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Single-board computer
Updated October 1, 2025
Raspberry Pi 5
The Raspberry Pi 5 is a powerful, affordable single-board computer. It lets you build everything from media centers to custom gadgets and learn programming.
Category
Single-board computer
Use Case
DIY electronics projects, home automation, media centers, educational programming
Key Features
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Enhanced Performance With Faster Processor Increased Connectivity And Expansion Options Advanced Multimedia And Graphics Capabilities Improved Power Management And Efficiency Compact Form Factor With Robust Design
In Simple Terms
What It Is
A Raspberry Pi 5 is a very small, affordable computer that's about the size of a deck of cards. All the parts you'd find in a regular computer—like the brain (processor), memory, and places to plug things in—are built onto this single flat board. You just need to add a power supply, a microSD card to act as its hard drive, and a screen to get it running. It's the newest and most powerful version in the popular Raspberry Pi family, making it faster and more capable than its older siblings.
Why People Use It
People love the Raspberry Pi 5 because it's incredibly versatile and cheap. It gives you a blank slate to create almost anything you can imagine without needing a big, expensive computer. It's perfect for learning how computers and programming work in a hands-on way. For tech hobbyists and engineers, it's a dream tool for building custom gadgets and automating things around the house. Because it's so small and doesn't use much power, it's ideal for projects that need to run quietly in the background or be tucked away in a small space.
Everyday Examples
You can use a Raspberry Pi 5 for all sorts of clever projects. One common use is as a small media center for your TV. You can set it up to play all your movies, music, and shows. Another popular idea is to turn it into a small, private gaming console to play classic video games from your childhood. For the more practical-minded, it can run as a smart home hub to control lights, thermostats, and other devices from one central spot. People also use it for building weather stations, custom digital photo frames, or even a secure server for storing personal files and data at home.
Technical Details
Definition
The Raspberry Pi 5 is the latest flagship single-board computer (SBC) developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It represents a significant generational leap in performance and capability over its predecessor, the Raspberry Pi 4, while maintaining the classic credit-card-sized form factor. It is a fully functional, low-cost computer built on a single printed circuit board, designed to provide substantial computing power for a wide range of technical, educational, and industrial applications.
How It Works
The Raspberry Pi 5 operates on the same fundamental principles as a standard personal computer but in a highly integrated, miniature form. At its core, it executes instructions from an operating system, typically a Linux distribution like Raspberry Pi OS, which is loaded from a microSD card or an optional external SSD. The central processing unit (CPU) fetches, decodes, and executes program instructions, while the graphics processing unit (GPU) handles visual output. The board's main system-on-a-chip (SoC) manages communication between the CPU, GPU, memory, and all connected peripherals via a new, more efficient internal architecture. Power is supplied via a USB-C connector, and the board initializes through a dedicated Southbridge chip, the RP1, which manages most input/output functions, leading to improved performance and peripheral support.
Key Components
Processor: A 2.4GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 CPU, providing a substantial performance increase over previous models.
Graphics: An 800MHz VideoCore VII GPU, supporting dual 4Kp60 HDMI display output with HDR.
Memory: LPDDR4X SDRAM, available in 4GB or 8GB configurations, soldered directly onto the board.
I/O Controller: A custom RP1 chip, acting as a Southbridge to handle most of the board's input/output, including USB and Ethernet.
Connectivity: Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet (with PoE+ capability via a separate HAT), and two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports.
Expansion: A standard 40-pin GPIO header for connecting electronic components, along with dedicated connectors for a PCIe 2.0 interface (for high-speed storage or peripherals), a real-time clock, and a fan.
Common Use Cases
DIY Electronics and Prototyping: Serving as the brain for robotics, custom home automation systems, and interactive art installations via its GPIO pins.
Media Center: Functioning as a low-power, silent computer for media playback using software like Kodi or Plex, capable of handling high-resolution video streams.
Lightweight Desktop Computing: Operating as a functional desktop PC for web browsing, programming, and document editing, running a full desktop operating system.
Network-Attached Storage (NAS): Managing and serving files over a home network when combined with external hard drives.
Embedded Industrial Applications: Deployed in commercial products for control, monitoring, and data logging due to its small size and reliability.
Retro Gaming Console: Emulating classic video game consoles through software like RetroPie, leveraging its improved graphical capabilities.
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