Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5: First Impressions with the CmRat Carrier Board

The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5) is finally here, promising to bring a wave of improvements over its predecessor, the CM4. While we’re still in the early stages of testing its potential, initial benchmarks suggest the CM5 is 2-3 times faster than the CM4 in many scenarios. However, this is not our ultimate CM5 Raspberry setup—we’re putting its capabilities to the test with our CmRat Carrier Board in preliminary trials. Here’s what we’ve discovered so far.

A Drop-in Upgrade—Mostly

The CM5 stays true to the CM4’s form factor, making it a near-seamless replacement for existing CM4 setups. This compatibility simplifies upgrades for devices ranging from 3D printers to smart displays. We’ve already swapped out a CM4 for a CM5 in one of our NEC Commercial displays, and the results were impressive: faster boot times, smoother operation, and a noticeable boost in performance.

That said, some use cases require tweaks or updated software to fully utilize the CM5’s enhanced hardware. Testing with the CmRat Carrier Board is ongoing to see how it handles various workloads, from edge computing to video processing.

Performance Boosts Across the Board

The CM5 is built for speed. Its upgraded BCM2712 SoC, 4 Cortex A76 CPU cores clocked at 2.4 GHz, faster LPDDR4x RAM, and USB 3 support make it a significant step up. Here are a few highlights:
• Boot Time: Boots about 4 seconds faster than the CM4.
• CPU Performance: Nearly 3x faster, according to High Performance Linpack (HPL) benchmarks.
• Video Encoding: Transcoding 4K and 1080p videos is about 3x quicker, thanks to the improved RAM bandwidth.
• Graphics: The integrated GPU sees a marked improvement, scoring over twice as high on GLMark tests compared to the CM4.

These advancements come with increased power consumption during peak usage, though the CM5 is slightly more efficient at idle.

HPL Performance Test

HPL (High-Performance Linpack) performance measures how fast a system can solve a dense system of linear equations, typically used as a benchmark for supercomputers and general computing devices. The CM5 is obviously faster than the CM4 also here, but the truth is that it’s not as fast as the Radxa CM5.

In short, in the preliminary tests the Raspberry CM5 is roughly three times more powerful than the Raspberry Pi CM4 in basically every department. However, its performance still falls short compared to the Radxa CM5.

Testing with CmRat Carrier Board

Our CmRat Carrier Board is designed to push the limits of what Compute Modules can do. Early tests show the CM5 seamlessly integrates with the board’s advanced features, including PCIe Gen 3 support for external GPUs and high-speed networking. While initial results are promising, we’re still refining our configurations to unlock its full potential.

Pricing and Availability

Raspberry Pi has kept pricing reasonable for the CM5, with the 8GB model starting at $75. Lower RAM variants are slightly pricier than their CM4 counterparts, but the improvements justify the cost. The 1GB option is no longer available, reflecting the growing demands of modern applications. If you are looking to get a CM5 now and plan to using it with Umbrel, CasaOS or other home server OS that can run many containers at the same time, we would suggest going for the 8GB version.

Final Thoughts (For Now)

The CM5 is shaping up to be a game-changer in modular computing. Its performance gains and backward compatibility make it a compelling upgrade for developers and businesses alike. While our testing is still preliminary, the early signs are positive. Paired with our CmRat Carrier Board, the CM5 is proving to be a versatile and powerful tool for advanced computing needs.

Stay tuned as we continue to test its capabilities and explore new applications. This is just the beginning!