New 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 on sale now at $120

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Use cases for a 16 GB Pi 5

  • Suggested workloads: small LLMs/AI (e.g., local inference, camera projects), multiple web apps and containers, Kubernetes control/worker nodes, ZFS/NAS with many TB of SSDs, databases, build servers for cross‑compiling to smaller Pis, and experimentation with eGPUs and gaming.
  • Others mention desktop use, heavy browsers, RAM disks/tmpfs to reduce SD wear, and “future‑proofing” (“better to have unused RAM than need it and not have it”).
  • Some argue most GPIO/embedded projects don’t need anywhere near 16 GB and microcontrollers or ESP32s often suffice.

Price, value, and comparison to mini PCs

  • Many note that for ~$150 you can get an x86 mini‑PC (often N100‑class) with 16–32 GB RAM and NVMe included, higher CPU performance, and broader software compatibility.
  • For pure server/desktop workloads, several see these as strictly better value and sometimes lower total power than multiple Pis.
  • Others argue if you care about ARM consistency, GPIO, HATs, form factor, and Pi‑specific cases, the comparison is qualitative, not just price/performance.

Power consumption and thermals

  • Debate over idle power: figures around 3–4 W for Pi 5 (bare), ~12 W under load; N100 systems reported 5–8 W idle, ~20+ W under load. Some claim higher “15 W idle” numbers are measurement or PSU artifacts.
  • Some say Pi 5 isn’t truly “low power” anymore and often needs active cooling; others report success with passive “armor”/CNC cases and acceptable temps.

Ecosystem, software support, and competitors

  • Strong emphasis that Pi’s key advantage is OS support, long‑term maintenance, huge ecosystem of HATs, cases, books, and education materials, plus predictable hardware.
  • Competing SBCs (Radxa, Banana Pi, Orange Pi) are praised for better specs and price but often criticized for poor or short‑lived software support; some users say Armbian mitigates this.
  • x86 minis and old small‑form‑factor PCs (Optiplex/ThinkCentre/NUC/Wyse) are popular for homelab, storage, and self‑hosting due to reliability and “no weird ARM issues.”

Storage, SD cards, and NVMe

  • SD card fragility is widely seen as a Pi weakness; mitigation strategies include tmpfs/ramfs, read‑only root, and tuning writeback intervals.
  • Desire for onboard NVMe on future Pi revisions; current NVMe relies on HATs. Some use SD only for boot and an external SSD for data.

Mission and affordability

  • Concern that Pi is drifting from “dirt‑cheap educational computer” toward “expensive toy,” especially if future base models start near current high‑end prices.
  • Counterpoint: there is now a product range from ~$10 Zeros to $120 Pi 5 16 GB; adjusted for inflation, the lower‑end boards are still seen as honoring the original low‑cost mission.