At the end of November, tech YouTuber CJ from Lifting Linux published an in-depth review of the DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard II, our latest RISC-V mainboard designed for the modular Framework Laptop 13. His verdict: this second-generation release represents a meaningful leap forward for real-world RISC-V laptop computing.
In the video, CJ highlights several major improvements over the first-generation mainboard—including a new ESWIN EIC7702X SoC, featuring:
CJ notes that these upgrades transform the system from a developer curiosity into a functional Linux laptop capable of everyday tasks. Running Ubuntu 24.04 RISC-V, the Framework 13 experience is smooth, stable, and impressively plug-and-play—especially considering RISC-V’s early software ecosystem.
One standout takeaway from the review is the board’s AI potential. CJ successfully runs local LLMs such as DeepSeek-R1-7B directly on the device, demonstrating how RISC-V laptops are beginning to support modern edge AI workloads without relying on cloud processing.
While he acknowledges that overall CPU performance and power efficiency remain behind x86 and ARM laptops, CJ emphasizes that this product serves a different purpose: empowering developers, researchers, and open hardware enthusiasts with a fully modular, fully open-source laptop computing platform.
For CJ, the combination of Framework’s repairable, upgradeable laptop design and DeepComputing’s open RISC-V hardware represents a milestone in the open-hardware movement—bringing us closer to a laptop stack that’s open from silicon to software.
Watch the full review here:
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