# Raspberry Pi uses?
**URL:** https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100
**Category:** Hardware
**Created:** [January 17, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100 "2021-01-17T20:50:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mockford](https://www.twit.community/u/Mockford)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/1 "2021-01-17T20:50:37Z")
Hey everyone,
I’ve got a new raspberry pi, was a birthday gift. In all honesty I’m really not sure of what to do with it.
Any ideas on projects or uses?
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### Author:  [@Pommster](https://www.twit.community/u/Pommster)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/2 "2021-01-17T22:25:59Z")
In the past, I’ve used as a VPN server for when I’m out of the house and need to connect back to my network, Plex server, file server, updater for dynamic DNS, PiHole for whole network content filtering.
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### Author:  [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/3 "2021-01-17T22:34:30Z")
If you’re interested in Retro gaming, RetroPie is quite capable.
> **[RetroPie](https://retropie.org.uk/)**
>
> Retro-gaming on the Raspberry Pi
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### Author:  [@big\_D](https://www.twit.community/u/big_D)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/4 "2021-01-18T06:07:00Z")
I have one as a Pi-Hole, one as a backup for my Unifi CloudKey and a Pi400 as a desktop, the latter is running Ubuntu.
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### Author:  [@TheDaveAbides](https://www.twit.community/u/TheDaveAbides)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/5 "2021-01-18T12:33:37Z")
> **[HOOBS - USER FRIENDLY HOME AUTOMATION FOR EVERYONE](https://hoobs.org/)**
>
> USER FRIENDLY HOME AUTOMATION – FOR EVERYONE
If you’re into home automation.
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### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/6 "2021-01-18T14:21:13Z")
Mine’s currently being used as a hi-res music streamer using Volumio.
> **[Volumio - The Audiophile Music Player](https://volumio.org/)**
>
> Volumio is an open source Audiophile Music Player. It is designed to play all your music in high quality from any device with a browser.
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### Author:  [@Bart](https://www.twit.community/u/Bart)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/7 "2021-01-18T17:11:28Z")
Awesome heat sink. Have a link for purchase?
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### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/8 "2021-01-18T17:24:46Z")
> **[Aluminium Armour - Heatsink Case for Raspberry Pi 4](https://thepihut.com/products/aluminium-armour-heatsink-case-for-raspberry-pi-4)**
>
> Your Raspberry Pi, as small and powerful as it is, still requires passive cooling and case protection to function efficiently and maintain its computing power. Protecting your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is easier than ever before with the Aluminium...
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### Author:  [@Bart](https://www.twit.community/u/Bart)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/9 "2021-01-18T17:31:31Z")
Fantastic. Thank you for the response.
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### Author:  [@Mockford](https://www.twit.community/u/Mockford)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/10 "2021-01-18T18:55:02Z")
Thank you all for your responses. They have definitely helped.
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### Author:  [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/11 "2021-01-19T02:16:11Z")
These 3D printed TerraPi cases with the little fans and room for a SSD are extremely clever IMHO. They even have a multi unit stacked configuration.
[https://shop.inux3d.com/en/14-terrapi-cases-](https://shop.inux3d.com/en/14-terrapi-cases-)
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### Author:  [@ihatevista](https://www.twit.community/u/ihatevista)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/12 "2021-01-21T16:23:42Z")
> [@Jamze](#):
>
> Volumio
I have this and it does work well I also got a different one for my Pi4 with a fan that i find noisy.
Can someone recommend a good heatsink that doesn’t require a fan for the Pi4 or a better way to keep the Pi4 cooler?
Its just running LinageOS for my 6yr old to use right now.
Cheers,
CAA
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### Author:  [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/13 "2021-01-21T17:09:33Z")
> [@ihatevista](#):
>
> fan that i find noisy.
The Pi is small, so fans on it are likely to be small, and small fans need to spin faster to be effective, and thus are more noisy. Noctua makes a small fan that can fit a Pi, but I don’t know, despite their good reputation, if the fan is any quieter as I’ve never used one. I have seen heatsink/fan combo devices, I wonder if they are any less noisy. Something like this: [Armor Case with Dual Fan for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B - Black - PiShop.ca](https://www.buyapi.ca/product/armor-case-with-dual-fan-for-raspberry-pi-4-model-b-black/)
Edit: Not fully RPi compatible, but [Pine64.org](http://Pine64.org) boards have metal enclosures for heat dissipation. Might be good for a use case where there were no addons/hat type connections.
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### Author:  [@ihatevista](https://www.twit.community/u/ihatevista)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/14 "2021-01-21T17:13:25Z")
That’s the fan i have now on my Pi3B+ i was wondering if there is a heatsink case that would allow the Pi4 to run without a fan?
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### Author:  [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/15 "2021-01-21T17:15:38Z")
Oh I am sure there are such cases, but radiant cooling will never be as effective as a fan. You could get a small [desk] fan to blow on the device to assist a radiant cooling case. That same one I linked above comes without the fans, so it’s just going to be a metal mass. Having never used it though, I have no idea on effectiveness. [Armor Case Passive Cooling for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B - Black - BuyaPi.ca](https://www.buyapi.ca/product/armor-case-passive-cooling-for-raspberry-pi-4-model-b-black/)
Edit: this may be worth a read: [The Raspberry Pi 4 needs a fan, here's why and how you can add one | Jeff Geerling](https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2019/raspberry-pi-4-needs-fan-heres-why-and-how-you-can-add-one)
Edit2: [Group test: Best Raspberry Pi 4 thermal cases tested and ranked — The MagPi magazine](https://magpi.raspberrypi.org/articles/group-test-best-raspberry-pi-4-thermal-cases-tested-and-ranked)
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### Author:  [@ihatevista](https://www.twit.community/u/ihatevista)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/16 "2021-01-21T17:25:15Z")
This is what I have for the Pi4.
Giuess I’ll try an extra fan nearby to keep it cool or put it in an open box to dull the sound.
Thanks all!
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### Author:  [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/17 "2021-01-21T17:32:01Z")
That last article I linked recommended this case: [https://www.argon40.com/catalog/product/view/id/52/s/argon-one-raspberry-pi-4-case/](https://www.argon40.com/catalog/product/view/id/52/s/argon-one-raspberry-pi-4-case/) It has a fan inside (so maybe less noisy) and you can apparently configure it to not run the fan unless the temps inside reach a certain level. Might be just the ticket for you.
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### Author:  [@Darren](https://www.twit.community/u/Darren)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/18 "2021-01-21T22:57:00Z")
If you’re looking for neat things to do with it, have a look at [DietPi](https://dietpi.com). It’s a stripped down Debian distribution with a simple software installer meant for single board computers. It’s great for beginners because the software list contains most of the common things you would want, and it handles default configuration automatically. If nothing else, the [software list](https://dietpi.com/docs/dietpi_optimised_software/) will give you some ideas as to what people do with these things. Anything that’s not in the “optimized software” list can be installed with apt.
I’m using PiVPN, node-red, mosquitto, home assistant, pihole, nextcloud, LLMP web server stack, certbot, noip DDNS update client, motioneye.
Most of my time is spent automating things with node-red. Nextcloud is really amazing too.
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### Author:  [@tailspower2021](https://www.twit.community/u/tailspower2021)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/19 "2021-01-22T20:00:34Z")
Like that old aiti laiter capect Don’t mees with texas says what happens is littled only by you.
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### Author:  [@Ennev](https://www.twit.community/u/Ennev)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100/20 "2021-01-23T00:11:20Z")
Surveillance?
> **[Kerberos.io - an innovative video surveillance security system built for the...](https://kerberos.io/)**
>
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[Next page](https://www.twit.community/t/raspberry-pi-uses/9100.md?page=2)