At first glance it would be easy to mistake Firefly’s Station P3D for an Intel NUC or just about any other similarly-sized mini PC. But there are a few key things that make the Station P3D different.
First, instead of an Intel or AMD processor, it’s powered by a Rockchip RK3588 ARM-based processor. Second, it has a modular design that allows you to select the ports you want the little computer to have… or swap them out for a different set in the future. Update: Firefly has temporarily removed the Station P3D from its website “due to further testing requirements” that are required before it can be released.Â
The Station P3D is basically a computer with a two-tier design. In the top section of the computer is a mainboard with the computer’s processor, memory, storage, and a standard set of ports that includes:
- 1 x HDMI 2.1 output
- 1 x HDMI 2.0 output
- 1 x HDMI 2.0 input
- 1 x USB-C
- 2 x USB 3.1Â Gen 1 Type-A
- 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
- 1 x microSDÂ card reader
- 1 x DC power input
But the bottom section features an expansion board, with Firefly offering several different options including a “standard” board with a few USB ports, an Ethernet jack, and VGA and S/PDIF ports. Or you can opt for a multi-display board that provides five additional HDMI ports, a multi-Ethernet port with four Ethernet jacks, or other boards that add USB ports, serial ports, or HiFi audio ports.
Each version of the Station P3D is powered by Rockchip’s RK3588 processor, which features:
- 4 x ARM Cortex-A76 CPU cores @ 2.4 GHz
- 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores @ 1.8 GHz
- Mali-G610 MP4 graphics @ 1 GHz)
- NPU with up to 6 TOPS AI performance
The computer will be available with 4GB to 32GB of LPDDR4, LPDDR4x, or LPDDR5 memory and 16GB to 256GB of eMMC storage, but it also has an M.2 2280 slot for PCIe 3.0 NVMe storage.
Wireless capabilities include WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 and there’s also support for an optional 4G LTE or 5G module. The Station P3D has an aluminum chassis that measures 128 x 128 x 73mm (5″ x 5″ x 2.9″).
Firefly says the system supports Android 12, Ubuntu, Buildroot, and RTLinux operating systems, among others.
Firefly is selling the Station P3D with 8GB of RAM and 64GB of storage for $399.
via LinuxGizmos