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

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

A new 16GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 5 priced at $120 is prompting debate over whether it still represents good value compared with cheap x86 mini PCs and rival ARM boards that offer more raw performance and storage for similar money. Supporters argue that Raspberry Pi’s long-term OS support, GPIO ecosystem, HATs, and consistent form factor justify the premium, especially for education, embedded projects, homelabs, and ARM-native development. Critics counter that the platform has drifted from its original “ultra-cheap computer” mission, with many workloads—LLMs, NAS, container hosting—now better served by low-cost refurbished or N100-based PCs, even as cheaper Pi models remain available.

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.