Sipeed LicheePi 3A

Benchmarks, specifications, and real-world performance data

Tested by Bret Weber Last updated 26 October 2026

$100.00Buy on AliExpress Official product page

Geekbench 6

555

multi-core · 122 single-core

Power draw

6.2W load

3.3W idle

Price

$100.00

Performance Summary

Sipeed's LicheePi 3A runs on the SpacemiT K1, an RISC-V chip with 8 cores, and ships here with 8GB of RAM. Our benchmarks put its Geekbench 6 result at 555 multi-core and 122 single-core, with 7-Zip compression reaching 6,951 MIPS. Power draw measured 3.3W at idle and 6.2W under load.

Specification	Sipeed LicheePi 3A 8GB RAM
Basic Specifications
Price	$100 ALI**
RAM	8GB
SoC	SpacemiT K1 IMG BXE-2-32
Architecture	RISC-V
CPU Cores	8 cores 8× X60 @ 1.6GHz
Hardware Video Decode	None (CPU only) Tested formats and drivers

Connectivity
USB Ports	5× USB ports 4× USB-A 3.0, 1× USB-C 2.0
Display Ports	1× HDMI 2.0
Ethernet	2× 1.0Gbps (PoE via HAT)
WiFi	802.11ax
Bluetooth	5.0, BLE
Storage & Expansion
SATA Ports	None
M.2 Slots	M-key PCIe 2.0 x2 (2280) M-key PCIe 2.0 x2 (2280)
PCIe Support	N/A
Power & I/O
Power Requirements	N/A
Power Inputs	Barrel Jack, PoE+ HAT, USB-C
GPIO	N/A
Features
Real-Time Clock	No
Power Button	No
Fan Header	No
Mainline Linux	No
Armbian Support	No

* Affiliate link; qualifying purchases may earn us a commission

Environment	Sipeed LicheePi 3A 8GB RAM
Last Tested	9 October 2025
System Configuration
OS Version	Bianbu 3.0.1
Kernel Version	6.6.63
CPU Governor	performance
GPU Information
Vulkan Device	PowerVR B-Series BXE-2-32 MC1
Vulkan Driver Version	PowerVR B-Series Vulkan Driver / 24.2@6603887
Video Hardware
Jellyfin Hardware Path	N/A
Hardware Decoding Tested With	FFmpeg with V4L2 (LibreELEC patches)
Drivers Installed by the Test	None: the image had everything
Hardware Decoder Support	No hardware video decoder could be used on this board and image.
Hardware Setup
Boot Device	Sipeed LicheePi 3A 32GB (eMMC)
Carrier Board	Sipeed LicheePi 3A Carrier Board

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.

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)

CPU Performance

Processor performance across single and multi-core workloads

Geekbench 6

Higher Scores are Better

Single-Core

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)122 #67 of 72

122 #67 of 72

Multi-Core

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)555 #57 of 72

555 #57 of 72

Geekbench 7

Higher Scores are Better

Single-Core

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)128 #11 of 11

128 #11 of 11

Multi-Core

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)558 #7 of 7

558 #7 of 7

7-Zip Benchmark

Higher Scores are Better

Single-Core Combined

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)1,058 MIPS #90 of 118

1,058 MIPS #90 of 118

Multi-Core Combined

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)6,951 MIPS #48 of 113

6,951 MIPS #48 of 113

UnixBench

Higher Scores are Better

Single Core

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)347 #73 of 118

347 #73 of 118

Multi Core

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)2,164 #48 of 109

2,164 #48 of 109

MAME: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Higher Speed is Better

Emulation Speed

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)156.67% #17 of 22

156.67% #17 of 22

Memory Performance

Memory bandwidth and throughput benchmarks

TinyMemBench

Higher Bandwidth is Better

memcpy

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)2,765.1 MB/s #34 of 65

2,765.1 MB/s #34 of 65

memset

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)7,663.5 MB/s #29 of 65

7,663.5 MB/s #29 of 65

GPU Performance

Graphics rendering with OpenGL and Vulkan, plus raw Vulkan compute throughput

vkpeak (Vulkan Compute)

Higher is Better

FP32

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)0.89 GFLOPS #4 of 4

0.89 GFLOPS #4 of 4

FP16

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)2.62 GFLOPS #3 of 3

2.62 GFLOPS #3 of 3

INT8

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)70.49 GIOPS #3 of 4

70.49 GIOPS #3 of 4

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

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)19.9 MB/s

19.9 MB/s

4K Random Write

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)14.2 MB/s

14.2 MB/s

fio Storage Performance - eMMC

Higher Speeds are Better • Sipeed LicheePi 3A (32GB eMMC)

4K Random Read

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)39 MB/s

39 MB/s

4K Random Write

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)38.5 MB/s

38.5 MB/s

fio Storage Performance - M.2 NVMe

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

4K Random Read

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)160.4 MB/s

160.4 MB/s

4K Random Write

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)92.3 MB/s

92.3 MB/s

Network Performance

Ethernet and WiFi throughput measured with iPerf3

iPerf3 Network Performance

Higher Speeds are Better

Ethernet Up

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)943 Mbps

943 Mbps

Ethernet Down

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)941 Mbps

941 Mbps

Media & Video

Jellyfin transcoding and FFmpeg video decode and convert speed

Video Decoding

Software decoding on the CPU, higher fps is better

HEVC 1080p

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)21.35 fps #19 of 21

21.35 fps #19 of 21

AV1 4K

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)7.06 fps #17 of 19

7.06 fps #17 of 19

8 more workloads and the hardware decode speeds are in the benchmark table · every board ranked

Power & Thermal

Power consumption at idle and under various workloads

Power Consumption

Lower is "Better"

Idle Power

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)3.3W #54 of 74

3.3W #54 of 74

Load Power

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (8GB)6.2W #63 of 105

6.2W #63 of 105

Benchmark	Sipeed LicheePi 3A 8GB RAM

Geekbench 6 Single-Core	122
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core	555
Geekbench 7 Single-Core	128
Geekbench 7 Multi-Core	558
7-Zip Single-Core Combined	1058 MIPS
7-Zip Multi-Core Combined	6951 MIPS
7-Zip Single-Core Compression	764 MIPS
7-Zip Multi-Core Compression	3803 MIPS
7-Zip Single-Core Decompression	1352 MIPS
7-Zip Multi-Core Decompression	10099 MIPS
UnixBench Single Core	347
UnixBench Multi Core	2164
MAME: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	156.67%

TinyMemBench memcpy	2765.1 MB/s
TinyMemBench memset	7663.5 MB/s

vkpeak FP32 scalar	4.57 GFLOPS
vkpeak FP32 vec4	0.89 GFLOPS
vkpeak FP16 scalar	4.4 GFLOPS
vkpeak FP16 vec4	2.62 GFLOPS
vkpeak INT32 scalar	7.65 GIOPS
vkpeak INT32 vec4	1.09 GIOPS
vkpeak INT16 scalar	7.34 GIOPS
vkpeak INT16 vec4	1.09 GIOPS
vkpeak INT64 scalar	3.7 GIOPS
vkpeak INT64 vec4	0.21 GIOPS
vkpeak INT8 dot product	70.49 GIOPS
vkpeak copy host→host	2.69 GB/s
vkpeak copy host→GPU	2.26 GB/s
vkpeak copy GPU→host	0.05 GB/s
vkpeak copy GPU→GPU	1.21 GB/s

Raspberry Pi 64GB (64GB)
Sequential Read 4K	24.7 MB/s (6323 IOPS)
Sequential Read 64K	63.4 MB/s (1015 IOPS)
Sequential Read 1M	83.9 MB/s (83 IOPS)
Sequential Write 4K	10.5 MB/s (2696 IOPS)
Sequential Write 64K	45.2 MB/s (723 IOPS)
Sequential Write 1M	58.8 MB/s (58 IOPS)
Random Read 4K	19.9 MB/s (5110 IOPS)
Random Read 64K	56.5 MB/s (903 IOPS)
Random Read 1M	87.2 MB/s (86 IOPS)
Random Write 4K	14.2 MB/s (3655 IOPS)
Random Write 64K	54.8 MB/s (876 IOPS)
Random Write 1M	60.5 MB/s (60 IOPS)

Sipeed LicheePi 3A (32GB)
Sequential Read 4K	95.9 MB/s (24552 IOPS)
Sequential Read 64K	116.1 MB/s (1858 IOPS)
Sequential Read 1M	289.9 MB/s (289 IOPS)
Sequential Write 4K	45.9 MB/s (11759 IOPS)
Sequential Write 64K	183.2 MB/s (2931 IOPS)
Sequential Write 1M	200.7 MB/s (200 IOPS)
Random Read 4K	39.0 MB/s (9987 IOPS)
Random Read 64K	125.8 MB/s (2013 IOPS)
Random Read 1M	280.0 MB/s (279 IOPS)
Random Write 4K	38.5 MB/s (9876 IOPS)
Random Write 64K	131.2 MB/s (2099 IOPS)
Random Write 1M	179.0 MB/s (178 IOPS)

Crucial P5 Plus (1024GB)
Sequential Read 4K	165.3 MB/s (42325 IOPS)
Sequential Read 64K	815.9 MB/s (13054 IOPS)
Sequential Read 1M	816.7 MB/s (816 IOPS)
Sequential Write 4K	97.5 MB/s (24975 IOPS)
Sequential Write 64K	749.0 MB/s (11983 IOPS)
Sequential Write 1M	774.6 MB/s (774 IOPS)
Random Read 4K	160.4 MB/s (41065 IOPS)
Random Read 64K	815.6 MB/s (13050 IOPS)
Random Read 1M	816.7 MB/s (816 IOPS)
Random Write 4K	92.3 MB/s (23642 IOPS)
Random Write 64K	767.1 MB/s (12273 IOPS)
Random Write 1M	774.5 MB/s (774 IOPS)

Idle Power	3.3W
Load Power	6.2W

Ethernet Upload	943 Mbps
Ethernet Download	941 Mbps

H.264 1080p Decode	53.0 fps 2.2× real time on the CPU
HEVC 1080p Decode	21.4 fps 0.9× real time on the CPU
HEVC 10-bit 1080p Decode	18.1 fps 0.8× real time on the CPU
VP9 1080p Decode	27.1 fps 1.1× real time on the CPU
AV1 1080p Decode	29.9 fps 1.2× real time on the CPU
HEVC 4K Decode	5.8 fps 0.2× real time on the CPU
AV1 4K Decode	7.1 fps 0.3× real time on the CPU
H.264 1080p Decode (One Thread)	12.7 fps 0.5× real time on the CPU
H.264 → HEVC Conversion	2.2 fps 86% smaller than the H.264 source
H.264 → AV1 Conversion	1.1 fps 82% smaller than the H.264 source

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast is the Sipeed LicheePi 3A?

In our testing the Sipeed LicheePi 3A scored 555 in Geekbench 6 multi-core and 122 in single-core, with 6,951 MIPS in multi-core 7-Zip compression.

How much power does the Sipeed LicheePi 3A use?

We measured the Sipeed LicheePi 3A drawing 3.3W at idle and 6.2W under sustained CPU load.

How much does the Sipeed LicheePi 3A cost?

The Sipeed LicheePi 3A is listed at $100.00 for the 8GB RAM configuration. Street prices vary by retailer and availability.

See how the Sipeed LicheePi 3A stacks up against another board, side by side.

Sipeed LicheePi 3A

Performance Summary

Test Environment

CPU Performance

Geekbench 6

Geekbench 7

7-Zip Benchmark

UnixBench

MAME: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Memory Performance

TinyMemBench

GPU Performance

vkpeak (Vulkan Compute)

Storage Performance

fio Storage Performance - microSD

fio Storage Performance - eMMC

fio Storage Performance - M.2 NVMe

Network Performance

iPerf3 Network Performance

Media & Video

Video Decoding

Power & Thermal

Power Consumption

Benchmark Data

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast is the Sipeed LicheePi 3A?

How much power does the Sipeed LicheePi 3A use?

How much does the Sipeed LicheePi 3A cost?

Sipeed LicheePi 3A

Performance Summary

Test Environment

CPU Performance

Geekbench 6

Geekbench 7

7-Zip Benchmark

UnixBench

MAME: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Memory Performance

TinyMemBench

GPU Performance

vkpeak (Vulkan Compute)

Storage Performance

fio Storage Performance - microSD

fio Storage Performance - eMMC

fio Storage Performance - M.2 NVMe

Network Performance

iPerf3 Network Performance

Media & Video

Video Decoding

Power & Thermal

Power Consumption

Benchmark Data

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast is the Sipeed LicheePi 3A?

How much power does the Sipeed LicheePi 3A use?

How much does the Sipeed LicheePi 3A cost?

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