The Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized single board PC that was originally released in February, 2012. Originally featuring a single core ARM CPU, VideoCore IV GPU, and 256MB of RAM, it was a pretty barebones PC at the time. Over the years, the Pi has gotten various hardware upgrades to make it a powerful single board PC, and this next revision is one of their bigger upgrades.

The Pi 4 now features:

• 4x Cortex A72 CPU, running at 1.5Ghz
• VideoCore VI GPU, capable of H.265 decoding, and supports OpenGL ES 3.0
• 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of LDDR4 RAM
• 2x USB 3.0 Ports, 2 USB 2.0 Ports
• 2.4ghz+5.0ghz 802.11ac Wireless
• Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 2x Micro HDMI ports, capable of pushing 2x 4k@30fps displays
• USB-C Port for power
• TRRS Pole Connector

One of the biggest changes Pi-veterans will notice is the use of the VideoCore VI GPU, thanks to the new SoC we now have almost 1.5x the performance of the previous VideoCore IV, plus support for 4K resolutions. USB-C for power is also a nice addition, now that Micro USB is starting to become a thing of the past.

The 1GB Kit will cost the usual $35, whereas the 2GB model will be $45, and the 4GB model will cost $55.

Source

 

[FAST6191]

Hopefully it means microHDMI cables will become cheap again (used to find them in poundland, then they started only doing USB to HDMI ones).

Anyway sort of fell out with keeping up with raspberry pis after the first revision of the boards (when it gained 512 megs of RAM and thus became useful for what I want), still use it a lot (plays 720p H264 just fine) and have a bunch of others in service doing other things but never really kept on top of them. I will have to see what this brings but I am not a fan of needing 2+ amps -- if I am going to the effort of sorting a big by supply then I might as well use a laptop or something.

 

[masagrator]

I am not a fan of needing 2+ amps -- if I am going to the effort of sorting a big by supply then I might as well use a laptop or something.

What? Switch charger can deliver 40W, Huawei SuperCharge can deliver 25W. And they are not big.

 

[FAST6191]

What? Switch charger can deliver 40W, Huawei SuperCharge can deliver 25W. And they are not big.

For what I used raspberry pis for then most of the time they were plugged into screens with USB ports or cheap and cheerful USB chargers. Most of those will struggle to do more than 2A, and plenty are iffy above 1A.

 

[tech3475]

Hopefully it means microHDMI cables will become cheap again (used to find them in poundland, then they started only doing USB to HDMI ones).

This is why I pick up cheap cables when I see them, even if I don't immediately need them. I bought a mini-HDMI cable once and it was in a box for a year before I bought something I could use it with.

You can get relatively cheap adapters though (around £1-2), although I don't know how much stress this may cause.

ODroid XU4. The guys at ODroid Retro Arena, who are now known as RetroArena, have the best implementation of RetroPie right now on an SBC that I've heard of that doesn't call for one to spend $200+ on something like those UP! boards that CAN emulate GC games (a Youtuber even made a video where he thought of what a hypothetical GC Mini might look like during the whole NES Mini/SNES Mini craze). The best version is known as THERA 3.0, and the most it can do emulation-wise is up to DC and its arcade variants at speeds that, while not full by any means, definitely aren't unplayable unless if you're doing anything with something primarily 3D on the system.

That does look impressive spec wise compared to the 3B, going by their website.

Although remember there is more to these things than just emulation, for example, I may re purpose my old RPi 1 as a 3D print server and the guides I'm seeing specifically mention the Pi.

Not saying that the other boards can't these things, but the RPi may be easier to follow depending on the user where they may need to deviate, do additional research or need support.

 

[FAST6191]

This is why I pick up cheap cables when I see them, even if I don't immediately need them. I bought a mini-HDMI cable once and it was in a box for a year before I bought something I could use it with.

You can get relatively cheap adapters though (around £1-2), although I don't know how much stress this may cause.

Who do you think rinsed every poundland I went past of VGA cables when they had them in some years back?

It was more that I was a bit broke when I went in and laptops, phones and tablets seemed to be heading that way (I missed entirely the trajectory of that one*) I thought they were going to become like their HDMI cables and be available if not constantly then enough of the time that I could stock up at a later date.

*while it did not entirely join the removal of SD cards, removable batteries, simple USB options and headphone ports in the "who let the crack smoker design a device?" stakes as being able to pipe it through USB after a fashion made some sense I was still somehow shocked by how quickly it was done.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Damn it, I just bought a Pi 3 like a month ago. Oh well, it's just for use with OctoPrint to control my 3D printer, and it works just fine for that, but better specs would help with timelapse recording and video streaming.

But can it run Dolphin and/or PS2X?

PCSX2, probably not. That doesn't even run on ARM AFAIK.

 

[Jayro]

The ability to purchase one with 4GB instead of just 1GB is a huge deal. Should make a lot of things run a lot better I'm expecting psx and n64 emulation to run far smoother.

The jump from LPDDR2 to 2400MHz LPDDR4 is also going to help this immensely.

 

[ciaomao]

well, impressive. If somebody has the chance to test Demon Front I would appreciate. maybe a reason to open up my arcade sticks. I am still on the first rev. of pi3.

 

[Sakitoshi]

What? Switch charger can deliver 40W, Huawei SuperCharge can deliver 25W. And they are not big.

charger =/= power supply
a charger delivers constant amperage
a power supply delivers constant voltage

 

[Fat D]

A PSU can deliver constant "pretty much anything it wants", or more precisely constant "whatever the thing it is made for wants". Some power supplies are unregulated, some deliver constant current (LED drivers, direct-to-cell battery chargers), most deliver constant voltage (USB adapters, most power bricks, computer PSUs).

And the definition of charger has been muddled ever since batteries have been integrated into devices. Modern phones have charging circuitry embedded, but the mains-to-USB adapter, which is a constant-voltage PSU, is still labeled charger.

 

[Sakitoshi]

A PSU can deliver constant "pretty much anything it wants", or more precisely constant "whatever the thing it is made for wants". Some power supplies are unregulated, some deliver constant current (LED drivers, direct-to-cell battery chargers), most deliver constant voltage (USB adapters, most power bricks, computer PSUs).

And the definition of charger has been muddled ever since batteries have been integrated into devices. Modern phones have charging circuitry embedded, but the mains-to-USB adapter, which is a constant-voltage PSU, is still labeled charger.

a power supply HAS to deliver constant voltage because is the only variable that it can control.
voltage is delivered by the power supply while current is drawn by the device you connect to it.
so while you should not connect a device that needs let say 3 volts to a power supply that delivers 6 volts (the power supply will just deliver the full 6 volts and your poor 3 volts device will fry), you can connect a device that is going to draw 100 mA to a power supply that can deliver 1000 mA, because the device will just ask "can I have 100 mA?" and the power supply will respond "sure, there you go" and deliver only the 100 mA that the device requested.

a charger, on the other hand, may fluctuate the voltage to deliver optimal charging conditions for the battery, give small bursts of energy to keep the battery full without overcharging it (often called trickle) or even completely cut the energy if they detect that the device is full. it all depends on the charger.
some smartphone chargers that have fast charge can even deliver 12 volts at first and step down from there the more full the smartphone battery is.

 

[FAST6191]

Is this discussion about the types of power supplies and technical vs everyday naming of them especially relevant? My original point was that such a high powered device* was something of a departure from its rootsand part of what made it so good at what it did.

*at least relative to the cheap and cheerful switch mode supplies that are everywhere these days and USB power rails from common screens. I can live with it maybe not working as stably on the 500mA of USB2.0 as the everyday options do well here, and USB hard drives had ensured most things at least had a means to get there.

 

[Fat D]

a power supply HAS to deliver constant voltage because is the only variable that it can control.
voltage is delivered by the power supply while current is drawn by the device you connect to it.
so while you should not connect a device that needs let say 3 volts to a power supply that delivers 6 volts (the power supply will just deliver the full 6 volts and your poor 3 volts device will fry), you can connect a device that is going to draw 100 mA to a power supply that can deliver 1000 mA, because the device will just ask "can I have 100 mA?" and the power supply will respond "sure, there you go" and deliver only the 100 mA that the device requested.

Voltage and current are inherently connected through the characteristics of both the source and the load. A constant-current source can have almost any output voltage below its rated maximum, but it will always deliver pretty much the same current to its load. Those things are frequently used to drive LEDs. It is just that most devices you can buy are designed to be used with constant-voltage power supplies, which keep the voltage constant over the allowed range of current draws. Constant-current sources exist, they are just less common than constant-voltage sources. Most laboratory power supplies allow you to set both current and voltage, and they will deliver whatever is lower, depending on the load.

a charger, on the other hand, may fluctuate the voltage to deliver optimal charging conditions for the battery, give small bursts of energy to keep the battery full without overcharging it (often called trickle) or even completely cut the energy if they detect that the device is full. it all depends on the charger.
some smartphone chargers that have fast charge can even deliver 12 volts at first and step down from there the more full the smartphone battery is.

The battery-charging circuit of a smartphone is located entirely in the phone itself, not in the USB-to-wall brick. Yes, a decent USB-C charger will offer a selection of voltages for the smartphone to select from, but there is still a limited selection and the circuitry in the phone provides further current limiting, as well as stepping down the voltage, say from 12 volts of relatively low current to a higher current at voltages much closer to the cell voltage.

But as FAST6191 said, the precise definition of what those bricks you use with your phone actually are is pretty irrelevant to the topic of what a Pi should be powered from.

If you want low power though, there is a wide selection of other Pi models to choose from. A+ and Zero stand out first and foremost, and while there is a 3A+, the 1A+ and 1B+ are still being sold.

 

[godreborn]

I'm thinking about buying one of these (never had one), but I don't know what all I need. I want the best version, but I see things like "starter kit," then a list of other things you can buy down below. do I need all of that or just the "starter kit"? does that come with everything? I'm really not sure where to begin.

 

[Bladexdsl]

this place never ceases to amaze me something like this is released and all everything is interested in is talking about a power supply

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I'm thinking about buying one of these (never had one), but I don't know what all I need. I want the best version, but I see things like "starter kit," then a list of other things you can buy down below. do I need all of that or just the "starter kit"? does that come with everything? I'm really not sure where to begin.

You basically will need a power supply, micro SD card, a micro HDMI cable, and a case. That's about it, really, once you have all that you're all set. Things like heat sinks that you probably see in a lot of kits are only necessary if you plan on overclocking the Pi.

 

[ChibiMofo]

They're trying real hard to get wrecked by the Chinese. Only useful addition is gigabit, the rest just hikes the price while maintaining meager specs. Still using very unfree chips, thanks Broadcom.

Are you a troll? They haven't ever made a single device that interested me even slightly. This one does. It finally has enough power to be a proper (x.265) media PC and desktop PC all in around 5 watts with enough RAM and USB 3. Meager my a**!

 

[Cylent1]

I am tired of buying Raspberry pi's, I will just stick to my latte panda~

 

[Deleted_413010]

4 GB? Heck no. Give me 32 GB and then we'll talk.

 

[spectral]

4 GB? Heck no. Give me 32 GB and then we'll talk.

Most gaming PC's don't even have that. It'd be completely wasted.