Data Journey

Raspberry Pi 3B+ and 3B in comparison

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released the Raspberry Pi 3B+ as the updated version of the RPi 3B without much notice. The predecessor, the 3B model, has now been available on the market for around two years and a revision was eagerly hoped for by many.

However, the day of publication, 03/14/2018, is no coincidence. March 14th comes in American spelling as 3/14 or 3-14 and is the unofficial holiday of the circle number Pi, the so-called Pi Day.

The Raspberry Pi 3B+ has the same dimensions as its predecessor, so that the existing cases and plug-in modules can continue to be used without problems. Much else remains the same and the differences are manageable. Only in the decisive places was hand applied.

 

Technical differences

  RPi 3 B+ RPi 3 B
Release March 2018 February 2016
Size 85,6 × 56mm 85,6 × 56mm
SOC BCM2837 BCM2837
CPU ARM Cortex-A53
(ARMv8-A)
ARM Cortex-A53
(ARMv8-A)
CPU cores 4 4
CPU clock 4x 1400 MHz New 4x 1200 MHz
RAM 1024 MB 1024 MB
USB 4x USB2.0 4x USB2.0
Audio HDMI (digital)
3,5mm jack
HDMI (digital)
3,5mm jack
Network 10/100/1000 MBit New 10/100 MBit
Wlan 2,4/5 GHz WLAN ac New 2,4 GHz WLAN b/g/n
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.2 New Bluetooth 4.1
GPIO 40 Pins 40 Pins
PoE yes (prepared) New no
power input max. 7 W max. 4,4 W
power source 5V Micro USB
min. 2,5 A
5V Micro USB
min 2,5 A
Price ca. 45$ ca. 38$
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What’s new with the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+?


 

First measurements

Meanwhile I could measure the new Raspberry Pi 3B+ and the power consumption turns out fortunately less dramatically, than first assumed.

Test setup
Test results
  RPi 3 B+ RPi 3 B
Watt, Idle 2,3 W 1,3 W
Watt, Load 5,4 W 3,7 W
Temperature, Idle 44 °C 40 °C
Temperature, Load 66 °C 75 °C
My test conclusion

The RPi 3B+ has a significantly higher power consumption (approx. +80%) than its predecessor. At full load, it is still approx. 45% higher than that of the RPi 3B. However, thanks to the new heatspreader, the RPi 3 B+ is around 10°C cooler than its predecessor. Since the Raspberry Pi automatically reduces the clock rate from a temperature of 85°C, the lower temperature of the RPi 3B+ is a real advantage. This means that the extra power can really be called up without it getting into throttling.


 

Is it worth replacing the Raspberry Pi 3B with the 3B+?

Maybe. That depends on what the Raspberry Pi is used for. If the focus is on CPU performance, such as in a media center, the new 3B+ will of course do better justice to the task. The same applies to high network throughputs. If, on the other hand, an energy-saving, cool system is required, then there is no reason to change. The price of the new RPi 3B+ and its predecessor is identical.

 

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