5 ms·

Pi 5's peak consumption is higher, but if you are doing the same amount of computational work (but a bit above idle) it is less. Now this uses even less, and e

by mlyle 2y ago

Pi 5's peak consumption is higher, but if you are doing the same amount of computational work (but a bit above idle) it is less. Now this uses even less, and even the idle powers are comparable to 4. This wins in every way over Pi4, except cost.

tonymet 2y ago
Given people typically use these for a home server or embedded controller, who cares about saving a couple watts? 1 watt savings idle? .72 kwh a month? in my area that's about 5₵ , even in california that's 40₵ / month / device ? Are 1000-instance Pi arrays common? i can think of 100 better ways to get that amount of computing resources.
- byteknight 2y ago
  I think you are applying your usecase and thinking that is everyone's use case. Think battery power.
  - mlyle 2y ago
    Yup. I had students running a machine learning model on a Pi attached to a scooter. The power draw of the computing system was significant, and the performance limitations were too. The existence of commodity, well-documented, well-supported SBCs offering more computing in less power is exciting. (Also, using less power means you can put it in more places without worrying about getting rid of the heat, or can go longer before throttling).
    - tonymet 2y ago
      would 1 watt have mattered?
      - mlyle 2y ago
        20-30% more battery life and having more performance would have simplified our life, yes.
        tonymet 2y ago
        how much of the current for the application was drawn by the pi? if it's a scooter, you are pulling 100amps for the scooter and 200ma for the pi
        mlyle 2y ago
        The computer was on its own battery to get clean power. And it was using more than 200mA "power", not that mA is a unit of power. Honestly, it feels like you're trying to prove me wrong about my one case. Power consumption and heat dissipation matter. The pi is rarely the lowest power path one could use to do computing, and it isn't the highest performance, either... but using less power and having more performance makes it suitable for more things (obviously).
  - tonymet 2y ago
    as in portable or embedded? Embedded, Pi has too much consumption. saving a watt isn't your problem

by mlyle 2y ago

tonymet 2y ago

Given people typically use these for a home server or embedded controller, who cares about saving a couple watts? 1 watt savings idle? .72 kwh a month? in my area that's about 5₵ , even in california that's 40₵ / month / device ? Are 1000-instance Pi arrays common? i can think of 100 better ways to get that amount of computing resources.

byteknight 2y ago
I think you are applying your usecase and thinking that is everyone's use case. Think battery power.
- mlyle 2y ago
  Yup. I had students running a machine learning model on a Pi attached to a scooter. The power draw of the computing system was significant, and the performance limitations were too. The existence of commodity, well-documented, well-supported SBCs offering more computing in less power is exciting. (Also, using less power means you can put it in more places without worrying about getting rid of the heat, or can go longer before throttling).
  - tonymet 2y ago
    would 1 watt have mattered?
    - mlyle 2y ago
      20-30% more battery life and having more performance would have simplified our life, yes.
      - tonymet 2y ago
        how much of the current for the application was drawn by the pi? if it's a scooter, you are pulling 100amps for the scooter and 200ma for the pi
        mlyle 2y ago
        The computer was on its own battery to get clean power. And it was using more than 200mA "power", not that mA is a unit of power. Honestly, it feels like you're trying to prove me wrong about my one case. Power consumption and heat dissipation matter. The pi is rarely the lowest power path one could use to do computing, and it isn't the highest performance, either... but using less power and having more performance makes it suitable for more things (obviously).
- tonymet 2y ago
  as in portable or embedded? Embedded, Pi has too much consumption. saving a watt isn't your problem