Raspberry Pi and mini PC home lab prices hit parity as DRAM costs skyrocket

Raspberry Pi kits and budget mini PCs just hit price parity, and the crowd is not cheering — they’re groaning. After a year where $150 Intel N100 boxes undercut Pi builds, memory prices spiked, and now Jeff Geerling’s comparison shows a Raspberry Pi 5 kit at about $246.95 and a GMKTec mini PC at $246.99, both with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. The vibe? “Worst possible reason,” gripes one commenter, as the once-cheap homelab dream gets caught in a DRAM-a storm. People point fingers at the AI boom devouring memory, turning the market into a “Space Race,” with hot takes even name-dropping tech’s most headline-friendly execs.

But it’s not just sticker shock — it’s a feature fight. The chorus says “price parity isn’t feature parity”: tinkerers still want Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins (those hands-on hardware connectors), while folks who just need a tiny Linux box to run apps or serve files are team mini PC. Security paranoia flares too, with buyers side-eyeing no-name brands — “what if there’s mystery malware on the board?” Meanwhile, gamers nervously watch their Steam Decks, with one commenter surprised Valve hasn’t raised prices yet as DRAM inflation looms. The memes are flowing: “Repurpose grandma’s old Dell, it’s homelab season,” echoing Geerling’s forecast that 2026 is the year of recycling rigs. With Tom’s Hardware and Camelcamelcamel charting price climbs across GMKTec, Beelink, and Acemagic, the community’s verdict is clear: the DIY dream got pricier, the debates got spicier, and trust issues got louder.