"Demonstrated at the Linley Fall Processor Conference, the HiFive Unmatched is billed as the 'world’s fastest native RISC-V development platform.'"
CNXSoft - Embedded Systems News
"The mini-ITX standard form factor makes it easy to build a RISC-V PC."
The HiFive Unmatched from SiFive ushers in a new era of RISC-V Linux development platform in a PC form factor. Powered by the SiFive Freedom U740 RISC-V SoC and targeted for creating RISC-V applications, the platform features 16 GB of 64-bit DDR4 memory operating at 2400 MT/s, high-speed interconnects with PCIe Gen 3 x8 operating at 7.8 GB/s, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB 3.2 Gen 1. Software development is supported with Freedom U-SDK from SiFive, which provides a fast and convenient software environment to quickly build and modify a custom Linux distribution for this RISC-V PC.
The Freedom U740 SoC is the highest performance RISC-V processor available today, and the Unmatched board is ready to be your next desktop.
In February 2018, SiFive launched the HiFive Unleashed board, a demonstration and evaluation board for the highest-performance RISC-V processor available at the time, the Freedom U540. While it did not include common PC interfaces like PCIe or USB, it offered expansion opportunities via a ChipLink high-speed serial interface. A few months later, the Microsemi HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board launched to supplement the Unleashed with PCIe, USB, HDMI, and a host of additional peripherals for experimentation and development. This combination brought a usable desktop RISC-V PC to users for the first time.
The Unmatched board is a significant performance iteration and cost reduction from this combination, and SiFive is proud to be able to be able to bring an exceptional RISC-V platform to an even wider audience of users and developers.
1. DDR4 SDRAM | 9.Expansion header | 17. M.2 Key E connector |
2. PMIC | 10. Current monitor | 18. M.2 Key M connector |
3. QSPI flash | 11. JTAG header | 19. x16 PCIe connector |
4. PCIe switch | 12. microSD card slot | 20. Front panel header |
5. USB hub | 13. microUSB-UART console | 21. 24-pin ATX power connector |
6. PCIe-USB bridge | 14. RJ45 connector | 22. FU740 reset |
7. Ethernet PHY | 15. x2 USB connector | 23. Global reset |
8. UART-USB controller | 16. x2 USB connector | 24. On/off switch |
A full suite of documentation will be available on the SiFive website, including:
Additionally, the board will ship with a microSD card preloaded with the SiFive Freedom U-SDK, including these components:
A typical desktop PC build will need to add:
We are in the process of validating commodity SSD, GPU, and wireless card options. We will post fully validated recommendations in the coming weeks.