Is it worth it to boot a Raspberry Pi zero W2 from an usb SSD drive and overclock it to make it faster? – PETER GAMMA (Director & Physiologist), MEDITATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE SWITZERLAND (MRIS)

Last Updated on April 4, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org

Raspberry Pi 4 users use an SSD to boot it and overclock it. But is it also worth to do it with the Raspberry Pi zero W2?

SSD boot:

but the Raspberry Pi zero W2 has only usb2 connectors, and for a fast SSD usb3 is required.

Overclocking?

https://petergamma.org/how-optimize-speed-of-the-flagship-hardware-of-the-meditation-research-institute-switzerland-mris/

For overclocking, use a good heatsink. But we reviewed before several single board computers in our journal, which are faster than the Raspberry Pi zero W2, is it therefore worth it to tune it? These alternative often only have very basic software support, can they really compete with the Raspberry Pi zero W2? We think it is only worth it to tune it if you come to the limits of the Raspberry Pi zero W2.

And development for single board computers is quiet fast, according to our own little experience faster than for Linux phones. So will there not soon be a real Raspberry Pi zero W2 alternative with usb3, fast processor and excellent software support, for instance running Armbian?