New Raspberry Pi?

thebesthandle · January 5, 2020

So I have had a Raspberry Pi for a long time hooked up to a TV in the family room, running RetroPie for old 16bit/8Bit gaming. I recently gave this to my parents to have at their house for their use and or friends and family visits (think of holiday get togethers with Mario and Link... Much Better!!)...

Now comes my dilemma. I want to replace the Pi for my house.. Do I buy the Pi 3 B+ again at a cheaper price, or go to the new Pi 4? Does anyone have experience with the newer Pi? I am hesitant to spend the higher dollar amount based on the info below and open to suggestions/comments.

New Pi is a 1.5 vs. 1.4 ghz processing power, good enough gain for $$$?
The RAM is about the same; 2 GB vs. 1 GB
I only use it for Retro Gaming - Other uses??
On the previous point, the 1080p I get out of the 3 I think is well enough and not sure the new 40k60 is needed with the 4 with just 8bit gaming...

Does anyone use their Pi for anything other than old-school gaming? And for what? Basically, can anyone entice me to spend $65 dollars for a 4 over the $30 Pi 3?

Thanks!

TuckTin12 · January 5, 2020

34 minutes ago, thebesthandle said:

So I have had a Raspberry Pi for a long time hooked up to a TV in the family room, running RetroPie for old 16bit/8Bit gaming. I recently gave this to my parents to have at their house for their use and or friends and family visits (think of holiday get togethers with Mario and Link... Much Better!!)...

Now comes my dilemma. I want to replace the Pi for my house.. Do I buy the Pi 3 B+ again at a cheaper price, or go to the new Pi 4? Does anyone have experience with the newer Pi? I am hesitant to spend the higher dollar amount based on the info below and open to suggestions/comments.

New Pi is a 1.5 vs. 1.4 ghz processing power, good enough gain for $$$?

The RAM is about the same; 2 GB vs. 1 GB

I only use it for Retro Gaming - Other uses??

On the previous point, the 1080p I get out of the 3 I think is well enough and not sure the new 40k60 is needed with the 4 with just 8bit gaming...

Does anyone use their Pi for anything other than old-school gaming? And for what? Basically, can anyone entice me to spend $65 dollars for a 4 over the $30 Pi 3?

Thanks!

The pi 3 is most likely fine for your use but I found a big difference in performance going from the pi 3 to the pi 4 but I don't use mine for gaming.

if you get a pi 4 you will need a heat sink and/or fan it gets pretty hot without one.

edit: I use this kit: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07WRMR2CX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

thebesthandle · January 5, 2020

5 minutes ago, TuckTin12 said:

The pi 3 is most likely fine for your use but I found a big difference in performance going from the pi 3 to the pi 4 but I don't use mine for gaming.

if you get a pi 4 you will need a heat sink and/or fan it gets pretty hot without one.

edit: I use this kit: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07WRMR2CX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the advice! I didnt even think of the fan/heatsink with the higher performing chip.. prolly draws more watts?

Do you mind me asking what other applications I could use the Pi for, what you do with it??

TuckTin12 · January 5, 2020

Just now, thebesthandle said:

Thanks for the advice! I didnt even think of the fan/heatsink with the higher performing chip.. prolly draws more watts?

Do you mind me asking what other applications I could use the Pi for, what you do with it??

I use it for youtube, floatplane, homework, steamlink, and other things like that.

I made my own cooling system with the heatsink from that kit and another pc fan and I was able to overclock mine to 2 ghz and only hits 40-60 degrees depending on the load.