Temperature warning / thermometer icon Pi 4B

[tartanpirate]

This is my first post on a Pi forum, and I feel I have to say that I'm a complete beginner in all things computing-related. Seriously, I'm at the "See Spot Run" level, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?
My kids were given a Pi 4B for Christmas and we've noticed the red thermometer icon appearing when they've been playing some (fairly basic, they assure me) games. A standard desk fan blowing over it has stopped this happening, but is obviously not ideal.
What would be the best way to resolve this? I've looked at cases with fans, and at heatsinks including the FLIRC case, but would really appreciate a recommendation.
Many thanks.

[jamesh]

Firstly make sure you have updated to the latest firmware. There are some improvements to be had there.

If not in a case, try orienting the Pi vertically, this makes a difference.

I like the flirc case, works well.

Finally, no damage can result from getting hot, the Pi will just slow itself down to cool itself down.

[fruitoftheloom]

This is my first post on a Pi forum, and I feel I have to say that I'm a complete beginner in all things computing-related. Seriously, I'm at the "See Spot Run" level, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?
My kids were given a Pi 4B for Christmas and we've noticed the red thermometer icon appearing when they've been playing some (fairly basic, they assure me) games. A standard desk fan blowing over it has stopped this happening, but is obviously not ideal.
What would be the best way to resolve this? I've looked at cases with fans, and at heatsinks including the FLIRC case, but would really appreciate a recommendation.
Many thanks.

All Raspberry Pis have inbuilt thermal throttling so they can not overheat to a level which would be destructive.

Presumably you are running Raspbian Buster Operating System:

https://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2019/1 ... than-ever/

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/fan-shim

[LTolledo]

while on holiday....I received a new RPi4B-2G
I test run it
without any case,
no heatsinks,
RPi4B board level with the table (or simply said, level with the horizon)
connected to HDMI TV,
WiFi network connection,
2.5" HDD 2TB via HDD case-adapter USB3.0,
wireless keyboard and wireless mouse (that means 3 USB ports used).
Raspbian Buster Full desktop in 32GB microSD
5.1v 3.0A non-RPF PSU with microUSB plug, with microUSB to USB-C adapter

Did not see the thermometer warning while watching 720p 24-minute video (accessed from HDD, viewed via VLC).
I did noticed the temperature go up to 63C then hover to 58C.
ambient was 24C
but no temp warnings.

was tempted to put aluminum bottle cap on the SoC's heat spreader to act as temporary heatsink.... but have no adhesive that time

[wildfire]

The Flirc does the job and as it's passive, completely silent. Two drawbacks though...

1) As with most other cases you have cables flying out all over the place.
2) Access to the GPIO's (though not impossible) can be difficult using standard connectors.

My personal preference cancels out those (my perceived) drawbacks above, is the argon one case from https://www.argon40.com/

All ports are at the rear excluding uSD slot at the front & a removable magnetic lid for GPIO access. More expensive but does come with a fan and On/Off/Reset switch.

Cooling wise, passive cooling the Argon is on par with the Flirc but you can program the fan to kick in at whatever temperature you want therefor preventing throttling for longer if doing heavy duty work.

I have 2 3B+'s in Flirc cases, 1 3B+ in the Argon, and 2 4B4G's 1 of each in the respective cases. For me (and this is only an opinion) the Argon One wins hands down.

[tartanpirate]

Thanks for all the info & advice, much appreciated