ARM vs. x86 in industrial automation: when to choose Rockchip

For two decades, "industrial PC" implied x86 and Windows. That default is gone. ARM platforms — in our range, Rockchip RK3566/RK3568/RK3588 — now power a growing share of panel PCs, kiosks, and edge devices. The question is no longer whether ARM is viable, but which architecture fits the specific project.

Where ARM wins

• Performance per watt — an RK3568 panel runs a full HMI at a fraction of x86 power, which means less heat, no fan, and smaller power budgets on the line.
• Cost at volume — integrated SoCs with onboard memory and eMMC reduce bill-of-materials for repeatable deployments like kiosks and operator terminals.
• NPU acceleration — RK3588-class parts include a neural processing unit for local vision inference (object detection, quality checks) without a discrete GPU.
• Android as an appliance OS — a locked-down Android image is a natural fit for single-app terminals and interactive kiosks.

Where x86 stays essential

• Windows software — SCADA clients, ERP/MES terminals, and vendor tooling that only ships for Windows.
• Peripheral and driver breadth — decades of industrial cards, dongles, and instruments assume x86.
• Virtualization — Proxmox, Hyper-V, and container-heavy stacks remain x86 territory in practice.
• Raw single-thread performance — heavy historians, vision processing, and multi-display walls favor Core-class CPUs.

A practical decision rule

In our panel range the split is explicit: the ITPC-C series carries Intel 12th-gen processors for Windows workloads, while the ITPC-B CP2 series carries Rockchip RK3566/RK3568/RK3588 with embedded memory and eMMC for Android/Linux duty. Same industrial construction, different compute philosophy.