Loongson CPU that performs like 2020 Core i3 makes its way to Chinese mini PCs
- Reference: 1712993406
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/13/loongson_cpu_mini_pc/
- Source link:
The computers are made by Morefine, which terms its Loongson-powered small desktop offering the [1]M700S . It has pretty standard specs that fit its ¥2,799 (just under $400) price tag: 16GB of DDR4-3200, a 256GB PCIe 3.0 SSD, Wi-Fi 5, and Bluetooth 5. The PC runs Loongson's Loongnix operating system, which is based on Linux.
The real draw for this computer, though, is the CPU, which is [2]Loongson's 3A6000 that debuted last year. The 3A6000's LoongArch architecture takes cues from RISC-V and MIPS, which Loongson used for its prior CPUs. However, LoongArch might be more heavily based on MIPS than Loongson lets on, as one developer calls the [3]Linux kernel code for LoongArch CPUs "a blind copy of the MIPS code."
[4]
With a modest four cores and eight threads running at clock speeds between 2.0 and 2.5 GHz, the 3A6000 doesn't set the world on fire. The limited number of reviews of the 3A6000 indicate it's only about as good as Intel's Core i3-10100 and AMD's Ryzen 3 3100, both of which launched in 2020 and have four cores and eight threads. The latest entry-level chips from the two American companies would undoubtedly outclass the 3A6000 substantially.
[5]Chinese schools testing 10,000 locally made RISC-V-ish PCs
[6]Beijing issues list of approved CPUs – with no Intel or AMD
[7]Uncle Sam designates more Chinese tech slingers as military collaborators
[8]China's Loongson debuts processor that 'matches Intel silicon circa 2020'
Although it's not a performance champion, the 3A6000 is fairly efficient [9]according to a review by an employee of Asus, which is a partner of Loongson. While the Core i3-10100 consumed up to 52 watts, the 3A6000 consumed only 42, making it more efficient than the Intel chip in benchmarks where the performance level was even or in Loongson's favor. That's a low-enough power draw to fit into mini PCs such as the M700S.
The same review showed the 3A6000 matching the Core i5-14600K when at the same clock speed of 2.5 GHz, indicating the Chinese CPU has an equivalent instructions-per-clock (IPC) rate of Intel's Raptor Lake architecture. Other reviews found the 3A6000 matches the IPC of AMD's 2020 Zen 3 architecture.
[10]
In the wider market of mini PCs, the Morefine M700S isn't a great deal overall. There are plenty of entry-level models that boast AMD and Intel chips with more performance than the 3A6000, and sometimes more memory and storage, too.
However, Loongson may not need to worry too much about competition since the Chinese government seems poised to [11]banish AMD and Intel silicon from the country. That would leave Loongson and similar companies such as Zhaoxin, which makes x86-compatible CPUs, as candidates to fill the void in the PC market. ®
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[1] https://item.jd.com/10100670938060.html?
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/loongson_3a6000/
[3] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/87pmu1q5ms.wl-maz@kernel.org/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZhpXuDWt3L4xvaWttn9qLgAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/china_schools_riscv_pc/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/china_approved_tech_list/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/01/us_china_military_collaborators/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/loongson_3a6000/
[9] https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15u4y1A7aK/?vd_source=b1d7076cbe7eab656ccc9e2a8fb982c2
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZhpXuDWt3L4xvaWttn9qLgAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/china_approved_tech_list/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Good enough
For them it will be good enough really, for tens of millions of office boxes, given enough RAM etc
Promising, but ...
This 3A6000-based system would have been a much better one to give to 10,000 Chinese schoolkids than that based on the half-as-performant [1]3A5000 (IMHO), and will also be a much better target for one of Simon's upcoming [2]Desktop Tourism destinations.
The chip tops-off at 2.5 GHz, needing liquid N₂ cooling beyond that, which puts it at a serious disadvantage relative to (laptop-oriented) x86 that readily turbo to 3.9 GHz (and more for Desktop chips). Also, the perf assessment is based on [3]SPEC CPU 2006 which likely underweights dynamic language workloads (JAVA, Javascript, Python, ...).
I think I'll curb my enthusiasm a bit until a proper (i.e. ElReg) desktop tourist field tests this cute little M700S gizmo ... to see if it is really "Morefine" than homegrown varieties, on the yummy spectrum of up-in-smoke performance!
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/china_schools_riscv_pc/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Desktop%20tourism/
[3] https://wccftech.com/china-loongson-3a6000-cpu-reaches-core-i5-14600k-performance-clock-to-clock-test-overclocked-to-3-ghz/
"the Morefine M700S isn't a great deal overall. " ... indeed
... why 400 USD for a box which costs 130 USD with a Celeron N100?
Is the M700S that expensive to produce?
Probably not exactly a bargain.
I still use a ca 2012 i3 laptop with 8G ram which is quite usable with a variety of linux/unix installs so a 2020 i3 equivalent risc box might actually be an improvement although at USD400 probably not really a bargain.
If the processor design and firmware were open and auditable it might be more attractive but I suspect that even the PRC domestic version would be riddled with surveillance hooks, backdoors and vulnerabilites.