Raspberry Pi Launches Compute Module 3; Claimed to Be 10 Times More Powerful Than Original

Raspberry Pi Foundation has launched Compute Module 3, an upgraded version of its original Module that was launched back in 2014. The company has claimed that the new version of Compute Module, which is based on company's Raspberry Pi 3, provides roughly ten times the CPU performance compared to the original version.

Just like Raspberry Pi 3, the Compute Module 3 is able to run Windows 10 IoT core and the company says that an IoT project can very easily be ported from a Pi 3 onto a system based on custom Compute Module 3. "It's got the same BCM2837 processor which can run at up to 1.2HGz and 1GB of RAM," Foundation COO James Adams was quoted as saying in company's news post.

This effectively means that Compute Module 3 provides twice the RAM than the original module. The company has acknowledged that some of the users had an issue with the fixed 4GB of eMMC flash storage on the original module. In order to address this issue, the company has launched two variants of Compute Module 3: "One with 4GB eMMC on-board and a 'Lite' model which requires the user to add their own SD card socket or eMMC flash," the company said.

The company says that it expects the latter variant to be "quite popular." Even though the new module is 1mm taller than the original, it can act as its drop-in replacement as both are pin compatible with each other, Raspberry Pi said in its post.

The company has priced the Compute Module 3 at $30 (roughly Rs. 2,000) while the Lite version has been priced slightly lower at $25 (roughly Rs. 1,700). "An updated IO breakout board (CMIO3) has also been launched, which will accept all three models," the company added. The modules are available at distributors like element14 and RS Components.