Can a Raspberry Pi 4 Really Replace Your Desktop PC? (I Tried)

The Raspberry Pi 4 release was exciting for me, and all Raspberry Pi fans. When the Raspberry Pi 4 first came out, I read everywhere in the news that it’s almost a normal PC. But no one really tried it, they just repeated that newsbyte over and over again. I decided to test it myself, and replaced my laptop with my Raspberry Pi 4 for a few days. So can a Raspberry Pi 4 replace your desktop PC?

The Raspberry Pi 4 has specifications close to a standard PC. With 8 GB RAM and a powerful processor, it seems a serious alternative to an entry-level computer.

But before making the leap, you have to consider some critical points:

• Minimum budget: we always hear about a $35 device, but what’s the true price?
• Global performances: what about processor, RAM and storage?
• Desktop environment: is Raspbian ready to be used as your main operating system?

I will take each point of this list, give you the facts and my opinion at each step. At the end of this test, you’ll know if Raspberry Pi is ready to become the new desktop computer (or not).

Note: More recently, I did a similar experience with the Raspberry Pi 5. You can find all the details here: Can a Raspberry Pi 5 Replace Your Main PC? I Tested It!

If you’re feeling lost in all the Raspberry Pi jargon, I’ve got something to help you out. I’ve created a free glossary that explains all the essential terms and abbreviations in a way that’s easy to understand. It’s a great resource to have by your side. Get your free copy here.

My Setup

As you probably know, Raspberry Pi 4 is available with three RAM options: 2 GB, 4 GB, or 8 GB
Here is my setup for this test, so you know exactly what I’m reviewing:

• Raspberry Pi 4 single board with 4 GB RAM.
  If you still don’t have yours, you can find complete kits on Amazon for a good price. If you’re just starting with Raspberry Pi (4 or any model), a kit will provide you all the accessories I list in the following points. This will avoid some search and headaches to find compatible stuff.
• A case with an integrated fan: you probably need a fan, I’ll come back to this later.
• A Samsung Evo+ SD Card (32 GB).
• A desktop mouse and keyboard: not my small Bluetooth keyboard, I needed a comfortable keyboard to work with.
• A generic Samsung USB charger (I already have one for my smartphone, you can choose the official one or the CanaKit version if you prefer).
• A micro HDMI – HDMI adapter (I didn’t try the dual screen for this test).
• Raspberry Pi Desktop: I voluntarily choose to not take the full version, so I have the basics and will install only what I need from the recommended software. The Lite version is also a good choice I think, you’ll install only the software and desktop environment you want.

Items without direct link are available in my recommended products pages if you want to see exactly what I’m using

So, I may not have the ultimate setup for a Raspberry Pi, but that’s enough for my needs. I will come back to the options you have in the next chapter.

Raspberry Pi 4 Budget

If you don’t yet know this, here is a quick reminder: the $35 computer is a lie 🙂
Yes, you can get a Raspberry Pi with 1GB for $35, but you can’t do anything with the motherboard only (2 GB for $45 and 4 GB for $55).

Then you have to add all the accessories (case, fan, SD card, adapters, power input, etc.) My setup has a total cost close to $75, and I’m using my old keyboard, mouse, screen and HDMI cable
If you start with nothing, $75-$125 is a more realistic budget.

Ok, it’s cheap for a computer, as you won’t find anything perfect under $200.
But you can also find computers not far from this price, including a screen (I have found this Chromebook on Amazon). And you can probably find a used one for a lot cheaper.

But can a Raspberry Pi 4 compete with a cheap Chromebook?
That’s what we’ll see in the next chapter

In fact, you can even install Chrome OS on Raspberry Pi if you want 🙂

Warning: current prices are all over the place for a new Raspberry Pi. Make sure to check this article to pay the right price when buying a Raspberry Pi. I also give a few tips to find one in stock (which currently isn’t that easy).

Performance to Expect from Raspberry Pi 4

I think it’s good to come in having realistic expectations of what a single-board computer (SBC) can actually achieve, so let me give you an idea about its hardware first.

Processor

The Raspberry Pi 4 comes with a new processor, the Broadcom BCM2711, providing 1.5Ghz on a quad core architecture in 64-bit.

The goal here is not to do a benchmark of this processor, but I read that it could be 2 to 5 times more powerful than the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ CPU.

It’s one of the big benefits of this new Raspberry Pi model, but I need facts to see how it works on a daily basis

Memory

The possibility of getting more RAM on Raspberry Pi is also good news.

I ran this same test with the Raspberry Pi 3B+, and the lack of memory was the biggest problem I had. I was unable to use a web browser correctly because of this

I hope now that the 4GB RAM I have on my Raspberry Pi will solve this issue. In any case, it’s similar to the technology you might see on a standard PC.

Storage

There is no built-in disk on a Raspberry Pi, so it’s not really dependent on the new version I’m testing today. But it’s good to say that SD cards are evolving simultaneously, and you can now get almost the same storage space as a desktop PC.

My favorite SD card model, SanDisk Ultra, is now available at 256 GB and 512 GB for a decent price (check the price on Amazon). It’s even cheaper than an SSD, and it’s fast enough to work on it seriously. If you have more budget and are looking for better performances, check my SD card benchmark here and other storage options compared.

You just have to know that a SD card is not as reliable as a standard hard drive. So it’s more important than ever to back up your Raspberry Pi files. To do this, you can use an external hard drive like this one on Amazon.

You can even keep one plugged if you need more storage space. Check my guide on how to back up a Raspberry Pi to learn more about this

Connectivity

Finally, just a quick note about the Raspberry Pi 4 connections. Even if this has been an issue on older models, this Pi has everything you can expect from a desktop PC:

• Gigabit Ethernet network card.
• Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4 or 5Ghz).
• Bluetooth 5.0.

So it’s perfect for me, I have everything I need.

Note: I recently tested a few products that would make the Pi great for desktop use.
-The CrowView Note is basically like a laptop. Read my full review here.
-The CrowPi3 turns your Pi into a workstation. Read the review here.

Raspberry Pi OS Desktop: Interface

What about the software part? Let’s start by discussing the operating system and user interface.

What’s New About the Interface?

Raspberry Pi OS has been updated from Bookworm (Debian 12) to Trixie (Debian 13) in 2025.
You need at least the old Buster version (2019 or newer) to use the Raspberry Pi 4.
So if your goal is to use your SD card from another model, you need to update your system before booting on Raspberry Pi 4.

These changes bring many new features and optimizations that I think are worthwhile.
They redesigned the overall look, but the interface is almost the same, no major changes.
If you need more information about the Raspberry Pi OS installation and configuration, click on the link to see my post on the subject

To go back to the topic of this post: is Raspberry Pi OS ready to be used as a desktop?
Yes, I think so. It’s similar of what you can get on Debian or Ubuntu, for example, which targets desktop users

My Interface Choice

Even after this redesign, I don’t really like the default interface. So I installed XFCE to get a beautiful interface, more tools and all of this in a lightweight environment. It’s a personal choice, you can choose the desktop environment you prefer

Here is what it looks like if you want to test it (Adwaita-dark theme):

Want to try? Read my step-by-step tutorial on how to customize the Raspberry Pi OS style here.

Want even more ideas? I put together a free resource with over 75 Raspberry Pi project ideas, each with a quick description, tutorial link, and hardware requirements. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for something to do this weekend, this list will keep you busy for a while. Just click here to get instant access.

Raspberry Pi OS Desktop: Applications

OK, so we covered the hardware and operating system, but what about the software for day-to-day use? In this section, I’ll test out the applications and see how they stack up for use as a desktop machine.

Goal of This Test

When I first tested the Raspberry Pi 3B+ to replace my computer a long time ago, I already made a list of interesting apps to try. You can find this post here. The apps I want to install now are almost the same, so I will not go in too many details.

The goal here is to see if the Raspberry Pi 4 is better than the Pi 3B+ for daily usage. I remember having issues with some apps while doing this test in the past, so I want to know if these problems have been resolved or not.

Tested Applications

I tried the new “Recommended Software” tool, but I only installed LibreOffice with it. As I want to use the Raspberry Pi to get work done, I don’t need other Raspberry Pi tools (I mostly program in PHP, not in Python).

After installing XFCE4 (see the previous part), I had to install applications that I need or that I think people may use on their desktop.

I choose to install the following packages:

• Mozilla Firefox (ESR) and Thunderbird: I’m using Google Chrome (so Chromium was fine) and Gmail in webmail, so I didn’t really need this, but I added them to the test, to make sure it could work for someone that need it.
• My developer tools: Filezilla, Visual Studio Code and RapidSVN.
  Visual Studio Code is my favorite code editor, but is not available in the default repository, and my tip with Heatmelted doesn’t work yet on Buster, so I had to find another editor.
  
  I choose to use Geany, as it’s already installed, and I was using it before Visual Studio Code.
  
  Many other options are now available, you can find my favorite text editors for Raspberry Pi here.
• Image editor: Hum Photoshop? Not really, the Raspberry Pi can’t run it, the operating system and overall performances doesn’t make Photoshop a good idea 🙂
  Gimp is probably the best alternative to get almost the same features, but I don’t like the interface, so I tried Inkscape and Pinta
  Inkscape seems very close to the Photoshop features, but a bit complicated for what I’m looking for, so Pinta is better for me.
  There are many apps available for image editing, so you’ll probably find the best app for you
• Media players: Raspberry Pi is often use as a media center, so you have many choices to play audio or video files on it. VLC is installed by default and manage most of the media files. But depending on your needs, you can also install Kodi, Volumio or QMMP to play music and videos.
  
  And the good news is that YouTube is working perfectly, 4K and HD sounds are available on Raspberry Pi 4.
  

That’s it for basic apps you may want to use on Raspberry Pi. I know that everyone needs different apps for different usages, my goal was not to have an exhaustive list, but to test it in a basic usage and see how it goes.

Note: I have a video on how best to use a Raspberry Pi as a desktop PC, just for community members. Join here to watch, and get access to 30+ other lessons for Raspberry Pi!

My Thoughts About This Test

I’ll now give you my opinions about how this test went.

Applications

Overall, I’m impressed by this Raspberry Pi 4.

My Raspberry Pi 3B+ test as a desktop PC was a failure. If I remember well, I could not use several apps simultaneously, probably because of the lack of memory. But on a Raspberry Pi 4, it worked pretty well.

I still had a few issues, it’s not yet perfect, but they’re not so important.
I noticed that apps were a bit slow to shows up, but once started it was OK.
Here are a list of problems I got, and the solutions I suggest:

• I tested Firefox ESR, the only version available in the default repository. But it was a failure. It’s not a performance issue, but many sites will see you as an old mobile device, so you get mostly text page, even on Google or Amazon.
  Solution: Chromium works perfectly, I managed to synchronize my account (bookmarks, passwords, extensions, etc.). It was OK, not the faster computer, but speed was quite tolerable.
• Thunderbird succeeds in synchronizing my email account, but CPU usage was a bit high I think. If you have a big account, you probably need to find a lighter solution for your emails.
  Solution: a webmail is probably the best option.
• I chose Pinta for my image editor software, but I had many issues with it. The app crashed too often for me, it was not a good experience.
  Solution: I finally installed Gimp, and it was not so bad. I had bad memories about it, but I probably never tested it for a few years, and the version 2 seems correct. A little time to adapt my habits, but good solution I think.

To resume, every issue has a solution. For a basic usage you can absolutely try the Raspberry Pi 4 as a desktop PC. The apps I mention in the last part but not here are working fine

Finally, the main issue now is probably the move from Windows/macOS to Linux, and it no longer a hardware issue. It’s ok for IT guys like us, but your mother may not be happy to change their habits.

You can’t run every Linux app on a Raspberry Pi 4, but you have enough choices to find decent alternatives.

Related: Can You Really Replace Windows With Linux? An Honest Answer

Temperature?

A quick word also about temperature and overheating. This topic made a big debate in the weeks following the Raspberry Pi 4 release.

I have a cheap case with a small fan on it, and I don’t have any issue with the temperature. I don’t think it exceeded the 60 °C (140 °F) during the test, so no problem with this setup for basic usage (maximum temperature is 85 °C / 185 °F).

For you, I made a test without the fan. After a few minutes, the temperature was a bit higher (around 70 °C, 160 °F), and my case is open. So it’s probably better to use a cooling system, fan or passive thermal control.

Here are a few solutions you can try:

• My case, cheap solution but good enough to keep your CPU under 60 °C. I bought it because it was the only one available on Amazon when the Raspberry Pi 4 has been released. But it’s doing an excellent job.
• A giant cooling system, for intensive use (see my test of the Ice Tower here if you are interested).
• A passive solution, for quiet work (on the same page there is a version with dual fan + passive cooling system). I also tested it here if you want more details.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, you now have a better understanding of what the Raspberry Pi 4 can do, and especially what you can expect from it as a desktop PC

After these few days on Raspberry Pi, I’m happy to go back to my laptop but I know that I can use it as a backup PC.

If someone asks me the cheapest PC available on the market with decent performances, I’ll probably suggest the Raspberry Pi 4 as a good solution (or maybe a mini-PC).

But don’t forget the limits, it’s Linux, it’s Raspberry Pi OS and you should not expect too much of it

Did you already tried to use the Raspberry Pi 4 as a desktop PC for longer than me? Anything to add?

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