{"slug": "sbc-clusters-are-a-terrible-value-but-they-re-fun-anyway", "title": "SBC Clusters are a terrible value, but they're fun anyway", "summary": "The article discusses the DeskPi Super4C, a 4-node Raspberry Pi CM5 cluster board that addresses issues with its predecessor, the Super6C. It also mentions the SBCC 2026, a student competition where university teams build mini HPC clusters on a $6,000 budget. The author notes that while SBC clusters offer poor value for performance, they remain enjoyable to build and use.", "body_md": "Pictured above is the new DeskPi Super4C installed in an 8U mini rack. The Super4C is a 4-node Raspberry Pi CM5 cluster board that solves two pain points I had with the older Super6C.\nI was testing this board around the same time I helped kick off the SBCC 2026, the Single Board Cluster Competition for students. A dozen or so university teams squared off to run the best mini HPC cluster with a budget of $6,000, and a couple days to benchmark six HPC workloads.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sbc-clusters-are-a-terrible-value-but-they-re-fun-anyway", "canonical_source": "https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/deskpi-super4c-sbc-cluster/", "published_at": "2026-05-01 14:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-22 21:39:06.896314+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["hardware", "products", "research", "open-source"], "entities": ["DeskPi Super4C", "Raspberry Pi CM5", "Super6C", "SBCC 2026", "Single Board Cluster Competition"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sbc-clusters-are-a-terrible-value-but-they-re-fun-anyway", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sbc-clusters-are-a-terrible-value-but-they-re-fun-anyway.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sbc-clusters-are-a-terrible-value-but-they-re-fun-anyway.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/sbc-clusters-are-a-terrible-value-but-they-re-fun-anyway.jsonld"}}