Rock64 Review

[stuartiannaylor]

I think the PI kits will work fine. All the ports on the rock 64 line up exactly with a pi 3. the only place anyone would have a problem in if they needed to access the 2nd set of io pins .. Even then, there are some PI cases (I have one) ... where the top swings open.

Also, I should mention .. a PI case, will probably not let you access the reset on the rock 64. Also, unless the pi 3 case is clear, you wouldn't see the led's.

Jake

Yeah I was thinking about the heatsink kits the Pi ones are cheap and avail.
I have gone a bit nuts as whilst still waiting for my board have ordered the following.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5PCS-TOP...85649.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/16-Chann...46931.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Raspberr...26240.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-Pieces...56281.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Geekworm...27090.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-Road-O...42236.html

Each item was just a couple of quid apart from the UPS board which was £16.

My first project is an active cooling side blower fan with a battery psu / UPS.

Dunno if you have ever stacked a few boards or got a case with a fan on for the PI but it all quickly becomes a bit pointless with a majority of the cases out there.
When it comes to the Pi some of the most aesthetic cases are those layered plastic sheet ones but after experience of tinkering boy they are a pain in the ass if you are actually going to do anything.

Even if I just had the Battery / Ups board you end up with a case with a board stuck on the top in the open.
Then if you get a fan like most of the supplied any added board actually blocks the fan intake.
Its why I have got a side blower as why no-one supplies has, has bugged me for ages.

The case that is in the store or similar for the Pi that is simple & stackable in my opinion is probably the best option.
I use the prototype boards as stackable headers to create layers for ancillary boards but as you can see my little project quickly negates the majority of cases out there.

Soon as I saw the 4Gb 64bit USB3.0 I thought wow that could be a great little server, but its just a play project but demonstrated how problematic most of the offered cases are.
Also out of interest with active cooling controlled by the junction temperatures I wondered maybe if I could tinker with the DTS and add .1Ghz.
I love what Marcus did with the shipping container and maybe Pine might want to expand that idea and provide stackable ones that are purposely designed for maker cases.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=4961
Make it a bit tighter fitting with space on the header side and drop the hinged lid for the peelable type for a whole new range of Tupperware IT solutions