Many fans doubted it would arrive during the year. But, almost surprisingly, Raspberry Pi 5 is here: The latest version of the microcomputer arrives with a number of notable updates. And with a starting price of 60 dollars. This new version promises to surpass its predecessor not only in terms of performance, but also to offer in-house developed processors.
Raspberry Pi 5, new version of the microcomputer with homemade chip
At the heart of the Raspberry Pi 5 is a processor Arm Cortex-A76 quad-core a 64 bitwhich operates at a frequency of 2,4 GHz. This represents a significant jump in power, with the performance increase varying two to three times that of the Raspberry Pi 4, released four years ago. Furthermore, the device has a graphics chip VideoCore VII from 800 MHzwhich, according to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, offers a “substantial increase” in graphics performance.
We haven’t had the opportunity to test the new performance, but Emma Roth of The Verge reports notable startup and web page loading speeds, a significant improvement “compared to my old Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+”. However, the journalist notes that the Raspberry Pi 5 tends to run hot, but this time the Raspberry Pi Foundation has included a active cooling component that can be mounted directly on the boardensuring more efficient operation.
A homemade chip
Another significant innovation is represented by the southbridgea component made directly by Raspberry Pi Foundation. This component plays a fundamental role in the motherboard’s communication with external peripherals. The Southbridge RP1 aims to deliver a dramatic improvement in peripheral performance and functionality, enabling faster transfer speeds to external UAS and other peripherals.
Among the new features, the Raspberry Pi 5 has two 1.5 Gbps MIPI transceivers with four lanes that allow the connection of up to two cameras or displays. Also, find an interface PCI Express 2.0 single-lane, offering support for “high-bandwidth peripherals.” But you need a separate adapter, like a M.2 HAT (Hardware attached on top), to fully exploit its potential.
More ports and possibilities
As for the doors, the Raspberry Pi 5 offers two HDMI 4Kp60 display outputs with support for HDR, a microSD slot, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, connectivity Gigabit Ethernet and a connection of 5V DC power via USB-C.
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Other improvements include support for Bluetooth 5.0 e Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), along with double the maximum SD card performance with SDR104 high-speed mode. In short, in terms of connectivity the new Raspberry Pi does better than many much larger and more expensive PCs.
Raspberry Pi 5: price and variants
The Raspberry Pi 5 comes in two different RAM options at launch, at a cost of $60 for the 4 GB version and $80 for the 8 GB version. This makes it slightly more expensive than the Raspberry Pi 4, which is priced at $55 for the 4GB version and $75 for the 8GB.
Raspberry Pi 5 will be available for purchase by end of Octoberpromising to be even more versatile and suitable for a wide range of applications, from budget desktop PC to media server and even a DIY security system.
You can find all the details on the official Raspberry website.