NVMe Base Duo for Raspberry Pi 5

by Pimoroni

Add two super-fast NVMe SSDs to your Raspberry Pi 5! Ideal if you need redundancy or just a load more storage on your RPi.

NVMe Base Duo is a PCIe Gen 2 extension board for Raspberry Pi 5. Simply populate it with one or two M-key NVMe SSDs (2230 to 2280 sizes supported) and mount it under (or over) your Pi for a compact and fast storage solution - It even comes with rubber feet!

It's the perfect solution for turning your Raspberry Pi 5 into a file server, media centre, reverse proxy, home automation server with built in backup, etc. - really any task that benefits from large amounts of fast storage, redundancy, or just to make use of a couple of spare disks - especially with random high operations per second (IOPS) workloads. In short it's a game changer!

NVMe Base Duo follows the new "PIP" design guidelines provided by Raspberry Pi ensuring that it will be easy to use and be supported long term by updates to Raspberry Pi OS - though it is very early days and things are improving rapidly there!

NOTE: It is now possible to boot from NVMe drives installed on NVMe Base Duo! 🎉 Make sure your Raspberry Pi firmware is updated to the most recent version (17/05/24 or later).

Base Kit

  • NVMe Base Duo PCB with two M.2 slots (M-Key)
  • 'PCIe Flex' Flat Flex Cable
  • 4x Rubber feet
  • 4x M2 bolt and 2x 5mm standoffs for SSD mounting
  • 4x 12mm M2.5 standoffs for base mounting
  • 8x short M2.5 bolts for base mounting 
  • 4x 20mm M2.5 bolts for 'pass-thru' mounting with a HAT

The shipping product may have minor differences to the photos, but will be the same in essentials.

NVMe Base Duo + 500GB (2 x 250GB) SSD Bundle

  • Base Kit
  • 2 x 250GB+ NVMe SSDs

NVMe Base Duo + 1000GB (2 x 500GB) SSD Bundle

  • Base Kit
  • 2 x 500GB+ NVMe SSDs

NVMe Base Duo + 2000GB (2 x 1000GB) SSD Bundle

  • Base Kit
  • 2 x 1000GB+ NVMe SSDs

NVMe Base Duo + 4000GB (2 x 2000GB) SSD Bundle

  • Base Kit
  • 2 x 2000GB+ NVMe SSDs

We recommend running the Raspberry Pi 5 at PCIe Gen 2 x 1 speeds with this Base. The total throughput is around 450MB/sec, or 220MB/sec+ per disk for simultaneous access as they share the bandwidth through the PCIe switch.

Due to the tides and vagaries of the SSD market, we will ship whichever drives offer the best value for decent specs. We can say that:

  • They will have 250/500/1000/2000GB or better capacity
  • They will be rated by the manufacturer at PCIe Gen 3 or better speed (although Duo only supports Gen 2 speeds)
  • We'll have personally tested this model of drive with NVMe Base Duo.
  • They'll be backed by the usual Pimoroni guarantees and customer service.

NOTE: Bundled drives may be from the same manufacturing batch. If you're a storage-integrity aficionado, you may want to source your own drives to avoid the unlikely edge-case of an issue or bug affecting an entire batch of drives.

Drive Compatibility

We've tested NVMe Base Duo with the following drives successfully. We have usually tested one drive from one batch, so this is not comprehensive, or an 'Approved' list, but it's a good guide for drives to seek out.

In general, as the drives are behind the switch and not being used at boot we’ve found a much wider range of drives to be working and useful compared to the standard NVMe Base.

  • ADATA SX8200PNP
  • ADATA LEGEND 700
  • Crucial CT500P5PSSD8
  • Gigabyte GP-GSM2NE3256GNTD
  • Kingston SKC3000S512G
  • KIOXIA EXCERIA SSD 500GB
  • KIOXIA EXCERIA G2 SSD 2TB
  • Lexar SSD NM710 1TB
  • Netac NV200-512-E4X
  • ORIGIN Inception TLC830 Pro 256GB
  • Patriot P300 256GB
  • Patriot P310 240GB
  • Patriot P300 512GB
  • PNY CS1030 1TB
  • Sabrent Rocket Nano 500GB
  • Sabrent SB-RKT4P-1TB
  • Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB
  • Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB
  • Samsung SSD 980 500GB
  • Samsung SSD 980 PRO 1TB
  • SK hynix GOLD P31
  • TeamGroup TM8FP6256G
  • Toshiba KBG40ZNS1T02 1TB
  • Transcend TS500GMTE110Q
  • WD Blue SN550 500GB
  • WD Black SN750 SE
  • WD PC SN740 512GB
  • WD Red SN700 500GB
  • WD Black SN770 1TB
  • WD Blue SN570 1TB
  • WD Green SN350 480GB

'Avoid' List. We've had problems or reports of problems.

  • Ortial ON-750-128 256GB

Otherwise most M.2 NVMe drive (not SATA!) you have lying around should work fine.

Check out our benchmark results over at pibenchmarks.net!

Getting Started

For the most hassle-free experience, make sure your Raspberry Pi OS is up to date, and your RPi 5 firmware is updated to 2024-05-17 (May 17th) or newer. The newest version supports all the features of the RPi PCIe spec and means you don't have to mess with config files to get started.

Software update on the RPi OS should do this for you, but to force it you can:

  • open a Terminal (Ctrl-Alt-T)
  • run sudo raspi-config and choose 'Latest' under Advanced Options > Bootloader Version.

Running sudo rpi-eeprom-update in the Terminal will tell you which version of firmware is running.

Notes

  • Always power off your RPi and disconnect the power supply before installing or uninstalling the NVMe Base.
  • NVMe Base Duo offers offers two PCIe Gen 2 M.2 slots behind a PCIe Gen2 Packet Switcher on a general purpose PCIe x1 connection - while we know most people want to add fast storage in theory you can use other devices with it, we just can't help you make them work! :-D What Would Jeff (Geerling) Do?
  • Les used NVMe Base Duo to connect up the module from a Raspberry Pi AI Kit at the same time as an NVMe SSD. Check out his review!

Resources

438 customer reviews

2 days ago
Very good pi useful update on previous models and much faster versatile piece of equipment
by Hugh about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
4 days ago
The extra power and connectivity of the Pi 5 has not disappointed.
by Paul about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
5 days ago
In my opinion, the 2GB version of the Pi 5 has the perfect balance of price, compatibility and features. I have one running a home assistant server and another as a decoration piece running shaders on a HyperPixel 4.0 display. You don't need more RAM than 2GB for most applications. Also the CPU and GPU performance compared to Pi 4 is so much better, that for my use cases the older model is not worth the discounted price.
by Lauri about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
6 days ago
Used with NVME storage via PCI interface. Great performance yet it only sips power. There is an amazing range of accessories for a SBC. The star of the show though is Raspberry Pi OS that has been well supported by Raspberry Pi for many years, ensuring that the bits I have bought have a long life.
by Anonymous about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
6 days ago
Last Raspberry Pi I tried was the 3B+ and the difference with the 5 is huge (especially with 8gb RAM). Weirdly enough, it was cheaper to buy it at Pimoroni and import it to the other side of the world, rather than buying it here!
by EDGAR about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
12 days ago
Compared to previous versions, this one is more powerful and works perfectly, Uning it as a linux box to program a Lego mindstorm unit, it is quick in compilation and I have not issue with it.
by Gordon about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
19 days ago
The Pi 5 is amazing, lightning fast and (with the official fan kit) super cool. It's a shame that some of the connectors are a bit fiddly and easily broken, but that's more down to the size of the Pi itself. Take care and go gentle with connecting everything up!
by Gary about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Everything is totally fine. I'm perfectly happy. The pi is working well in is place already.
by Martin about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Compact, excellent, faster than Pi4 which is what we needed
by Katherine about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
16GB is worth it, nice small and well build as per quality. a good replacement for a legacy i3 notebook machine to reduce size and power demand with the increased productivity for Home Assistant. Hardware is good and most impartant is the software and comunity documentation and support post purchase.
by Vladimir about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Excellent performance with Raspberry Pi os. Not so good with Ubuntu and Android, both not working.
by STEVE about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
It is really good and more powerful than I expected it to be.
by Cagdas about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
It's my first RPi, so it's all new to me. But so far I've figured out how to get it up and running and access it from my windows laptop. Lots more tinkering to come. Love it! Delivery was fast and everything in working order.
by Justin about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Can never have enough RAM, this 16G was also the D0 stepping.
by Anonymous about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
The 16GB RPi 5 works well as a lab desktop with the NVMe underpants but unfortunately the Pimoroni crew Still Haven’t made a case to suit!
by Nick about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
It's small and mighty, runs everything I want at a bargain price. Best PI so far!
by Doug about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Wow. Had Pi 3b+ for years. For experiments etc. until I bricked it somehow :-(. Well this is amazing the speed is incredible. Cheers people. You will know doubt hear from me again.
by Martin about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Huge improvement performance wise over the Pi 1B I have been using for far too long now.
by Anonymous about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Loving this little powerhouse! My 2nd Pi5 .. this one to go into a Picar-X to dabble with robotics/AI and so on.
by Kim about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Well I'm actually still evaluating. So far, I'm impressed. I have a 512gb m.2 on the Pimoroni interface HAT. I installed this on the back of the New monitor and am trying to reduce the volume of cables. So far, I'm very impressed.
by THOMAS about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
a month ago
Trying out the latest. Really great at what i am trying to achieve
by Dave about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
2 months ago
Whata great bit of kit - have several Pi3+ but this is a great step up in terms of performance. Happily running my full media server (emby) and will slowly migrate other tasks to it too
by Stephen about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
2 months ago
I've had a couple of these and built retro gaming images to use with the 8gb version which I gave to friends. This time I tried the 4gb version and there's been no difference with performance for gaming via batocera so all good 👌🏻
by Ian about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
3 months ago
This has been bought as a gift for my husband. He actually recommended buying from here - always good to have a recommendation ! Gift is wrapped for Christmas so not used yet.
by Gillian about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io
3 months ago
FASTTTT!! Compared to previous gen I have in the form of Pi400, there's a day and night difrerence. PCI-e and nvme with Argon NEO 5 M.2 NVME PCIE Case makes it very nice kit. I had to go max, 8 gigs, and my containers chug away without Pi5 breaking a sweat. Disclaimer: i'm a sucker for Pi Foundation products, so i'm massively biased :)
by Tarmo about Raspberry Pi 5 via REVIEWS.io