Raspberry Pi PCI-E Slot

[jellybeard999]

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.

 

[jellybeard999]

Testing PCIe on the Raspberry Pi 5 | Jeff Geerling

www.jeffgeerling.com

Thanks. It looks like he used a ribbon cable or some sort and had to faff around a bit to get it to work.

I'm still insure what he used and unsure I fully understand what he did code/script wise.

Is this something that's not really a commercial/noob friendly solution at this point?

 

[jellybeard999]

Seems he's got you covered

HATs

Raspberry Pi PCI Express device compatibility database

pipci.jeffgeerling.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

Doesn't seem very promising then!

I think I might be better off looking at a lower powered mini HP/Lenovo or similar

 

[jellybeard999]

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

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

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

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]

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?

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.

 

[jellybeard999]

seems like a zimaboard instead of RPie tbh.
cheap optiplex sff desktops on market places for all your needs tbh

Zimablade or Zimaboard looks a good option. Thanks, I'd not heard of them before.

Or Optiplex type system as you say.