Deep Computing has announced the DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard III, its third RISC-V mainboard for the Framework Laptop 13. This latest board features the SpacemiT K3 processor, one of the first RISC-V chips to support the RVA23 profile, making it among the first RISC-V computers compatible with Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. The 8-core chip runs at up to 2.5 GHz and delivers up to 60 TOPS of AI performance, a notable step up from the company's previous ESWIN 7702X-based board.
The mainboard comes with either 16GB or 32GB of soldered LPDDR5 memory and includes an M.2 2280 slot supporting PCIe NVMe or SATA SSDs, a microSD card reader, and an M.2 2230 E-key slot for wireless connectivity. Port options include four USB 3.0 Type-C ports, with one supporting DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode and 65W USB PD 3.0 charging. Like other Framework-compatible boards, the DC-ROMA III fits into the standard laptop shell and works with existing displays, keyboards, and batteries, though it can also function as a standalone desktop when connected to external peripherals.
Deep Computing has not announced final pricing, but interested buyers can place a $100 deposit now through the company's store and pay the remaining balance when the board ships. Given that RISC-V software support remains limited compared to x86 and Arm, this hardware is primarily targeted at developers and early adopters rather than mainstream users.
On the software side, the SpacemiT K3's RVA23 compliance opens doors to a growing ecosystem of Linux distributions. Beyond Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, boards based on the K3 are expected to support Fedora, Bianbu OS (SpacemiT's own distribution), Deepin 25, and OpenKylin 2.0. Perhaps more significantly, Linux 7.0 is bringing mainline kernel support for the K3, meaning users will eventually be able to run upstream kernels without relying on vendor forks. For those interested in containerization, Docker runs on RISC-V through community-maintained images, though official support from Docker and Kubernetes remains limited.
