How is RISC-V better than x64? Aren't both of them just ISAs? The only pro I can find is that RISC V is cleaner (less legacy). But no one programs in assembly these days so why is this an issue?
BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
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Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#42Where's the source code?
The marketing page indicates that the product isn't finished yet.
Presumably, they will release schematics and such when the device enters manufacturing, if they follow through on actually being Open Hardware.
As others mention, the processor core designs probably won't be open.
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#43Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#44How is RISC-V better than x64? Aren't both of them just ISAs? The only pro I can find is that RISC V is cleaner (less legacy). But no one programs in assembly these days so why is this an issue?
It's more about the licensing of the ISA. Try creating your own compatible x86 processors, and find out how long it takes before Intel's attack lawyers come down on you. ARM is a bit better but you still have to pay licensing fees. For people who want to git clone a design and manufacture it without involving lawyers or licensing fees, RISC-V is likely the best choice.
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#45Can someone explain the technical benefits of this architecture over the competition? That is should I be excited if I don't care about e.g. openness? Or is it simply an effort to create something that is a half-decent cpu alternative but open? Is there anything about RISC-V that is "better" simply because it is a later design than others? Is it likely to evolve faster because it is open or more modern?
I think in the real world "No percentage of each sale payments to ARM" is what will drive RISC-V. An "open" ISA doesn't force anything else to be open.
So, use cases like Western Digital, where they can quit paying ARM a percentage of every hard drive they sell, for example.
As for technical advantages, each RISCV vendor has their own choice of how to implement, so it's hard to say anything broad that applies to all RISCV implementations. The Berkeley BOOM project is hitting really good DMIPS/MHz numbers. LowRISC has some interesting memory tagging and "minion core" ideas, etc.
Edit: I left out perhaps the most important reason RISCV has a lot of hype. They've been successful getting first class support from the Linux kernel maintainers.
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Highly unlikely to be very competitive. At this stage it's about getting RISC-V hardware into developers' hands, and previous boards either cost $1000 or were limited in ways where they could not run Linux well. (I am one of the Fedora/RISC-V maintainers.)
Just saw this SiFive board HiFive is retailing for $679, can you please comment if this is any good for toying around ? Specs look more than decent - almost desktop class computing. https://www.crowdsupply.com/sifive/hifive-unmatched
I have a couple on order, and I've talked to one of the developers. It looks nice - PCIe, NVRAM SSDs, mini ITX format, 16GB RAM, more cores, etc - but not in the same price point or market segment as an SBC. We will likely buy a pile of them to do Fedora builds.
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#47How is RISC-V better than x64? Aren't both of them just ISAs? The only pro I can find is that RISC V is cleaner (less legacy). But no one programs in assembly these days so why is this an issue?
Think of it as MP3 vs Ogg Vorbis. It's equivalent, slightly newer and a bit nicer, but really the benefit is that it's patent-unencumbered and you are free to tinker with the ISA and build your own versions at will.
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#48Where's the source code?
SiFive CPUs are just as closed as Arm ones, you just pay a royalty to SiFive instead of Arm.
Only the ISA itself is open, (fast) implementations are not. (for any commercial-grade one instead of academic projects)
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#49Most RISC-V processors use really old node sizes. Even Raspberry Pi is on 28nm. To be more efficient and complete with mainstream processors a move to 10/12nm is required.
I think everyone is well aware of that, but unless you're making and able to sell millions of boards and have hundreds of millions in cash flow, there's no real path to using 10nm or smaller nodes. FWIW AllWinner are currently manufacturing 5 million RISC-V chips (with TSMC IIRC). I don't know what node they are using.
AllWinner's XuanTie 906 RISCV chip is supposedly 22nm.
https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/11/09/xuantie-c906-based-a...
Re: BeagleV – An affordable RISC-V computer designed to run Linux
#50Awesome project! But please compress your images, it took me 2 minutes to load your website.
Convert everything to <300kb progressive jpg and use svg for graphics.