The Raspberry Pi 5 delivers a significant performance increase over previous generations, but that additional computing power also produces more heat. Under sustained heavy workloads, the processor heats up and begins thermal throttling, where it reduces its clock speed to keep temperatures under control. While this protects the hardware, it can also reduce performance.
For lightweight tasks, thermal throttling isn't an issue you need to worry about. But for things like emulation, compiling software, running a home server, or AI, the Raspberry Pi 5 will begin to reduce its own speed to stay alive. This is where having an effective cooling system becomes a necessary part of maintaining high performance.
To address this issue, Raspberry Pi released the Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler. Priced under $20, the Active Cooler combines a large aluminum heatsink with a temperature-controlled fan to draw heat away from the processor. Vilros has also released solutions of our own, such as cases for the Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5 that include active cooling.
Below is a graph from Raspberry Pi that shows the effects of active cooling - under sustained computational loads, a Pi without cooling will very quickly reach the point of thermal throttling. But, with a fan running, it stays well below that temperature and can continue functioning at maximum capacity.
Even if you aren't planning to take your Pi to its performance limit, it is advisable to have an active cooler as part of your setup. This ensures that your Pi always stays cool and doesn't damage itself through overheating, which maximizes its lifespan.
