$100 PC VS Raspberry Pi 4 8GB - Can The Pi4 Replace a Desktop PC?

Is the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB a real Desktop replacement? Can it outperform a$100 used Optiplex PC?
In this video, we test out the desktop performance of $100 i3 Dell Optiplex running Raspberry Pi OS x86 otherwise know as Raspberry Pi Desktop for PC! Can the most expensive Raspberry Pi 4 beat out this used office PC in everyday desktop tasks?
Keep in mind the whole Raspberry pi kit you see in this video cost more than the Desktop PC I’m testing it against.

Equipment I Use:

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[geoffhalsey]

I picked up two HP i3's and a Lenovo dual-core for free from an office clear out. They had put them out in the trash and I noticed them. Knock on the door and they said sure, take-em. Lucky find.

[hamp]

LOVE the side by side comparison! Most sites don't do that when comparing devices/stats and it makes it harder for many people to make informed decisions about things. Keep it up and thank you!

[JohnHeitmuller]

I am only one viewer among many, but I vote for more videos like this; comparing buying something new vs repurposing something old. I found this interesting to watch.

[saif]

The place where raspberry pi shines is where you need a headless computer with minimum power consumption.

[fritzmueller]

It's so great that you say the results in the first minute! Like a real gentlemen compared to all these clickbait junkys all over YouTube. A really good video

[bigsmoke]

" STAND UP "
" why ? "
" YOU ARE SITTING ON MY F*CKIN COMPUTER DUUUDE "

[magentawool]

Them: * talks about 1440 vs 4k *
Me: *laughs in 480p*

[spel]

Shame that due to global pandemy these old optiplexes cost about twice as much than a year ago now.

[spuds]

I get these Optiplex 3020s and the 9010s SFFs from work as we replace them. I normally load Windows on them and donate them to people in need. I have two that I am setting up for a local church for their youth\education room. They will be used by people that don't have a PC or internet can come and use them as needed. Some of their members lost their jobs due to the Human Malware that is still on going.

[VerdASMR]

The goodwill pc's are undefeated in my book, usually around $120, an i5, 500gb storage, monitor, kb&m. Got one of these and added 4gb ram, sold the harddrive for an ssd, and now use it as a minecraft server for me and my friends

[TraumaER]

I wanted to do the test on my built computer from 2014 and I am able to run 8K on a separate YouTube video. My GPU hit about 33C and 90% utilization rate. Amazing something I built 6 years ago is still able to play and do everything today. 😃

[dahuman]

I've already replaced my folks' computers to Pi4 8GB since months ago, docked the SATA SSDs' to external docks to the USB3 port while taking a lot less space and is more than enough for 60 and 70 year olds that just browse the web, check e-mails, and watch videos at a ridiculously low power draw.

[alerey]

The Pi4 is IDEAL for making your own tablet, as you perfectly demonstrated in your previous videos with the android tablet project and the excellent touch display + battery; so for your portable Linux desktop a-la-DIY nothing beats the Pi in terms of portability, power consumption and massive Linux support (both for software and hardware GPIO); as for dedicating gaming/NAS of course a cheap used intel pc is the best option

[ninline]

I've been using my Pi4 as my desktop for months now. It's tweaked and overclocked and 1080p30 Youtube works fine but 60 frames per second does strangle it. 10bit X265 video works good in VLC now as well. I'd say that it's pretty much equivalent to a Core2Duo Intel computer. The I3 is definitely more powerful. For 99% of what I do though the Pi works great and it uses next to no power. I have a 12 core Mac Pro if I have to do anything that needs real muscle but the lights dim when I turn it on.

[Count_Smackula]

I have the Pi 4 to use in my Casita when I travel. It serves as replacement for an Optiplex 9010 that I use at home. Is it as good? Nope. Is it better than my similarly spec'ed Latitude laptop? Not really, but closer. The one area where it excels is in power consumption (or lack thereof). I use solar panels to keep my Casita charged up & the laptop puts a significantly bigger drain on the battery. The Optiplex is definitely no bueno in that use case.

[antibrevity]

Thanks for the video. I love the RPi and have a couple myself, but many people do buy it as a desktop replacement when they would be better served by buying a used or off-lease PC like an Optiplex, even though these PC's are currently over-priced due to high demand. You can easily spend close to $100 on a full Raspberry Pi setup or kit, yet the PC will be more powerful, more upgradeable, and have more operating systems to choose from.

I just got a Lenovo m93p Tiny (USFF) PC with an i5-4750 for my father as a replacement for a very old AMD PC that finally had a motherboard failure. It cost $110 with 8GB of RAM, but I had to buy a new SSD, video cable, and external backup drive for it so that the total price was close to $200.

That's a lot more than a RPi setup, but it has a Samsung SSD over a real SATA controller and full external backup instead of a flaky SD card; the resulting machine should last the rest of its user's lifetime. If you add better storage and backup to an RPi via USB, the total cost goes up similarly and you may also need an external USB hub to connect everything.

I've seen these drive-less Lenovo tiny PC's for $100, but they tend to sell quickly at that price. A lot of folks are using them as media PC's, I suspect. You can also find some that include used SSD's or spinning drives for a good price, but you should *definitely* have regular backups for such a machine as I have no faith in used SSD's from recycling companies.

Most of these are off-lease business machines, which tend to be heavily used, so be wary of anything with moving parts such as spinning hard drives and fans. Some sellers do blow out the machines with air, but make sure everything is clean while adding your own components. If the machine is a laptop or mini-PC, remove the fan from the heat pipe to make sure there's no hidden dust blocking the cooling system.

Also, my Dad's Lenovo did not include the hard drive caddy! It's easier for recyclers to pull the whole caddy when removing the hard drive for destruction or wiping and thus some machines won't have a caddy, which renders it useless.

READ THE FINE PRINT! I expected to get the caddy as the seller's feedback showed that most buyers get them, but not this time. I also made sure to specifically request a POWER SUPPLY as the fine print clearly stated these were provided "when possible."

I made my own drive caddy from sheet metal, but few buyers will have the tools, skills, or time to do such a thing and you may find that replacement caddies and power supplies add a LOT to the total cost of buying a "refurbished" machine. MAKE CERTAIN that all of the important parts will be included by reading the fine print and/or asking the seller some questions.

With a Raspberry Pi, at least you know exactly what you're getting in the box. With a used/refurbished PC, you might not. Choose sellers wisely and read the entire description.

Also, while an ARM SBC may not be as powerful as a used x86 PC, the energy efficiency and reduced heat output is downright impressive. An Optiplex will use more power than a USFF mini-PC, but even the tiny PC cannot match an RPi running from 5V. If you don't need the extra horsepower, the Raspberry Pi is absolutely fine for web browsing, e-mail, and basic office productivity tasks. Your parents probably aren't running emulators or playing COD, anyway ;).

Remember that in warm climates or internal-load dominated office buildings you pay for computer energy twice; once when the computer, display, printer, etc uses the energy and again when your building's air conditioner has to remove the resulting heat from the room. LCD screens alone have saved the world incredible amounts of kilowatt-hours since the CRT days <g>.

[tkarlmann]

From a prepping standpoint, I'd like to see Word and Excel run on either of these -- or their equivalents. Thanks for the comparison.

[gaweyn]

"If you are under 14 years of age, you do not have permission to view this video." I did not have the impression that 9 year olds read a 200+ word long description BEFORE watching a video on YT.

[opasarcade]

Thanks to you and your awesome videos I built my cabinet around a 100.00 Dell Optiplex and my only upgrade was a GTX970 card that I bought for 100.00. I love my pi but if you are going to build a cabinet I'd say a PC is the way to go. Thanks again for another awesome video, keep em coming 👍

[kevinshumaker]

For my use case, Pi4-4GB, Pi4-8GB and even the older Pi3B+ meets or exceeds all my needs, and has other advantages. I took my 3B+ with me overseas with a few bootable USB Sticks, one for a laptop replacement, one for a media server, one for a VPN to home. Something the size of 2 decks of cards, runable from a 20, 000mAH battery pack, usable with smart phones, tablets, etc., far outweigh the minor system improvements of a laptop or desktop when travelling. I used to use the "PC on a Stick" devices, and any PI blows them away. Is it a 'desktop' replacement? IMO not my home desktop. Does it replace a desktop in almost every other situation? You betcha. Forgot to mention my grandsons can have their own PIs, and if something gets corrupted, 30 second replacement of a USB stick and they are back up and running.