Radxa E24C and E54C are mini routers and embedded boxes based on, respectively, Rockchip RK3528A and RK3582 SoCs, and equipped with four Gigabit Ethernet ports, HDMI video output, three USB ports, and an M.2 PCIe socket for NVMe SSD storage.
The Radxa E24C builds upon the dual Gigabit Ethernet Raxda E20C mini network Titan, while the Radxa E54C is an “update” to the Radxa E52C mini router with four Gigabit Ethernet ports instead of two 2.5GbE ports.
Radxa E24C quad GbE mini router
Radxa E24C specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3528A
- CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 2.0 GHz
- GPU – Arm Mali-G450 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1, ES2.0, and OpenVG 1.1 APIs
- VPU
- H.264, H.265, and AVS2 decoder up to 4Kp60
- H.264 and H.265 encoder up to 1080p60
- Memory – 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB LPDDR4
- Storage
- 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB eMMC 5.1 flash
- MicroSD card slot (UHS-I)
- M.2 2280 Key-M socket (PCIe Gen2 x1) for optional M.2 NVMe SSD
- Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60
- Networking – 4x gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports via RealTek RTL8367RB switch
- USB – 3x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, 1x USB 2.0 Type-C for serial and data
- Expansion – 14-pin GPIO header with SPI, UART, I2C, 5V, 3.3V, and GND
- Debugging – USB-C port for serial console access
- Misc
- Power, Maskrom, and User buttons
- 5x Status LEDs
- RTC battery connector
- Fan header
- Power Supply – 12V/2A DC via power barrel jack
- Dimensions – 143 × 99 × 25.3 mm (Aluminum alloy enclosure)
- Temperature Range – 0°C ~ 70°C
Besides two extra Gigabit Ethernet ports, an M.2 socket, and HDMI output, the new Rockchip RK3528A device also gains extra USB ports, a GPIO header, an RTC battery connector, and a fan connector. Radxa provides the Debian-based Radxa OS and Flippy OpenWrt images for the device, all bootable from a microSD card, eMMC flash, or SSD. More technical details may be found on the documentation website.
Radxa E54C network computer
Radxa E54C specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3582
- CPU
- Dual-core Cortex-A76 with up to 2.4 GHz
- Quad-core Cortex-A55 at up to 1.8GHz
- GPU
- No 3D GPU in most cases (Rockchip does not guarantee a GPU for this part)
- 2D graphics engine
- VPU – H.264, H.265 encoder up to 4K @ 60fps
- AI accelerator – 5 TOPS NPU
- CPU
- Memory – 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB LPDDR4
- Storage
- 16MB SPI flash for bootloader
- 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB eMMC 5.1 flash
- MicroSD card slot
- M.2 2280 Key-M socket (PCIe Gen2.1 x1) for optional M.2 NVMe SSD
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60
- DisplayPort via USB-C port
- Networking – 4x gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports via RealTek RTL8367RB switch
- USB
- 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
- 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port
- 1x USB 3.0 Type-C for serial, data, and display
- Expansion – 14-pin GPIO header with SPI, UART, I2C, 5V, 3.3V, and GND
- Debugging – USB-C port for serial console access
- Misc
- Power, Maskrom, and User buttons
- 5x Status LEDs
- RTC battery connector
- Fan header
- Power Supply – 12V via power barrel jack
- Dimensions – 143 × 99 × 25.3 mm (Aluminum alloy enclosure)
- Temperature Range – 0°C ~ 70°C
The R54C has almost the same design as the R24C with four Gigabit Ethernet ports, but it benefits from a much more powerful Rockchip RK3582 SoC (several times faster), up to 32GB RAM, a 16MB SPI flash, and two USB 3.0 ports, including one with DisplayPort support. Radxa OS and Flippy OpenWrt are also mentioned in the list of supported operating systems, but the documentation website also adds iStoreOS, a fork of OpenWrt with a user interface aiming to simplify the configuration process, featuring the iStore app store for OpenWrt, and also acting as a lightweight NAS software. It is supported by the Radxa E20C, so I’d expect it to run on both the R24C and R54C as well.
The Raxda E24C mini router can be purchased on AliExpress for $36.31 to $51.73 depending on RAM capacity, and it’s also listed on Arace for $35 and up, but currently out of stock there. The E54C model is sold with 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB RAM on Arace for $55 to $85, and you’ll also find it on AliExpress with up to 16GB RAM, but only the 4GB and 8GB models are in stock right now…
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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I had seen the E24C noticed in some kernel patches but didn’t know more about it. Now it’s online with the schematic. I didn’t realize they would use a switch inside. It’s interesting for such small routers, even allowing to have, say, one external port and 3 internal switched ones.
I do have an E20C and have been doubting about its support in mainline since RK3528A is quite new (even if equipped with old A53 cores). But it now works mostly in 6.16-rc (sd, emmc, ethernet, USB). It’s still missing support for pcie which should arrive in 6.17 which will likely become the next LTS.
Initially I was not impressed, but these are super interesting and very versatile machines. Little power draw, low price, metal enclosure and console, everything in them. My E20C and E52C didn’t have the RTC chip so I had to add it myself. Tom said about the E52C that they would add it in future batches, I don’t know if that will also cover future batches of E20C, however it’s nice to see that the E24C/E54C now have it.
Now I’m hesitating between E20C and E24C to replace my old ALIX. I just need a single port but with the E24C having everything and not requiring to solder a chip, it has a point 🙂
also available on aliexpress
If you don’t see AliExpress links in the article, it’s likely because of your ad blocker.
Some lists block AliExpress links on CNX Software with this code:
You can still see AliExpress links when affiliate is possible (short URL used), but for AliExpress stores (like Radxa) that don’t pay commissions, I have to use the full link.
I purchased an e54c a month back, and was curious about the HDMI output so I installed a desktop environment and plugged it in. The 3582 can drive an OK software renderer that certainly won’t win any FPS awards but I think it would be fine for light tasks like signage that doesn’t involve a web browser.
For what I’m using it for it’s a rather nice little board with the NVME installed, plenty of memory and cpu to run containers.
Which operating system can be on this device? Any linux?
Would this be enough for open source app nextcloud server?
What is power consumption in idle and max operation?
i want to build my own cloud for my family and friends so i look for something simple, cheap and economical to run 24/7.