But if you're trying to use a Pi as a general-purpose PC, more RAM means more apps and more browser tabs with less virtual memory usage, which should keep the entire system responsive. It can also be useful if you are trying to run multiple VMs or Docker containers on the same Pi. Upton also mentions large language models and computational fluid dynamics as workloads that would benefit from additional memory. The main problem is that these RAM-hungry workloads often also benefit from more CPU and GPU power than the Pi can provide.
At a price of $120 before you add storage, a power brick or a case, the 16GB version of the Pi 5 should also compete with a wide universe of cheap x86-based mini PCs. Starting around $160, these PCs will give you a decent quad-core Intel processor, 16GB of memory and 500GB of NVMe-attached storage, as well as the option to use Windows if you want (not to mention a Windows license). The Pi 5 benefits from a broad accessory ecosystem and purpose-built operating system images, and it will be easier to troubleshoot and find support if you have a specific hardware problem. But as everyday desktops, the small Intel boxes also have advantages.
The 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB versions of the Pi 5 will cost $50, $60, $80, or $120 respectively. Those who want a Pi board for the original $35 will get it at the 1 GB version of the previous generation Raspberry Pi 4.
