Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro, also called ArmSoM-CM5, is a Rockchip RK3576 system-on-module electrically and mechanically compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM4 while offering up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory, 128GB eMMC flash, and a 6 TOPS AI accelerator embedded into the RK3576 SoC.
It comes with a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless module, a PMIC for power management, and two 100-pin connectors mostly compatible with the pinout of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4. ArmSoM also provides a CM5-IO carrier board to make use of the extra USB 3.0 and PCIe interfaces, and the company told CNX Software they tested the module successfully with the official Raspberry Pi CM4 IO board.
Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3576
- CPU – 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz
- GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, and 3.2, OpenCL up to 2.0, and Vulkan 1.1
- NPU – 6 TOPS (INT8) AI accelerator with support for INT4/INT8/INT16/BF16/TF32 mixed operations.
- VPU
- Video Decoder – H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1, and AVS2 up to 8Kp30 or 4Kp120, MPJEG decoding up to 4Kp60
- Video Encoder – H.264, H.265, (M)JPEG up to 4Kp60
- System Memory – 8 or 16GB 32-bit LPDDR5
- Storage – 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash
- Wireless – WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 via Synaptics SYN43752 module (That’s more mass production, but the prototypes are based on RTL8852BS)
- Host interface – 2x 100-pin high-density connectors with a pinout mostly compatible with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, but:
- Only supports only 1x HDMI, and 1x MIPI DSI interface instead of 2x for each on the CM4
- Adds an extra 2x PCIe/SATA/USB 3.0 multiplexed interface
- Power Supply
- Supply Voltage – 4.5V to 5.5V DC
- RK806S-5 PMIC
- Dimensions – 55 x 40 mm
- Weight – 12 grams
- Temperature Range – 0°C to 80°C
You’ll find a detailed comparison between the ArmSoM-CM5 and Raspberry Pi CM4 pinout on Google Drive. The company provides support for Android 14, Debian 12 Linux, Armbian (Debian and Ubuntu), and “ubuntu-rockchip” by Joshua Riek.
While you could use the Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro with the Raspberry Pi CM4 IO board, the company also designed the CM5-IO board to make full use of all interfaces exposed through the two 100-pin connectors.
CM5-IO board key features:
- Compatible with Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro ArmSoM-CM5 module as described above
- Storage
- M.2 M-key (PCIe) socket
- MicroSD card slot
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.1 output up to 4K @ 120 Hz
- 4-lane MIPI DSI connector up to 4K @ 60 Hz
- Camera I/F
- 1x 4-lane MIPI CSI, each lane up to 2.5Gbps
- 1x 2-lane MIPI CSI, each lane up to 2.5Gbps
- Audio – HPOUT connector
- Networking – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 with optional PoE support
- USB
- 4x USB 3.0 Type-A ports
- USB Type-C port for firmware flashing and device mode
- Expansion – 40-pin GPIO header
- Misc – Fan connector, RTC
- Power Supply – 12V DC power input (but it should also support 4.5V to 23V DC range)
- Dimensions – 100 x 80 x 29 mm
The documentation for the module and carrier board is available on both the Banana Pi and ArmSoM websites, and both are filled with errors so they must be using the same people to handle the documentation and copy each other. I had to discuss a few times with ArmSoM to clear up several issues.
Since the Rockchip RK3576 will have performance similar to the Broadcom BCM2711 SoC found in the Raspberry Pi CM4, and software support is better for the latter, the main reasons to select the Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro over the Pi CM5 are the extra RAM and storage capacity (up to 16GB LPDDR5, 128GB flash), the built-in 6 TOPS NPU, the better WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 module, and/or the extra PCIe/USB 3.0 interface. We’ve also covered several Rockchip RK3588S system-on-module compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM4, namely the Radxa CM5 and Orange Pi CM5, that will deliver all that plus extra performance, but at a cost that should be higher than the Rockchip RK3576 module.
ArmSoM told us the CM5 and CM5-IO are currently “in the final stages of a small batch production, with an expected availability by mid-October”. They take pre-orders for the ArmSoM CM5 with 8GB LPDDR4X and 64GB eMMC for $103, and a full kit with the CM5-IO for $138. Banana Pi/SinoVoIP is not taking orders yet, but both the Rockchip RK3576 CPU module and its carrier board should eventually be sold on the company’s AliExpress store.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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