A firmware update, currently in alpha testing and due for public release as soon as it has been proven it’s not going to crash anything, offers a glimpse at the fruit of the engineers’ labour: tweaks which drop the power draw of the VL805 controller considerably, making the whole Raspberry Pi 4 run cooler.
To test the firmware out, a Raspberry Pi 4 was put on the test bench in two configurations: first running the launch-day firmware as supplied on all retail models and the second running the alpha-test release of the updated VL805 firmware. Both configurations were booted with a single HDMI-connected display, wireless keyboard and mouse dongle in the USB port, and a wired Ethernet connection, to reflect the most common usage, and set running a workload which combined sustained CPU and GPU activity.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A New Arduino MicroPython Package Manager, How-Tos and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey