SiFive Raises the Bar for RISC-V: Up to 21 Times Faster in AI Workloads

SiFive has announced the new Performance P570 Gen 3, a core based on the RISC-V architecture aimed at edge AI, advanced consumer, and professional IoT segments. The company describes the new project as the most powerful and efficient out-of-order core in its class, representing a significant generational leap from the previous P550 Gen 1.

The new P570 Gen 3 has been designed to fulfill various roles within SoCs: it can operate as a control processor in embedded and networking devices, but also as the main CPU for systems capable of running complete operating systems like Android or enterprise Linux distributions. Additionally, the platform incorporates a vector subsystem designed to accelerate AI inference and modern workloads executed locally.

From an architectural standpoint, the core introduces a three-way superscalar out-of-order pipeline with 13 stages, accompanied by an updated vector unit. According to data shared by the company, traditional CPU workloads show performance gains between 7% and 13% in SPECint 2006-2017 benchmarks compared to the P550 Gen 1, accompanied by a 13% reduction in dynamic power consumption.

However, the most significant increase concerns AI workloads. The vector engine with 128-bit VLEN promises up to double the performance in Geekbench compared to the first generation, with improvements reaching up to 21 times in specific AI workloads (compared to the P550 Gen 1). When compared to the second generation, the maximum declared gain reaches 4.5 times, thanks also to the introduction of dedicated instructions for scalar products, convolutions, and matrix-multiply operations.

The P570 Gen 3 fully supports the RVA23 profile, considered one of the main convergence points for the modern RISC-V software ecosystem, supported by companies such as Google, Red Hat, and Canonical. The support includes Hypervisor (H) and Vector (V) extensions, as well as optional features focused on security and AI acceleration, including FP16 and BF16. For markets more sensitive to die area, the company will also continue to offer the P550 Gen 3, an RVA23 compliant solution but without advanced vector acceleration.