Pi 4 - heat and board revision numbers [ for a DAC project ]

[Yukon Cornelius]

I'm about to buy a Pi 4 and it's going to have a DAC HAT and the official psu
..... I've got some Pi 3 s around but they are all busy

I read somewhere that the more recent Pi 4 boards don't run as hot as the early ones .
Was that due to some change in the firmware ?
I really don't want to get involved with a fan in an audio project .

I noticed that some sellers show the revision number in their info , although most do not .
Is Revision 1.2 ( c03112 ) the latest version for the 4GB Pi 4 ?
Is it actually printed on the board someplace ?
These commands will give the info ..... if you have the board running
cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/device-tree/model

I've been doing some searching but not come up with much , apart from what's on the Raspberrypi.org website
and it doesn't show what date a particular version went into production .

Thanks to anyone for any help , hints or advice they can give .

[fruitoftheloom]

I'm about to buy a Pi 4 and it's going to have a DAC HAT and the official psu
..... I've got some Pi 3 s around but they are all busy

I read somewhere that the more recent Pi 4 boards don't run as hot as the early ones .
Was that due to some change in the firmware ?
I really don't want to get involved with a fan in an audio project .

I noticed that some sellers show the revision number in their info , although most do not .
Is Revision 1.2 ( c03112 ) the latest version for the 4GB Pi 4 ?
Is it actually printed on the board someplace ?
These commands will give the info ..... if you have the board running
cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/device-tree/model

I've been doing some searching but not come up with much , apart from what's on the Raspberrypi.org website
and it doesn't show what date a particular version went into production .

Thanks to anyone for any help , hints or advice they can give .

The has never been release dates for each revision publicly available, if whatever 4B you receive is running with a fully updated Raspberry Pi OS you will have the latest kernel / firmware whilst the heat dissipation concern was resolved a year ago:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/therma ... erry-pi-4/

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... /README.md

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... agement.md

[Yukon Cornelius]

The has never been release dates for each revision publicly available, if whatever 4B you receive is running with a fully updated Raspberry Pi OS you will have the latest kernel / firmware whilst the heat dissipation concern was resolved a year ago:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/therma ... erry-pi-4/

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... /README.md

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... agement.md

-

Thanks .
The first link is useful info regarding the firmware update to improve thermal issues but some further digging overnight
shows that Pi 4 Rev 1.2 had a hardware update , with some components near to the SD card being relocated .

There are some more details and close-up pics on these sites :-

https://tutorial.cytron.io/2020/02/22/h ... is-rev1-2/

https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/02/24 ... esilience/

Some commentators say that Pi Foundation have been "coy" about these changes , and that certain official vendors
might risk getting stuck with large quantities of the older boards .

I know not and care not .... so long as I don't end up inadvertently buying one ....

[rpdom]

Some commentators say that Pi Foundation have been "coy" about these changes , and that certain official vendors
might risk getting stuck with large quantities of the older boards .

I know not and care not .... so long as I don't end up inadvertently buying one ....

I know not and care not also. I have one of the older boards. I have had no problems with it. The changes seem to concern certain types of power supply - I use the official Pi supply so no problems there, and the siting of one or two components possibly to prevent them being damaged or dislodged if knocked.

[fruitoftheloom]

The has never been release dates for each revision publicly available, if whatever 4B you receive is running with a fully updated Raspberry Pi OS you will have the latest kernel / firmware whilst the heat dissipation concern was resolved a year ago:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/therma ... erry-pi-4/

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... /README.md

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... agement.md

-

Thanks .
The first link is useful info regarding the firmware update to improve thermal issues but some further digging overnight
shows that Pi 4 Rev 1.2 had a hardware update , with some components near to the SD card being relocated .

There are some more details and close-up pics on these sites :-

https://tutorial.cytron.io/2020/02/22/h ... is-rev1-2/

https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/02/24 ... esilience/

Some commentators say that Pi Foundation have been "coy" about these changes , and that certain official vendors
might risk getting stuck with large quantities of the older boards .

I know not and care not .... so long as I don't end up inadvertently buying one ....

There is no need to fret about revisions, just use the Official Power Supply and you will not notice any difference in everyday use.

A lot was written about the 4B and a considerable amount was nothing except hyperbole, there are always people who want you to read their blogs for the purposes of earning click bait money.

[Yukon Cornelius]

There is no need to fret about revisions, just use the Official Power Supply and you will not notice any difference in everyday use.

A lot was written about the 4B and a considerable amount was nothing except hyperbole, there are always people who want you to read their blogs for the purposes of earning click bait money.

Leaving aside the official psu ( as mentioned in my first post ) does this mean that both the firmware and hardware updates incorporated
into Revision 1.2 had no relevance to the thermal issues ?

..... I'm genuinely confused .

[fruitoftheloom]

There is no need to fret about revisions, just use the Official Power Supply and you will not notice any difference in everyday use.

A lot was written about the 4B and a considerable amount was nothing except hyperbole, there are always people who want you to read their blogs for the purposes of earning click bait money.

Leaving aside the official psu ( as mentioned in my first post ) does this mean that both the firmware and hardware updates incorporated
into Revision 1.2 had no relevance to the thermal issues ?

..... I'm genuinely confused .

Running a fully updated Raspberry Pi Operating System it will include all the required firmware & kernel updates applicable to all revisions as required, as already stated.

You are confusing hardware and software, firmware is a software update.

[rpdom]

Leaving aside the official psu ( as mentioned in my first post ) does this mean that both the firmware and hardware updates incorporated
into Revision 1.2 had no relevance to the thermal issues ?

..... I'm genuinely confused .

The hardware updates were not (to my knowledge) related to any thermal issues.

The firmware updates apply to all revisions of Pi 4B, therefore the thermal enhancements they made affect the Rev 1.1 board as well as the Rev 1.2.

The Rev 1.2 will have been pre-loaded with the later firmware as it would be required to recognise the new board ID.

[Yukon Cornelius]

Running a fully updated Raspberry Pi Operating System it will include all the required firmware & kernel updates applicable to all revisions as required, as already stated.

You are confusing hardware and software, firmware is a software update.

I most certainly am not confusing the two , and I know exactly what a firmware update is .

The photos shown in the links I gave are clearly hardware revisions .... either they are , or they are not .

[hippy]

Leaving aside the official psu ( as mentioned in my first post ) does this mean that both the firmware and hardware updates incorporated
into Revision 1.2 had no relevance to the thermal issues ?

My understanding is that there are no hardware differences regarding thermal output for any revision, no hardware thermal improvements came with later board revisions.

The firmware update reduced thermal output for all revisions.