Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation

But you apparently didn't read or comprehend anything I said earlier. I suppose I have to give you extra special attention and more time so you can understand.

@Obsolesce said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

Yeah for sure it will work. It's just depending on the type you get (really the only reason I would care to have one), I was thinking the 2k - 3500+ MB/s speeds being limited by the speeds you see with USB3 it's kind of a waste.
On the other hand, if you get a cheapo one, the way it fits together and all is pretty nice.

This means if you want just the storage and a nice fit together and don't care as much about performance (which if you did you wouldn't be using a Pi anyways), then sure! If your entire company uses Pi for desktops then for sure, performance doesn't matter at all and the cheapo m.2s are fine. I like the way it looks, but it's not for me. I was giving my opinion.

No need for your god damn elitism all the time. Go work out your family issues or something instead lol.

1337

As soon as you start adding stuff to the Raspberry PI 4 it stops making economic sense as a "workstation".

The 2GB or 4GB version with the cheapest case, power supply and SD-card still makes sense.

But when you add extras to be able to use SSDs and other stuff, you get into the same price range as lower end Intel NUCs and similar mini PCs. Unfortunately the raspberry pi 4 is not as fast and doesn't came with 3 year warranty etc. So it's less value for money.

If you on the other hand want a RPi4 to play around with ARM or to tinker with raspberry pi HATs and other hardware accessories, then of course it's the only choice.

Our go to for these use cases (low cost) has been Intel's J3455.

Dashrender

@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@Dashrender said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@Obsolesce said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@Obsolesce said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP

$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.

m.2 storage connected via USB?

Yes, USB3 is fast enough to do it. It's done a lot. I've got an external of that right here.

Yeah for sure it will work. It's just depending on the type you get (really the only reason I would care to have one), I was thinking the 2k - 3500+ MB/s speeds being limited by the speeds you see with USB3 it's kind of a waste.

On the other hand, if you get a cheapo one, the way it fits together and all is pretty nice.

Likely only works with SSD type M.2 drives, not the super fast ones.

What are "SSD" type? SSD isn't a type of M2. M2 is typically either SATA or NVMe as the interfaces for the SSD. Both of those work on the RP.

I meant SATA, my bad.

jclambert

I have been experimenting with the NEO case with the Pi4 for warehouse workers. It has been just ok so far. It lacks a power button and some things have a bit of a dwell time to get rolling. Most of the lag seems to be at app startup, so I am hoping an m.2 will make it "feel" more responsive to users.
Temperatures are acceptable even if overclocked to 2000. I did a torture test and could not get it above 62c.

Dashrender

@jclambert said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

I have been experimenting with the NEO case with the Pi4 for warehouse workers. It has been just ok so far. It lacks a power button and some things have a bit of a dwell time to get rolling. Most of the lag seems to be at app startup, so I am hoping an m.2 will make it "feel" more responsive to users.
Temperatures are acceptable even if overclocked to 2000. I did a torture test and could not get it above 62c.

Interesting about the power button, the little things you don't realize you miss until they are gone. Pulling the power cord just never seems as clean for a simple power off/reboot.

JaredBusch

@Dashrender said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@jclambert said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

I have been experimenting with the NEO case with the Pi4 for warehouse workers. It has been just ok so far. It lacks a power button and some things have a bit of a dwell time to get rolling. Most of the lag seems to be at app startup, so I am hoping an m.2 will make it "feel" more responsive to users.
Temperatures are acceptable even if overclocked to 2000. I did a torture test and could not get it above 62c.

Interesting about the power button, the little things you don't realize you miss until they are gone. Pulling the power cord just never seems as clean for a simple power off/reboot.

The case I linked has one for that reason.

hobbit666

Not used a Pi for a while.
What happens when you issue a halt -p type command? Does it power the Pi off like a normal machine, then pulling the power in/out is then needed to power back up?

scottalanmiller

@hobbit666 said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

What happens when you issue a halt -p type command? Does it power the Pi off like a normal machine, then pulling the power in/out is then needed to power back up?

IF you don't have a power button, yes. But you can have a normal power button, too.

JaredBusch

@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@hobbit666 said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

What happens when you issue a halt -p type command? Does it power the Pi off like a normal machine, then pulling the power in/out is then needed to power back up?

IF you don't have a power button, yes. But you can have a normal power button, too.

The one on the Argon case actually sends a shutdown command according to their documentation.

jt1001001

@JaredBusch Looks to be available today

Greyzard

Thanks @Scottalanmiller, this is the "review" I was looking for, I want to buy a device for lightweight office use and a windows 10 device seems "overkill" to me for what but especially how often I need to use it, so maybe a raspberry pi 4 8 GB with an argon m2 case without overclock should be fine for me, right?

ITivan80

@scottalanmiller Looks and sound awesome i will give it try see how it goes.

scottalanmiller

@itivan80 said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

@scottalanmiller Looks and sound awesome i will give it try see how it goes.

We have several of these now!

scottalanmiller

@greyzard said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

Thanks @Scottalanmiller, this is the "review" I was looking for, I want to buy a device for lightweight office use and a windows 10 device seems "overkill" to me for what but especially how often I need to use it, so maybe a raspberry pi 4 8 GB with an argon m2 case without overclock should be fine for me, right?

That should be fine. BUT more likely, the RP400 will be better. $70 and it includes the case. It's only 4GB instead of 8GB, which sucks. But that means that you can run the lighter 32bit OS version that is faster AND it is already overclocked and includes a massive passive heatsink.

When I wrote the original I think the 400 wasn't out yet. Now, it is all that we buy. It's a huge (but simple) improvement on the original 4.

Greyzard

@scottalanmiller there is only one little problem: we have already bought a keyboard and a mouse with backlight! So, if I can use a raspberry pi 4 8 GB it would be perfect for me, or would you prefer a 4 GB still with the argon m2 case?

Obsolesce

@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:

But that means that you can run the lighter 32bit OS version that is faster AND it is already overclocked and includes a massive passive heatsink.

But the web browser plus whatever else is running in addition to the OS will still eat up what's left of the RAM pretty easily I would think. My phone uses more than 4g of ram easily.