Two new motherboards for the Chinese-made Loongson 3A6000 CPU are now available on AliExpress. These motherboards are available in various configurations ranging from a barebones motherboard with CPU through a complete prebuilt computer that also includes RAM, a hard drive, and a discrete graphics card.
AliExpress has two motherboard models featuring the Longsoon 3A6000 that are now beginning to ship worldwide. The first, the Loongson 3A6000 7A2000 main board, sells for $372.91 without memory, a storage device, or a discrete graphics card. It includes the Loongson 3A6000 processor with a maximum clock speed of 2.5 GHz.
The 7A2000 main board offers modest expansion possibilities, with a total of three PCIe slots, two DDR4 memory sockets, and support for both NVMe SSD and SATA drives. It also includes HDMI as well as VGA graphics output, plus HDA audio interfaces.
The second motherboard, the XC-LS3A6M, costs a little more at $389.93 and offers slightly more by the way of expansion possibilities. It provides the same PCIe expansion slots as the 7A2000 but also includes an extra Ethernet port and a header for a front Type-C USB 3.2 port.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Loongson 3A6000 7A2000 | Loongson 3A6000 XC-LS3A6M |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Starting at $372.91 | Starting at $389.93 |
| CPU | 1 Loongsoon 3A6000 with 2.5GHz max | 2 Loongsoon 3A6000 with 2.5GHz max |
| Memory | 2 DDR4 | 2 DDR4 |
| M.2 NVMe | 2 (1 x Key-M, 1 x Key-E) | 2 (1 x Key-M (type 2280 only), 1 x Key-E) |
| SATA 3.0 interfaces | 4 | 4 |
| PCIe 3.0 x16 Slots | 1 | 1 |
| PCIe 3.0 x8 Slots | 1 | 1 |
| PCIe 3.0 x4 slots | 1 | 1 |
| Mini PCIe interfaces | 1 | 1 |
| Ethernet | 1 x 1Gb Ethernet port | 2 x 1Gb Ethernet ports |
| USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports | 2 | 3 |
| USB 2.0 ports | 2 | 2 |
| Front USB 3.2 Gen 1 connector (Type-C) | None | 1 |
| Front USB Interfaces | 2 x 3.0, 2 x 2.0 | 2 x 3.2 |
| Form Factor | DTX (244mm x 204mm) | mATX (244mm x 200mm) |
Other available bundles for both boards allow consumers to add memory and storage, or purchase the motherboards preinstalled as a complete PC, with or without a discrete GPU installed.
Due to the lack of any further specifications for the Loongson 3A6000, we assume these motherboards only support PCIe 3.0 and nothing newer. This does go along with Loongson’s comparison of its CPU with the Intel 10th Gen and AMD Zen3 CPUs, both of which are rather long in the tooth. An earlier release of a mini PC featuring the Loongson 3A6000 also advertised performance on par with those older CPUs.
The fact is, Loongson has developed its own CPU just a few generations behind Intel and AMD. Considering the Chinese firm has to work around U.S. sanctions and claims to insist on doing everything based on its own IP, the performance could actually be considered impressive.
With the wider availability of these Loongson processors / motherboards, due to the reach of AliExpress, we hope will will see some reviews by western media, with clear comparisons against AMD and Intel solutions.
