Starting at Just $49, StarFive has Opened a Crowdsourcing Campaign for their VisionFive 2 RISC-V SBC

 The new VisionFive 2, which is much less expensive, was created around the new JH7110 and corrects issues with the first VisionFive.

The VisionFive 2 RISC-V single-board computer (SBC) from StarFive has launched a crowdfunding campaign, promising to be a speedier machine with double the cores, a GPU, and two gigabit Ethernet connectors.

The original VisionFive was a good first design but not without issues. As our testing revealed, performance was hindered by design flaws in the silicon, and reliance on an outmoded end-of-life operating system — a situation that has been resolved by Canonical's recent release of an official Ubuntu Server 22.04.1 image for the board — brought its own challenges.

However, the VisionFive 2 is built on StarFive's latest JH7110 system-on-chip (SoC), which not only corrects the previous JH7100 chip's known issues but also doubles the number of useable processors from two to four and boosts clock speed from 1GHz to 1.5GHz.

The Imagination Technologies IMG BXE-32-4 graphics processor unit, which opens up new workload possibilities for the board and is expected to significantly enhance the desktop experience, is the largest upgrade.

James Liu from Imagination said of the launch, "We are excited to continue our work with StarFive as RISC-V development advances. "Together, we acknowledge the significance of this architecture and strive to promote ecosystem growth. We are happy to see that StarFive is utilizing the RISC-V compatibility of our GPU to open up a variety of SBC implementations across key industries, speeding innovation, and fostering open-source development."

A second gigabit Ethernet port, official support for Fedora and Debian Linux distributions, support for 4K30 video output via the HDMI port, and an additional four-lane DSI port with 2K30 output in addition to the current two-lane DSI port are all examples of further design improvements. The updated board does away with the onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios of the original, however in favor of a more adaptable M.2 M-key slot on the board's underside. Additionally, the two CSI camera ports have been reduced to a single two-lane port.

The VisionFive 2 will have a complete manufacturing run, which means it will come in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models, unlike its predecessor. A pre-production version of the 4GB model will be made available in November of this year for early adopters; however, it will only have one gigabit Ethernet and one 10/100 Ethernet port, as opposed to the two-gigabit ports in the final design. StarFive has promised that the 2GB and 8GB models will ship in February of next year.

StarFive is currently on Kickstarter to fund the development of the boards, with tangible prizes starting at $49 for the early bird 2GB versions. This is a significant discount from the retail price of the original VisionFive, which was $179.