ramming speed New $120 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 is for the people who use it like an everyday PC But at $120, the new board has to compete with a wider universe of mini PCs. Andrew Cunningham Jan 9, 2025 12:24 pm | 22 Credit: Raspberry Pi Foundation Credit: Raspberry Pi Foundation Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe Raspberry Pi foundation has spent the last year filling out the Pi 5 lineupin August, we got a cheaper $50 version with 2GB of RAM, and in December, we got the Pi 500, a Pi-inside-a-keyboard intended specifically for general-purpose desktop use. Today, the Pi 5 board achieves what may be its final form: a version with 16GB of RAM, available for $120.The 16GB version of the Pi 5 includes the revised "d0" stepping of the Pi 5's BCM2712 processor. For the Pi's purposes, this chip is functionally identical to the original version but uses slightly less power and runs slightly cooler because it cuts out silicon used for features that the Pi 5 didn't take advantage of.Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton writes that the 16GB version of the Pi 5 is possible because of other tweaks made to the d0 stepping of the Pi 5's processor, plus an updated LPDDR4X chip from Micron that could fit eight 16 Gbit RAM dies inside a single package that could fit on the Pi 5's board.Most Raspberry Pi hobby projectswhether you want a retro emulation box, a VPN server, an ad blocker, a smart home server, or some combination of functionsdon't require more than a couple of gigabytes of RAM to work well. For the vast majority of users, the sweet spot for the Pi will still be the 4GB or 8GB model, and there's no need to overspend on the 16GB version for extra peace of mind or future-proofing.But if you're attempting to use a Pi as a general-purpose PC, more RAM means more apps and more browser tabs with less virtual memory use, which ought to help the whole system stay responsive. It could also be helpful if you're trying to run multiple VMs or Docker containers on the same Pi. Upton also cites large language models and computational fluid dynamics as workloads that benefit from extra memory. The main issue is that these RAM-hungry workloads also often benefit from more CPU and GPU power than the Pi can provide.At a cost of $120 before you add storage, a power brick, or a case, the 16GB version of the Pi 5 also has to compete with a wide universe of cheap x86-based mini PCs. Starting at around $160, these PCs give you a decent quad-core Intel processor, 16GB of memory, and 500GB of NVMe-attached storage, as well as the option to run Windows if you want to (not to mention a Windows license). The Pi 5 benefits from a wide accessory ecosystem and purpose-built operating system images, and it will be easier to troubleshoot and find support if you're having a specific hardware problem. But as everyday desktops, the tiny Intel boxes have advantages, too.The 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB versions of the Pi 5 will cost you $50, $60, $80, or $120, respectively. Those wanting a Pi board for the original $35 will need to stick with the 1GB version of the previous-generation Raspberry Pi 4.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 22 Comments