Raspberry Pi 5 is twice as fast and ideal for my next retro console build

Raspberry Pi has announced its next-generation mini-computer and it's the most exciting yet. Not only is the Raspberry Pi 5 the first to use silicon manufactured in the UK by the company itself, it is claimed to be more than twice as fast as the Pi 4 Model B. And all for $60 / £60.

I have been building retro games consoles from Raspberry Pi boards for a while now, having started with the Pi 3. I was also planning to build a new arcade unit using Pimoroni's Picade, but might have to pause until there's support for the Raspberry Pi 5 as it looks to be ideal for some old school gaming fun.

That's because it is built around a 2.4GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 processor, with a VideoCore VII GPU. That should be more than enough to ensure nigh-on every emulator runs – even up to PS3 and Sega Saturn.

The new board is also capable of outputting 4Kp60 video through dual (mini) HDMI ports, so it'd also make for a more than decent media streamer too.

Introducing Raspberry Pi 5 - YouTube

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Other key specifications include dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, microSD card support (of course), two USB 3.0 ports and two for USB 2.0. It would have been nice to see USB-C included for something other than power, but them's the breaks.

You do get an on-board power button though. You can't even imagine how happy this makes me.

Pricing starts at $60 / £60 for the 4GB model – around the same as the current Raspberry Pi 4 Model B – while the variant with 8GB RAM will retail for $80 / £80.

Pre-orders are now available, with the Raspberry Pi 5 to ship from "late October".

There are also cases and power supplies for the new mini-computer listed on retail sites, such as Pimoroni – you can therefore start your own console build for less than $100 / £100.

Emulators for the Raspberry Pi are easy to find, with RetroPie being a great place to start. You can then add your own game ROMs for multiple platforms – all legally sourced, of course.

After all, who doesn't like a project that eventually sees you playing the original version of Pac-Man and other arcade greats in your living room?