The Raspberry Pi Foundation persuaded their chip supplier, Broadcom, to build a new processor with a 64-bit Cortex A-52 quad-core CPU running at 1.2GHz. They also increased the speed of the RAM and the video processor (GPU) while keeping full code compatibility with the Pi 2. So the Pi 3 is a complete drop-in replacement for the Pi 2 in fact, it fits the same cases, has all the same ports and GPIO pins, only a few LEDs have moved.
Faster CPU, GPU and RAM. The CPU now runs at 1.2GHz (Pi 2 900MHz) and that is complimented by the 1Gbyte DDR2 RAM running at 900MHz (Pi 2 450MHz) and the faster VideoCore IV at 400MHz (Pi 2 250MHz). This combination can give you an extra 50% throughput compared to the Pi 2 or 10 x the throughput of the original Pi 1, depending on the application. As an example, the Pi 3 delivers 70 frames per second with Quake III Arena.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in. With the Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.1 on-board you don't need separate USB dongles anymore which could give you 2 x USB ports back. It also means you don't have to buy the extra dongles making the Pi 3 more cost effective. The Bluetooth module is very interesting as it supports both Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy. Bluetooth Classic is there for compatibility with the huge numbers of Bluetooth devices available, whilst Bluetooth Low Energy is much simpler to write software for, opening the way to some exciting new applications.
Some things have stayed the same, it has 4 x USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100 ethernet port and the iconic 40-pin GPIO connector which is compatible with all Pi 2 and Pi B+ HATs and add-on boards. It also has the same camera interface (CSI), display interface (DSI) and 3.5mm audio-video jack as the Pi 2 and Pi B+. It does draw a bit more power than previous boards so you will definitely want a good 2A power supply.
New to the Raspberry Pi? It is a credit-card sized computer that has USB ports for devices such as a mouse and keyboard and an HDMI output for HDTVs. Millions have been sold worldwide into education, to home users and even into industry. This gives the Raspberry Pi the backing of a very active community which is constantly producing tutorials, software examples and programs you can download from the Internet for free. There's also a huge range of add-on hardware available, from cameras to robotics and more, making it a fantastic base for electronic projects. The Raspberry Pi is also a capable computer that will perform many of the functions that a desktop PC will, like spreadsheets, word processing and games, it will also play high definition video. Join the millions of Raspberry Pi owners today!
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Reviews
Great, works and quite powerful.
Reviewed by: Mr Thomas Poulton - 14 July 2017
Noticeably faster than the Pi 2 on boot-up. Massively handy not having to have external wifi and/or Bluetooth adaptors taking up the USB ports. Form factor is the same as the Pi 2 and connectors are the same so its fully interchangeable.
For anyone looking to start dabbling with IoT and single-board computers the Pi is ideal.
