FriendlyELEC’s New NAS Kit Features RK3588 SoC with Quad M.2 Key M Slots

FriendlyELEC a well-known manufacturer of SBCs and peripheral devices, has recently unveiled CM3588 NAS Kit a new Rockchip RK3588 board with quard M.2 Key-M sockets. The M.2 can provide a PCIe Gen 3 x1 interface which can take in 2280 NVMe SSDs or other M.2 PCIe modules. The board is also equipped with a 2.5GbE port, dual HDMI ports, dual MIPI DSI ports, and other peripherals.

Previously we have covered many SBCs designed by FriendlyELEC some of those include, NanoPi R5S, NanoPi Neo3, NanoPi R2S, SOM-RK3399, and many other boards. we have also seen many other development boards like the Banana Pi BPI-M7, Indiedroid Nova, the Radxa ROCK Pi 4 SE, and many other SBCs powered by the RK3588 processor.

The NAS kit is designed with a dual-board architecture, consisting of the CPU Board and the Carrier Board, each serving specific functions within the system.

The CPU board consists of the main RK3588 SOC, RAM, RTC, some LED indicators, a PMIC, Audio Codec, and the connectors to connect the CPU board to the carrier board.

The carrier board holds all the key interfaces such as multiple USB ports, including USB 3.0 Type-A and USB-C, 2.5GbE RJ45 networking port, HDMI and MIPI connectors for video output, and a comprehensive GPIO header for various expansion capabilities.

When it comes to software support FriendlyELEC mentions that this device has support for various operating systems including Android, Ubuntu, Debian, Buildroot,  OpenMediaVault, and OpenWrt. They are all built on the very recent Linux 6.1 LTS kernel. You’ll find all those software and instructions on the company’s wiki page. There’s also a separate wiki page for the CM3588 NAS SDK that only provides schematics, PCB layout, and mechanical files.

FriendlyELEC’s RK3588 NAS Kit specifications:

• Core Board (CM3588)
  • SoC: Rockchip RK3588
  • CPU: Quad-core Cortex-A76 (up to 2.4 GHz), Quad-core Cortex-A55 (up to 1.8 GHz)
  • GPU: Arm Mali-G610 MP4
  • Video Decoding: Supports 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2; 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC; 4Kp60 AV1; 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8
  • Video Encoding: 8Kp30 H.265/H.264
  • AI Acceleration: 6 TOPS NPU
  • Memory: Options of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB LPDDR4x @ 2133 MHz
  • Storage: Optional 64GB eMMC
  • Audio Codec: Realtek ALC5616
  • Networking: Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5GbE controller
  • Connectors: 4x 100-pin for USB 3.0/2.0, PCIe Gen 3 x4, 2.5GbE, HDMI, GPIOs
  • PMIC: Rockchip RK806-1
  • Size: 65 x 55 mm, 8-layer PCB
  • Weight: Approx. 21 grams
• Carrier Board (CM3588 NAS SDK)
  • Storage:
    • 4x M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slots
    • MicroSD card slot
    • SPI flash footprint
  • Video Output:
    • 2x HDMI 2.1 ports (one up to 8Kp60, other up to 4Kp60)
    • 1x DisplayPort via USB-C (up to 4Kp60)
    • 4-lane MIPI DSI connector
  • Video Input:
    • 1x HDMI 2.0 port (up to 4Kp60)
    • 4-lane MIPI CSI connector
  • Audio:
    • 3.5mm jack, 2-pin mic connector, PWM buzzer
    • Networking: 2.5GbE RJ45 port
  • USB Ports:
    • 2x USB 3.0 Type-A
    • 1x USB 3.0 Type-C DRP with DisplayPort support
    • 1x USB 2.0 host port
  • Expansion:
    • 4x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x1 sockets
    • 40-pin GPIO header (SPI, UART, I2C, PWM, I2S, GPIO)
  • Misc:
    • RTC battery connector, IR receiver, fan connector
    • Buttons for eMMC flash update, reset, power, recovery mode, user
    • 4x SSD LEDs, 3-pin debug UART header
  • Power Supply:
    • 12V DC (barrel jack or 2-pole terminal block)
  • Size: 160 x 116 mm, 4-layer PCB
  • Operating Temperature: 0 to 70°C

The CM3588 Core module starts at $95, and the full NAS Kit will cost you $130. other options include an 8GB+64GB Kit and power supply for $154.89, plus shipping. The 16GB RAM variant costs an additional $15.

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