What do you mean with vague information? There is an entire blog post describing the product: https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/introducing-raspberry-pi-5/
"Does Raspberry Pi 5 need active cooling?
"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."
They pose a question themselves, and don't even answer it. Of course something will perform best with active cooling. Does it need it?
I don't need this wishy-washy marketing language from Raspberry Pi.
An MPU designer expects to see something like "200mA draw from the 1.2V power-domain when running at 400 MHz" or "10mA draw from the 1.2V power-domain when in first level of sleep". (Maybe not this small since Rasp. Pi is a more powerful chip, but... you know... actual specifics).
"Will my Raspberry Pi 4 power supply work with Raspberry Pi 5?
"Raspberry Pi 5 is a higher-performance computer than Raspberry Pi 4, and you may have problems using an under-powered supply. We recommend a high-quality 5W 5A USB-C power supply, such as the new Raspberry Pi 27W USB-C Power Supply."
The question asks about power requirements, but the answer is about performance?
The first time I read that I thought the 5 needs more power than the 4, not less.
Ermmm, what?
But then you get 5V 5A ... 27W that is clearly incorrect too. So my guess is nobody is proofreading the technical specifications, and everybody that cares was kept away from that page.
Also, that 92% efficiency, is believable, but a bit high for a 5V 5A PSU (this is a difficult combination). I would expect any such unity to be marketed as high-efficiency.
If you frequently work it really hard, it'll have larger temperature swings and may fail earlier, but it'll still probably last quite awhile. The failure is not likely to be catching on fire.
The actual info I'd rely upon at this point:
https://www.phoronix.com/benchmark/result/raspberry-pi-5-coo...
pi5 with active cooler is about 1.2-1.5x faster than pi5 without cooler for most workloads that care than without.
Pi5 with active cooler is about 2-2.5x faster than Pi4. So Pi5 without cooler is probably about 1.5x faster than pi4, depending upon workload. (And more than this for quick bursts where thermal mass wins).
But it makes wonder how much more phone manufacturers could squeeze out of their phones, although Apple are definately overclocking the 15.
"The combination of a newer core, a higher clock speed, and a smaller process geometry yields a much faster Raspberry Pi, and one that consumes much less power for a given workload."
A beefy heatsink case should be able to handle that.
I'm pretty sure what it means is that kids who use the pi on their desk don't need to spend on a cooler. It will probably throttle and run slower.
Meanwhile an adult using the pi could put on a cooler and wring lots of performance out of it.
> "Raspberry Pi 5 has been designed to handle typical client workloads, uncased, with no active cooling".
IMHO, uncased means you're doing maintenance or it's a toy, but it's not a 'production' configuration.
The uncased requirement is exactly what I'd expect to see there. Other than that, only if they decide to get really technical (they should) and tell you dissipating power / °C and temperature limits.
If your goal is to get the highest score on every benchmark, then yeah, you need active cooling. That has been true on every Raspberry Pi, I think. (I don't remember if the 1 needed active cooling. I did not have any. I also remember it taking over a day to recompile Linux! Still faster than setting up a cross compiler at the time ;)
Here’s my proposed edit:
Q: "Does Raspberry Pi 5 need active cooling?
Original A: "Raspberry Pi 5 is faster and more powerful than prior-generation Raspberry Pis…”
Better A: "For modest workloads, no. For heavier workloads, you will get better performance with active cooling. Raspberry Pi 5 is faster and more powerful than prior-generation Raspberry Pis…”
I don't find it hard to understand what this means: the soc limits it's core performance based on thermal conditions and will throttle when hitting limit temperature. That's standard behavior on every computer or smartphone or GPU out there.
Make temperature lower and it will clock and run at higher speeds without throttling.