Raspberry Pi PCI-E Slot

jellybeard999

jellybeard999

jellybeard999

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After a bit of googling for a cheap low power system with a PCI-E slot, I've read that a Pi5 has PCI-E capabilities.

Is this correct?
Can anyone link to a hat/adaptor that adds a PCI-E slot?

Google is failing me as I only seem to find PCI-E NVME hats. Or is that all it can do?

Is this capability limited to the Pi5? Or can other models do this? Or are any alternative mini pcs recommended? I don't need anything particularly powerful.
 
Rob_B said:
Seems he's got you covered

HATs

Raspberry Pi PCI Express device compatibility database
pipci.jeffgeerling.com
Click to expand...

thepihut.com

PCIe Slot for Raspberry Pi 5 (P02)

The P02 PCIe slot baseboard for Raspberry Pi 5 is designed to convert the Raspberry Pi 5's PCIe into a PCIe x1 slot. This accessory broadens Raspberry Pi's capabilities by enabling the connection of PCIe devices, providing a versatile solution for expanding your projects, structurally compatible...
thepihut.com thepihut.com

Doesn't seem very promising then!

I think I might be better off looking at a lower powered mini HP/Lenovo or similar
 
Oh, I got the opposite impression?..

pihut have a hat for under a tenner to allow 2230/2242 NVME drives to be used with the pi5

Edit: guess I should clarify, x1 slot or m.2? To be fair they have both
 
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Rob_B said:
Oh, I got the opposite impression?..

pihut have a hat for under a tenner to allow 2230/2242 NVME drives to be used with the pi5

Edit: guess I should clarify, x1 slot or m.2? To be fair they have both
Click to expand...
Do you have a link? I've sorted hats by price and can't see anything for around £10. The closest I can see is the P02 linked above (with a single review giving it 1* saying it doesn't work) or this at £27.50

thepihut.com

Hat uPCIty Lite for Raspberry Pi 5

Introducing the Hat uPCIty Lite from Pineboards - a PCI Express evaluation board with an open ended PCIe X4 slot, compatible with Raspberry Pi 5! This board supports external power for your PCIe device - it can supply 12V 8A to your card from the standard ATX power connector, or use the barrel...
thepihut.com thepihut.com

For clarity, I'm looking for a hat with a pcie slot, not a pcie based M2 driver. I'm hoping I can then use any normal PCI-E add in cards, in my case I want to add a TV tuner, but I'd hope I could use anything eg M2 adaptor, network card, usb3 card or whatever, assuming it works on linux
 
jellybeard999 said:
....

For clarity, I'm looking for a hat with a pcie slot, not a pcie based M2 driver. I'm hoping I can then use any normal PCI-E add in cards, in my case I want to add a TV tuner, but I'd hope I could use anything eg M2 adaptor, network card, usb3 card or whatever, assuming it works on linux
Click to expand...
I was looking for m.2, so yeah none under a tnner but they do sell them.
 
Ch3m1c4L said:
Wouldn't they all be simpler to run over usb, rather than pci-e, with the pcie card is bigger than the compute unit?
Or are you going to print some case?
Click to expand...
I'm all ears to alternative solutions.

I haven't got as far as a case or anything yet, but I'll probably make something if there isn't anything available.

Currently I have a windows server, which I'm looking to reduce power consumption.

I don't need most of it on 24/7, but for what I do need on 24/7 a pi seems a good low power solution.

The windows server can then sleep most of the time.
 
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jellybeard999 said:
I'm all ears to alternative solutions.

I haven't got as far as a case or anything yet, but I'll probably make something if there isn't anything available.

Currently I have a windows server, which I'm looking to reduce power consumption.

I don't need most of it on 24/7, but for what I do need on 24/7 a pi seems a good low power solution.

The windows server can then sleep most of the time.
Click to expand...
I mean using a usb tv tuner (30 quid free view one from a quick Google) , you can get usb network adaptors, and usb m.2 drives although obviously there is overhead there and unlikely to be boot able if that's what it was for.

For a pi5, I have no experience, if they don't have usb 3+ then from a quick Google you can get usb 3.2 hats. Then you can connect everything else you've mentioned easily.
Having an "internal" pcie slot on a mini pc, which is only really mini due to having no add on stuff, is a bit...iffy.

You might be better off with a x86 solution though, you can get n100(celeron) /n305 (i3) boards with a pcie slot, onboard networking and gpu etc, which are very low power draw, think the n100 is 6w? Search the express site from China, or Google. Even if you went with a complete mini pc, you could then easily convert a m.2 slot into a pcie 3.0 x4 slot, which is a lot better than the pi5, if bandwidth is required.
 
jellybeard999 said:
I'm all ears to alternative solutions.

I haven't got as far as a case or anything yet, but I'll probably make something if there isn't anything available.

Currently I have a windows server, which I'm looking to reduce power consumption.

I don't need most of it on 24/7, but for what I do need on 24/7 a pi seems a good low power solution.

The windows server can then sleep most of the time.
Click to expand...
seems like a zimaboard instead of RPie tbh.
cheap optiplex sff desktops on market places for all your needs tbh
 
Zimablade/Board only really relased last year as i remember. i hadnt heard of it until it released either.
Lots of oppatunity if your creative / or stupid ;)

at least if you get an optiplex with vpro you have some remote management options and its a known quantity with spare parts.
if you get the Miro tower they use external power bricks, instead of propriatery inbuild PSUs
 
What are you looking to do with it? I've got 2x RP5' setup; one as my NAS/Emby Server and the other as a bit of a backup but also runs my VPN connection and a few apps via Docker that I used remotely.
I use SSD's on both with no issue
 
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