Raspberry Pi 5 slims down for cut-price 2 GB RAM version
- Reference: 1724054415
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/19/raspberry_pi_5_2gb/
- Source link:
The hardware is nearly identical to the computer [1]launched in 2023 , just with less RAM.
At the unveiling of the $50 computer, Pi supremo Eben Upton told The Register : "We're bringing the power of our most modern platform, and all of the optimizations we've developed since the launch of the larger memory SKUs last autumn, to a new lower price point, and are excited to see what people do with it."
[2]
Bringing the price of the Pi back down to $50 carries with it some psychological benefits, and is a break from the relentless price rises that afflict much of the industry.
[3]
[4]
That said, dropping down to 2 GB could present some problems. We fired up the 2 GB Pi 5 and compared it to our 8 GB daily driver. The 2 GB version was snappy enough but began to exhibit signs of distress as we loaded up multiple applications.
[5]
Spot the difference (except for the heat sink)
As such, we'd advise thinking long and hard about use cases. For example, while the 2 GB version can struggle with multitasking – at least in our experience – the 8 GB version could be considered overspecified for other purposes. It also carries a $30 premium over its 2 GB sibling.
From a hardware standpoint, besides memory and an associated jumper over the 2G pins, there is little to separate this board from its beefier sibling.
Upton told The Register the memory was the only functional change. "The board is actually the first to use a cost-optimised variant of BCM2712 (designated BCM2712D0), which removes all the non-Raspberry Pi-specific logic from the chip.
[6]
"But from the user's perspective it's functionally identical."
Might there be a cheaper 1GB version on the horizon? Upton said it's unlikely and there are no plans for such a variant at the moment, "the cost gap would be too small to justify it, and it's getting harder to buy LPDDR4X at that density at all."
"But never say never."
[7]
Upton added: "A lot of focus [is] now on getting Compute Module 5 out of the door."
At the debut of the Pi 5, he had said the Compute Module 5 would follow in 2024. With more attention shifting to the device, it might yet appear in the current calendar year, which would please industrial customers eyeing the Pi 5, but wanting something in the Compute Module form factor.
[8]Still waiting for a Pi 500 and wondering what do this summer?
[9]Raspberry Pi Pico 2 lands with (drum roll) RISC-V cores
[10]Pi goes to spaaaaace... for a bit longer than planned
[11]Raspberry Pi OS airs out some fresh options for the summer
Overall, the 2 GB Pi 5 is a welcome addition to the Raspberry Pi stable, particularly with its reduced price point. The RAM restriction means a reduction in capability but for some users this is unlikely to present much of an issue unless they want to run more demanding operating systems or applications. Ubuntu, for example, [12]demands a minimum of 4 GB RAM .
The $50 price point means the 2 GB Pi 5 is only a few dollars more than the 2 GB Pi 4 Model B. It also pushes it closer to similar diminutive rivals like Libre Computer's Le Potato.
[13]Just don't forget to add some cooling. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/28/raspberry_pi_5_revealed/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZsMXxrabTtlU84sxn3MO9gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZsMXxrabTtlU84sxn3MO9gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZsMXxrabTtlU84sxn3MO9gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/08/16/pi52gb8gb.jpg
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZsMXxrabTtlU84sxn3MO9gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZsMXxrabTtlU84sxn3MO9gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/14/still_waiting_for_a_pi/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/08/pi_pico_2_risc_v/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/18/pi_in_spaaaaace_for_a/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/09/raspberry_pi_os_5_3/
[12] https://ubuntu.com/download/raspberry-pi
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/17/life_with_pi_5/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Why
While I personally think that the RPi5 is overkill for most projects, there's no doubt that there are many takers for more speed and memory. But this sort of makes the 2GB version moot. And, aside from the price, the RPi5 needs a fairly beefy power supply, which makes it less suitable for many of the projects where RPis have excelled in the past and continues to do so. For me the RPi4 hits the sweet spot of vastly suprerior bandwidth with minimal additional requirements. I'm trying to think of where a cutdown RPi5 would make sense: Point of sale system, perhaps?
But, you have to remember that the RPi is a hobbyist and prototype platform. Large-scale industrial projects will want to use different and probably even smaller SoCs, but are happy to prototype using RPis because of the de facto ISA and the easy access to peripherals and toolchain.
Re: Why
> Why does The Register keep randomly logging me out, no matter what browser I use.
I tried to upvote you Stevie. But I was stopped by a login screen...
Re: Why
The logout thing is annoying. Usually only find out when wanting to vote or make a comment ....
Re: Why
I have quite strict cookie policies but don't have problems with El Reg logging me out.
Vision
Problem with RPi is that it lost its vision. Basically each generation is tinkering around the edges of irrelevant stuff.
Where is work on better I/O? More GPIO? How about support for real-time operation?
Why no innovation like integrated FPGA?
Re: Vision
Let's be fair... the original Pi cost [1]£29 in 2012.
Inflation corrected (as per the [2]BoE ) that would be £40.40 now.
So the price is only slightly higher than it was a decade ago, with a pretty impressive increase in performance (and ports that line up)
But if we ignore the newest addition...
You now have the Pico boards down at well under £5
The Zero boards are under £10/£15 (Zero/ZeroW)
The original boards aren't sold any more, but the 3A is under £25
The 3B, 3B+, and 4 are still under £35
So whilst the 5 now goes for £47/57/77 (2/4/8 GB RAM) there is alot more computer in there for the relatively small increase.
The face that the 3s and 4 are still available at a price that frankly makes the original look expensive is a good thing.
The power of these machines has increased to the point where you could reasonably consider one as a desktop replacement. And with the 5 you can add nvme storage - which is a significant improvement.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2012/07/16/raspberry_pi_sales_limits_lifted/
[2] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
I guess with a 2GB version the Goldilocks effect with take place where people with consider the 2GB version too under resourced, 8GB too much and settle on the mid tier 4GB as just right.
"How much?!?"
I suspect that the $30 price tag on a 6GB upgrade will confuse a lot of Apple owners.
Blame Bloat
The 2 GB version was snappy enough but began to exhibit signs of distress as we loaded up multiple applications.
That says more about the application(s) than the platform. You will get problems on any system with the modern bloat containerized full-OS embedded packaging per application.
Optimization is an art that, apparently, has been lost upon us with the advent of too much memory. We expand the software to eat any hardware advances and then some. I wonder how Damn Small Linux would do on a RPI.
Reading between the lines
This is nothing but speculation . . .
The D0 stepping is pitched as a cost reduction, but presumably uses less power too. The current Pi5 runs comparatively hot, and eliminating unnecessary components should allow new hardware to run cooler. This might be a precursor to things like CM5 (I assume industry does not want to add external coolers etc) and the Pi500 everyone assumes is coming (the aluminium plate trick from the 400 might not be enough to cool the original Pi5 hardware).
Could be miles off though . . .
Complaints
Reading some of the comments here complaining about feature X missing/wrong on the RPi 5, I think people need to take a step back and look at the origins of the RPI. It was designed as a very low cost computer for people/children to tinker with - a bit like the 8-bit home micros of the 80s.
Right from the off, people started using it for things it wasn't designed for and asked for more features & performance.
It's now on its fifth iteration, people are still complaining about features & performance, but now they're complaining about price too because its gone up as they've added features & performance that people asked for.
Re: Complaints
One thing they do really well is to ignore lame feature requests from random "experts", and always manage to hit a sweet spot with the technology they have decided to use.
Why
Does The Register keep randomly logging me out, no matter what browser I use. Been doing it on several different systems for years.
Anyway. Has the Pi lost its way a bit? Its now cheaper to by a mini PC. Are they now beholded to the share owners?