Is upgrading from a Pi 3B to a Pi 4 worth it?

General
1

Hi all,

I've been using a Pi 3B+ for the past year or so to run my Prusa MK3S/MMU2S and haven't had any show-stopping issues related to the Octoprint side (don't get me started on the MMU side...)

I recently bought a pair of Pi 4s for two other projects, but figured out I could do both projects with one. Now I have a spare, and was wondering if there are any good reasons to upgrade the Octoprint Pi from a 3 to a 4? I'm hardwired with ethernet, so wouldn't see any improvements with WiFi/USB, I imagine. Using Enclosure plugin to manage temperature and lights through a relay HAT, and I'm using an official Pi camera board.

Am not interested in working through Pi 4 teething pains.

I'm thinking don't upgrade; change my mind. :wink:
Erik

2

I'm in the same camp with you. I have a couple of Pi4 left over from other projects that are just sitting around right now because there's no compelling reason to upgrade when my machines are Just Working. I'm curious to see if anyone else has a compelling reason to upgrade.

3

For octoprint, there really is no benefit. The 3B and B+ aren't anywhere near taxed with any function of octoprint with the web cam.

4

I agree with @5ft24, replacing a working 3B or 3B+ is unnecessary.

5

Thank you all for the feedback.
Absent any additional "Pi4 upgrade changed my life" comments, I'll keep going with the 3B+.

Now on to printing my Pi4-based robot for world domination, which I now have a spare board for. Thanks for making this possible.

-Erik

EDIT: does anyone know where I can get 4 metric tons of PLA on the cheap? asking for a friend...

6

I know you're kidding and all, but I'm seriously surprised that the largest spool I could find (granted, I only looked for like 90 seconds) is only 25kg. Someone somewhere has to sell those powerline spools you need a semi-trailer to move full of PLA....

7

For octoprint there is no discernible benefit to moving from a 3 to a 4 with the exception of POE and usb c/3. That said there are tons of other projects like Pen testing and robotics that require faster real-time computing that do benefit from the extra power and speed.

8

Thanks for the interest. I thought about POE, as I have a couple other Pi’s doing network things that’s using it; but the thought of blowing a 40-hour print because the network switch flickered for a moment makes my skin crawl. Totes not worth the cool factor and nerd cred I’d garner.

_Erik

9

my switch that provides PoE to security cameras and my Pi is backed by a pretty beefy UPS, its arguably more reliable than connecting my Pi to the mains near the printer.

10

Oooooh. If Octoprint could resume connection and print after the Prusa restarted after a power fail, I'd totally do that! I've got a monster UPS for my server and network. It's ridiculous that my FiOS box has a backup battery that needs to be replaced, as it's plugged into a UPS that'll keep it alive for a week .

I hadn't thought of that angle before. Pretty sure Octoprint cant reconnect on its own and restart a print, though. Maybe in the future...

11

While the 4 is overkill for octoprint and doesn't justify moving a working system, you could consider a second instance of octopi to run secondary webcam. Perhapse you could watch your MMU?If you host the webcam on a secondary PI, you can use Multicam in Octopi to view it without taxing your primary.

12

I got a hold of a Pi 4 and for some reason my camera (Arducam) would not work. I sent a lot of time trying to reconfigure the Pi with no success so I went back to my 3B+ and it works great.