In a discussion elsewhere, some people mentioned the Flirc Raspberry Pi 4 Case[1], and how it could already keep the Pi 4 under the thermal limits for CPU throttling (pre-firmware update).
I do like the case, enough that I just ordered one and want to do a little testing on it.
But tl;dr from the article is basically:
1. The recent firmware/bootloader update for the Pi 4 reduced overall board temperature by 5-10°C, which makes the Pi work much better in Pi cases.
2. The ICE Tower cooling fan is the best kind of overkill. But it does work well if you absolutely need to run a Pi hard continuously!
I just took an aluminium pipe filled with coins and thermal compound and shoved it through the fan hole of my PoE hat. It has been keeping my RPI at about 50 degrees under load, and well below throttle under long CPU stress tests.
I do like the case, enough that I just ordered one and want to do a little testing on it.
But tl;dr from the article is basically:
1. The recent firmware/bootloader update for the Pi 4 reduced overall board temperature by 5-10°C, which makes the Pi work much better in Pi cases.
2. The ICE Tower cooling fan is the best kind of overkill. But it does work well if you absolutely need to run a Pi hard continuously!
[1] https://flirc.tv/more/raspberry-pi-4-case