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  • Author Author: cstanton
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Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Plus (B+) Technical Specifications

 

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Watch the Tech Specs Intro video of the Pi 3 Model B+:

Buy NowBuy Now

 

*US Customers: We'll update you when more stock is available. For now, please back order your unit to reserve your Rasperry Pi!

 

NEW! Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

 

Key Improvements from Pi 3 Model B to Pi 3 Model B+:

image Improved compatibility for network booting and new support for Power over Ethernet

image Processor speed has increased from 1.2Ghz on Pi 3 to 1.4Ghz, with improved thermal management

image New dual band wireless LAN chip, 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz with embedded antenna

image Bluetooth 4.2 Low Energy onboard

image Faster onboard Ethernet, up to 300mbps!

 

Other Technical Specification:

image 40 pin extended GPIO

image 4 x USB 2 ports

image 4 pole Stereo output and Composite video port

image Full size HDMI output

image CSI camera port for connecting the Raspberry Pi CameraRaspberry Pi Camera

image DSI display port for connecting the Raspberry Pi Touch Screen DisplayRaspberry Pi Touch Screen Display

image microSD port for loading your operating system and storing data, up to 64GB tested

image Upgraded switched Micro USB power source (now supports up to 2.5 Amps)

image The same form factor as previous Raspberry Pi boards!

 

  • The comparison chart is very interesting. Finally I am motivated to get the Raspberry Pi 3 B+

  • in reply to darthkegraider

    "as the R/W operations seemed to be 1/2 duplex."

     

    Yes, this is exactly what appears to happen when writing to the SDCard on the Raspberry Pi. I haven't read anywhere why this happens, likely memory management.

  • Model B+ Test Installs on Pi Desktop Case with Different SSDs

    After getting my hands on a Model B+, I was able to test it with the Pi Desktop Case using different SSDs.  The B+ supports Boot from USB by default so setup with the Pi Desktop Case is even easier than in the past. I used Raspian images and the imaging process took about 8 minutes, once installed here are boot/reboot times measured first without an SD card installed, then with a blank SD card installed. No camera and the boot time was measured from pressing the power button to the first flash of the case LED - a feature of the pidesktop 1.1.4 release. The reboot time is from first flash of the case LED to case LED on - effectively when the reboot timer in the power MCU starts and ends.

    Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with Raspian Stretch 2018-03-13 - with and without a blank SD card

    mSATA SSD Device

    Boot Time to LED Flash

    Reboot Time w/o SD

    Reboot Time w/ Blank SD

    Samsung 860 EVO 250GB33.3 w/o SD, 27.9 w/SD30+s (reboot fails)27.7s-28.6s (fails sometimes)Kingston 120GB32.3s w/o SD, 27.2s w/SD30+s (reboot fails)26.4s-27.4sKingspec 64GB32.3s w/o SD, 27.2s w/SD30+s (reboot fails)26.8s-29.9s (fails sometimes)

    Raspberry Pi 3 Model B (Boot from USB Set) with Raspian Stretch 2017-11-29 - with and without a blank SD card

    mSATA SSD Device

    Boot Time to LED Flash

    Reboot Time w/o SD

    Reboot Time w/ Blank SD

    Samsung 860 EVO 250GB32.7s w/o SD, 28.7 w/SD30+s (reboot fails)27.8s-28.6s (fails sometimes)Kingston 120GB31.2s w/o SD, 26.2s w/SD30+s (reboot fails)25.9s-26.8sKingspec 64GB31.2s w/o SD, 26.2s w/SD30+s (reboot fails)26.3s-29.6s (fails sometimes)

    A Few Observations:

    • Note "Boot from USB" is enabled out of the box on the Model B+, however using a formatted blank SD card is still recommended.
    • None of the devices was able to reboot consistently without a blank SD card inserted.
    • The Kingston device has the fastest reboot times and so was less likely to fail to reboot.
    • While boot times were fairly consistent, reboot times vary more that would be expected. As noted in the results reboots did fail and when they did it is bacause the boot process takes too long and the reboot timer elapses and shuts off power. That timer is not always 30 seconds, in fact it seems more like 26s-27s when it does fail. When reboot does fail it seems to be after previous reboots, not a reboot after a cold start. I have reported what appears to be an underlying firmware bug.
  • in reply to cstanton

    Thanks for the comprehensive review!

     

    140Mbit throughput is almost double the previous efforts.
    I found that acting as a basic NAS was not worth the pain, as the R/W operations seemed to be 1/2 duplex.  This is unverified however, I tried from a couple of machines TO the RPi3, and from, both with large ISO's and smaller document files.  The 3-3.5MB/s transfer was about 1/3 the actual capability of 100Mbit network ( I have 1000Mbit switches).  It was a lot quicker to engage the age old "Sneaker net".

  • in reply to darthkegraider

    Yes. With the faster ethernet you're talking a potential max of 300mbps, in some real world benchmarks I was getting 140mbps from ethernet to usb storage (A Comprehensive Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Plus Benchmark

  • Does the USB bus share the same bus as the Eth port?  It was always frustrating to try and use the Pi as a NAS, barely running at 3MB/s