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Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

raspberrypi.org

11–20 of 776 posts

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#11
This tugs all the heartstrings for me as it mimics the computers of the early 80s. My only criticism is that their use of micro-HDMI makes it very easy for children to wreck the machine. I've had this happen twice to me on RPi4s, and it's not a terribly pleasant experience.

Now all I want from them is a custom edition with the function keys in red, the rest in black, and the body in beige.

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#13
I was lucky to get a pre-release version to test, and I decided to tear it down before I started trying it out. I posted this blog post with detailed pictures of the insides, and some more details and performance benchmarks: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2020/raspberry-pi-400-tear...

There are also a couple videos linked in the post, if you're more visually-inclined.

Fun fact: the Pi 400 (and Compute Module 4) both have newer revisions of the BCM2711 SoC (C0 instead of B0), and that's part of the reason the clock speed is higher on the Pi 400 (1.8 GHz) than on the regular Pi 4 model B (1.5 GHz)—the newer revision apparently handles faster clocks and scaling with less heat than the older revision.

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#14

I'm intrigued by the "faster, cooler" comment. Anyone know what that refers to? It looks like there aren't any vents on the visible surfaces, so I'm guessing there's been a hardware rev to make thermal throttling less of a problem? If so, that might imply a pi 4 board release some time soon, which would be nice.

The clock speed is up from 1.5GHz to 1.8GHz, and there is a heat spreader built in. https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/11/02/raspberry-pi-400-tea...

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#15

I'm intrigued by the "faster, cooler" comment. Anyone know what that refers to? It looks like there aren't any vents on the visible surfaces, so I'm guessing there's been a hardware rev to make thermal throttling less of a problem? If so, that might imply a pi 4 board release some time soon, which would be nice.

It's a new design of boad (not a Pi4 in a case) and has a large heat spreader inside, and the C0 2711 chip which has better clock gating so blocks can be turned off the save power. This means we can run at 1800 by default. It runs very cool.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1752436#p...

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#16

Truly amazing how the Raspberry Pi team keeps innovating. As far as I know, they're not a billion dollar company yet they keep innovating by making better Pi's and continuously upgrading the builder/user experience. Congratulations to Upton and team!

They are a non-profit, aren't they?

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#17

I'm intrigued by the "faster, cooler" comment. Anyone know what that refers to? It looks like there aren't any vents on the visible surfaces, so I'm guessing there's been a hardware rev to make thermal throttling less of a problem? If so, that might imply a pi 4 board release some time soon, which would be nice.

The BCM2711 SoC inside is a newer stepping (C0 vs B0 in Pi 4 model B), and can run faster and slightly cooler than the older revision.

Thus the Pi 400 has a 1.8 GHz default clock, while the Pi 4 model B has a 1.5 GHz clock.

Note that I just checked my Compute Module 4, and it also has the C0 revision of the chip... so it's interesting the Pi Foundation chose to keep it at the default 1.5 GHz.

It might have to do with the fact that the Pi 400 has a massive keyboard-sized heatsink attached to the SoC in the unit!

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#18

I'm intrigued by the "faster, cooler" comment. Anyone know what that refers to? It looks like there aren't any vents on the visible surfaces, so I'm guessing there's been a hardware rev to make thermal throttling less of a problem? If so, that might imply a pi 4 board release some time soon, which would be nice.

It’s a custom pcb in keyboard format with vents at the back and huge metal heat sink/anti flex plate.

Re: Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

#20
Like everywhere else, schools here in India also have gone online. But students here do not have computers. They are taking their classes using parents smartphones. Now you can imagine all the issues that one can face while using this setup. Moreover it's not feasible to sit with a mobile phone for 5-6 hrs of classes.

My father is a teacher and I had this idea to let his students use Raspberry PI with TVs but this is perfect for them.

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