I've actually ordered a 3A5000 cpu and mb combo off aliexpress to get something setup for doing software testing. I'm not sure if it's the best place to get th

I've actually ordered a 3A5000 cpu and mb combo off aliexpress to get something setup for doing software testing. I'm not sure if it's the best place to get things but it's very easy to find at least. I'd also recommend checking out https://blog.xen0n.name/en/posts/tinkering/loongarch-faq/#im-going-to-port-my-software-to-loongarch-what-do-i-need-to-prepare-for https://blog.xen0n.name/en/posts/tinkering/loongarch-faq/#im... if you're planning to seriously look at getting something to play with, and avoid the older Loongson systems and they're pure MIPS and not the new LoongArch64 that's being talked about in the article here on HN or the linked page from me. The LoongArch64 is basically MIPS instructions but using RISC-V instruction encoding and some changed semantics (things like getting rid of the MIPS delay slots and things) to make for a more modern design on the silicon. I've not yet received my board (should finish in customs this week based on tracking numbers) but do plan to document what I run into when getting something setup.