RISC-V hardware ready for daily driving?

MarshReaper@lemmy.world to Linux@lemmy.ml – 105 points –
riscv.org

This is a simple request for information regarding the current viability of RISC-V hardware out in the market and others experience with performance and stability.

I have done minimal online searching before posting here, but I would like to hear the present opinions of everyone. I am not a super computer guy, so I don't quite understand the current ability of Lichee Pi and VisionFive other than having capability for 8gb and above 1.0 GHz.

Somewhat paranoid as to what my intel cpu is doing right now, so I have had RISC-V on my mind for a few years. I have never had the most advanced computers and the highest graphics in games I play would be SuperTuxKart or GMOD.

I just got an i7 for a cheap bundle and it amazed me. On an Intel Architecture scale, what would be the highest comparison of latest hardware taking advantage of RISC-V without the suspicious backdoors and proprietary nonsense.

I have seen ExplainingComputers run applications I use. From what I've seen, it just looks like any old laptop performance I'd pick up on ebay. Is this the time to switch? What are your predictions on consumer hardware for the next decade in relation to RISC-V?

I use Godot 3.5.2 to develop games for x86_64, can I just open that with some compatibility system?

Feel free to bash me for not finding a search result that was plain as day. It happens sometimes.

22

Godot isn't even officially supported on ARM, so I don't expect to see it on RISC-V anytime soon. It might work anyway (if you compile it yourself). Or it might work (slowly) via x86_64 emulation in qemu. But if having Godot working is a make-or-break for you, I'd say this architecture isn't appropriate for you yet.

What are your predictions on consumer hardware for the next decade in relation to RISC-V?

I had 2023 marked as the Year of the RISC-V SBC. But I think it's more than that : with the Lichee Pi coming with Debian pre-installed, and looking stable, RISC-V is on the verge of consumer-grade hardware. There are other devices from Sipeed, Pine64 and others too, of course, including laptops and tablets.

I think the real watershed will come in 2025/26 though. It's widely predicted that more powerful RISC-V processors will be ready by then.

We know that some Chinese tech organisations are working tirelessly on RISC-V, and I think we can expect to see them really pushing the technology. But Qualcomm, Broadcom, NXP etc. are going for it too. Qualcomm (feat. Nuvia) have real design prowess, and also have every reason to go RISC-V.

Explaining computers did a video on him daily driving a RISCV chip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na6PT4npsMg

(Edit: just realized you saw it)

The tldr is that many things work. Debian is pretty stable on riscv but most applications aren't compatible yet. Also, most riscv chips are really weak compared to x86/arm. I wouldn't say you can daily drive it yet.

I think RISCV has a bright future but it's a few years out. Laptops and tablets will be awesome with it thanks to how efficient it is. Handheld devices will also benefit. I'd guess it's 2 years out or so until it's stable to use, and at least 4 years out to start getting mainstream and becoming well-supported.

I use Godot 3.5.2 to develop games for x86_64, can I just open that with some compatibility system?

Highly doubt it.

Not directly related but RISC-V is also really nice to to program with. I hope it takes off because it has fewer niche instructions that may slow down a system (x86 sucks in that regard).

Already have a RISC-V soldering iron, namely Pinecil by Pine64

I use an ESP32-C3 with Risc-v as my daily driver (for reading air quality sensor data off of a custom circuit) but I don't think that's what OP is getting at.

I really like the Lichee Pi 4A, and I hope to get one when I next need to buy a computer. My computing needs are relatively light, and I think the Lichee Pi would be perfectly sufficient.

I check the Alpine repository from time to time - https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages - just to see what apps are available for RISC-V : and actually, it's impressive to see the amount of work that has gone into rebasing apps. Godot doesn't appear to be there for RISC-V though, sorry.

So my advice would be to realise what apps you really need, and check if they're available yet. And if they aren't it's always worth contacting the app maintainer.

I think a webservice scraping Debian, Fedora, Arch and so on for Risc-V apps would be really nice.

Search for common big GUI players and have reminders when they are available.

As far as I know there isn't any real RISC-V desktop ecosystem yet. Most uses these days are embedded. Besides performance, there are a lot of applications that aren't compatible with it. Unless you can verify that your specific needs can be met with RISC-V now, you are probably better off getting a system from System76 or the like that tries to reduce or outright disable IME. Alternatively you may be able to do it with Coreboot/Libreboot.

You may want to check the Pine64 wiki for their RISC V tablet. Different thing but you may be able to get a ballpark of it's current capabilities and possible performance quirks

Aren't they still providing it "wothout any software whatsoever?" As in, you get the tablet, and have to figure out all of the software, and there's no guarantee that any of the hardware components will work with any existing drivers? I got the feeling they were aiming this on at folks developing the hardware drivers.

Even a decade old 486 is decent for "daily driving" if you have really low standards.

t. I'm planning on going "hermit mode" for a bit and enjoy some text-only, old school internet.