Which NVMe Hat Is Best For The Raspberry Pi 5?

Are you looking to supercharge your Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVMe hat? In this video, we'll compare the top NVMe hats on the market to help you decide which one is the best fit for your project. From speed and compatibility to price and features, we'll explore everything you need to know to make an informed decision.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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Buy one of my cases:

NVMe Hats Tested:

PURCHASE LINKS
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Tool & Equipment Used:

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
0:51 Top or Bottom Mount?
2:41 PerformanceTest Process
5:28 Test Results
7:06 Final Thoughts

If you've got any ideas for Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or other Electronics projects or tutorials you'd like to see, let me know in the comments section.

[andymonks]

The pineberry hatdrive bottom, has the nvme mounted on the bottom surface unlike the pimoroni one. So you can easily add a heatsink of your choice and it allows easy swapping of the drives without dismantling everything.

[MarkEuphonix]

Just installed the 'NVMe BASE' onto my Pi5 - easy as, runs fast!.
Also works as a base for your Pi board with the included rubber feet. No chance of shorts!

[leiyplane]

In using a 116GB Intel Optane NVME drive, and it is run very well.

[Arelius.D]

Hey man, thanks for this video, please do you have a blog or something where one can read a bit more about the extra fan you have added, which model, how its connected and so on? I would love to replicate it and when all is said and done, order one of your cases for the setup. Would appreciate your replay!

[chibatruck]

Excellent presentation. Answered many of my questions.

[-ColorMehJewish-]

I wouldve liked to see the smaller, more compact ones but this was still cool.
Personally I am a bottom mount guy myself.
I prefer having cooling air to be unrestricted around the intake of the fan.
But everyone has their prefs.

[jumpnjack]

you can always mount the Pimoroni on top. and use a OEM PI cooler and fan.. i do that all the time for testing and OS swaps Nvme swaps

[jensschroder]

The same results come out because the slowing factor is
the 1x PCIe connection and the CPU of the Pi5.
The SSD could be faster, but the PI5 couldn't.

[luigiprovencher]

I think the NVME adapters work best as a base but need to be integrated more with a pi or a pi and it's case which means that you've got to be able to use it without having to remove the drive or if it was to be used as a HAT for a case like yours then it would have to have a longer ribbon cable so that you could mount it on the inside top of the case or the inside back of the case so that it doesn't obstruct whatever you're using for cooling and the other I/O that's on the board. That's probably why Pimoroni was designed the way that it was but they should've put the NVME on the bottom of the PCB instead of the top between it and the bottom of the Pi and they should've included a USB-C or whatever the cheapest version of it is if they wanted to keep the cost down. Maybe a second way of connecting it to the pi just for imaging and formatting purposes.

[randomisedaccessgaming]

I wonder if you could fit a 120 or 140mm RGB fan on the back of this case for cooling and looks, the case would look great all lit up 😀

[JediBuddhist]

Thank you. Clear and to the point. Top Banana ! 💛

[coreywolff]

Any thoughts on heat? I would like to see a thermal performance video comparison across the NVMe adapters. I'm trying to decide hat or base, case or no case, with Pi branded active cooler.

[MARPT]

is possible to provide STL case link? thank you :D

[gregspeakman]

Michael, another great vid.👍 I installed the Pimoroni NVMe on my Raspberry Pi 5 with a Pi active cooler. They were mounted in a case that I printed from a model I found on Thingiverse. I may get a ice tower cooler and one of your cases. The NVMe makes for a fast boot. Keep the vids coming.

[marian-c]

I wish for a solution with the "hat" in a vertical position, to allow plenty of room above the main board for cooling, and also access to the card slot.

The ssd could also face the exterior, and be accessed via a hatch.

Win - win - win

[luigiprovencher]

I'd see if you can find longer PCIe ribbon cables if I were you so that you can try different mounting positions with your case and HATs or Bottoms and then go from there. Then maybe you can include one with whatever position works best or someone prefers for a little bit extra. Pimoroni sells a longer one for cheap but it's probably still not long enough for you to be able to try different mounting positions though. At least not too far away from the Pi.

[tomstech]

What is the thickness of the Hatddrive Bottom? (vernier calipers?)
Currently using a Pimoroni base in a height limited environment and seeing if this would be as compact.
Pimoroni base is 5.5mm high to the tallest capacitor and 6.3mm to the securing screw (can be removed/shaved though).
Edit: my estimate on hatdrive base is 6.8-7mm so a bit too thick.

[mrsvcd]

I would pick one that can fit a m.2 to 6 sata adapter.

[luigiprovencher]

The Pimoroni can be used as a HAT. Not a huge fan though because they should've made it so that it could be used with the official raspberry pi 5 case. It still can be but it obviously wasn't designed that way and they should've put a USB-C port on it so that you could image and format the drive without having to remove it and put it into adapter or something.

[SrinivasaRaoGurram]

Can we stack nvme hats one by one up to 4 or 5 nvme drives; do you have any board that supports it?