The Raspberry Pi 5 now includes the option of 16GB RAM, similar to the Raspberry Pi CM5, which also has up to 16GB of memory. At $120, it costs $40 more than the 8GB model, which is indicative of the higher RAM capacity. Even though some people might be surprised by the price increase, the more memory could greatly enhance your computer experience, particularly for memory-intensive and multitasking applications.
All of the features of the 8GB version are still included in the Raspberry Pi 5 16GB, including the updated Broadcom BCM2712 SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A76 CPU running at 2.4 GHz and a VideoCore VII GPU. The most notable change, though, is the upgrade to 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM, which creates new opportunities for more taxing tasks like multi-tabulation web browsing, email checking, 4K video streaming, and even managing larger AI models or other memory-intensive apps.
Key Specs of the Raspberry Pi 5 16GB:
- SoC: Broadcom BCM2712 "D0" stepping
- CPU: Quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz with crypto extensions, 512KB per-core L2 caches, 2MB shared L3 cache
- GPU: VideoCore VII GPU @ 800 MHz, supports OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.2, and 4Kp60 HEVC decoding
- System Memory: 16GB LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM
- Storage: MicroSD card slot (supports high-speed SDR104 mode)
Video Input & Outputs:
- 2x HDMI ports supporting up to 4Kp60 with HDR
- 2x 4-lane MIPI camera/display transceivers
Networking & Connectivity:
- Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port via Broadcom BCM54213PE transceiver (PoE+ support through Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAToptional)
- Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi 5
- Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
USB Ports:
- 2x USB 3.0 ports (5Gbps simultaneous operation)
- 2x USB 2.0 ports
Expansion:
- 40-pin GPIO header
- PCIe 2.0/3.0 x1 FFC interface
Additional Features:
- Real-time clock (RTC) powered by an external battery
- Power button and UART debug connector
- Power Supply: 5V/5A DC via USB-C (with Power Delivery support)
Dimensions:
- 85 x 56 mm
If you're satisfied with the Raspberry Pi 5's 8GB model, you might not need to upgrade to 16GB unless you get out-of-memory (OOM) problems a lot or see performance degradation from swapping. Customers that rely on the Raspberry Pi for memory-intensive tasks like running AI models or working with large datasets may find that the extra RAM greatly enhances performance. The additional 8GB can further improve the user experience in scenarios that call for intensive multitasking, such as running many apps simultaneously without experiencing bottlenecks.
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