’38’ just sounds rude; RK3388 sound like the RKBITCHBITCH chip 🙂
@onebir
RK3838 would have been truly rude 🙂
CSA90 1GB RAM, 8GB flash $77:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CSA90-Smart-TV-Box-Android-5-1-RK3368-Cortex-A53-Octa-Core-64bit-1GB-8GB-2GB/32351163036.html