RK3588 vs RK3588S
Same CPU, GPU, 6 TOPS NPU and video engines. Pick RK3588 when you need PCIe 3.0 x4 (fast NVMe or PCIe expansion), HDMI input, dual GbE MACs or more display outputs. Pick RK3588S for compact, cost-sensitive designs where PCIe 2.1 x1 lanes and one GMAC are enough.
- 4× Cortex-A76 + 4× Cortex-A55
- 6 TOPS NPU (3 cores)
- 8K@60 decode
- PCIe 3.0 x4
- HDMI 2.1 ×2 + HDMI RX
- Same compute as RK3588
- 6 TOPS NPU
- 8K video
- Smaller, cheaper package
- PCIe 2.1 lanes only
Specifications side by side
| RK3588 | RK3588S | |
|---|---|---|
| NPU | 6 TOPS | 6 TOPS |
| Process | 8 nm | 8 nm |
| Introduced | 2022 | 2022 |
| Architecture | ARMv8.2-A, DynamIQ big.LITTLE | ARMv8.2-A, DynamIQ big.LITTLE |
| CPU | 4× Cortex-A76 up to 2.4 GHz + 4× Cortex-A55 up to 1.8 GHz | 4× Cortex-A76 up to 2.4 GHz + 4× Cortex-A55 up to 1.8 GHz |
| GPU | Arm Mali-G610 MP4 (OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2, OpenCL 2.2) | Arm Mali-G610 MP4 |
| Memory | LPDDR4 / LPDDR4X / LPDDR5, up to 32 GB | LPDDR4 / LPDDR4X / LPDDR5, up to 32 GB |
| Storage | eMMC 5.1, SD 3.0, SPI NOR/NAND, SATA 3.0 (combo PHY), NVMe over PCIe | eMMC 5.1, SD 3.0, SPI flash, SATA / NVMe via PCIe 2.1 combo PHY |
| Video decode | 8K@60 H.265 / VP9 / AV1, 8K@30 H.264 | 8K@60 H.265 / VP9 / AV1 |
| Video encode | 8K@30 H.264 / H.265 | 8K@30 H.264 / H.265 |
| Display | HDMI 2.1 ×2, DP 1.4 ×2 (via USB-C), eDP 1.3, MIPI DSI ×2; up to 4 displays | HDMI 2.1 ×1, DP 1.4 (via USB-C), MIPI DSI ×2; up to 4 displays in total |
| Camera / ISP | 48 MP ISP, multiple MIPI CSI-2 D-PHY/C-PHY inputs | 48 MP ISP, MIPI CSI-2 inputs |
Interfaces side by side
| RK3588 | RK3588S | |
|---|---|---|
| PCIe | PCIe 3.0 x4 (bifurcation 1×4 / 2×2 / 4×1) + 3× PCIe 2.1 x1 (shared combo PHY) | PCIe 2.1 x1 lanes via combo PHY (no PCIe 3.0 x4 controller) |
| USB | USB 3.1 Gen1 ×2 (Type-C/DP alt-mode capable), USB 3 host ×1 (combo PHY), USB 2.0 host ×2 | USB 3.1 Gen1 (Type-C/DP), USB 3 host via combo PHY, USB 2.0 host |
| Ethernet | 2× GMAC (RGMII, 10/100/1000) | 1× GMAC (RGMII); more ports via PCIe NICs |
| SATA | Up to 3× SATA 3.0 via combo PHY | SATA 3.0 via combo PHY |
| MIPI | MIPI CSI-2 inputs (D-PHY and C-PHY), MIPI DSI ×2 | MIPI CSI-2 inputs, MIPI DSI ×2 |
| HDMI input | HDMI 2.0 RX, 4K@60 | — |
| I2C / SPI / UART | I2C ×9, SPI ×5, UART ×10 | Similar controller set to RK3588; available count depends on package pin-out |
| GPIO / PWM | 5 GPIO banks, PWM ×16 | — |
| Other | CAN ×3, I2S ×4, PDM, SPDIF, SARADC, SDIO 3.0 | CAN, I2S, PWM, SARADC |
| Operating systems | Linux (vendor 5.10 / 6.1 BSP), Mainline Linux (growing support), Android 12 / 13 / 14, Debian, Ubuntu, Buildroot, Yocto | Linux (vendor 5.10 / 6.1 BSP), Mainline Linux, Android 12 / 13 / 14, Debian, Ubuntu, Buildroot |
Choose RK3588 for
- Edge AI boxes and NVRs
- 8K signage and multi-display kiosks
- Robotics and machine vision
- ARM PCs, servers and NAS
- Industrial HMI with PCIe expansion
Choose RK3588S for
- Compact SBCs
- Handheld / portable devices
- Edge AI cameras
- Thin clients
FAQ
What is the difference between RK3588 and RK3588S?
Same CPU, GPU, 6 TOPS NPU and video engines. Pick RK3588 when you need PCIe 3.0 x4 (fast NVMe or PCIe expansion), HDMI input, dual GbE MACs or more display outputs. Pick RK3588S for compact, cost-sensitive designs where PCIe 2.1 x1 lanes and one GMAC are enough.
Which has the stronger NPU, RK3588 or RK3588S?
Both have 6 TOPS NPU performance.
Is RK3588S software compatible with RK3588?
Both use Rockchip's BSP stack (U-Boot, vendor kernel, RKNN where an NPU exists), so application code ports easily. Device trees, DDR init blobs and some drivers are SoC-specific and must be adapted.
More comparisons
Specs summarised from public sources; verify against official datasheets. Disagree with the verdict? Discuss it in the community.