Tips and tricks to increase the speed of Raspberry Pi (2024)

Nowadays, the Raspberry Pi has proven to be useful for different electrical and electronic projects. It is one of the most powerful tools, allowing you to easily perform any computation task. However, it can be tricky at times, and maintaining its speed especially in resource-intensive tasks can be difficult. There should be some tips and tricks for improving the speed of the Raspberry Pi so that you can keep up with your work.

The tips and tricks to increase the speed of your Raspberry Pi performance are given below. So, carefully do these steps to speed up your Raspberry Pi.

1: A Reliable Power Supply

A good and dependable power supply will have a significant impact on your Raspberry Pi’s performance. If someone is experiencing slow Raspberry Pi operation, it is possible that the power supply is not supplying the required current to the device.

The Raspberry Pi uses a mini USB connector which requires an input current of 2.5 A. As a result, if a sufficient power adapter is not available to power the device, its performance may suffer.

2 : Disabling JavaScript

As limiting the number of tabs to improve Raspberry Pi performance is not an efficient approach. The other scenario in which you can improve the performance of your older Raspberry Pi isby disabling theJavaScript. Blocking theJavaScript from websites that can function without it will help you improve the speed of your Raspberry Pi.

To disable JavaScript, open the Chromium browser and navigate to the advanced option in the browser’s settings. You will see the content setting option in the privacy section, where JavaScript is allowed, simply change it to “Do not allow any site to run JavaScript”.

3 : Overclock

Overclocking increases your Raspberry Pi. performance and it is one of the best solutions for increasing the speed of the Raspberry Pi. Furthermore, when overclocking, keep other options in mind, such as a heatsink, because overclocking can sometimes damage your device’s components. As a result, it is considered a suitable choice to use a heatsink sink if you want to reduce the temperature of the Raspberry Pi.

4 : Use of better micro-SD card

A high-quality micro-SD card is unquestionably a good way to boost the speed of the Raspberry Pi. A high-quality card has a lightning-fast speed and can have a significant impact on the operation of your Raspberry Pi. So, if you truly want to improve the performance of your device, avoid purchasing SD cards from a local manufacturer. These cards will not provide you with a guarantee and will have a shorter lifespan. Stick with Kingston, Samsung, or SanDisk because they offer adequate writing speeds.

5 : Adding an External storage

An external storage device will be extremely useful in increasing the Raspberry Pi’s speed. To provide extra storage to the Raspberry Pi, you can use a solid-state drive (SSD), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a USB device. It is important to remember that an SSD is a better choice because of its high speed when compared to others.

6 : Removing unnecessary apps and services

When you have a lot of storage in your system, the performance of your Raspberry Pi improves dramatically. You can avoid and try to remove those apps and services which are increasing your CPU usage. You can find your apps and services by monitoring their CPU usage and uninstalling them if you don’t want to use them. This will boost your Raspberry Pi’s performance.

The following commands will allow you to easily remove some apps from your operating system.

$ sudo apt purge <app-name>

$ sudo apt clean

$ sudo apt autoremove

Tips and tricks to increase the speed of Raspberry Pi (1)

Tips and tricks to increase the speed of Raspberry Pi (2)

Here, note that I completely removed the VLC media player from my Raspberry Pi. You can type the name of your app in place of VLC to remove it from your system.

7 : Install a lightweight operating system

When your system is capable of using fewer resources, the speed of the Raspberry Pi is greatly improved. If you want to improve the performance of your Raspberry Pi, try to keep things as simple as possible. A lightweight operating system would be ideal for this purpose, and you can select the most dependable operating system for your device, which uses less memory resources.

8 : Use ZRAM

A hidden feature in the Raspberry Pi’s hardware enables super-fast storage on your device. As you are aware, after rebooting your device, the saved data will be inaccessible. However, if you use a portable device or store your data in the cloud, this may not be an issue.

ZRAM can swap data at any time and in any location without relying on an SD-card, and it can do so at faster speeds than an SD-card. So, if you want your Raspberry Pi to run faster, make use of its resources.

Conclusion

Do you want to increase your Raspberry Pi’s performance? So, what are you waiting for? If you truly want to optimize the performance, use these tips and tricks for a faster Raspberry Pi. It is clearly up to you to select the trick you want to try first. You can try each one at a time to see whether your performance has improved or not.

Tips and tricks to increase the speed of Raspberry Pi (2024)

FAQs

How to improve performance on Raspberry Pi? ›

Get ready for some awesome performance!
  1. Connect a Reliable Power Supply. One thing you need to make sure with any Raspberry Pi setup is that you're using a reliable power supply. ...
  2. Employ a Lightweight Operating System. ...
  3. Ditch the Bloatware. ...
  4. Disable JavaScript. ...
  5. Run From USB/HDD. ...
  6. Take It Easy, Don't Push Your Pi.
Aug 20, 2018

Is it worth overclocking a Raspberry Pi 4? ›

The bottom line is that you can unlock additional power and performance that you've paid for! For most day-to-day usage, overclocking isn't something that you will probably want to do to your Raspberry Pi, but if you're planning harder and heavier workloads, then overclocking will help make things run a bit smoother.

Can I increase Raspberry Pi RAM? ›

The RAM on the Raspberry Pi is soldered in, and can't be replaced.

Which Raspberry Pi is the fastest? ›

Raspberry Pi 5 is faster and more powerful than prior-generation Raspberry Pis, and like most general-purpose computers, it will perform best with active cooling. The Raspberry Pi Case for Raspberry Pi 5, with its integrated fan, is one way to provide this.

Is it bad to run a Raspberry Pi 24 7? ›

Yes, it is completely normal to run a Pi 24/7. Even for years at a time. They use so little power that its not worth turning them off when not in use. I have 4 Pi's running all the time.

What is Raspberry Pi weakness? ›

It does not replace the computer, and the processor is not as fast. It is a time consuming to download and install software i.e.; unable to do any complex multitasking. Not compatible with the other operating systems such as Windows.

How do you overclock a Raspberry Pi? ›

Some rules of thumb to start Raspberry Pi overclocking: If overclocking the CPU ( arm_freq ), start at the original speed and take it up in steps of 50MHz. If overclocking the GPU ( core_freq or gpu_freq ), start at 500 (or 400 for Pi 1) and take them up in steps of 20MHz or 25MHz.

How to increase Raspberry Pi GPU? ›

Adjust the GPU memory on the Raspberry Pi
  1. Open the terminal on the Raspberry Pi.
  2. Type sudo raspi-config in the terminal.
  3. Select Advanced Options.
  4. Select Memory Split.
  5. Update to 256, then select OK.
  6. Then select Finish.
  7. Lastly, select Yes to reboot your Raspberry Pi.

What is the best performance Raspberry Pi? ›

Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 400

It's the most powerful Pi, with a fast clock speed, the most RAM available on a Pi yet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and the ability to run two screens at 4k resolution. If you need speed and power, you want this one. The Pi 4 has a price range depending on the amount of RAM you need.

How do I upgrade my Raspberry Pi CPU? ›

Basically, you'd have to replace it with a cpu from the same family that happened to be nearly identical. Since they don't sell these cpus to individuals, the easiest way to get one would be to buy another pi... which is where I started this. The raspberry pi is basically a circuit board built around a cpu.

Is passive cooling enough for Raspberry Pi? ›

Every time a new Raspberry Pi is released there are mutterings about the thermal control of the new board. But this time, it looks like it might well be necessary to add some passive, or even active, cooling to the Raspberry Pi to keep it from thermally throttling if it is under heavy load for extended periods of time.

Is it safe to run a Raspberry Pi 4 24 7? ›

Yes, Raspberry Pi can handle 24/7 run time when used with proper linear power supply which must be regulated through DC adapter or any good quality battery supply. Components or other electronics parts won't get fried until and unless you provide wrong power supply or more voltage than recommended.

How much RAM should you get on Raspberry Pi 4? ›

Re: Purchasing a RPi: How much GB RAM would I need? Normally I'd recommend the 2GB version, but the 4GB version will also work.

What is the maximum speed of Raspberry Pi 4? ›

Processor speed ranges from 700 MHz to 1.4 GHz for the Pi 3 Model B+ or 1.5 GHz for the Pi 4; on-board memory ranges from 256 MB to 8 GB random-access memory (RAM), with only the Raspberry Pi 4 and the Raspberry Pi 5 having more than 1 GB.

What is the maximum Internet speed of Raspberry Pi? ›

If you have a Gigabit network, the maximum theoretical throughput is 1000 Mbps. If you have a 10/100 network, the maximum theoretical throughput is 100 Mbps.

What is the maximum USB speed for Raspberry Pi? ›

One of the most important improvements in the Pi 4 is its USB 3.0 interface. Where previous Raspberry Pi models were limited to a USB 2's theoretical 480 Mbps / 60 MBps maximum speed when connecting to external storage, the new model has an interface that can theoretically hit 5 Gbps / 620 MBps.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Zonia Mosciski DO

Last Updated:

Views: 6287

Rating: 4 / 5 (71 voted)

Reviews: 86% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Zonia Mosciski DO

Birthday: 1996-05-16

Address: Suite 228 919 Deana Ford, Lake Meridithberg, NE 60017-4257

Phone: +2613987384138

Job: Chief Retail Officer

Hobby: Tai chi, Dowsing, Poi, Letterboxing, Watching movies, Video gaming, Singing

Introduction: My name is Zonia Mosciski DO, I am a enchanting, joyous, lovely, successful, hilarious, tender, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.