SBC Clusters are a terrible value, but they're fun anyway

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.

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. I 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.