The Quartz64 is a single-board computer powered by a Rockchip RK3566 processor featuring four ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores and Mali-G52-2EE graphics. Developed by Pine64, the first versions of the board are now available for purchase for $60 and up.
At this point Pine64 only recommend picking one up if you’re a developer and/or advanced Linux user looking to contribute to development though, since software support for the board is still very much a work in progress.
An entry-level Quartz64 Model-A is a 5.2″ x 3.1 computer with at 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, a microSD card reader and support for an optional eMMC module. It also has plenty of ports and interfaces that make it a useful development platform.
For $20 more you can pick up a Quartz64 Model-A with 8GB of RAM. And later this year Pine64 will offer a smaller Quartz64 Model-B with the same processor, but fewer I/O interfaces. That model measures about 3.3″ x 2.2″, making it about the size of a Raspberry Pi.
The Model-A, which is currently available, has the following I/O feature:
- Digital video in/out (4K/60 10-bit)
- MiPi DSI 4 lane display interface
- MiPi CSI 4 lane camera interface
- i2c Touch Panel port
- E Ink display connector
- Embedded DisplayPort (eDP)
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A
- 3 x USB 2.0 Type-A
- 1 x microSD card slot
- 1 x eMMC slot
- 1 x PCIe x4 slot
- 2 x 10-pin GPIO header
There’s also optional support for a WiFi/Bluetooth module and the system can support an infrared port for use with a remote control.
If you’re looking for a more compact solution, Pine64 is also introducing a new SOQuartz compute module that is still under development. This little system has the same RK3566 processor as its larger Quartz64 siblings and it’ll be available with 4GB or 8GB of LPDDR4 memory. But instead of a microSD card, it’ll have embedded eMMC flash storage as well as support for optional add-on eMMC modules that can be soldered to the board.
The SOQuartz, has a WiFi 5/Bluetooth module built-in, and a pair of 100-pin high-density connectors allowing you to connect the module to various carrier boards.
Right now the SOQuartz is still in the prototype stages and there’s no word on when it will be a available for purchase or how much it will cost when it goes on sale.
That SATA port… me likey.
Are the first set of pictures Model A and the second set Model B? I thought that Model A had the socket PCIe connector and the Model B has the m.2 PCIe connector.