this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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Selfhosted

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Doesn't sound like the 'cheap small computer you can run your hobby electronics project on' that the original Pi used to be. It is not as cheap and a power hungry beast, still small, though. More and more like a PC and less and less a small cheap embedded platform. For some people it is a plus (I guess for most people here), for some not so much.

I tend to build my projects on Raspberry Pi Pico now, but sometimes I would need something more powerful and Raspberry Pi 5 will be too much.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The project goal has never been a 'cheap small computer you can run your hobby electronics project on'. The whole point of the project is to build a small cheap PC to give away to school children to increase computer literacy, while making it attractive enough for normal people to buy to fund the charity side

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Isn't the Pi 3B still available for that kind of job?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you can find a new one. They are $45+ on ebay used. None of the usual US sellers has any.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I just noticed on rpilocator that there are a couple US sellers who have RPi4-1GB boards in stock for $35. I might have to try and snag one since my Kodi device has been acting up lately.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

But there already is a device that answer that specific need, so it wouldn't make sense for the Raspberry 5 to replace it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Not that easily and cheaply as they used to be.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

And the 4B

Right now getting compute modules is the hard part. When the inevitable CM5 comes out...

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

I'm not sure I'd call 5 watts "power hungry."

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Zero and zero 2 have decent stock anymore.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They don't have Ethernet port :( Do they support full OS?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Pi zero W has WiFi, alternatively there are hats available. And yes they can run a full Rasbian OS.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

I’ve used pine64 boards for this. They have a few more options and are always available.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You can buy beelink small form factor pcs from Amazon for around $150 with cases and power supplies included.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But...he said that it's not as cheap as it used to be and too power hungry and you propose an 150$ PC?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m agreeing with them. By the time you buy the Pi 5, and all the add-ons you need, it’s going to rival these SFF systems with full x86 Intel chips with efficiency cores.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, yes if you need "all the add-ons".

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Case, cooler, power supply, storage at minimum, dongle/adapters probably too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I meant IF you need all the add-ons, otherwise the price gap is huge

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It isn't, you can get SFF PCs for as little as $75 on eBay that have Quicksync CPUs and will run circles around a RPi, especially if you have to do any transcoding. They are also really power efficient... 7-20W idles.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195163970881

SBCs really should no longer be considered for selfhosting unless you are A) in an extremely power constrained environment like an off-grid RV or vanlife situation or B) clustering

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You're right, if there's no need of GPIO. For example I'm using a Fujitsu Futro S720 that I've bought for about 30/40€ and it consumes about 4W idle and 10/15W maximum (I don't really remember). My point of view is like yours: those boards are not good for self hosting, are good for IoT, digital signage and...mmm...I don't know what else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This is what I ended up doing last year and it's been great.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think they still make the older ones if you want something middle-of-the-road.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Yes, the numbers on a Pi aren't referring to a "version" like with the iPhone, but to it's power. A Pi Zero isn't the oldest, it's the simplest.