Turing RK1 RK3588 Compute Module is compatible with the Turing Pi 2 Cluster computer (Update: now available for pre-order)

The Turing Pi 2 is a cluster computer board that lets you pair up to four compute modules to create a small, fanless, and low-power system with up to 32 processor cores and 128GB of RAM.

First launched last summer through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign last summer, the Turing Pi 2 is now available for purchase for $259. But in order to actually use the board, you’ll also need one or more compute modules. While the system is compatible with various modules including the Raspberry Pi CM4 and several NVIDIA Jetson boards, the makers of the board also promised to deliver a Turing RK1 board with a Rockchip RK3588 processor. Now it’s finally available for pre-order for $130 and up.

The Turing RK1 is basically a computer-on-a-module complete with a processor, memory, and storage. But it doesn’t have any full-sized ports of its own. Instead it’s designed to plug into the Turing Pi 2 or other compatible carrier boards like a stick of RAM.

The starting price gets you a computer-on-a-module with 8GB of RAM, but there are also 16GB and 32GB models available for $170 and $260, respectively. Those prices, by the way, are $20 to $50 higher than Turing Pi had originally stated when the company first unveiled details about the RK1 module in April, 2023. But the company has also doubled the amount of onboard storage since then.

Each version of the RK1 module measures about 70 x 45 x 1.3mm and features Rockchip’s RK3588 processor with  with 4 Cortex-A76 CPU cores, 4 Cortex-A55 cores, Mali-G610 graphics, a neural processing unit with up to 6 TOPS of AI performance and a video processing unit that can handle 8K video decoding.

The module features 32GB of eMMC 5.1 storage and support for up to 32GB of LPDDR4x or LPDDR5 memory. Each board has 4 lanes of PCIe Gen 3 support as well as support for HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 output.

Keep in mind that the compute modules themselves aren’t particularly useful without a carrier board. Since the RK1 uses NVIDIA’s Jetson pin layout, it should be compatible with any board designed for NVIDIA Jetson modules.

But I suspect most folks looking to pick up an RK1 from Turing Pi will be planning to use it with the company’s Turing Pi 2 cluster board, which sells for $259 and accepts up to four compute modules.

Use four RK1 boards with the Turing Pi 2, for example, and you’ve effectively got a 32-core computer with 128GB of RAM and low power consumption (each RK1 board uses around 7 watts, although adding the Turing Pi 2 and peripherals will drive up the total power usage.

Or you could mix and match modules: the Turing Pi 2 cluster board doesn’t lock you into using the same board. So you could use a Raspberry Pi Compute Module, NVIDIA Jetson module, and RK1 module as part of your cluster to take advantage of each board’s different characteristics.

The Turing Pi 2 cluster board itself has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two mini PCI Express slots, four M.2 2280 ports, two SATA III ports, multiple USB ports, an HDMI port, a 40-pin GPIO header, and a SIM card slot, among other features.

via LinuxGizmos and CNX Software

This article was first published April 23, 2023 and most recently updated July 28, 2023.