Yes it does make a real big difference. Get the Pi 3, the 1st Pi is
an order of magnitude slower.
If you don't want to spend your money on a RPI 3, you can also look at a used RPI 2.
If you are willing to have a computer that is a bit larger, you can also use a smaller desktop PC, like a Mac Mini, or a SFF Dell or HP.
I have a Raspberry Pi 2, but use a homebuilt Pentium 4 desktop on a 60/25 cable connection (Optimum Online), and a Dell Optiplex 755 (Core 2 Duo) on a 50/50 FTTH connection (Verizon FiOS). I don't use the RPI because I want my Tor nodes to use FreeBSD instead of Linux, and am not sure if RPI has the best FreeBSD support (I'm even a FreeBSD contributor, but my laptop which I typed this from unfortunately runs Arch).
The disadvantage of the PC approach is space and higher power consumption, but the advantage is that you can use *BSD and Windows, and can possibly take advantage of faster speeds. But if you are fine with Linux, and, the RPI 2/3 is a good choice. There are also other SBC computers like the BeagleBone. SBC computers are great if they have ADSL/Cable, but if they have fiber to the home (Verizon FiOS, Google Fiber, etc.), a used desktop (or a higher end SBC) may be better (in my opinion) as they usually have a faster upstream and a desktop may take better advantage of the speed.
My atlas entries are below (for the two nodes from my two homes, not my exits):
https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/AED76373324653A0522DF30550BA31902B2CFA... https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/D5B8C38539C509380767D4DE20DE84CF84EE82...
Thanks, Neel Chauhan === https://www.neelc.org/