Compute Module 5 support

More out of curiosity than anything else do you think its possible to get the mnt reform working with a compute module 5 with fairly minimal work?

Don’t have a good level of understanding here to assess the complexity of such a task.

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I dont even own a reform but imho a cm5 adapter would be great.

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I have a cm5 module it would be great to have a adapter

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1 vote from me for a CM5 adapter, enabling the use of the Radxa CM 5 in the Reform Classic.

https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock5/CM

Hi @minute

Any news or progress for a CM5 carrier board?

It would depend on the release of the V3.0 Classic motherboard (MNT Reform Motherboard 3.0 D-2 (!74) · Merge requests · Reform / reform · GitLab) wouldn’t it?

So far the interest in this has been very low (and also in the RPi CM4 before). Not 100% sure why that is. If a lot of people request this I’ll do it, but right now I’m not convinced about the benefit of doing it. Maybe you can change that!

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Thanks @minute,

That is a shame. A CM4/5 carrier is a very flexible and cost effective upgrade path for the MNT Classic (or other Reforms?).

I already have the Classic and even though I was tempted to get the Next. It makes no sense when I can (theoretically) upgrade the MNT Classic to similar performance.

The Carrier CM5 would be the best option in terms of costs.

The official MNT Reform RCORE RK3588 Processor Module 16GB/128GB is €500 (~$1,000AUD) MNT Reform RCORE RK3588 Processor Module - MNT Research Shop.

Whilst a Radxa CM5 RK3588S2 16GB/128GB is about €160 (~300AUD) Radxa CM5 RK3588S2 8-Kern-CPU Radxa CM5 Lite RK3582 6-Kern-CPU-Compute-Modul, GPU, NPU, Single-Board-Computer - AliExpress 7

With the (future :wink: ) CM5 carrier that would cost €150
(assuming similar pricing from the CM4 board MNT Reform CM4 Processor Module Adapter - MNT Research Shop)

Total ~ €310 (~$650AUD) + Cost of the V3.0 board?

The initial upgrade cost would be similar to the official MNT RK3588 module, but long term we can upgrade to newer CM5 modules with better CPU/GPU/FPGA etc in the future. Win - Win

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a CM5 carrier would be nice, though i understand that if the demand just isnt there it’s not quite worth the effort.
perhaps if it comes to fruition it might replace the rcm4? the pinouts are compatible, if my memory serves me right, and the extra pcie lane in the third connector could go straight to the nvme slot… or maybe the opposite, if routing allows it, to remove the mpcie to nvme adapter?
even though they are pin compatible, i however am NOT sure if component clearances allow for using a cm4 module on a cm5 carrier. maybe that requires one of those “interposer boards” that people use to protect the sockets like the Waveshare Interface Protection Adapter Board, but then having a single heatsink clearance becomes complicated… gah! maybe it’s too early for nixing the RCM4…

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I would not assume that Radxa would support this exact pinout in a manner that facilitates upgrades down the road. Even Raspberry Pi changed the pinout of the actual CM5 from that of the CM4 slightly. Unless you have roadmap information you can trust, you should assume that only one board will ever be compatible with a SoM carrier like this given how quickly and erratically the SBC market moves.

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