Custom PC - UK (2020-08)

CUSTOMISATION/

REVIEW

Model A

3. m
   40-pinGPIOheaderandPow
   (PoE) connector.
   All these ports and connectors are on the
   base board though. The Rock Pi N10 isn’t a
   true single-board computer, but a two-part
   system-on-module (SOM). The computer
   itself is a removable module in the SODIMM
   form factor, which slots into the baseboard to
   make use of its ports. For those looking to build
   a product around the module, it’s a positive
   design feature. For most hobbyists, though,
   it’s largely irrelevant beyond increasing the
   device’s size.
   The Rock Pi N10 is powered by a USB
   Type-C adaptor, but it doesn’t take a 5V input;
   instead, it relies on the USB Power Delivery
   (USB PD) or Qualcomm Quick Charge to
   draw up to 2A at 9-20V. It’s a decision which
   results in trade-offs – using a higher voltage

T

hereleaseofRockchip’s6-c

LITTLERK3399,anditsmore

powerfulProvariant,hasgiven the

single-boardcomputermarketa shot in the

arm.TheOrangePi4 B,reviewedinIssue 202,

wasoneofthem;theRaxadaRockPiN10

ModelA is another.Andthelatteralso has a

rangeoftricksupitssleevethathelpit to stand

outfromthecrowd.

TheRockPiN10A is prettyhefty.The

footprintof104.8x 101.5mmmakesit

considerablylargerthana RaspberryPi, and its

heightof20.7mmis aidedbya beefyfactory-

fittedheatsink,whichalsocontributes to its

scale-tipping137gweight.

The‘A’suffixisn’tjustforshoweither. There

arethreevariants,sensiblynamedModel A,

B,andC.ThereviewedModelA includes 4GB

ofLPDDR3RAManda 16GBon-board eMMC

forstorage;theModelB upsthisto6GB and

32GB;andtherange-toppingModelC offers

8GBofRAMand64GBofstorage.

totheRK3399Pro’

comprisetwo1.8GHzARMCortex-A72sfor

performanceworkloads,andfour1.4GHzARM

Cortex-A53s for lower-power tasks. The Rock

Pi N10 family includes a neural processing unit

(NPU) coprocessor: in the Model A, this NPU

is given 1GB of RAM, leaving 3GB for the CPU

cores and ARM Mali T860MP4 GPU, with that

split changing to 2GB/4GB for the Model B

and 4GB/4GB on the Model C.

Flip over the board and another feature is

revealed. Alongside the usual micro-SD slot

for storage, there are two M.2 slots for use

with optional Wi-Fi adaptors, plus NVMe or

PCI-E hardware, pending as yet unfinished

software support.

Elsewhere on the board you’ll find a Camera

Serial Interface (CSI) connector, Embedded

DisplayPort (EDP) and Display Serial Interface

(DSI) connectors, complementing an HDMI

2 port that supports up to a 4K resolution at

BBYTE

Hz.There’salsosingleUSB3 port,twoUS

ports,a GigabitEthernetconnectoranda

3 m ck, us a RaspberryPi-style

er

g t all of the hea

ich

The two main USB 2

ports are joined by a

single USB 3 to the

opposite side

The Rock Pi N10 is dominated by a hefty
heatsink, which sadly fails to prevent
thermal throttling under heavy load