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ArmSoM Sige7s Puts the RK3588S on a Raspberry Pi-Sized Board, and There's a Compute Module Too
If you've followed It's FOSS for a while, you probably have seen our previous coverage of ArmSoM devices. I reviewed the Sige7 a while back and came away impressed (cheeky headline and all). Earlier this year, we also covered the Sige6, the first Sige board to swap Rockchip for Allwinner.
Now the Sige lineup is back on Rockchip with the Sige7s. So, what's changed?
The "s" in the name comes from the chip. The RK3588S is the trimmed-down version of the RK3588 that powers the Sige7. You get the same CPU, the same Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, and the same 6 TOPS NPU. What you lose is peripheral bandwidth. There is no PCIe 3.0, one HDMI output instead of two, no HDMI input, and only one Gigabit Ethernet controller.
In simpler words, the compute is the focus here, the I/O is not. If you want a Rockchip SBC fast NVMe drive or dual networking, this isn't the board for you. If you want RK3588-class power in a smaller package for less money, it is.
There are a few more indirect cost optimizations here for the users. Sige7s accepts a wide 5V to 23V input, so you aren't stuck with a specific USB-C power brick. It also uses a removable eMMC module, which means your precious storage isn't stuck to the board if you want to upgrade or reflash it on another machine.
On the display side, there's HDMI 2.1 up to 8K@60fps, a DisplayPort 1.4 over USB-C, and a 2-lane MIPI DSI connector. The hardware video engine decodes 8K@60fps H.265/VP9 and encodes 8K@30fps, so it can double as a serious media box.
The 40-pin header is Raspberry Pi compatible, and ArmSoM says it works with Pi HATs, the Pi 7-inch display, the IMX219-based Pi camera, and Pi 4 cooling solutions. That's a good thing if you already have Pi accessories in your stock or if you want to expand the board.
Alongside the Sige7s, ArmSoM also offers the CM7s, a compute module built around the same RK3588S chip. I checked both spec pages, and the CPU, GPU, NPU, and video engine are identical. It's just a different form factor.
In case you did not know, the compute module contains just the processor, memory, storage, and power management. There are no standard physical input/output ports like USB, HDMI, and Ethernet. Compute modules are more suitable in cases where they need to be embedded.
The CM7s measures 55 x 40mm, pretty much the same size as the Raspberry Pi CM5. Not sure if you can put it into a CM5 carrier board, though.