Raspberry Pi 4 temperature

[alphanumeric]

I got 41c on boot up after it had cooled down while I put my Pibow Coupe case on. 56c now after sitting idle with just the desktop open.

EDIT: 51c now with the heatsink on. Will try the fan shim when I get one.

[thatchunkylad198966]

62c with no fan/heatsink or case. around 20c ambient temp. all latest updates installed...
This is with chromium and other background apps running.

[Fidelius]

From the Pi4 main thread:

Michael Larabel from the Linux website Phoronix does some…
Initial Raspberry Pi 4 Performance Benchmarks

[…]
In many different benchmarks, the Raspberry Pi 4 was delivering performance similar to the ASUS Tinker Board with its Rockchip Quad-Core RK3288. The Raspberry Pi 4 performance is certainly a dramatic upgrade over the Raspberry Pi 3 on the CPU front.
[…]
Passive heatsinks at a minimum are a must with the Raspberry Pi 4. Even with some included aluminum passive heatsinks, under load the average temperature of the SoC was 71 degrees or 83 degrees peak over various benchmarks as outlined in this OpenBenchmarking.org result file.
[…]

[HawaiianPi]

I did pre-order this - https://geekworm.com/collections/new-ar ... tive-shell (will share results once I have it).
PI4B-armor-case-IMG-6321_1200x1200.jpg

Looks interesting, but twice the price of the Flirc pre-order.

I wonder if it will cause any wireless signal loss (there were reports of that with similar Pi3 cases)?

Looking forward to your test results.

[JohnSoCalUSA]

Rpi4b 4GB RAM w/Fan blowing down from 2" above, no heatsink (see pic)
apt upgrade as of July 12, 2019

measurements are +-1

37.0'C at idle
38.0'C after plug in USB 3.0 exFAT Hard Drive and mount
37.0'C after mount NFS share over GB ethernet, USB Hard Drive umounted and removed

vlc play 1080/24p Blu-Ray .mkv from USB 3.0 Hard Drive
Window
16% Processor Utilization, temp=46.0'C
Full Screen
4% Processor Utilization, temp=39.0'C

vlc play 1080/24p Blu-Ray .mkv from NFS mount over GB ethernet
Window
17% Processor Utilization, temp=45.0'C
Full Screen
5% Processor Utilization, temp=38.0'C

Bottom line for me is that using NFS works great for 1080/24p video

[ninjapi]

well after trawling through all the posts in this thread it seems pretty clear that the official pi4 case is not fit for purpose and they should stop selling it with immediate effect.

Some litigious types could make this thing cost them serious money if they don't get a handle on it...

[zproc]

@JohnSoCalUSA haha, this reminds me of when i initially went a little overboard (with what i had at hand) to cool down my Tinkerboard :

TbMonster.jpg (194.97 KiB) Viewed 2347 times

It was very well cooled down tho. (It had two salvaged heatsinks stacked reaching the fan Odd thing is that actually helped a lot too.)

In the end i went with something like this, only one salvaged heatsink + a cheap 3cm fan, it did the job perfectly :

TinkerAlmostFinal.JPG (180.64 KiB) Viewed 2347 times

iirc the Tinkerbaord only reached 60°c under long CPU stress tests. (It was never throttling anyway, so it was enough! — I eyed the fancy Akasa case for TinkerBoard for a long time but could never justify the 30/35€ price...)

For my Pi 4 i initially put it in a PiBow coupé (Fan Shim was out of stock and shipping is a bit high for me out of the UK for just one item) but i just put it in an unused official Pi 3 case as i had this salvaged fan that fits perfectly without the top cover. (I could still cut the top cover and drill some holes but it's also closer to the chips here... And i could still add a proper heatsink if i find again my thermal paste, if needed)

Pi4fan.JPG (111.17 KiB) Viewed 2347 times

It stays at around 40/41°c on idle (Raspbian desktop) in a 25°c room. I haven't done any heavy 100% CPU stress tests for now. I'll just see how it all works out in actual use. If there isn't too much throttling something like this will do just fine.

In the PiBow case the board is a little higher/raised from the bottom than in this case. But the PiBow seems to retain quite some heat too in other parts. I'm going drill a few holes in the bottom panel of this official Pi 3 one just in case.

[Andyroo]

I’m just waiting for a case that will cope with MickMake standard heatsink.

For those that have not seen it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHIld3cjmTM and jump to 14:33 (sorry cannot shortcut it on the iPad).

On a more serious note, I would go with a large surface area (heat sink with fins), good connective compound (real 3M tape) and good airflow to maximise convection.

[Gavinmc42]

well after trawling through all the posts in this thread it seems pretty clear that the official pi4 case is not fit for purpose and they should stop selling it with immediate effect.

Some litigious types could make this thing cost them serious money if they don't get a handle on it...

Wow, you decide that will be your first post here.

Every Desktop I have had has had a fan or three.
I use a modified old case, top on when travelling , top off if temp get near 70C.

Maybe the new case was designed to be used like that?
For the RPF mission teaching Kids, access to GPIO is needed for physical computing, top off

A small heatsink helps, a fan even the smallest makes a big difference.
And the talk about suing? Either a lawyer or troll?

So any pics of the smallest fan used so far?

[alphanumeric]

First, let me say that the Pi foundation case, fit and finish is top notch. The Pi fits inside without much fuss. Sides and top attach firmly etc. Its a nice looking case.
Thermally, IMHO its not good at all. Granted your Pi isn't going to burn up, but you are almost certainly going to take a big performance hit when it throttles back due to heat build up. You can mitigate that somewhat by modifying your case. I have the black grey Pi 3 version. With that one at least you can remove the one top panel. I went another route. I drilled holes in a grid pattern on the top and bottom. My Pi 3 gets a bit hot, but not backing hot like it did before my mod.
The big deal with the Pi 4 is twice the performance of the Pi 3. Or there about. Why cripple that performance with a case that trapes in all the heat? I just don't see the logic in that? I just don't?

[echmain]

I did pre-order this - https://geekworm.com/collections/new-ar ... tive-shell (will share results once I have it).

This looks very cool. Like it was designed by Porsche.

[ninjapi]

well after trawling through all the posts in this thread it seems pretty clear that the official pi4 case is not fit for purpose and they should stop selling it with immediate effect.

Some litigious types could make this thing cost them serious money if they don't get a handle on it...

Wow, you decide that will be your first post here.

Every Desktop I have had has had a fan or three.
I use a modified old case, top on when travelling , top off if temp get near 70C.

Maybe the new case was designed to be used like that?
For the RPF mission teaching Kids, access to GPIO is needed for physical computing, top off

A small heatsink helps, a fan even the smallest makes a big difference.
And the talk about suing? Either a lawyer or troll?

So any pics of the smallest fan used so far?

Mine works absolutely fine with the Pibow coupe case and the fan shim using the provided script. My point was that the 'official' case is just not fit for purpose because it cooks the device.

The fan shim wont be a suitable option for everyone but the fan is really quite small. The heatsink that Pimoroni offer is shown by themselves to be next to useless - and actually reduces the effectiveness of the fan.

https://blog.pimoroni.com/raspberry-pi- ... -fan-shim/

With regard to the 'official' case - these days you just cant sell something which by design will cause an electronic device to overheat and malfunction. Its a recipe for trouble.

[HawaiianPi]

A 60mm case fan fits the short side spacing of the mounting holes almost perfectly, and they are available in 5V.

OP_RPi_CPU_fan_1.jpg (85.87 KiB) Viewed 2232 times

Made that pic awhile back on a Pi 3B (just for giggles).

And this is how I cool my Tinker Board (now).

USB_fan.jpg (14.28 KiB) Viewed 2232 times

[HackerKitty]

Hello everyone, I just created an account to share my easy-peasy 13 Euro solution for Pi4 cooling.

My Pi4 (4GB version) is housed in a renowned Pimoroni Pi-Bow case. I know these cases are not particularly a good choice for heat dissipation, but they are such gorgeous looking, I could not resist

smallDSC_0523.jpg (70.6 KiB) Viewed 2014 times

Instead of supplying a power from Pi itself, this small desktop fan is running on an external 5V USB power.

There are several advantages for this configuration:
1) It can be used with any type of enclosure (or absence thereof);
2) It can be easily switch on/off to accommodate PI's cooling needs;
3) It can be found almost anywhere and no special parts are required;
4) It has a very small price tag - this particular fan came from Amazon for 13 Euro. It is a Deluxe model with 3 different fan speed
5) Because the power is supplied by an external source, the fan does not increase a power consumption of Pi which could generate an additional heat.

With this setup, my Pi4 runs around 43C with normal load. It never exceeds 64C under heavy load, such as opening multiple tabs in Chromium while working on LibreOffice and Terminal.

I hope this post gives some idea for your Pi4 thermal solution

[Imperf3kt]

Gave this a try yesterday.
https://i.imgur.com/6U0YAxF.jpg (8MB image)

Fan running directly from one of the Pi's USB ports.
Managed to keep it around 29°C

[PhoenixPi]

With regard to the 'official' case - these days you just cant sell something which by design will cause an electronic device to overheat and malfunction. Its a recipe for trouble.

Throttling due to heat is not the same as malfunctioning. If the hardware fails due to the heat, then yes that would be an issue, but there is no sign of that. If the official case was causing the Pi 4 to downclock to the lowest possible clockspeeds and still remain at the thermal limit, you might have an argument.

I've been lurking for a little while, but honestly the best part of this thread is the MacGyvered fans and heatsinks. Beautiful work you lot!

[Michiel O.]

I think a RPi with water cooling would be awesome.

Oh wait, that's really a thing! https://www.google.com/search?q=raspberry+water+cooled

[the_atmosphere]

i'm using the case that came in the pishop / buyapi kit
my 4b idles at 65 temp=65.0'C
running the apple II screensaver in xsavers it goes up to temp=83.0'C

i didn't use the little heatsinks they sent with it, because i read they weren't really needed, and i was sure i would mess up putting it on straight, and also i wasn't sure where to put the second one, but i later found a graphic depicting it. i might try those little heatsinks but don't expect it to go down more than a degree or 2 if at all.

at what temperature does the cpu throttling precisely?

[jahboater]

i'm using the case that came in the pishop / buyapi kit
my 4b idles at 65 temp=65.0'C
running the apple II screensaver in xsavers it goes up to temp=83.0'C

i didn't use the little heatsinks they sent with it, because i read they weren't really needed, and i was sure i would mess up putting it on straight, and also i wasn't sure where to put the second one, but i later found a graphic depicting it. i might try those little heatsinks but don't expect it to go down more than a degree or 2 if at all.

at what temperature does the cpu throttling precisely?

Throttling starts at 80C.
In a small enclosed case with no airflow, the Pi4 will get very hot and passive heat sinks will not help much, if at all.

Try outside of the case. For best results place the board on edge. Mount the heat sinks with the fins aligned vertically (with the airflow).

There are many choices for cooling (if required). Aluminum cases are popular where the case itself acts as the heat sink.

[Gavinmc42]

Those little heatsinks make a big difference, it is the surface area that helps.

[jahboater]

Those little heatsinks make a big difference, it is the surface area that helps.

But not inside a tiny plastic case with no air holes. The heat has to get out somehow!

[the_atmosphere]

my case does have some vents at the top
i might try it without the top
at this point my pi 4 has no purpose, so all i care about is it doesn't catch on fire
i feel like it is my tomagotchi

[pfletch101]

Those little heatsinks make a big difference, it is the surface area that helps.

They will likely make a big difference for relatively transient peak loads. However, if you are running your Pi within a more or less tightly sealed case, continuous high loads will result in the whole volume of the inside of the case heating up and your heatsinks will only result in more rapid thermal equilibration of the chips with the overheated air within the case.

[Jimblob64]

I gotta say, the Fan Shim has knocked 20C off my idle temps and nearly as much under load, even without a heatsink (when the top half of the official case is off- with it on, it mainly slows down the heat as far as I can tell- haven't left the top on long enough to see where it levels off yet.)

Bit of a pain to handle such tiny parts, but it feels so much nicer using a Pi that doesn't start to smell of hot metal, yet still wears a case to protect it from dog hair.

[solar3000]

Anyone ordered one of these yet? It's supposed to work on Pi 3B and 4B.


Picture is link (available for pre-order).

Bwawhahah you're killing me with that!
That will keep things cool!
Still not as good as the liquid cooled things already out there.
I have a 14mm copper heat sink. It lowers temps by maybe 5 C. So, yeah, I could use a bigger heat sink. Mine still goes up to 81C and then the warning symbol flashes.