Milk-V Mars vs StarFive VisionFive 2

Benchmarks, specifications, and real-world performance data

Tested by Bret Weber Last updated 21 September 2026

Milk-V MarsvsStarFive VisionFive 2

Fastest

Milk-V Mars

221 GB6 multi-core

Best value

Milk-V Mars

4.5 GB6 pts/$ at $49

Most efficient

Milk-V Mars

4.0W under load

Comparison Summary

The Milk-V Mars and the StarFive VisionFive 2 go head to head below, with every figure taken from our own hands-on testing. CPU performance is close: the Milk-V Mars scores 221 in Geekbench 6 multi-core against 217 for the StarFive VisionFive 2, a gap of just 2%. Factor in price and the Milk-V Mars makes the strongest case, working out to 4.5 Geekbench 6 points per dollar at $48.99. The Milk-V Mars is the most frugal under load, drawing 4.0W.

Read our individual reviews:

StarFive VisionFive 2 →

Specification	Milk-V Mars 4GB RAM	StarFive VisionFive 2 4GB RAM
Basic Specifications
Price	$48.99 AMZ**OFF	$99
RAM	4GB	4GB
SoC	StarFive JH7110 Imagination BXE-4-32	StarFive JH7110 Imagination BXE-4-32
Architecture	RISC-V	RISC-V
CPU Cores	4 cores 4× SiFive U74 @ 1.5GHz	4 cores 4× SiFive U74 @ 1.5GHz

Connectivity
USB Ports	4× USB ports 1× USB-A 2.0, 3× USB-A 3.0	4× USB ports 2× USB-A 2.0, 2× USB-A 3.0
Display Ports	1× HDMI 2.0	1× HDMI 2.0
Ethernet	1.0Gbps (PoE via HAT)	2× 1.0Gbps (PoE via HAT)
WiFi	N/A	N/A
Bluetooth	N/A	N/A
Storage & Expansion
SATA Ports	None	None
M.2 Slots	E-key PCIe 3.0 x4 (2230)	M-key PCIe 2.0 x1 (2280)
PCIe Support	N/A	N/A
Power & I/O
Power Requirements	5.1V	5.1V
Power Inputs	GPIO, PoE+ HAT, USB-C	GPIO, PoE+ HAT, USB-C
GPIO	40-pin RPi compatible	N/A
Features
Real-Time Clock	No	No
Power Button	Yes	No
Fan Header	Yes	No
Mainline Linux	No	No
Armbian Support	No	No

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Environment	Milk-V Mars 4GB RAM	StarFive VisionFive 2 4GB RAM
Last Tested	15 August 2025	15 August 2025
System Configuration
OS Version	Unknown	Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
Kernel Version	5.15.0	6.12.41+deb13-riscv64
CPU Governor	performance	performance
Hardware Setup
Boot Device	Raspberry Pi 64GB (microSD)	Crucial P5 Plus 1024GB (M.2 NVMe)

Every figure above comes from hardware run in-house by Bret Weber, on the exact OS build, kernel, firmware and boot device listed here. Boards are tested to a fixed procedure so results stay comparable between them: see our testing methodology for how each benchmark is run.

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Detailed Reviews

Full write-ups on bret.dk, using the same benchmark data:

•StarFive VisionFive 2 Review

Milk-V Mars (4GB)

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)

CPU Performance

Processor performance across single and multi-core workloads

Geekbench 6

Higher Scores are Better

Single-Core

Milk-V Mars (4GB)74 #69 of 72

74 #69 of 72

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)72 3% slower #71 of 72

72 3% slower #71 of 72

Multi-Core

Milk-V Mars (4GB)221 #69 of 72

221 #69 of 72

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)217 2% slower #71 of 72

217 2% slower #71 of 72

7-Zip Benchmark

Higher Scores are Better

Single-Core Combined

Milk-V Mars (4GB)1,181 MIPS 1% slower #74 of 118

1,181 MIPS 1% slower #74 of 118

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)1,194 MIPS #72 of 118

1,194 MIPS #72 of 118

Multi-Core Combined

Milk-V Mars (4GB)3,964 MIPS 3% slower #79 of 113

3,964 MIPS 3% slower #79 of 113

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)4,081 MIPS #75 of 113

4,081 MIPS #75 of 113

High Performance Linpack

Higher Scores are Better

Performance

Milk-V Mars (4GB)3.19 GFLOPS #77 of 80

3.19 GFLOPS #77 of 80

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)3.17 GFLOPS 1% slower #79 of 80

3.17 GFLOPS 1% slower #79 of 80

Performance/Watt

Milk-V Mars (4GB)0.69 GFLOPS/W #71 of 74

0.69 GFLOPS/W #71 of 74

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)0.47 GFLOPS/W 32% slower #74 of 74

0.47 GFLOPS/W 32% slower #74 of 74

UnixBench

Higher Scores are Better

Single Core

Milk-V Mars (4GB)411 #60 of 118

411 #60 of 118

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)310 25% slower #83 of 118

310 25% slower #83 of 118

Multi Core

Milk-V Mars (4GB)1,524 #59 of 109

1,524 #59 of 109

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)1,111 27% slower #80 of 109

1,111 27% slower #80 of 109

Storage Performance

Disk I/O throughput measured with FIO

fio Storage Performance - microSD

Higher Speeds are Better • Raspberry Pi 64GB (64GB microSD)

4K Random Read

Milk-V Mars (4GB)11.9 MB/s

11.9 MB/s

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)11 MB/s 8% slower

11 MB/s 8% slower

4K Random Write

Milk-V Mars (4GB)8.3 MB/s

8.3 MB/s

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)7.3 MB/s 12% slower

7.3 MB/s 12% slower

fio Storage Performance - eMMC

Higher Speeds are Better • Radxa eMMC (16GB eMMC)

4K Random Read

Milk-V Mars (4GB)19.7 MB/s

19.7 MB/s

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)18.2 MB/s 8% slower

18.2 MB/s 8% slower

4K Random Write

Milk-V Mars (4GB)25.6 MB/s

25.6 MB/s

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)22.5 MB/s 12% slower

22.5 MB/s 12% slower

fio Storage Performance - M.2 NVMe

Higher Speeds are Better • Crucial P5 Plus (1024GB M.2 NVMe)

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)4K Random Read: 143.6 MB/s4K Random Write: 98.7 MB/s

Only this board has been tested so far, so there is nothing to compare against yet.

Network Performance

Ethernet and WiFi throughput measured with iPerf3

iPerf3 Network Performance

Higher Speeds are Better

Ethernet Up

Milk-V Mars (4GB)942 Mbps

942 Mbps

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)942 Mbps

942 Mbps

Ethernet Down

Milk-V Mars (4GB)941 Mbps

941 Mbps

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)941 Mbps

941 Mbps

Power & Thermal

Power consumption at idle and under various workloads

Power Consumption

Lower is "Better"

Load Power

Milk-V Mars (4GB)4W #42 of 105

4W #42 of 105

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)5.3W 32% more #51 of 105

5.3W 32% more #51 of 105

Linpack Max

Milk-V Mars (4GB)4.6W #10 of 75

4.6W #10 of 75

StarFive VisionFive 2 (4GB)6.7W 46% more #20 of 75

6.7W 46% more #20 of 75

Benchmark	Milk-V Mars 4GB RAM	StarFive VisionFive 2 4GB RAM

Geekbench 6 Single-Core	74	72
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core	221	217
7-Zip Single-Core Combined	1181 MIPS	1194 MIPS
7-Zip Multi-Core Combined	3964 MIPS	4081 MIPS
7-Zip Single-Core Compression	921 MIPS	995 MIPS
7-Zip Multi-Core Compression	2350 MIPS	2768 MIPS
7-Zip Single-Core Decompression	1440 MIPS	1394 MIPS
7-Zip Multi-Core Decompression	5578 MIPS	5394 MIPS
Linpack Performance	3.189 GFLOPS	3.172 GFLOPS
Linpack Performance/Watt	0.693 GFLOPS/W	0.47 GFLOPS/W
UnixBench Single Core	411	310
UnixBench Multi Core	1524	1111

Raspberry Pi 64GB (64GB)
Sequential Read 4K	21.2 MB/s (5438 IOPS)	12.3 MB/s (3172 IOPS)
Sequential Read 64K	22.7 MB/s (363 IOPS)	20.9 MB/s (334 IOPS)
Sequential Read 1M	22.6 MB/s (22 IOPS)	20.8 MB/s (20 IOPS)
Sequential Write 4K	14.4 MB/s (3706 IOPS)	6.9 MB/s (1776 IOPS)
Sequential Write 64K	20.9 MB/s (335 IOPS)	19.5 MB/s (312 IOPS)
Sequential Write 1M	21.2 MB/s (20 IOPS)	19.5 MB/s (19 IOPS)
Random Read 4K	11.9 MB/s (3048 IOPS)	11.0 MB/s (2824 IOPS)
Random Read 64K	20.0 MB/s (321 IOPS)	18.6 MB/s (298 IOPS)
Random Read 1M	22.6 MB/s (22 IOPS)	20.9 MB/s (20 IOPS)
Random Write 4K	8.3 MB/s (2145 IOPS)	7.3 MB/s (1883 IOPS)
Random Write 64K	18.6 MB/s (297 IOPS)	17.0 MB/s (272 IOPS)
Random Write 1M	22.0 MB/s (21 IOPS)	20.2 MB/s (19 IOPS)

Radxa eMMC (16GB)
Sequential Read 4K	42.8 MB/s (10967 IOPS)	19.7 MB/s (5051 IOPS)
Sequential Read 64K	43.9 MB/s (702 IOPS)	39.2 MB/s (627 IOPS)
Sequential Read 1M	43.9 MB/s (43 IOPS)	40.4 MB/s (39 IOPS)
Sequential Write 4K	39.8 MB/s (10213 IOPS)	23.3 MB/s (5972 IOPS)
Sequential Write 64K	42.7 MB/s (683 IOPS)	39.5 MB/s (631 IOPS)
Sequential Write 1M	42.7 MB/s (42 IOPS)	39.4 MB/s (38 IOPS)
Random Read 4K	19.7 MB/s (5058 IOPS)	18.2 MB/s (4659 IOPS)
Random Read 64K	40.2 MB/s (643 IOPS)	37.0 MB/s (591 IOPS)
Random Read 1M	43.7 MB/s (43 IOPS)	40.3 MB/s (39 IOPS)
Random Write 4K	25.6 MB/s (6559 IOPS)	22.5 MB/s (5781 IOPS)
Random Write 64K	40.4 MB/s (646 IOPS)	37.2 MB/s (594 IOPS)
Random Write 1M	42.4 MB/s (41 IOPS)	39.2 MB/s (38 IOPS)

Crucial P5 Plus (1024GB)
Sequential Read 4K	N/A	134.2 MB/s (34361 IOPS)
Sequential Read 64K	N/A	319.1 MB/s (5105 IOPS)
Sequential Read 1M	N/A	283.1 MB/s (282 IOPS)
Sequential Write 4K	N/A	104.5 MB/s (26755 IOPS)
Sequential Write 64K	N/A	342.0 MB/s (5472 IOPS)
Sequential Write 1M	N/A	330.4 MB/s (329 IOPS)
Random Read 4K	N/A	143.6 MB/s (36776 IOPS)
Random Read 64K	N/A	318.8 MB/s (5100 IOPS)
Random Read 1M	N/A	189.1 MB/s (188 IOPS)
Random Write 4K	N/A	98.7 MB/s (25270 IOPS)
Random Write 64K	N/A	341.7 MB/s (5467 IOPS)
Random Write 1M	N/A	330.0 MB/s (329 IOPS)

Load Power	4W	5.3W
Linpack Max Power	4.6W	6.7W

Ethernet Upload	942 Mbps	942 Mbps
Ethernet Download	941 Mbps	941 Mbps

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is faster, the Milk-V Mars or the StarFive VisionFive 2?

The Milk-V Mars is faster in our testing, scoring 221 in Geekbench 6 multi-core versus 217 for the StarFive VisionFive 2, a 2% advantage.

Which board is the best value?

Of the boards in this comparison, the Milk-V Mars offers the best performance per dollar: 4.5 Geekbench 6 multi-core points per dollar at $48.99.

Add One More Board

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Milk-V Mars vs StarFive VisionFive 2

Comparison Summary

Test Environment

Detailed Reviews

CPU Performance

Geekbench 6

7-Zip Benchmark

High Performance Linpack

UnixBench

Storage Performance

fio Storage Performance - microSD

fio Storage Performance - eMMC

fio Storage Performance - M.2 NVMe

Network Performance

iPerf3 Network Performance

Power & Thermal

Power Consumption

Benchmark Data

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is faster, the Milk-V Mars or the StarFive VisionFive 2?

Which board is the best value?

Add One More Board

Milk-V Mars vs StarFive VisionFive 2

Comparison Summary

Test Environment

Detailed Reviews

CPU Performance

Geekbench 6

7-Zip Benchmark

High Performance Linpack

UnixBench

Storage Performance

fio Storage Performance - microSD

fio Storage Performance - eMMC

fio Storage Performance - M.2 NVMe

Network Performance

iPerf3 Network Performance

Power & Thermal

Power Consumption

Benchmark Data

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is faster, the Milk-V Mars or the StarFive VisionFive 2?

Which board is the best value?

Related Single Board Computers

Add One More Board