Our Ollama vs Llama.cpp benchmark on Raspberry Pi just hit 90k views on Reddit.
Reading 100+ comments revealed a pattern: every developer is stuck on the same problems.
Not speed. Not hardware capability.
Configuration. Measurement. Reproducibility.
Here's what we found:
- OS overhead costs 30-40% of performance
Default Raspbian runs background services that steal CPU from inference. Strip it down to minimal Linux? Suddenly 40% faster on same hardware.
- Hidden configuration tricks nobody documents
Ollama defaults to 4096 context window on 4GB Pi. Should be 512. 26% speed difference. Nobody mentions it.
- Setup complexity is the real blocker
Llama.cpp: Fastest but requires 2.5 hours + ARM NEON knowledge
Ollama: Easiest but misconfigured by default
- No reproducible methodology
Everyone benchmarks differently. No standard way to measure. Can't compare your setup to others'.
https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/1tz673u/been_testing_llamacpp_vs_ollama_on_my_pi_5_the/
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