Rockchip Unveils RK3572: New Generation Octa-Core AIoT Platform with Doubled Performance and Halved Power Consumption

Rockchip officially launches the RK3572 octa-core processor for the mid-tier AIoT market. It achieves a breakthrough balance between high performance, low power consumption and full-stack AI capabilities, delivering a highly competitive computing power foundation for consumer electronics, smart hardware and a wide range of application scenarios.

RK3572 Overview

Adopting an advanced 8nm process, RK3572 features an octa-core architecture with dual Cortex-A73 high-performance cores + six Cortex-A53 efficiency cores. It integrates a built-in NPU delivering up to 4 TOPS AI computing power for powerful edge-side AI performance.

For graphics processing, it embeds the Mali-G310 GPU and supports the Vulkan 1.4 graphics API. It enables dual-screen simultaneous independent display, driving up to 4K@60fps + 2K@60fps resolution simultaneously. In multimedia capability, it supports 4K video encoding and decoding, compatible with mainstream and open-source video formats.

RK3572 Hardware Block Diagram Description

· CPU Cluster: Dual-core Cortex-A73 + Hexa-core Cortex-A53

· NPU: 4 TOPS

· GPU: Mali-G310

· MCU: N320

· ISP: ISP12M30 (1 Channel)

Video Output

MIPI DSI (1×4lane)、HDMI2.1 / eDP1.3

Video Input

MIPI CSI (4lane×2 / 2lane×4)、DVP/BT.1120 (8/10/12/16bit)、RGB/BT.1120、EBC 24bit

Storage & Memory

LPDDR4/4X/5/5X、eMMC5.1、UFS2.0、Flash、SD3.0/MMC4.5

Encoder & Decoder

Support H.264/AVC、H.265/HEVC、VP9、AVS2、AV1

Connectivity & Peripherals

USB DRD 3.0/2.0 ×2、PCIe2.1/SATA3.1 ×2、Dual Gigabit Ethernet、SAI×6、SPDIF TX&RX、DSMC、SDIO/UART/I2C/I3C/SPI

Five Core Advantages of RK3572

1. Doubled Performance, Halved Power Consumption

Benefiting from the 8nm process and refined big.LITTLE core scheduling, RK3572 delivers over 100% performance improvement and more than 50% reduction in typical power consumption compared with the previous-generation mid-tier platform.

Real-world AnTuTu V10 benchmark scores reach 310,000+, ensuring ultra-smooth experience for entertainment, office and educational scenarios.

Actual power consumption test data shows outstanding energy efficiency across typical scenarios:

1）Deep standby: Power consumption below 10mW, ultra-low standby power with fast wake-up response

2）1080P video playback: Only 670mW, greatly extended device battery life

3）Light 3D gaming: Power consumption lower than 1W with stable overall power performance

In most practical applications, the minimum system power consumption is below 1W, saving massive energy and expanding application coverage significantly.

Test Environment: RK3572 tablet, 8GB LPDDR5 + 128GB UFS; tested without display/touch screen, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth disabled.

2. 4TOPS INT8 Computing Power to Meet Diverse AIoT Demands

RK3572 integrates a self-developed NPU with up to 4 TOPS peak computing power. It supports mixed-precision computing: INT4/INT8/INT16/FP4/FP8/FP16/BF16, as well as W4A16 asymmetric MAC operation, which reduces computing overhead while maintaining high precision.

It is compatible with mainstream AI frameworks: TensorFlow、Caffe、TFLite、PyTorch、ONNX NN、Android NN、MXNet

RK3572 NPU CNN Performance

Powered by Rockchip self-developed AI algorithms, RK3572 delivers excellent AI capabilities in image, video and audio processing, enabling functional expansion and user experience optimization. Typical AI applications: AI Picture Quality Optimization (AI-PQ), AI Super Resolution (AI-SR), Image Search, AI-HDR, Intelligent Noise Reduction, Speech Recognition, AI Beauty and more.

3. 8K Decoding + 12M ISP, High-Level Multimedia Capability

RK3572 features industry-leading multimedia processing performance:

· 8K Ultra HD Video Decoding: Smooth playback of ultra-high-definition content, reserving upgrade space for future media resources

· 5-channel Camera Input: Supports multi-channel video simultaneous acquisition for multi-angle monitoring and image collection

· 12M Integrated ISP: Delivers high-pixel image processing with rich detail and accurate color reproduction

· 4K Video Encoding: Enables high-quality local recording and real-time streaming with lower bandwidth occupancy

· Dual-Screen Independent Display: Supports 4K@60fps + 2K@60fps, perfect for POS terminals, interactive digital signage and commercial display devices

4. High-Speed Rich Interfaces, Unlimited Expansion

RK3572 is equipped with comprehensive peripheral interfaces to meet expansion demands of all kinds of AIoT devices.

Storage Interfacese

MMC 5.1 (HS400)、Dual-channel UFS 2.0、SD3.0/MMC4.51、FSPI — flexible for different cost and performance storage solutions.

Peripheral & Industrial Interfaces

PCIe 2.1、SATA 3.1、USB 3.0/2.0 DRD、Dual Gigabit Ethernet、SDIO 3.0、DSMC; Also supports CAN、I2C、I3C、SPI、UART and other industrial control buses. Fully covers high-speed data transmission, large-capacity storage expansion and industrial communication scenarios.

5. LPDDR5/5X Support + Long-Term Supply Assurance

Against the backdrop of tight global storage supply, RK3572’s native support for LPDDR5/5X ensures long-term stable supply, while bringing higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, stronger performance and longer battery life.

The built-in DRAM controller supports 4 ranks, providing customers more memory selection options amid storage shortage. It also supports UFS 2.0、eMMC 5.1、SDMMC 3.0, compatible with eMCP / uMCP integrated storage solutions to match diverse product form factors.

The built-in DRAM controller supports 4 ranks, providing customers more memory selection options amid storage shortage. It also supports UFS 2.0、eMMC 5.1、SDMMC 3.0, compatible with eMCP / uMCP integrated storage solutions to match diverse product form factors.

6. Smart Surveillance & NAS Devices

Supports 4K@60fps decoding for smooth multi-channel HD video playback on NVR. Local AI computing realizes face recognition, license plate recognition and abnormal behavior analysis. For NAS equipment, it enables intelligent image retrieval and fast video/photo positioning in mass storage.

7. Retail Equipment & Digital Signage

Octa-core CPU + high-speed memory delivers significant performance upgrade for desktop POS, digital signage and self-service commercial terminals. Dual-screen independent display, hardware picture quality optimization and AI super-resolution deliver sharper visual experience. It supports AI image search, passenger flow statistics, facial analysis and content detection, upgrading commercial displays from one-way broadcasting to intelligent interaction.

Summary

With excellent energy efficiency ratio and full-stack AI capabilities, Rockchip RK3572 provides a competitive chip platform solution for office, education, finance, retail, smart community and smart home terminal manufacturers, integrating superior performance, low power consumption and complete ecosystem support.