Image of Raspberry Pi
What is the amount of RAM you require? It’s an often asked question, but it doesn’t always come with a straight answer. The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost system-on a-chip designed for hobbyists. It usually has less RAM than a conventional PC, but the new 16GB version gives it a serious upgrade in memory.
A Raspberry Pi 5 with onboard DDR4 memory costs $120. This is more than twice the price of a base 2GB model. It’s also available with the original 4GB configuration at $60 and 8GB at $80. Although it may seem expensive for a Raspberry Pi without any extra hardware, the price is reasonable when you consider the components. If we assume that there is a $20 increase for every 4GB, then it’s in line. The new 16GB model is available now from PiShop.us as well as other vendors.
16 gigs for a Raspberry Pi is a lot — more than any existing model produced so far. And at $120, the new version is now competitive with some mini PCs, which unlike the Pi come with storage and operating system out of box.
What’s the reason behind the upgrade? According to Ebon Upton of Raspberry Pi, the upgrade is to make more memory available for “heavyweight distros like Ubuntu” as well as demanding applications like computational fluid dynamics (sigh) and large language AI models. Micron was able supply the Raspberry Pi Company with the necessary components.
I think it’s important to point out that you can run an Arm-based Windows version on a Raspberry Pi — even the very heavy Windows 11 — but if you do, 16GB is the minimum requirement for the latest OS versions. The new 16GB version is a great choice if you want to build the smallest and most efficient Windows PC possible.
Michael Crider is a Staff Writer at PCWorld.
Michael has been in technology journalism for 10 years, covering everything from Apple and ZTE. He is the resident keyboard nut at PCWorld, always testing out a new keyboard for a review. In his spare time he builds a mechanical board or expands his desktop “battlestation” . Michael has written for Android Police, Digital Trends Wired, Lifehacker and How-To Geek. He’s also covered live events like CES or Mobile World Congress. Michael lives in Pennsylvania and is always looking forward to the next kayaking trip.