I’ll start with a detailed introduction of this product, show you the results I got, and then compare them to the usual cooling systems we generally use on Raspberry Pi (fans, passive case, heatsinks or nothing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re looking to quickly progress on Raspberry Pi, you can check out my e-book here<\/a>. It’s a 30-day challenge where you learn one new thing every day until you become a Raspberry Pi expert. The first third of the book teaches you the basics, but the following chapters include projects you can try on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeed is the IoT hardware enabler, providing services over 10 years that empower makers to realize their projects and products. Seeed offers a wide array of hardware platforms and sensor modules ready to be integrated with existing IoT platforms and one-stop PCB <\/a>manufacturing and Prototype PCB Assembly<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeed Studio provides a wide selection of electronic parts including Arduino<\/a>, Raspberry Pi<\/a> and many development board platforms. Especially the Grove System<\/a> helps engineers and makers avoid jumper wire problems. Seeed Studio has developed more than 280 Grove modules covering a wide range of applications that can fulfill a variety of needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us, there are two main interesting things in their works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ICE Tower is shipped in a kit. You’ll have anything you need to install it on your Raspberry Pi, including the instruction manual and a screwdriver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you have to assemble the fan support<\/strong> with the provided parts, like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second step is to prepare the Raspberry Pi. Then, you can fix the fan by placing the support on the Raspberry Pi holes<\/strong>. You can then screw it<\/strong>, and finally, there is a plate to put under the Raspberry Pi to fix everything correctly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And here is the “blink blink” effect in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will quote here the specifications given on the official website, nothing else:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And here are the dimensions of the Ice Tower: <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a picture on the website if this is not clear enough (link in the next paragraph).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are interested, you can find this product on the SeeedStudio website<\/a>. The price is the same for both versions ($19.90 during writing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note<\/span>: Products are shipped from China, expect a delivery in about 3 weeks for most of the countries with standard delivery, but it depends on the country and the shipping options you select in your cart. An alternative can be found on Amazon (here is the link<\/a>), but I didn’t test this one, so I can’t guarantee it’s the exact same product. I only tested the version sold by SeeedStudio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before going into the benchmarks, we can already read what the official site is saying about the performance of this product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The promise we have on the website when buying the product is that it can “reduce the temperature of the Raspberry Pi from 80 \u00b0C to 40 \u00b0C<\/strong>” (with overclocking).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will not try the following benchmark with overclocking, but at least we can expect to stay under 40 \u00b0C. And, it’s already a big challenge as it’s approximately the temperature of my Raspberry Pi 4 processor when idle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My approach today is not only to make a review of one product but to have a clear overview of the situation for the Raspberry Pi 4. As always, I will try to give you the most useful information I can on this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though I’m not a worldwide company with an experimental lab, I will try to give you the best results I can. So I have followed the same protocol for each test:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m not an expert in benchmarking, and you may have better options to do this test, but I chose to use the “stress” package to increase the CPU load and the temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a basic test, I’m stressing the processor and I see how the cooling system works to keep it cool during this time<\/strong>. It should be enough to evaluate the cooling system’s efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this first case, I’m using a fresh new Raspberry Pi 4 4GB<\/a>, without a case, fan or even heat sink<\/strong>s. Just the single board, at room temperature (around 22 \u00b0C).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are the results I got during the 3-minute test. So the temperature is around 45 \u00b0C when idle<\/strong>, and increases slowly and regularly. The graphic is explicit. It’s probably a bad idea to keep your Raspberry Pi 4 like this if you are regularly running high-consuming tasks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It may be OK for a device with no charge most of the time, but even for a basic setup, I would not take the risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this second case, I’m adding a small change to the first one, I just stick heat sinks on the Raspberry Pi hot parts (CPU, RAM, Network card)<\/strong> and check the changes in the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Same SD card, same script, same protocol. Heat sinks are a passive solution, often recommended, to keep the main parts of your device cooler<\/strong>. The specific form of these pieces can help to evacuate the heat. The idle temperature is lower (40\u00b0), and the maximum temperature is also slightly lower, but the graph is almost the same<\/strong>. I think that heat sinks are a good solution if the heat has enough time to evacuate during idle time, but with a continuous high load, it doesn’t help<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The title is explicit here, but just a small precision. And I added a second precision: this test was made without heat sinks<\/strong>. As usual, here is the graph form for the results I got in this test:<\/p>\n\n\n Once again, note that the temperature at the start point is lower than previously. A case with a fan seems to be the first good solution to protect your system from overheating<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have also noted that the temperature will decrease faster after the load period, so it’s an excellent solution if you don’t keep your CPU at 100% all the time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this last case, we’ll see how the ICE Tower from Seeed Studio manages to compete with the other alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have followed the instructions to assemble the Ice Tower to my Raspberry Pi (as you have seen in the pictures). The box includes a little guide, easy to follow, I had no problem assembling this in a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for this last case, same thing, here is the graph with the results:<\/p>\n\n\n The temperature in idle is near 25 \u00b0C, and doesn’t go over 40 \u00b0C <\/strong>(as expected).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see on the graphic, the results here are self-explicit. You can note that the graph starts at 25 \u00b0C whereas the others are around 40 \u00b0C when idle<\/strong>. So the idle temperature is low with this system. I could not test many other competing systems before that, but I am still very satisfied with the results obtained with the ICE Tower<\/strong>. That’s why I strongly recommend it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I also want to add a quick note about the noise. I was a little afraid that this giant system would be very noisy, when in fact it makes less noise than the previous scenario with a fan<\/strong> in the case. So the noise is not an issue with the ICE Tower<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a better understanding at a glance, here is the graphic with all the results on the same chart<\/strong>. So you can compare all the solutions easily.<\/p>\n\n\n Finally, we have seen that with or without heat sinks doesn’t make a big change<\/strong> in a continuous high load period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fan gets better results<\/strong>, but it’s mainly useful if you have regular short idle time to cool everything quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, the ICE Tower is much better than the other solutions, with a maximal temperature under 40 \u00b0C<\/strong> (close to the idle temperature with other systems).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before concluding, let’s take a look at the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s easy to get better systems with more money, so we need to compare the prices of the four solutions to have a better analysis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes the ICE Tower is a bit more expensive than the other solutions. But none of the other solutions can give you the same results. So, you have to make a choice knowing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it highly depends on the usage of your Raspberry Pi<\/strong>. If you plan to use your Raspberry Pi for crypto-mining or desktop usage, the ICE Tower is probably a good solution to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that’s it, here is the end of this review. I hope you like it and that it’s useful for you. Even if you don’t plan to buy this product soon, you have here a complete comparison of basic cooling systems that you can consider for your Raspberry Pi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you feel this solution is a bit too much for your use, here are other products I tested, that might be worth giving a try, and related articles on this topic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways I can help you:<\/strong> Cooling a Raspberry Pi properly can be really useful for demanding projects, but we see all kinds of advice online. From no cooling to the ultimate water-cooling solutions. In this article, I’m testing one of the ultimate solutions (which isn’t that expensive or inconvenient) and discussing the real benefits you can expect from it. In…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":9,"label":"Inspiration"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ice-tower-review-featured-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick Fromaget","author_link":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/author\/admin\/"},"comment_info":3,"category_info":[{"term_id":9,"name":"Inspiration","slug":"inspiration","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":66,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":9,"category_count":66,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Inspiration","category_nicename":"inspiration","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2811"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22598,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions\/22598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Seeed Studio ICE Tower presentation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Seeed Studio presentation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
ICE Tower pictures and assembly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here is what you’ll get inside the box:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower-box.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower-kit.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower1-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower9-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
You need to place the thermal conductive on the CPU<\/strong> (several pieces are included in the pack).<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower5.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower7.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower2.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/icetower4.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nICE Tower specifications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Where to find the ICE Tower?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There are two versions available:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/em>You can check all the updated conditions here<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat can we expect?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Benchmarks and data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Test protocol<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Nothing running. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
The test is running for 3 minutes with all CPU at 100%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\nCase 1: Raspberry Pi 4 without cooling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Scenario<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Results<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
I give you them in a graphic form to make them more readable.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/temperature-nothing.jpg\")
As a reminder, note that the Raspberry Pi will start to reduce the performance around 85 \u00b0C<\/strong>. No doubt that you’ll reach this point quickly if you use it with a high load without any cooling system.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnalysis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Case 2: Raspberry Pi 4 with heat sinks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Scenario<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Results<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
As in the previous case, here is the graphic corresponding to a 3-min test with heat sinks.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/temperature-heatsinks.jpg\")
Analysis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
It looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n![\"raspberry](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/raspberry-pi-heat-sink-300x185.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
But in this case, with a high load during 3min, it doesn’t seem to help so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It may take a little more time, but the processor will probably hit the 85 \u00b0C. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCase 3: Raspberry Pi 4 with a fan on the case<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Scenario<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
I only have one case for Raspberry Pi (it’s this one on Amazon<\/a>).
As you can see in the picture, it’s not a close case<\/strong>, so the heat can go outside easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The results will probably be slightly different with them (wind created by the fan can help the heat to escape from the heat sinks).<\/p>\n\n\n\nResults<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/temperature-fan.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
The fan does good work to keep the processor at a lower temperature when idle<\/strong>.
The same thing during the load period<\/strong>, the maximum temperature is lower from 10 \u00b0C compared to the two first tests, and the increase is slower.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnalysis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Case 4: Raspberry Pi 4 with ICE Tower<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Scenario<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Results<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/temperature-icetower.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAnalysis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
ICE Tower delivers on its promises<\/strong> and seems to be much better than all the other solutions we generally use to keep your Raspberry Pi cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can also tell you that the temperature will quickly decrease to something around 30 \u00b0C after the heavy load period<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAll cases comparative<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Results<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/raspberrytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/comparison-all-solutions.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAnalysis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Budget<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
The RaspberryTips Community<\/a><\/strong>: If you want to hang out with me and other Raspberry Pi fans, you can join the community. I share exclusive tutorials and behind-the-scenes content there. Premium members can also visit the website without ads.
Master your Raspberry Pi in 30 days<\/a>: <\/strong>If you are looking for the best tips to become an expert on Raspberry Pi, this book is for you. Learn useful Linux skills and practice multiple projects with step-by-step guides.
The Raspberry Pi Bootcamp<\/a><\/strong>: Understand everything about the Raspberry Pi, stop searching for help all the time, and finally enjoy completing your projects.
<\/a>
Master Python on Raspberry Pi<\/a><\/strong>: Create, understand, and improve any Python script for your Raspberry Pi. Learn the essentials step-by-step without losing time understanding useless concepts.
You can also find all my recommendations for tools and hardware on this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"