There's no denying the Raspberry Pi 4's substantial power upgrade over its predecessors. Built on the faster ARM Cortex-A72 architecture with quad cores at higher clock speeds, and featuring a GPU that doubles the previous model's performance, it seems primed for desktop duties. But can it truly replace your reliable PC? As an experienced Raspberry Pi user, I put the 8GB model through three weeks of real-world testing to find out.
To turn it into a desktop, you'll need peripherals like a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Skip the official desktop kit—its premium price doesn't match the mediocre, non-ergonomic keyboard and mouse. Only the official 15.3W power supply is worth keeping.
The stock Pi 4 case offers poor ventilation, causing the SoC to throttle under light loads. While we have a guide on modifying it, I recommend an actively cooled aluminum case instead. After testing half a dozen options, this one excelled, keeping an overclocked 8GB Pi 4 at 2.0GHz cool even under full load—as shown in the thermal graph below.
Dual micro-HDMI ports enable a productive dual-monitor setup. The upgraded GPU supports 4K, but avoid dual 4K displays—limited bandwidth drops them to 30Hz. I had no issues with dual 1080p or 1080p + 768p at 60Hz. The built-in utility offers precise control over monitors and desktop settings.
Go for at least the 4GB model; 8GB is ideal for multitasking with multiple apps and browser tabs.
I smoothly ran YouTube videos alongside terminal monitors, Google Docs, LibreOffice spreadsheets, and GIMP image editing without hiccups.
The current Raspberry Pi OS is 32-bit, capping processes at 3GB RAM. This doesn't impact typical use, as Chromium tabs run as separate processes anyway.
With optimal setup, performance varies by your expectations. Coming from a powerful gaming PC like I did, the Pi 4 feels sluggish due to its mobile-grade SoC. App launches and tab switches improve with an SSD, but can't match desktop hardware—lags add up quickly.
YouTube tops out acceptably at 1080p, though with frame drops and tearing from incomplete OpenGL acceleration. Software improvements may help, but don't count on it soon.
The Pi 4 handles most desktop tasks, even light video editing in Kdenlive. Linux ports abound, but ARM-specific gaps mean no native Dropbox or Twitter clients—browser versions suffice.
Hardware quirks arise too: My Logitech webcam video worked, but Zoom ignored its audio, killing calls. Mainstream gear usually plays nice, but incompatibilities highlight the need for backups like a full PC.
The Raspberry Pi 4 excels at basic tasks like web browsing and office work with low power draw and cost. It falls short on speed, software ecosystem, and hardware universality compared to laptops or desktops.
Don't swap your main machine for it yet. Instead, deploy it as a NAS, media server, or web host where it shines.
