Launched less than a year ago, the Raspberry Pi 5 has quickly become a favorite among single-board computing enthusiasts and Linux ARM users due to its enhanced performance, increased memory, and the addition of a PCIe bus for expansion capabilities.
Until now, availability of the Raspberry Pi 5 was limited to either a $60/£57 version featuring 4 GB of RAM or a more robust $80/£77 version equipped with 8 GB of RAM.
This memory capacity is suited for demanding applications, such as operating a full Ubuntu desktop, yet not all users require or desire such capacity, especially when considering the higher cost for more straightforward tasks.
Hence, the introduction today by Raspberry Pi of a new entry-level model priced at $50/£47 that includes 2 GB of RAM.
The 2 GB Raspberry Pi 5 also features a ‘cost-optimised’ Broadcom BCM2712D0 SoC. It’s ‘functionally identical’ to the BCM2712C1 used in the other Pi 5 models, but cheaper to make.
“[The C1 version] contains functionality intended to serve other markets, which we don’t need. This ‘dark silicon’ is permanently disabled in the chips we use, but takes up die space, and therefore adds cost,” says Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi Founder.
“The new D0 stepping strips away all that unneeded functionality, leaving only the bits we need. From the perspective of a Raspberry Pi user, it is functionally identical to its predecessor [and] is cheaper to make, and so is available to us at somewhat lower cost.”
Besides reduced RAM, an optimised SoC, and a cheaper price tag, there are no further differences to the marginally pricier Raspberry Pi 5 models. Same ports, same pins, same connectors, same speeds — and the same fun!
So is saving $10 for less RAM worth it?
That depends on what you want to use for Pi for.
Hobbyist, industrial, IoT, and edge computing use cases may find 2GB more than sufficient, and vintage and retro gaming (up to PS1) should be fine with 2 GB given most popular ARM-powered handhelds top out at 1 GB!
However, those who intend to heavily utilize their Pi for tasks such as media editing on an Ubuntu desktop, operating a 4K screen, compiling software from scratch, and simultaneously maintaining numerous browser tabs open, may find that investing an additional $10-20 in enhanced RAM capacity is a worthwhile expenditure.
The Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB RAM is now available for purchase from certified Pi retailers (at MSRP/RRP) starting today. Notable suppliers include Pishop.us in the United States, The Pi Hut in the UK, e2u in India, and Welectron in Germany, among others. Be cautious as non-certified sellers may have higher prices.