Chinese-made Loongson 3A6000 CPU makes a debut in $387 mini PC

A Chinese-made Loongson 3A6000 SoC is making its way into the retail market in the Morefine M700S mini PC. The CPU isn't a top-of-the-line performer compared to currently available AMD and Intel chips, though; The A36000 CPU's performance is equivalent to an Intel Core i3-10100F and about Zen 3 levels of IPC. Loongson's chip has four cores and eight threads with clock speeds between 2.0 and 2.5 GHz. At max, it supports up to 64GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory. Based on earlier reports about this CPU's performance, it makes sense to pitch such a device towards these fields, which wouldn't need the highest-end performance but will appreciate a PC with a small footprint and adequate I/O options. This CPU will likely be featured in desktops and notebooks intended for some fields. Loongson may make its CPUs available in Russia and Belarus as the countries have trade sanctions imposed by the EU and the US. Russia is currently struggling with its chip-making venture; about half of its recently manufactured chips are defective. Loongson may enjoy a certain market share in Russia for now because of these issues. Despite that, it will take time for companies like Loongson to make CPUs that rival Intel and AMD's performance. We'll send breaking news and in-depth reviews of CPUs, GPUs, AI, maker hardware and more straight to your inbox.