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Crunching with Raspberry Pi 3

3K views 32 replies 9 participants last post by  WhiteWulfe 
#1 ·
I have several Raspberry Pi 3 lying around. They are generally used in my IoT projects. I also use them as desktop replacement from time to time. The little thing's power consumption is almost non existent. The official OS Raspbian just got updated and now you can browse the web using latest version Chromium which supports both HTML5 and flash content, play hardware accelerated h264 video..

You can also work on office documents via preinstalled Libre Office.There also lots of app you can install from repositories. Many great Linux apps we enjoy on our x86 systems also have Arm hard float builds that can be run Raspberry Pi. Such as Gimp, VLC media player, boinc, blender...

I also install Quake 3 Arena on it and play multiplayer. Suprisingly it renders the game very fluently. My sig rig can't run Quake 3 Arena atm due to compatibility issues... Battle for Wesnoth is another great Linux game that can be run on Raspberry Pi.

The cpu on it is an 64 bit Quad Core Arm Cortex A53 1.2Ghz and there is a 1GB LPDDR2 ram running at 450Mhz (900Mhz effective). I overclocked the thing to 1.3Ghz along with L2 cache and ram and it performs a little bit better overall.

So I installed Boinc last night. Because recently Seti@Home announced v8 work units will be available for Raspberry Pi. First it estimated the work unit completion time "32 hours" for all 4 units. After 16 hours I saw some were nearly completed. Not bad. Will be throwing two more Pies and cool them all with this single 140mm fan right there. I wonder if 16 Arm cores would outperform a modern Quad Core CPU.

Tell you what let's compare it, I'll share my avarage PPD here in a week and you tell me if it matches yours.

BTW: Without the fan temps skyrocket to 82 degrees celcius, fan cools them down to 57.



 
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#2 ·
Good to see more Pi's crunch.

I have a Pi2 that runs E@H. I think either Enigma or POGs is available for Pi as well. It takes a whole day to complete one of the WUs for 62.5 points.
sonic.gif


There is an optimized app for Pi3 that I haven't tried or know if it even works on Pi2. The cores never get to 100% as I'm guessing there's not enough bandwidth on the flash card I got with the kit.
 
#3 ·
Running BOINC on an SBC is something I've been tempted by a few times, although it's typically been the ODroid C2 due to it having 4xA53 cores running at 2GHz, and paired with 2GB of ram, as well as the ability to use eMMC memory if one so wishes. I'm still contemplating such, and it's obvious that more projects are catching onto such as well, given that the BOINC Project list shows 9/39 projects as having compatibility with a Raspberry Pi, a number that seems to be slowly growing towards the same adoption Android has (13/29). There are also a lot of rather interesting cases out there for Raspberry Pi's, with the C4Labs Invasion being one of my favourite ones for look (and their Bel-Aire Mark IV being another.... Not that they've released it since teasing it back in May, but I digress).

I think the biggest appeal with these devices is just how little power they utilize.... 4-6 watts of power under full load is something that the words "sign me up!" come to mind
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nautilus View Post

I have several Raspberry Pi 3 lying around. They are generally used in my IoT projects. I also use them as desktop replacement from time to time. The little thing's power consumption is almost non existent. The official OS Raspbian just got updated and now you can browse the web using latest version Chromium which supports both HTML5 and flash content, play hardware accelerated h264 video..

You can also work on office documents via preinstalled Libre Office.There also lots of app you can install from repositories. Many great Linux apps we enjoy on our x86 systems also have Arm hard float builds that can be run Raspberry Pi. Such as Gimp, VLC media player, boinc, blender...

I also install Quake 3 Arena on it and play multiplayer. Suprisingly it renders the game very fluently. My sig rig can't run Quake 3 Arena atm due to compatibility issues... Battle for Wesnoth is another great Linux game that can be run on Raspberry Pi.

The cpu on it is an 64 bit Quad Core Arm Cortex A53 1.2Ghz and there is a 1GB LPDDR2 ram running at 450Mhz (900Mhz effective). I overclocked the thing to 1.3Ghz along with L2 cache and ram and it performs a little bit better overall.

So I installed Boinc last night. Because recently Seti@Home announced v8 work units will be available for Raspberry Pi. First it estimated the work unit completion time "32 hours" for all 4 units. After 16 hours I saw some were nearly completed. Not bad. Will be throwing two more Pies and cool them all with this single 140mm fan right there. I wonder if 16 Arm cores would outperform a modern Quad Core CPU.

Tell you what let's compare it, I'll share my avarage PPD here in a week and you tell me if it matches yours.

BTW: Without the fan temps skyrocket to 82 degrees celcius, fan cools them down to 57.


Put some heatsinks on those chips!!
biggrin.gif
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

[/SPOILER]

Put some heatsinks on those chips!!
biggrin.gif
I see one on the core, and one on what I suspect is the memory controller... Or in other words, what many consider a "standard" two piece heatsink kit for the Raspberry Pi. Guessing you mean the oversized ones you see in some of the modding threads? ^_^
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteWulfe View Post

I see one on the core, and one on what I suspect is the memory controller... Or in other words, what many consider a "standard" two piece heatsink kit for the Raspberry Pi. Guessing you mean the oversized ones you see in some of the modding threads? ^_^
More surface area = more heat dissipation

How much more heat could be dissipated, I'm not sure, but fans are a no brainer like any other computer.

I personally like the taller copper fins but they're a tad more expensive.la
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

More surface area = more heat dissipation

How much more heat could be dissipated, I'm not sure, but fans are a no brainer like any other computer.

I personally like the taller copper fins but they're a tad more expensive.la
Definitely have to agree. There are some videos out there done by ExplainingComputers if I remember correctly where he tries out heatsinks as large as some of those passive tall north/south bridge ones you can get (40x40mm or so) and gets decent results.

I've also been tempted if I get a few to look into the Alphacool memory cooling kits (the ones that have a one to five splitter and use tiny tubing) as some people have reported cores under full load being parked at 53C or so, and such kits aren't too too expensive to set up (I think it was something around $125 USD or so?) but air cooling is a lot simpler.

Tall copper heatsinks like the ones EnzoTech makes are also incredibly gorgeous.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteWulfe View Post

Definitely have to agree. There are some videos out there done by ExplainingComputers if I remember correctly where he tries out heatsinks as large as some of those passive tall north/south bridge ones you can get (40x40mm or so) and gets decent results.

I've also been tempted if I get a few to look into the Alphacool memory cooling kits (the ones that have a one to five splitter and use tiny tubing) as some people have reported cores under full load being parked at 53C or so, and such kits aren't too too expensive to set up (I think it was something around $125 USD or so?) but air cooling is a lot simpler.

Tall copper heatsinks like the ones EnzoTech makes are also incredibly gorgeous.
When I first read your post I thought you were saying there were water kits for the Pi. I was like no f way
smile.gif


Reading comprehension I lack sometimes. I still think WC on these is a bit extreme.
 
#9 ·
BTW back in the day I had a custom box we used in a special project where the asic's would get super hot and fail. The manufacturere gave us heatsinks with the foam sticky to attach them. They worked but were only marginally better. In the end I scrapped all of the foam sticky stuff of and attached the sinks with either Arctic Alumina™ Thermal Adhesive or Arctic Silver™ Thermal Adhesive and after that we had no more failures.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeerCan View Post

When I first read your post I thought you were saying there were water kits for the Pi. I was like no f way
smile.gif


Reading comprehension I lack sometimes. I still think WC on these is a bit extreme.
AquaTuning will roll one with all the required parts for you if you ask, that's how NovaSpirit Tech got his. I'm seriously contemplating the idea of watercooling the ODroid C2's I'm planning on picking up, but then again they'll be going into a case with a watercooled 2P setup, so maybe it isn't as insane of an idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

You don't go out much, do you? No water kits...ha!
First link is NovaSpirit Tech's video. Not bad, but he overhams things sometimes.
 
#14 ·
Best looking Rasberry Pi H20 solution yet!

If you could somehow turn the base into a Peltier cooler it would be interesting to see how cold you could get the liquid; or, figure out a Phase Change solution for the fluid.

Of course, you'd need some good anti-freeze liquid to pull that off!!
biggrin.gif


Edit: Ordered my Pi this morning from AdaFruit...it should be here Wednesday!!!
biggrin.gif
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

Best looking Rasberry Pi H20 solution yet!

If you could somehow turn the base into a Peltier cooler it would be interesting to see how cold you could get the liquid; or, figure out a Phase Change solution for the fluid.

Of course, you'd need some good anti-freeze liquid to pull that off!!
biggrin.gif


Edit: Ordered my Pi this morning from AdaFruit...it should be here Wednesday!!!
biggrin.gif
Could you just drop a few in an oil bath... Small fish tank, the server case on a side.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

Been done already...let me see if I can find the link again.
There was an article on Tom's Hardware about 10 years ago with an oil filled computer.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by BritishBob View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

Best looking Rasberry Pi H20 solution yet!

If you could somehow turn the base into a Peltier cooler it would be interesting to see how cold you could get the liquid; or, figure out a Phase Change solution for the fluid.

Of course, you'd need some good anti-freeze liquid to pull that off!!
biggrin.gif


Edit: Ordered my Pi this morning from AdaFruit...it should be here Wednesday!!!
biggrin.gif
Could you just drop a few in an oil bath... Small fish tank, the server case on a side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadiver59 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by BritishBob View Post

Could you just drop a few in an oil bath... Small fish tank, the server case on a side.
Been done already...let me see if I can find the link again.
Raspberry Pi in a vase: http://thomasloughlin.com/raspberry-pi-in-mineral-oil/

With the tiny TDP of the Pi, I don't see any reason why a small fish tank couldn't cool a whole farm of Pi's
 
#19 ·
#20 ·
With such a setup though... How would you keep the mineral oil cool, or is that of much concern with Raspberry Pi's?
 
#24 ·
I have my RPi 3B crunching a couple SETI tasks now, looks like they will take 24 hours. Running 2 tasks the CPU temp is at 66C. I have heat sinks on the CPU, GPU and memory chips, but no fans, only the CPU is warm to the touch.
 
#25 ·
i found out that the RPi 3B's mounting holes are not compatible with my Rockminer R3's mounting points, they must be for an older version of RPi; so, I'll probably purchase one of the simple acrylic open cases and drill out the back side to mount the case to the Rockminer. A little annoying but not bank-breaking.

Edit: changed case info
 
#26 ·
I have been able to run three *real* projects now on my RPi 3B, Seti, E@H and Enigma. It also runs WUProp and GoofyxGrid. Running 3 tasks at a time keeps things relatively cool, and piles up WUProp points. Anything else has not worked for me so far. Just curious what all you are able to run on yours.
 
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