RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login

    Pi 3 B+ Question

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion and Gaming
    3b+
    37 Posts 11 Posters 9.5k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • S
      spud11 @Pi-Mania
      last edited by

      @pi-mania I second this (for a stock Pi). I've got a flirc case and a Pi 3B+, albeit I'm using the flirc case with my 3B at present. Terrific case. Flircs are being sold with pads for both 3B+ and 3B now, so it should fit well.

      RetroPie v4.4.1 • RPi3 Model B • 5.1V 2.5A PSU • 32GB SanDisk Extreme microSD • 2TB Toshiba Canvio Basics Portable USB 3.0 hard drive • 4 x DragonRise USB Arcade joysticks • 2 x TurboTwist spinners • 1 x USB trackball • 1 x PS4 wireless • 1 x 8BitDo Zero

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • quicksilverQ
        quicksilver @Ecks
        last edited by

        @ecks If you arent overclocking then you dont really need a fan. No point in having the extra moving parts + added noise if its not needed. The raspberry pi3 b+ can safely operate to 70C before the system will even start to down clock to cool itself. The raspberry pi foundation have done extensive testing in this regard and have set the limits there for a reason. Your pi does not need to run at 40C all the time (if it did they would have set the cpu governor to kick in at that temp). If you are doing extreme overclocking then I would recommend a hefty heat sink (not those dinky little 14mm heatsinks). The one that comes with Super kintaro SNES case is awesome, not sure if they sell it separately though. I can run quake 3 on my heavily overclocked RPI 3b all day without ever breaking 70C. If you feel you must have a fan then I would look for option where you can set the fan to switch on and off at a certain temp (the super kintaro 9000 has this option as part of its shutdown script). Just my two cents for what its worth.

        EcksE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • EcksE
          Ecks @quicksilver
          last edited by

          @quicksilver said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

          @ecks If you arent overclocking then you dont really need a fan. No point in having the extra moving parts + added noise if its not needed. The raspberry pi3 b+ can safely operate to 70C before the system will even start to down clock to cool itself. The raspberry pi foundation have done extensive testing in this regard and have set the limits there for a reason. Your pi does not need to run at 40C all the time (if it did they would have set the cpu governor to kick in at that temp). If you are doing extreme overclocking then I would recommend a hefty heat sink (not those dinky little 14mm heatsinks). The one that comes with Super kintaro SNES case is awesome, not sure if they sell it separately though. I can run quake 3 on my heavily overclocked RPI 3b all day without ever breaking 70C. If you feel you must have a fan then I would look for option where you can set the fan to switch on and off at a certain temp (the super kintaro 9000 has this option as part of its shutdown script). Just my two cents for what its worth.

          You do know i said i overclocked the Pi i am using now and i do intend on overclocking the B+to at least 1.5GHz and i do prefer having my Pi cooled down just like i do my desktop as well.
          Also the heatsink for the Super Kintaro will not fit on the B+ and you will notice from this image alt text
          And you can see from the image and the way the B+ is the 4 pin connector is in the way.
          Would also like to mention that having the Pi cooler than 60 degrees feels better and there is no actual noise from the fan but hey you like owning something that gets hot i get it just not everyone is the same which is why people does end up buying these fans for their Pi's.

          @pi-mania said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

          Just use a Flirc Case and cool it silently.

          I actually don't like the Flirc Case at all thanks.

          quicksilverQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • ParabolaralusP
            Parabolaralus
            last edited by

            Mileage will vary, but i was able to get 1533mhz arm_freq and 600mhz core_freq which i focused on for N64 emulation using the 3B+. One hair over 600 on the core and it would fail to boot or present graphical madness...

            Using a single fan in the new nespi+ case with a fairly large heatsink from an old Netgear VPN/firewall the max temperature i saw under load after running 24 hours was 56 degrees. This is inside an
            open back cabinet on top of my xbox one x which i was running at the time too so had it been alone in the complete open it likely would not have hit 56 at all using just this..

            I think the dually fan is overkill and may consume more power then its worth, but i guess it all depends on what youre doing.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • quicksilverQ
              quicksilver @Ecks
              last edited by

              @ecks "Whilst hitting the temperature limit is not harmful to the SoC, it will cause CPU throttling."

              This is straight from the raspberrypi.org website. As long as you aren't throttling the temp doesn't really matter.

              I realize that the super kintaro heatsink won't fit the 3 b+, I was just using that as an example, that even under the most extreme load I was not getting throttling even without a fan. As a side note they are working making the next gen of that heatsink compatible with the 3b+.

              EcksE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • EcksE
                Ecks @quicksilver
                last edited by

                @quicksilver said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

                @ecks "Whilst hitting the temperature limit is not harmful to the SoC, it will cause CPU throttling."

                This is straight from the raspberrypi.org website. As long as you aren't throttling the temp doesn't really matter.

                I realize that the super kintaro heatsink won't fit the 3 b+, I was just using that as an example, that even under the most extreme load I was not getting throttling even without a fan. As a side note they are working making the next gen of that heatsink compatible with the 3b+.

                I will let you know as well that my Pi is also inside my arcade stick which has very little ventilation which is good to have something cooling it down and another thing is its the warranty for the Pi which states if the system stays over 80 degrees that the warranty will expire and honestly you can not say they won't know if you send it back asking for it to be fixed or replaced because they have ways of knowing.
                The one thing most people like yourself always tends to forget is people does projects such as bartop arcades and arcade stick in one systems (like what i did) which tends to not have a lot of ventilation inside of it which you might see some projects using 120mm fans in the back of the case or using a small fan like the one i have in mine.

                quicksilverQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • quicksilverQ
                  quicksilver @Ecks
                  last edited by

                  Just a note of interest for anyone who may stumble across this thread, old skool tools has released an updated design for their SK 9000 heatsink that will fit on the new pi 3b+!

                  EcksE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • EcksE
                    Ecks @quicksilver
                    last edited by

                    @quicksilver said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

                    Just a note of interest for anyone who may stumble across this thread, old skool tools has released an updated design for their SK 9000 heatsink that will fit on the new pi 3b+!

                    Are you sure you have the right name cause i googled it and it showed me other things than a heatsink for the Pi 3B+

                    quicksilverQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • quicksilverQ
                      quicksilver @Ecks
                      last edited by quicksilver

                      @ecks https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B079T7RDLX/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526787586&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Kintaro&dpPl=1&dpID=41l7-NYbRwL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

                      Click on the "size" options and you can select pi3b+

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • B
                        barbudreadmon @Ecks
                        last edited by

                        @ecks i think this dual fan cooler is useless, i bought https://www.amazon.com/Smraza-Raspberry-Heatsinks-Adapter-Switch/dp/B07CDDGVK7/ref=sr_1_3 (simple fan), this is an awesome kit (really, the fan is silent and the power supply seems good too), my 1.5Ghz rpi3b+ don't go over 51° with it, but it has stability issues obviously unrelated to temperature though (good thing : it never happens when i play 2D games, which is what i do most).

                        FBNeo developer - github - forum

                        EcksE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • EcksE
                          Ecks @barbudreadmon
                          last edited by

                          @barbudreadmon said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

                          @ecks i think this dual fan cooler is useless, i bought https://www.amazon.com/Smraza-Raspberry-Heatsinks-Adapter-Switch/dp/B07CDDGVK7/ref=sr_1_3 (simple fan), this is an awesome kit (really, the fan is silent and the power supply seems good too), my 1.5Ghz rpi3b+ don't go over 51° with it, but it has stability issues obviously unrelated to temperature though (good thing : it never happens when i play 2D games, which is what i do most).

                          I am just going to use this case instead for my Pi https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071CNS4QQ and this is what i am using right now just i have an older case i am going to put my old Pi into.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • EcksE
                            Ecks
                            last edited by

                            Just wondering but do i have to format my SD card and flash it again cause the SD card i have in my Pi right now is running RetroPie 4.4 but of course it is in a Pi 3 and not in a Pi 3 B+ (cause i just ordered right when i am writing this the Pi 3B+)

                            B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • B
                              barbudreadmon @Ecks
                              last edited by

                              @ecks You just need to make sure your system is up-to-date before moving the sd card.

                              FBNeo developer - github - forum

                              EcksE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • thelostsoulT
                                thelostsoul
                                last edited by

                                I read half of the answers here and most are about cooling and fans. Thats why I want recommend something. There are cases out without a fan, but the whole body of case is the heatsink. I use one with my Pi 3 non plus and I overclock it highly without any heat problem and operating very stable. The main reason I say this is, there is no need for a fan. I am a fan of silent operations (... Lol^^).

                                But I must admit, I don't know if something is out for the Pi 3+. So apologies if not, but I wanted show you this road too.

                                📜 RE/SET: 100 SNES Games for your RetroPie, 🎁 Share your hidden gems and insider tips

                                B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • B
                                  barbudreadmon @thelostsoul
                                  last edited by barbudreadmon

                                  @thelostsoul said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

                                  I am a fan of silent operations (... Lol^^).

                                  Same, but the fan in the kit i recommended is silent. Perhaps you can hear it if you put your ear less than 10 centimeters away, but at 1 meter i can't.

                                  FBNeo developer - github - forum

                                  thelostsoulT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • thelostsoulT
                                    thelostsoul @barbudreadmon
                                    last edited by

                                    @barbudreadmon Ok, I just had bad luck with my previous fan, which was loud as a jet! It was the loudest fan I heard in my life (i use pcs since 2001).

                                    If its really quite and cheap, it may be worth it. Especially because I could use a different case if wanted.

                                    📜 RE/SET: 100 SNES Games for your RetroPie, 🎁 Share your hidden gems and insider tips

                                    B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • B
                                      barbudreadmon @thelostsoul
                                      last edited by

                                      @thelostsoul said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

                                      @barbudreadmon Ok, I just had bad luck with my previous fan, which was loud as a jet! It was the loudest fan I heard in my life (i use pcs since 2001).

                                      If its really quite and cheap, it may be worth it. Especially because I could use a different case if wanted.

                                      Yeah, i had bad experience with some fans in the past too, but i gave this one a try after reading some reviews, i was surprised by the result (my overclocked rpi3b+ won't go above 51° with it), and i'm running it at 5V which is the highest speed in the manual.

                                      FBNeo developer - github - forum

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • EcksE
                                        Ecks @barbudreadmon
                                        last edited by

                                        @barbudreadmon said in Pi 3 B+ Question:

                                        @ecks You just need to make sure your system is up-to-date before moving the sd card.

                                        My RetroPie version is up to date right now i just made sure of that today and also all fans for those cases (cause mine if you saw has the same kind of fan) which is silent.
                                        Also hoping that tomorrow or Monday i will get my Pi 3B+ in the mail so i could set it all up and then overclock it to 1.5 GHz and try out Killer Instinct on it and i mean the Mame version and i noticed as well that PSP and Dreamcast games are a lot more stable on it as well.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • EcksE
                                          Ecks
                                          last edited by

                                          So i just got my Pi 3B+ in the mail today and tested it out which it was able to play certain games better and also overclocked it to 1.5GHz which i find stable and this is the average temps i get when playing a game alt text which it isn't that bad and i was playing Crisis Core (i was checking the temps when i was in a loading processes and also this is the max temps i am getting while trying to install Mame2016 alt text cause it takes so long to download/install.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • EcksE
                                            Ecks
                                            last edited by

                                            Hi guys so i have a question because right after installing lr-mame2014 i started to get low power warnings which i wanted to know if installing that would of started giving my Pi some problems?

                                            mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post

                                            Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                                            Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.