Hardware

Styrene supports a range of ARM and x86 hardware for edge deployment. This document covers recommended boards, supported platforms, and hardware selection guidance.

TierBoardPriceUse Case
ImmediateNanoPi-R5C$49-65Proven, dual 2.5GbE, mainline kernel
Sweet SpotRadxa-ROCK-4D$30-45RPi form factor, 6 TOPS NPU
Sweet SpotNanoPi-R76S$70-130Router form, 6 TOPS NPU, dual 2.5GbE
Long-TermRadxa-NIO-12L$99-14910yr lifecycle, mainline now

Supported SoCs

Rockchip Family

SoCCPUNPUProcessMainline Status
RK35664× A55 @ 1.8 GHz1 TOPS22nmMature
RK35684× A55 @ 2.0 GHz1 TOPS22nmMature
RK35764× A72 + 4× A536 TOPS8nmKernel 6.15+
RK3588S4× A76 + 4× A556 TOPS8nmKernel 6.13+
RK35884× A76 + 4× A556 TOPS8nmKernel 6.13+

MediaTek Genio Family

SoCCPUNPUEOL
Genio-5102× A78 + 6× A553.2 TOPS2034
Genio-7002× A78 + 6× A554 TOPS2034
Genio-12004× A78 + 4× A554 TOPS2032

Boards by Form Factor

Compact Router / Gateway (≤60×60mm)

BoardSoCRAMEthernetPrice
NanoPi-R3SRK35662GB2× GbE$35-40
NanoPi-R5CRK35682-4GB2× 2.5GbE$49-65
NanoPi-R76SRK35764-16GB2× 2.5GbE$70-130
NanoPi-R6CRK3588S4-8GB2.5GbE + GbE$85-110

Raspberry Pi Form Factor (~85×56mm)

BoardSoCRAMEthernetPrice
Orange-Pi-3BRK35662-8GBGbE$25-40
Radxa-ROCK-4DRK35762-16GBGbE + PoE$30-100
Orange-Pi-5RK3588S4-16GBGbE$60-115
Radxa-ROCK-5CRK3588S4-32GBGbE$60-130

Full-Size SBC (~100×75mm+)

BoardSoCRAMEthernetPrice
NanoPi-M5RK35764-16GB2× GbE$60-110
Orange-Pi-5-PlusRK35884-32GB2× 2.5GbE$99-180
Radxa-ROCK-5BRK35884-32GB2.5GbE$119-200
Radxa-NIO-12LGenio-12004-16GBGbE$99-149

Power Profiles

Ultra-Low Power (≤5W typical)

BoardIdleLoadBest For
NanoPi-R3S~1.5W~4WAlways-on gateway
Orange-Pi-3B~2W~5WLight NAS
Radxa-ROCK-4D (2GB)~2W~6WEdge AI

Low Power (5-10W typical)

BoardIdleLoadBest For
NanoPi-R5C~3W~7WRouter, gateway
NanoPi-M5~3W~9WEdge compute
Radxa-NIO-12L~4W~10WIndustrial edge

Standard Power (10-20W typical)

BoardIdleLoadBest For
Orange-Pi-5~4W~12WDesktop replacement
NanoPi-R6S~5W~14WMulti-port router
Orange-Pi-5-Plus~6W~18WNAS, media server

NixOS Compatibility

Confirmed Working

  • Radxa-ROCK-5-ITX — NixOS Wiki documented, EDK2 UEFI
  • Radxa-ROCK-5B — gnull/nixos-rk3588 flake
  • Orange-Pi-5/5 Plus — Community tested
  • NanoPi-R6S/NanoPi-R6C — Armbian kernel + NixOS rootfs

Path to NixOS

1. Flash EDK2 UEFI (RK3588 boards) or U-Boot
2. Boot generic aarch64 NixOS ISO
3. Use hardware.deviceTree for board-specific DTB
4. Kernel 6.12+ required for RK3588 display

Vendor Assessment

VendorValueDocumentationSupportNixOS Path
FriendlyELECExcellentGoodGoodArmbian → NixOS
RadxaGoodExcellentGoodEDK2 UEFI (best)
Orange PiExcellentFairFairArmbian → NixOS

Immediate Deployment: NanoPi R5C

The NanoPi-R5C is the pragmatic choice for immediate deployment.

Why this board:

  • Dual 2.5GbE for modern networks
  • Compact 58×58mm with CNC metal case
  • RK3568 has mature mainline kernel support (6.1+)
  • FriendlyWrt (OpenWrt fork) ready out of box
  • M.2 E-key for optional WiFi/BT

Specifications:

SoCRockchip [[RK3568
CPU4× Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz
RAM2GB or 4GB LPDDR4X
Storage32GB eMMC + microSD
Ethernet2× RTL8125BG 2.5GbE
PowerUSB-C 5V/3A or 12V/2A

Pricing:

  • 4GB + metal case direct from FriendlyELEC: $64
  • Amazon (US): $75-95

Purchase: FriendlyELEC

Input Devices

For operator interface hardware, compact QWERTY keyboards compatible with edge devices:

DevicePriceStatusNotes
M5Stack-Cardputer-Adv$29.90In StockESP32-S3, complete dev platform
Tanmatsu€99-120Pre-orderESP32-P4, LoRa, KeebDeck keyboard
KeebDeck-Basic~$8RestockingUSB HID keyboard, QMK firmware

Use Cases

Mesh Gateway

  • Recommended: NanoPi-R5C
  • Dual 2.5GbE, low power, metal enclosure

Edge AI Inference

  • Recommended: Radxa-ROCK-4D or NanoPi-R76S
  • 6 TOPS NPU for local inference

Long-Term Industrial

  • Recommended: Radxa-NIO-12L
  • 10-year lifecycle commitment, mainline kernel

Home Lab / NAS

  • Recommended: Orange-Pi-5-Plus
  • Dual 2.5GbE, NVMe support, high RAM options

See Also

Graph

Backlinks