Raspberry Pi 1GB CM3 Quad core Compute Module 3

The Compute Module 3 contains the main parts of a Raspberry Pi 3 (the BCM2837 processor and 1GB RAM) as well as an optional 4GB eMMC Flash device (which is the equivalent of the SD card in the Pi).

The Pi 3 has a processor speed of 1.2GHz and runs at roughly 10 times the speed of the Pi 1 due to its quad-core CPU. This is all integrated on to a small 67.6mm x 31mm board which fits into a standard DDR2 SODIMM connector. The Flash memory is connected directly to the processor on the board, but the remaining processor interfaces are available to the user via the connector pins. You get the full flexibility of the BCM2837 SoC (which means that many more GPIOs and interfaces are available as compared to the Raspberry Pi).

To get started designing a PCB to use the Module, we provide an open-source breakout board that hosts 120 GPIO pins, an HDMI port, a USB port, two camera ports, and two display ports.

The Compute Module 3 brings the SD card interface to the Module pins so a user can wire this up to an eMMC or SD card of their choice.

Compute Module 3 will remain in production until at least January 2026. This product is not recommended for new designs; for new embedded applications, we recommend Compute Module 4 or newer.

Technical Specifications

• Processor: Broadcom BCM2837, Quad core Cortex A53 with dedicated 512Kbyte L2 cache
• SDRAM: 1GB LPDDR2
• Flash: 4GB eMMC
• Size: 67.6 x 31mm
• 48x GPIO, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, 2x UART, 2x SD/SDIO, 1x HDMI 1.3a
• 1x USB2 HOST/OTG, 1x DPI (parallel RGB display), 1x NAND interface (SMI)
• 1x 4-lane CSI camera interface (1Gbps per lane), 1x 2-lane CSI camera interface (1Gbps per lane)
• 1x 4-lane DSI display interface (1Gbps per lane), 1x 2-lane DSI display interface (1Gbps per lane)