For an index to all my stories click this text.
Last saturday (18 october 2025) was a memorable day.
I switched over permanent to my new computer !!
Up untill a few days ago my desktop system was an AMD Ryzen 5 1400 with Quad Core, a total of 8Gb memory and a 1 Terrabyte harddisk. At the time when I bought it (2018) this system cost about 800 Euro's not counting the mouse, keyboard and monitor.
The machine was getting terribly old and slow and that was mainly due to Windows. So I switched over to Linux (Kubuntu) about 2 year ago and that speeded things up enormously.
But lately The system had memory (ram) problems and hanged regularly. Terribly annoying when you try to do things. So while still working with this system in the mean time I was installing and experimenting with what would be my new computer. And like said a few days ago I switched over permanently.
I am typing this on my new computer. It is fast and works flawless.
My new system is ...............
A Raspberry Pi5 with 8Gb memory and a 1 Terrabyte SSD harddisk.
Yes, indeed a Raspberry Pi, is now my new main computer. And I am impressed.
I experimented a lot with the Pi5 before making the actual switch.
I first started with a 3D printed case. Inside was the Pi5 with a 128Gb SD card.
But soon I realized that while this was already faster as my desktop machine there were some things I did not like.
My first concern was that I thought that the mini HDMI connection was too fragile for everyday use.
Second I wanted a real harddisk in stead of the SD card.
And I was not particularly fond of the cable spaghetti.
And then the software.........
I started out with Raspberry OS Bookworm.
And although the OS is great, it's Debian after all, the graphical shell (Pixel) is terrible. After all the years I work with Raspberry I can not get used to it.
So I removed the Desktop and installed KDE Plasma in stead.
That is the same desktop I was used to on my desktop machine when I installed Kubuntu on it.
And that works flawless and looks super !!!
If you want to install KDE Plasma on bookworm you can follow this tutorial:
https://lucstechblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/raspberry-os-bookworm-with-kde-desktop.html
And about a week Later Raspberry introduced their new OS called Trixie. Fortunately is was easy to install KDE Plasma also on this new OS. I wrote how to do that in this story:
https://lucstechblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/raspberry-trixie-with-kde-plasma.html
After installing all my necessary software on the Pi5 I made a backup of my desktop PC's home directory in which are all my datafiles, photo's video's and stories. I made a backup on an external harddisk.
For safety, you should anyhow make a backup each week !!!
Now that everything was softwarewise to my liking, remained the casing problem.
Raspberry Pi cases
You can, of course, print your own case like I did. But I wanted something more.
A great option is SunFounders Pironman 5 case. I like the tower look and the transparant side with RGB fans. But it lacks USB ports on the front.
So if you regularly need to plug in USB sticks or USB harddisks you need to do that at the back of the case. Or you need to use an USB extension cord from the back to a more reachable place.
This is annoying but it's really a pita when you want to program your ESP's and Raspberry Pi Pico's. Then you really need an easy reachable USB connection.
This makes the Pironman 5 not suitable for me.
Raspberry Pi 500+
I must say this looked very tempting.
But I still have to see one in the wild, before I buy one.
As a writer one of the most important parts of a computer is the keyboard. I do not like the chiclet keys of the Pi 500. Those of the Pi 500+ should be considerably better. But then it misses the numeric keypad and cursor keys.
I do like the 16GB Ram.
But then it has "only" 256GB storage which is too low by my standards. (I write books remember)
And yes you can remove the SSD and put a larger one in. But that would bring the cost up.
Argon One V5 M.2 case
I opted for the Argon One V5 M.2 case. This one had all the features wanted.
At the front:
- 2 USB 2 ports
- 1 Audio out port (for headphone etc)
- An on-off switch
- A power indicator led
- Access to the Raspberry's SD-card port
At the back:
- The USB-C power port
- 2 Full HDMI ports
- The ethernet (network) port
- 2 USB3 ports
- 2 USB2 ports
Inside:
- A fan which speed is regulated by a script
- A PCI board with an SSD slot
- An audio card connected to the front audio port
- An extension board that transforms the micro HDMI ports
into full HDMI ports and adds 2 USB ports (the front connections)
Assembly.
The case comes as several loose parts. And I thought it was going to be hell to assemble it.
But in fact it took me about half an hour to finish the full assembly.
First step is to push the extension board (for audio, extra USB ports and full HDMI ports) into the raspberry ports.
Then glue the supplied thermal strips to the Raspberry chip's. And then screw the board in the base plate.
Next connect some power leads and a ribbon lead for the PCI board. Push the SSD in and glue some thermal strip on.
Close the case and you are done.
Piece of cake.
Argon software
To use all features of the Argon One V5 case you need to install a small script.
Again there is nothing to it. Just open the Konsole (terminal window) and copy some commands. That is it.
From that moment on your 2 front USB ports are operational.
And you get a dashboard on which you can see how much free ram there is, how much free disk space and your processors temperature and loads.
And here is my desk !!
In the front you see the Argon One V5.
At the back it is attached to a powered USB hub that connects to my keyboard and mouse. The USB hub also connects to my external harddisks that you can see on the right side.
They vary in size from 500Gb to 1 Terrabyte.
Connecting to a powered USB hub connects multiple apparatus to a single USB port. So I still have 3 USB ports available at the back.
The yellow box in the back is a Raspberry Pi3 which acts as a printer server. Through this server everyone in my home can use my Epson Ecotank printer which keeps printing costs very low.
And in the back there is a network switch that ties it all together.
Pricing.
Well let me add it all up.
- Raspberry Pi5 with 8GB € 86,50
- Power supply 27W € 12,69
- Argon One V5 M.2 case € 54,44
- Patriot 960GB SSD € 70,17
This all adds up to a total of 223.80 Euro
This is presuming that you already have a computer monitor (or tv) with HDMI, a mouse and a keyboard. The necessary cables and a spare SD card to install the OS on before you switch over to the SSD as your main storage.
A full working desktop computer with 8GB and a 1Tb harddisk is what I would call cheap.
And just a sidenote.
In a previous story where I showed how to install the KDE desktop on your Raspberry PI I mentioned that booting the PI took a bit longer: 43 seconds.
But that is when booting from an SD card. Booting from the SSD is blazing fast. Just a few seconds.
The Future ??
For now this machine works as a charm for me. Loads of memory and storage, and it runs all the software I need.
I can not predict that the Pi5 will last 8 years like my AMD Ryzen machine did. But then it also did not cost as much.
And without a doubt Raspberry will bring out a Pi6 in a few years. And it will be faster with more memory etc etc. And maybe I switch over at that time.
But for now I am very happy with my new workhorse.
That's it for now.
Back to work for me
have fun and till next time
Luc Volders
