Radxa ROCK 5C
86×56mm RK3588S2 SBC with up to 32GB LPDDR4x, WiFi 6, BT 5.4, GbE with PoE, 8K HDMI 2.1, 40-pin GPIO, Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector, and a price starting at $57 — Radxa's compact flagship for the RPi form factor.
$57.11
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Specifications
Components
Rockchip RK3588S2: 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz + 4× Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz, Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, 6 TOPS NPU, 8K H.265/VP9 decode.
GPIO Map
Overview
The Radxa ROCK 5C brings full Rockchip RK3588S2 performance into an 86×56mm board that closely matches the Raspberry Pi 4 footprint. At its price point (from $57), it offers better raw compute, more RAM options, and superior AI/video processing compared to any Pi variant, while maintaining GPIO and PCIe connector compatibility.
Memory scales from 2GB to 32GB LPDDR4x — configurations unavailable on the Raspberry Pi 4. Storage uses an eMMC module socket and microSD, but notably lacks an SPI flash module. The Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector enables direct compatibility with PCIe HATs designed for Raspberry Pi 5, opening up NVMe SSD, M.2 wireless, and custom PCIe HAT ecosystems.
Networking is handled by Gigabit Ethernet with PoE support (requires PoE HAT), and the onboard WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.4 module eliminates the need for a separate wireless card. The HDMI 2.1 output supports up to 8K display, and a MIPI DSI interface handles touchscreen displays up to 2K resolution.
The standard 40-pin GPIO header is mostly Raspberry Pi-compatible, enabling existing Pi HATs to work with minimal modifications. Armbian, Debian, Ubuntu, and Android are all supported. The ROCK 5C is particularly popular as a low-cost ARM desktop, Armbian Linux developer board, and Raspberry Pi 4 replacement where more RAM or compute headroom is needed.
Use Cases
8Home Server
Used as a low-power home server for file sharing, self-hosted apps, and local services — often running Docker, Home Assistant, or similar on Armbian/Debian/Ubuntu.
ARM SBC Development
Used as an ARM Linux development and prototyping platform — running full Debian/Ubuntu for building and testing ARM-native software and embedded Linux applications.
Edge AI
On-device machine learning inference at the edge, without cloud dependency
Embedded Linux
Running a full Linux distribution in embedded or headless applications, such as servers, gateways, edge devices, and automation controllers.
Media Player
Building custom media playback devices for audio, video, or digital signage using DVI/HDMI output.
IoT Gateway
Acting as a local IoT gateway that aggregates data from sensors, runs MQTT broker, Node-RED, or Home Assistant, and bridges to the cloud.
Digital Signage
Driving displays for advertising, information kiosks, or menu boards with 4K video and dynamic content.
home-automation
Resources
Where to Buy
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