{"id":2685,"date":"2020-11-07T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2685"},"modified":"2020-10-23T18:29:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T17:29:25","slug":"reviewing-the-makerhawk-raspberry-pi-4b-armor-case-and-benchmarking-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/2685\/reviewing-the-makerhawk-raspberry-pi-4b-armor-case-and-benchmarking-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviewing the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case and benchmarking it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here I talk about adding the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor case to my Raspberry Pi. In addition I run some benchmarks over it to see how much of an effect on temperature it has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Reviewing the Case<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Image showing top of aluminium mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case is an aluminium chassis which attaches to the top and bottom of the Raspberry Pi via the mounting holes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is designed to conduct heat away from the primary chips on the Raspberry Pi through its aluminium frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to improved heat distribution, the aluminium frame reduces the likelihood for damage by shielding the Raspberry Pi in the strong frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image showing Raspberry Pi 4 after application of three thermal pads<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three thermal pads are provided to be attached to the main Raspberry Pi chips. These allow conduction between the Raspberry Pi and aluminium frame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the frame is screwed onto the top and bottom it fits tightly to these pads providing heat exchange between the Raspberry Pi and case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Overhead image showing the case after fitting and connecting power pins to GPIO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another advantage is that case is also cooled actively by two fans. These sit above the primary heat generating chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These fans are powered by the GPIO pins which means the Raspberry Pi can power the fans without additional power supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testing heat dissipation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To test how effective the case is at cooling the Raspberry Pi I am going to record the temperature while using the Pi before and after mounting the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will be recording the temperature of the Raspberry Pi to the nearest degree by averaging the temperature between the CPU and GPU. In all testing these have always been within a degree of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CPU temperature will be obtained using the following command<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cat \/sys\/class\/thermal\/thermal_zone0\/temp<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly GPU temperature will be obtained using the following command<\/p>\n\n\n\n

vcgencmd measure_temp<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I expect that these temperatures will be very similar as the CPU and GPU are in the same silicon package on the Raspberry Pi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will perform the following steps for both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Record ambient room temperature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ambient room temperature will effect how easily the Raspberry Pi will naturally cool down. Both tests should be performed when ambient temperature is the same or very similar. Otherwise results will be incomparable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Record Temperature on start up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the Raspberry Pi is turned on I will record the temperature. This will mark the “cool” temperature of the Raspberry Pi. It is expected that the temperature will never drop below this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between tests I will ensure that the Raspberry Pi has cooled down to ambient temperature so the order of the tests does not affect the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Record Temperature on idle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once booted I shall leave the Raspberry Pi for half an hour to see what its idle temperature is. This is expected to be slightly higher than the initial start up temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Record Temperature running short CPU test<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am going to run a short CPU test to stress the CPU. This is not intended to test how fast it operates but will force it to perform calculations which will warm up the Raspberry Pi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this I will be using sysbench and will run the following command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sysbench --num-threads=4 --test=cpu --cpu-max-prime=20000 --validate run<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will run a CPU load with 4 threads (the amount of CPU’s the Raspberry Pi 4 has) and will take approximately a minute. Once it has finished I will record the final temperature before it starts cooling down again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Record Temperature running long CPU test<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After letting the Raspberry Pi cool down to its idle temperature I will run a longer CPU test. This will again be using sysbench and will be ran with the following command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sysbench --num-threads=4 --test=cpu --cpu-max-prime=200000 --validate run<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is expected to run the Raspberry Pi for an extended period of time to see the temperature it reaches with extended CPU load. Here I will record the highest temperature that it reaches during the test. This is expected to be higher than the short CPU test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Test Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Below is a table of results after running with and without the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case. All temperatures are measured in Celsius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raspberry Pi 4B Temperature Testing<\/strong><\/td>Without Case<\/strong><\/td>With Case<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
1. Ambient Temperature at start<\/strong><\/td>22<\/td>22<\/td><\/tr>
2. Boot Temperature<\/strong><\/td>32<\/td>25<\/td><\/tr>
3. Idle Temperature<\/strong><\/td>43<\/td>32<\/td><\/tr>
4. Short CPU Test<\/strong><\/td>51<\/td>35<\/td><\/tr>
5. Long CPU Test<\/strong><\/td>72<\/td>43<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Overall you can see that the case dramatically reduces the temperature that the Raspberry Pi is running at. The aluminium shell combined with the duel fans allows the Raspberry Pi to run very cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Comments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case works very well to cool down a Raspberry Pi, both during idling and during a heavy CPU load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would definitely buy another one of these if I had more Raspberry Pi 4’s to cool down as the reduction is very large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I purchased this from amazon using the link: https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/B07W6VFQVQ\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions, comments, or want to know more please add your comment below or contact me on Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here I talk about adding the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor case to my Raspberry Pi. In addition I run some benchmarks over it to see how much of an effect on temperature it has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Today I am writing about the MakerHawk #Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case and benchmarking its cooling effects","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[122],"tags":[37,392,123,101],"class_list":["post-2685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raspberry-pi-cluster","tag-raspberry-pi","tag-raspberry-pi-4","tag-raspberry-pi-case","tag-raspberry-pi-cluster"],"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/makerhawk_raspi4_case_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2toWX-Hj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2816,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/2816\/makerhawk-raspberry-pi-4b-armor-case-temperature-drop-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":2685,"position":0},"title":"MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case Temperature Drop review","author":"Chewett","date":"February 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am showing the temperature drop over time while using the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case. What is theMakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case I talked more about the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case on my previous blog post. It is an aluminium case with two fans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raspberry Pi Cluster"","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/makerhawk_raspi4_case_temperature_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/makerhawk_raspi4_case_temperature_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/makerhawk_raspi4_case_temperature_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/makerhawk_raspi4_case_temperature_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/makerhawk_raspi4_case_temperature_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2674,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/2674\/moving-the-raspberry-pi-cluster-to-a-raspberry-pi-4b-4gb\/","url_meta":{"origin":2685,"position":1},"title":"Moving the Raspberry Pi Cluster to a Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB","author":"Chewett","date":"October 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am talking about moving the Raspberry Pi Cluster primary node to a Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB model. I also discuss the improvements that the Raspberry Pi 4B has made over previous generations. Why move to a Raspberry Pi 4B Generally running the cluster does not require a large\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raspberry Pi Cluster"","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/raspberrypi_4_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/raspberrypi_4_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/raspberrypi_4_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/raspberrypi_4_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/raspberrypi_4_posticon_OUTPUT.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/292\/stacking-raspberry-pis\/","url_meta":{"origin":2685,"position":2},"title":"Stacking Raspberry Pi’s","author":"Chewett","date":"June 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0stackable Raspberry Pi case\u00a0purchased allows stacking Raspberry Pi B+ and Raspberry Pi 2\/3 but I was planning to modify this to stack\u00a0older Pi's. Stacking the Raspberry Pi (256 MB) The original Raspberry Pi does not have any mounting points. This makes it quite hard to stack using my chosen stacking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raspberry Pi Cluster"","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/stacked_cluster.jpg?fit=600%2C393&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/stacked_cluster.jpg?fit=600%2C393&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/stacked_cluster.jpg?fit=600%2C393&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":367,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/367\/overview-raspberry-pi-cluster\/","url_meta":{"origin":2685,"position":3},"title":"Overview of the Raspberry Pi Cluster","author":"Chewett","date":"June 17, 2017","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Now I have the power supply and built the stacking system\u00a0I can show off the clusters initial state. Every Raspberry Pi in\u00a0the cluster Here are the 7 initial Pi's that are to become part of the cluster. Each have been given a codename to designate\u00a0its position in the cluster.\u00a0The Raspberry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raspberry Pi Cluster"","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cluster_uncovered.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cluster_uncovered.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cluster_uncovered.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cluster_uncovered.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":313,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/313\/adding-heatsinks-rasperry-pi-cluster\/","url_meta":{"origin":2685,"position":4},"title":"Adding Heatsinks to Rasperry Pi Cluster","author":"Chewett","date":"December 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am adding some heat sinks to the Raspberry Pi Cluster and why you might want to. Adding some Heat Sinks to my Raspberry Pi's One of the things we can do to reduce the temperature of the Raspberry Pi CPU's is to add a small heat sink. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raspberry Pi Cluster"","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/main_icon.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/main_icon.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/main_icon.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/main_icon.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237,"url":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/237\/powering-raspberry-pi-cluster\/","url_meta":{"origin":2685,"position":5},"title":"Powering a Raspberry Pi Cluster","author":"Chewett","date":"May 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Raspberry Pi doesn't come with its own power supply so you need to decide how to power it. The recommendation from the Raspberry Pi\u00a0website is that they have \"found that purchasing a 2.5A power supply from a reputable retailer will provide you with ample power to run your Raspberry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raspberry Pi Cluster"","block_context":{"text":"Raspberry Pi Cluster","link":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/category\/raspberry-pi-cluster\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/anker_powerport_10_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2685"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2701,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions\/2701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chewett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}