New hardware is highly
exciting, and the natural
response to a spiced up Pi
would be to abuse it to the
max. So, why not use it as a full PC?
Yes, it has always been technically
possible to use a Pi as a functioning
desktop PC. Even the Raspberry Pi
1 Model B, with its 512MB RAM and
700MHz ARMv6 CPU, could manage
a rudimentary desktop, in much
the same way as you can force a
Commodore 64 to run a GUI or even
a Linux analog if you’re crazy. Of
course, those with long memories
will remember PCs of yesteryear
running with far lighter specs, but
they weren’t the size of a credit card
with a severely limited architecture.
While there’s been incremental
improvement in the Pi’s desktop
performance over the years, the
new hardware in the Pi 4 does away
with the “technically possible” part
of the equation: It is not just feasible
to run a Pi 4 as a desktop machine, it
i s p o s i t i v e l y p l e a s u r a b l e , s o m u c h s o
that the Raspberry Pi Foundation is
selling its own Raspberry Pi desktop
kit. That new processor has enough
muscle to fling around whatever you
might throw at it, network and USB
no longer share the same bus, there
are multiple monitor outputs right
there on board, and (depending
on the spec you pick) your desktop
OS can access up to 4GB RAM.
Usually. Note that, so far, we’ve not
been able to force Windows 10 on
to a Pi 4, but given our experiments
with doing so on a Pi 3—a 10-minute
boot time and almost completely
unresponsive desktop—we imagine
it wouldn’t be too fruitful. This is a
Linux-only task.
Some caveats for the over-
excited, before we get too involved.
This will never replace your high-
end desktop machine. That would
be preposterous—it’s a $55 bundle
of electronics, not a $1,000 killer
rig. Realistically, unearthing some
old desktop hardware and slapping
some variety of Linux on it will
offer a much more capable and
flexible experience. This isn’t only
because that hardware is typically
much faster, with functions given to
dedicated hardware on traditional
P Cs forced to r un on single chip — or,
worse, in software—on the Pi, but
because the CISC architecture of
x86 can take many more shortcuts
than ARM’s RISC layout. Speaking
of which, the Pi’s architecturerestrictions haven’t changed:
Any software you run needs to be
compatible with and compiled to
run on ARM. Thankfully, there’s
a large library out there, and it’s
often possible (though slow) to build
your own packages from source, if
there’s no ARM version available.GET THE HARDWARE RIGHT
If you’re going to use a Raspberry
Pi 4 as a desktop PC, you need to
make a choice: Do you opt for 1GB
RAM (no), 2GB (possibly), or the most
expensive Pi 4 build at 4GB? The
latter would seem like a no-brainer,
but at the time of writing, the Pi 4’s
firmware isn’t super-reliable—
some OSes, notably Ubuntu, can’t
take advantage of the full 4GB,
requiring a hack that leaves you with
less usable RAM. It’s still more than
2GB, though, and that rocky start for
the firmware isn’t likely to continue
forever, so we’d absolutely suggest
a 4GB Pi for the task.
Next, controlling the thing.
Peripherals aren’t really a huge
issue, even if they use heavy-
drawing RGB, because the Pi 4 uses
a 3A power supply, but it’s worth
considering compatibility. Linux’s
hardware management and driver
support continues in the same
slightly ropey vein it always has,
meaning certain wireless devices
aren’t supported well. Don’t think
about switching out that official
power supply for something else,
though, because the Pi 4 lacks the
relevant resistor to support smartcharging supplies, and you could put
your hardware at risk.
In terms of display output, the
Pi 4 has a huge advantage in that
it can comfortably support dual
screens through its pair of built-in
micro HDMI por ts. Comfor tably, that
is, as long as you don’t mind dual
4K screens being forced to run at
30Hz; 1080p, or a combination of one
1080p panel and one 4K, can hit the
full 60Hz refresh rate. Dual screens
really do give this a leg up on the
previous generation, positioning it
as a truly modern desktop, but while
its enhanced GPU, a Broadcom
VideoCore VI running at 500MHz,
might be powerful enough to handle
two screens, don’t anticipate relying
on that single-chip solution for
heavyweight pixel-pushing tasks.
Photo editing, perhaps, but video
editing is plausible only in certain
circumstances, specifically when
you’re working with the particular
flavors of H.265 or H.264 that are
natively supported by the GPU.
Storage is the big issue, at least
at press time. As of the current
firmware, there’s no support for
USB booting (unlike on previous Pis), ©^WI
KIMEDIA^
COMMONSRaspbian runs the unique Raspberry Pi-specific PIXEL
desktop environment.Ah, Ubuntu. Good old Ubuntu. It doesn’t work perfectly
just yet, but it is Ubuntu. Ubuntu.The Raspberry
Pi foundation
offers a few
different flavors
of Raspbian.Raspberry Pi 4
36 MAXIMUMPC JAN 2020 maximumpc.com