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Benchmarking RISCV SBCs with Geekbench 6 (Single/Multi Core)

Benchmarking RISCV SBCs with Geekbench 6 (Single/Multi Core)

By Akif Ejaz

In this article, we’ll be benchmarking some of the available RISC‑V single-board computers (SBCs) using Geekbench 6. We'll be diving into both single-core and multi-core CPU performance to see how these boards handle real-world compute workloads.

We’ll also walk through the complete setup process for running Geekbench on RISC‑V hardware — so you can easily replicate the benchmarks on your own system.

System & Environment Details

All system, hardware and environment specifications used in this benchmark — including vendor, board name, OS, compiler version, SoC, CPU, cores, RAM, and RISC‑V extensions — are listed in the table below.  

Vendor Board Name OS Compiler (GCC) SOC CPU Cores RAM GB RISCV Extensions
StarFive VisionFive V1 Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS gcc/g++ 13.2.0 JH7100 U74 @ 1.2GHz + E24 2+1 8 RV64GC
StarFive VisionFive 2 Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS gcc/g++ 13.2.0 JH7110 U74 @ 1.5GHz 4 8 RV64GC
Milk-V Milk-V Jupiter Bianbu 2.2 gcc/g++ 13.2.0 SpacemiT K1/M1 X60 @ 1.6GHz 8 16 RV64GCVB, RVA22, RVV1.0
Milk-V Milkv Pioneer Box Debian GNU/Linux 13 gcc/g++ 14.2.0 SG2042 C920 @ 2.0GHz 64 128 RVV 0.7.1
Banana Pi Banana Pi BPI-F3 Bianbu 2.2 gcc/g++ 13.2.0 SpacemiT K1 X60 @ 2.0GHz 8 16 RV64GCVB, RVA22, RVV1.0

Setup and Installation

Download the Geekbench 6.4.0 zip file from here and setup manually or use the below commands to setup the Geekbench. 

sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl tar
curl -L -o geekbench-riscv.tar.gz "https://cdn.geekbench.com/Geekbench-6.4.0-LinuxRISCVPreview.tar.gz"
mkdir -p geekbench-riscv && tar -xf geekbench-riscv.tar.gz -C geekbench-riscv

This should install the Geekbench on your system. You can review the available options by running this below cmd.

./geekbench6  -h  # This should list all the available options

Running CPU benchmark

To run the cpu benchmark you can use the below command. 

./geekbench6 --cpu 2>&1 | benchmark.log

This will run the cpu benchmark wich includes multiple tests like File Compression, Ray Tracer, HDR etc. 

After successful run, it should automatically upload the results to geekbench website and provides these two links. 

https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/12953934
https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/12953934/claim?key=<key>

where first link can be used to view the results, and second link is to upload/add this result to your profile (you'll need to create account on geekbench for claiming benchmark)

Auto-Setup Geekbench Script for RISCV

You can also use this script below to setup and run the Geekbench on your RISCV system/board. 

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
# GeekBench 6 RISC-V Benchmark Script
# Downloads and executes GeekBench 6 CPU benchmark on RISC-V architecture
readonly SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "$0")"
# TODO: Double check / change for other versions or if link doesnt work.
readonly GEEKBENCH_URL="https://cdn.geekbench.com/Geekbench-6.4.0-LinuxRISCVPreview.tar.gz"
readonly GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE="geekbench-riscv.tar.gz"
readonly GEEKBENCH_DIR="geekbench-riscv"
readonly PROJECTS_DIR="$HOME/projects"
readonly LOG_FILE="logs.txt"
log() {
echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] $*" >&2
}
error() {
log "ERROR: $*"
exit 1
}
check_dependencies() {
local deps=("curl" "tar" "find")
for dep in "${deps[@]}"; do
command -v "$dep" >/dev/null 2>&1 || error "$dep is not installed"
done
}
setup_workspace() {
log "Setting up workspace in $PROJECTS_DIR"
mkdir -p "$PROJECTS_DIR"
cd "$PROJECTS_DIR"
}
download_geekbench() {
log "Downloading GeekBench 6 RISC-V from $GEEKBENCH_URL"
if [[ -f "$GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE" ]]; then
log "Archive already exists, skipping download"
return 0
fi
curl -L -o "$GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE" "$GEEKBENCH_URL" || error "Failed to download GeekBench archive"
log "Download completed successfully"
}
extract_archive() {
log "Extracting $GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE"
mkdir -p "$GEEKBENCH_DIR"
tar -xf "$GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE" -C "$GEEKBENCH_DIR" || error "Failed to extract archive"
log "Extraction completed"
}
run_benchmark() {
log "Starting GeekBench 6 CPU benchmark"
cd "$GEEKBENCH_DIR"
local geekbench_binary
geekbench_binary=$(find . -name "geekbench6" -type f -executable 2>/dev/null | head -1)
if [[ -z "$geekbench_binary" ]]; then
error "GeekBench 6 binary not found in extracted archive"
fi
log "Found GeekBench binary: $geekbench_binary"
log "Running CPU benchmark (output will be saved to $LOG_FILE)"
"$geekbench_binary" --cpu 2>&1 | tee "$LOG_FILE" || error "Benchmark execution failed"
log "Benchmark completed successfully"
log "Results saved to: $PWD/$LOG_FILE"
}
main() {
log "Starting $SCRIPT_NAME"
check_dependencies
setup_workspace
download_geekbench
extract_archive
run_benchmark
log "GeekBench 6 RISC-V benchmark completed successfully"
}
main "$@"
view raw geekbench6.sh hosted with ❤ by GitHub
#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
# GeekBench 6 RISC-V Benchmark Script
# Downloads and executes GeekBench 6 CPU benchmark on RISC-V architecture
readonly SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "$0")"
# TODO: Double check / change for other versions or if link doesnt work.
readonly GEEKBENCH_URL="https://cdn.geekbench.com/Geekbench-6.4.0-LinuxRISCVPreview.tar.gz"
readonly GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE="geekbench-riscv.tar.gz"
readonly GEEKBENCH_DIR="geekbench-riscv"
readonly PROJECTS_DIR="$HOME/projects"
readonly LOG_FILE="logs.txt"
log() {
echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] $*" >&2
}
error() {
log "ERROR: $*"
exit 1
}
check_dependencies() {
local deps=("curl" "tar" "find")
for dep in "${deps[@]}"; do
command -v "$dep" >/dev/null 2>&1 || error "$dep is not installed"
done
}
setup_workspace() {
log "Setting up workspace in $PROJECTS_DIR"
mkdir -p "$PROJECTS_DIR"
cd "$PROJECTS_DIR"
}
download_geekbench() {
log "Downloading GeekBench 6 RISC-V from $GEEKBENCH_URL"
if [[ -f "$GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE" ]]; then
log "Archive already exists, skipping download"
return 0
fi
curl -L -o "$GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE" "$GEEKBENCH_URL" || error "Failed to download GeekBench archive"
log "Download completed successfully"
}
extract_archive() {
log "Extracting $GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE"
mkdir -p "$GEEKBENCH_DIR"
tar -xf "$GEEKBENCH_ARCHIVE" -C "$GEEKBENCH_DIR" || error "Failed to extract archive"
log "Extraction completed"
}
run_benchmark() {
log "Starting GeekBench 6 CPU benchmark"
cd "$GEEKBENCH_DIR"
local geekbench_binary
geekbench_binary=$(find . -name "geekbench6" -type f -executable 2>/dev/null | head -1)
if [[ -z "$geekbench_binary" ]]; then
error "GeekBench 6 binary not found in extracted archive"
fi
log "Found GeekBench binary: $geekbench_binary"
log "Running CPU benchmark (output will be saved to $LOG_FILE)"
"$geekbench_binary" --cpu 2>&1 | tee "$LOG_FILE" || error "Benchmark execution failed"
log "Benchmark completed successfully"
log "Results saved to: $PWD/$LOG_FILE"
}
main() {
log "Starting $SCRIPT_NAME"
check_dependencies
setup_workspace
download_geekbench
extract_archive
run_benchmark
log "GeekBench 6 RISC-V benchmark completed successfully"
}
main "$@"
view raw geekbench6.sh hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Benchmark Results & Performance Comparison

We can use the same steps as mentioned above for all the riscv SBCs and collect the results. Please see the detailed results below.

Single Core

Single core results for StarFIve, Milk-V and Banana Pi are listed below, and we can see that Banana Pi BPF3 and Milk-V Pioneer having good single core cpu performance over others.



Multi Core

Multi core results for StarFIve, Milk-V and Banana Pi are listed below, and we can see that Milk-V Pioneer having good multi core cpu performance over others.

Note: Milk-V Pioneer seems to have huge multicore score because it has 64 Cores.

Checkout to my profile geekbench/akifejaz for more results and comparison. 

Appendices & Artifacts

The results showed in this article can be viewed from these links below.

StarFive VisionFive, VisionFIve 2, Milk-V Jupiter, Milk-V Pioneer Box, Banana Pi BPF3


← Back to RISC-V
Benchmarking RISCV SBCs with Phoronix Test Suite (Single/Multi Core)