Select Locations: Raspberry Pi 5: ARM Cortex A76 Quad-Core CPU, 16GB RAM

Skipwire

Aug 21, 2025 7:30 PM

91 Comments

Joined Jul 2020

SkipwireAug 21, 2025 7:30 PM

91 Comments

Quote from rubbercat

:

It's sad to see Raspberry Pi lose the plot. Even for $99 you're still looking at, what, another $10 for a PSU, $5 cooler, $20 case... oh, did you want to use NVMe storage? That'll be another $50 for a 512GB kit. The proliferation of dirt cheap N150 boxes has completely destroyed the value proposition here.

Raspberry Pi Foundation changed from hobbyist to industrial focus. Pi makes for a great controller for the money. I purchased an Asrock N100M two years ago. While it's PCIE isn't the fastest it's, plenty of power and lean on electrical bills.

Timless

Aug 21, 2025 8:02 PM

3.1K Comments

Joined May 2018

TimlessAug 21, 2025 8:02 PM

3.1K Comments

FYI, they still sell the raspberry pi 4.
This is for people that have to have the biggest number.

1

lmbb20

Nov 12, 2025 12:20 PM

1.2K Comments

Joined Apr 2008

lmbb20Nov 12, 2025 12:20 PM

1.2K Comments

I remember pi being like $30

alcie

Nov 12, 2025 12:20 PM

406 Comments

Joined Sep 2016

alcieNov 12, 2025 12:20 PM

406 Comments

Quote from LordDrol

:

If you do have a Micro Center, you should check your store for open box, because you could get this for $80 instead of $100, making it more palatable. I see 2 open box units in Santa Clara, for example.

The extra expenses were always going to bloat the cost of even a $35 model, unless you were cool with not using a case, or had a spare power cable laying around.

Most people should look for a cheap x86 OptiPlex MFF or something instead. The very cheapest Alder Lake-N Chinesium boxes could have zero support/returns.

You can still get Le Potato for $45 or Orange Pi 4 for 35.
RPi is basically an industrial thing by now, with general public enthusiasts being a fringe advantage.

tehboogieman

Nov 12, 2025 1:18 PM

567 Comments

Joined Mar 2011

tehboogiemanNov 12, 2025 1:18 PM

567 Comments

What the hell is this discussion? It seems like SD has lost it.

The RPi with .5 GB RAM was $35 in 2012. That's just about $50 in today money. The RPi4B with 1GB RAM is $38. The RPi5 with 2GB RAM is $50. This is the 16GB. Please keep this in perspective. The RPi Zero 2 W is still $15 and the CM 5 still starts at $50

It's still a decent, well documented and well supported SBC platform for learning and projects. And there are cheaper alternatives like the Orange Pi or Le Potato. If you just want a cheap prebuilt server or computer this might not be the solution for you, but if you are interested in building things, thinking, or learning, it might

Edit: Just saw the RPi5 2GB is $40 at MC right now https://www.microcenter.com/produ...hboogieman . That's less than $30 in 2012 dollars. It's practically cheaper than what all you idiots are crying about

6

5

MoMoney84

Pro

Nov 12, 2025 1:28 PM

501 Comments

Joined Oct 2014

MoMoney84

Pro

Nov 12, 2025 1:28 PM

501 Comments

Really the size difference compared to that of the N150's is really what MIGHT deter somebody from buying one of these or a hobbyist. There is just so much more potential you get with the N150's and the likes, compared to these. Now, I am not saying these are useless by any means they have their place in some applications, but it's hard to beat the N150's where you get a full functioning computer, with a lot more options for expansion, more performance, and the typical OS with security updates day one. They can run Linux as well.

The pain point on some of these off brand minis would be drivers in some cases, and your typical DOA's or quality concerns, but those are troubles of EVERY product.

Just my opinion, I am not trashing anybodies post or opinion. Each have their uses though.

cscamp20

Nov 12, 2025 2:27 PM

5.2K Comments

Joined Sep 2012

cscamp20Nov 12, 2025 2:27 PM

5.2K Comments

It has been a while since I used a Raspberry Pi. I have a RPi2 configured as a Boss DAC and Roon Endpoint. How much more powerful is the latest Raspberry Pi compared to the 2? You can get a decent mini PC for around $150 nowadays.

KurtS5995

Nov 12, 2025 2:27 PM

33 Comments

Joined Nov 2018

KurtS5995Nov 12, 2025 2:27 PM

33 Comments

Quote from netanderthal

:

At this pricepoint, i would get one of the Intel N100/N150 miniboxes from Amazon -- their idle is about 6W to PI5 3-4W but they are extremely more powereful and come with a case, ram, hard drive etc for around $120...

On my N100 I run proxmox, home assistant vm, Ubuntu vm with docker running Minecraft plex and frigate. It's ridiculously capable.

cscamp20

Nov 12, 2025 2:30 PM

5.2K Comments

Joined Sep 2012

cscamp20Nov 12, 2025 2:30 PM

5.2K Comments

Quote from alcie

:

You can still get Le Potato for $45 or Orange Pi 4 for 35.
RPi is basically an industrial thing by now, with general public enthusiasts being a fringe advantage.

LePotato sounds fancy

1

muchwow

Nov 12, 2025 2:50 PM

2K Comments

Joined Nov 2013

muchwowNov 12, 2025 2:50 PM

2K Comments

Quote from tehboogieman

:

What the hell is this discussion? It seems like SD has lost it.

The RPi with .5 GB RAM was $35 in 2012. That's just about $50 in today money. The RPi4B with 1GB RAM is $38. The RPi5 with 2GB RAM is $50. This is the 16GB. Please keep this in perspective. The RPi Zero 2 W is still $15 and the CM 5 still starts at $50

It's still a decent, well documented and well supported SBC platform for learning and projects. And there are cheaper alternatives like the Orange Pi or Le Potato. If you just want a cheap prebuilt server or computer this might not be the solution for you, but if you are interested in building things, thinking, or learning, it might

Edit: Just saw the RPi5 2GB is $40 at MC right now https://www.microcenter.com/produ...hboogieman . That's less than $30 in 2012 dollars. It's practically cheaper than what all you idiots are crying about

You do realize technology is supposed to advance over time, right? Performance per dollar is supposed to increase, not stay the same. You're only considering inflation while keeping everything else the same. I'm not saying the Pi should still only be $35, and I get that this is the more niche 16gb version, but 2GB of RAM isn't gonna carry the same weight today as it did 13 years ago.
The argument is that RPi used to be a budget tinkerer's dream, but now, not so much. But like you mentioned, it's a good thing there are now cheaper alternatives out there.
Edit: I also see a 8GB for $65, that's definitely more reasonable if you don't have strict memory needs.

3

mrbigaxe

Nov 12, 2025 2:59 PM

620 Comments

Joined Dec 2007

mrbigaxeNov 12, 2025 2:59 PM

620 Comments

My last Pi was a 4. They just aren't worth it anymore unless you have a very special use in mind. I'm grateful for all I've learned from my Pi projects over the years. Now I use N150 boxes, repurposed streaming boxes,old laptops, and whatever else I have laying around when I need a small server running somewhere.

1

SeanD1497

Nov 12, 2025 3:42 PM

4.2K Comments

Joined Apr 2015

SeanD1497Nov 12, 2025 3:42 PM

4.2K Comments

Quote from rubbercat

:

It's sad to see Raspberry Pi lose the plot. Even for $99 you're still looking at, what, another $10 for a PSU, $5 cooler, $20 case... oh, did you want to use NVMe storage? That'll be another $50 for a 512GB kit. The proliferation of dirt cheap N150 boxes has completely destroyed the value proposition here.

My thoughts exactly. I thought the whole point of a raspberry pi was to be dirty cheap and low wattage, at the expense of being relatively low powered in terms of processing capabilities. These are fairly powerful boards compared to earlier models, and still efficient and flexible, but I think they've lost the original focus as newer units have become unnecessarily powerful and much pricier. This one in particular is kind of a tweener, not a cheap board you'd use to dedicate to one specific use, and not nearly as powerful as a full fledged traditional computer liked you might demand for a media center or something.

1

Gettingnowhere

Nov 12, 2025 4:04 PM

1.5K Comments

Joined Dec 2005

GettingnowhereNov 12, 2025 4:04 PM

1.5K Comments

Quote from tehboogieman

:

What the hell is this discussion? It seems like SD has lost it.

The RPi with .5 GB RAM was $35 in 2012. That's just about $50 in today money. The RPi4B with 1GB RAM is $38. The RPi5 with 2GB RAM is $50. This is the 16GB. Please keep this in perspective. The RPi Zero 2 W is still $15 and the CM 5 still starts at $50

It's still a decent, well documented and well supported SBC platform for learning and projects. And there are cheaper alternatives like the Orange Pi or Le Potato. If you just want a cheap prebuilt server or computer this might not be the solution for you, but if you are interested in building things, thinking, or learning, it might

Edit: Just saw the RPi5 2GB is $40 at MC right now https://www.microcenter.com/produ...hboogieman . That's less than $30 in 2012 dollars. It's practically cheaper than what all you idiots are crying about

Funny I have not seen anyone state the obvious. Whoever is buying this unless you already have all the peripheral, you are going to have to spend at least another $20-50 to get it going. At this price, which is why many is saying it is getting very close to a fully loaded N150 for around $150.

I personally still love working with the Pi (unless someone has some other better/easier recommendation). The ability to use GPIO, which we do use for automation and have an OS to easily run cron and connect to network is extremely helpful. I'm not sure if many others are as easily to work with.

Last edited by Gettingnowhere November 12, 2025 at 08:08 AM.

1

whatgooddeal

Nov 12, 2025 4:18 PM

3.5K Comments

Joined Aug 2006

whatgooddealNov 12, 2025 4:18 PM

3.5K Comments

Once you add a case, it's about same price as x86 mini pc

tehboogieman

Nov 12, 2025 4:18 PM

567 Comments

Joined Mar 2011

tehboogiemanNov 12, 2025 4:18 PM

567 Comments

Quote from muchwow

:

You do realize technology is supposed to advance over time, right? Performance per dollar is supposed to increase, not stay the same. You're only considering inflation while keeping everything else the same. I'm not saying the Pi should still only be $35, and I get that this is the more niche 16gb version, but 2GB of RAM isn't gonna carry the same weight today as it did 13 years ago.
The argument is that RPi used to be a budget tinkerer's dream, but now, not so much. But like you mentioned, it's a good thing there are now cheaper alternatives out there.
Edit: I also see a 8GB for $65, that's definitely more reasonable if you don't have strict memory needs.

I'm clearly not only considering inflation. A Pi 5 with 2GB of RAM will perform much better today than a Pi 1 with 512MB of RAM would have performed in 2012. Or a Pi 3 with 1 GB Ram. Adjusting for inflation the 5 is still cheaper than the 1,2 or 3 and is still exactly a tinkerers platform. To be completely fair, the price of a 4GB Pi5 at MC today is $50, which would be around $35 in 2012 money. You can't tell me that a Pi5 with 4 GB of RAM isn't capable of running all kinds of interesting and useful projects today. Realistically very few projects need 16GB and once you get into using that much RAM you start to hit bottlenecks in other areas

The Pi 4 was a big leap in CPU performance compared to the previous gens and the 5 is even better. Also the 5 GPU blows the previous gens completely away

Additionally, I didn't mention it previously, but I'm also considering support in my equation. Not relevant for systems without network connection, but relevant for most people. The Pi 5 is scheduled to be supported until at least 2035, and likely much longer. Which other full computer that costs $200 would offer support for that long. From what I've seen, any company that has a history of even 5-7 years of support start their systems at around $400

The RPi isn't the best solution for every project but apples to apples, it still has the same value proposition that the original had

Select Locations: Raspberry Pi 5: ARM Cortex A76 Quad-Core CPU, 16GB RAM

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