Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ is 512MB ram enough to run Volumio?

Diy and Tweaks
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I’m the process of setting up a new Pi for Volumio. Trying to keep up with my addiction of buying vintage amps!

Currently, I have a 3B+ and regular 3 with a DAC on each and I have not noticed any difference in performance. The 3B+ has 1.4GHz CPU v’s the 3 with 1.2GHz. They both have 1GB of ram.

These are both running in Hifiberry cases so all is well. For the new build I’ve made a custom case with a touchscreen mounted on the front.

Things are getting a bit tight in there with a 3 size model so when I spotted the 3 A+ (which has the dimensions of a Pi 1A+) I thought it could be a good candidate. It has the same 1.4GHz CPU as the 3B+ but only 512 MB of ram.

Only other difference I can see is that there is only 1 USB (instead of 4) and no ethernet. I can totally live with that. Will never use ethernet and never fit more than one usb device (mostly never use usb). Here’s a comparison of all Pis (tip you can remove the cols you do not need).

I use my Volumio/pis to mainly play internet radio and occasionally I stream apple music to it. I don’t have a library stored on a NAS or anything.

So I guess the question is, will things run fine with 512 MB of ram bearing in mind it will be running the Touch screen plugin but not browsing libraries of music?

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Sorry, just found this - RPi 3 A+; will it run Volumio?

this - volumio on Raspberry PI 3 A+

and this - Volumio on RPi 3 A+

For some reason I only found those via google and not in forum search.

So seems it’s fine. Worth the €25 to try it out. Will report back on my findings. Cheers

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I run Volumio on a RPI2

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I’m also running on RPi3A+, performance are something in between RPi0 and RPi3B+, more close to the second one. I’m also running with DSi touchscreen, performance are acceptable to me

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I am running volumio on a Pi Zero (W) in the garage via wifi.
Which also has 512MB RAM. (I think)

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I also have a Volumio running on an old RPI I with a HifiBerry DAC. It works very well, sometimes a bit sluggish. But it works fine.

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Thanks everyone for sharing. Good to know you don’t have to buy the most powerful Pi to run Volumio.

My Pi 3 A+ arrived today. I’ve set it up with an innomaker DAC and an osoyoo 5" touchscreen. Been listening to internet radio all afternoon and it’s working a treat. Can’t comment on how it runs local files from a NAS though as that’s not something I do. I’m not even using the 1 USB port. Keen to test a Pi zero next - probably without a screen though.

I love the form factor of the 3A. It’s so much easier to work with than previous builds where I used a 3B or 3B+. Dunno why I never even knew they existed. I guess I had in my head I needed to buy the latest model (these were b4 the 4 came out). I’m keen to try building something with a pi zero next.

Total build

Pi 3 A+ €31,29
OSOYOO 5 Inch TFT Capacitive Touch Screen DSI €49,99
Inno Maker, PCM5122 DAC €29,00

Total = €110.28

Plus a power supply, a few cables, 16Gb SD card and a wooden case I made myself. I’m working on the front plate now which I plan to buy from www.schaeffer-ag.de (current estimate is around €40). So despite being on the budget side this build is still adding up.

At the moment, it’s sitting on top of a Cyrus 3 playing through a pair of Epos ES11s, sounds sweet - got that 90s hi-fi vibe going :yum:

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