[RPi5] 1GB ram sanity check

    Quick sanity check on the newer Raspberry Pi 5 models with 1GB ram... These are supported, correct? Wiki says 2GB but IIRC the minimum for LibreELEC is actually 1GB?

    I ssh'd into another pi5 (4GB) running LibreELEC and checked htop while watching a 4k UHD rip (DV fallback to HDR10) and never saw the memory usage get above 800MB. Checking a regular BD rip, memory usage never got above ~550MB. Seems like the 1GB model should be sufficient?

  • Go to Best Answer

    1GB is not officially supported, but OK for lower resolutions. Read here:

    Thread

    RPi4 1GB Cannot Consistently Play 4K

    Hey all,

    I bought an RPi 4B w/ 1GB RAM specifically to play 4K content w/ LibreELEC and have been putting it through its paces. (I know 1GB RAM is cutting it a little close, but AFAIK it is still supported and I couldn't find anyone saying that it wouldn't be able to handle normal playback, so I figured I'd save a few bucks...which I may come to regret.)

    Most of what I watch is <= 1080p, and the Pi has been able to handle that fine, but when it comes to 4K content my experience has been utterly…
    pygmalion
    August 5, 2026 at 8:42 PM
    • Best Answer

    If you plan to use any 4k media stay away from the 1GB models.

    Kodi can easily run into out-of-memory with 1GB just by scrolling through a (new) library when it generates thumbnails on-the-fly in the background and some files might not play at all with just 1GB.

    so long,

    Hias

    Ah. I only searched for threads on the pi5, didn't see the thread on the 1GB pi4.

    Okay, sounds like with UHDs it's borderline at best and I got lucky with the one movie I tested. With Ramageddon pricing I was hoping to squeak by on the much cheaper 1GB model so I can re-use this pi on another project.

    Thanks!