--- title: "The Special Value Pi 4 was extremely short-lived" url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-special-value-pi-4-was-extremely-short-lived-03lk2liwr source_url: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/special-value-pi-4-extremely-short-lived type: article source: "Jeff Geerling" published: 2026-07-08T14:09:30.067Z updated: 2026-07-08T14:15:15.973Z tags: ["hardware", "raspberry-pi"] reading_time: 4 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Special Value Pi 4 was extremely short-lived **[Jeff Geerling](https://daily.dev/sources/jeffgeerling)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A Raspberry Pi reseller briefly listed a 'value edition' Pi 4 certified to run at only 1.25 GHz instead of the standard 1.8 GHz, priced at $89 before shipping and tariffs. The listing was quickly pulled, likely because the boards are externally identical to retail units. Benchmarking revealed that the 4GB unit actually booted and ran at 1.8 GHz, while the 8GB unit required being locked to 1.25 GHz to avoid kernel panics. Both units drew more power at idle (~3W vs under 2W) due to DVFS requiring higher voltages to maintain stability on lower-binned silicon. A Raspberry Pi engineer explained that less than 0.01% of boards fail standard validation and are set aside for industrial customers who understand the trade-offs, avoiding e-waste while offering a slight discount. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Discounted 1.25 GHz Raspberry Pi 4 Model B shows up online](https://daily.dev/posts/discounted-1-25-ghz-raspberry-pi-4-model-b-shows-up-online-2t8rak9wr) · CNX Software · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Cytron's cheaper Raspberry Pi 4 boards are a solid deal if you can live with 30% less speed](https://daily.dev/posts/cytron-s-cheaper-raspberry-pi-4-boards-are-a-solid-deal-if-you-can-live-with-30-less-speed-rgtxdqc6w) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#hardware](https://daily.dev/tags/hardware), [#raspberry-pi](https://daily.dev/tags/raspberry-pi) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-special-value-pi-4-was-extremely-short-lived-03lk2liwr)