Raspberry Pi 5 Now Supports Two SSDs with Geekworm X1004 HAT+

The Geekworm X1004 HAT+ for the Raspberry Pi 5 supports two SSDs, allowing for a total storage capacity of up to 8TB. It enables quick data transfer speeds—up to 5 Gbps using PCIe 2.0 and up to 8 Gbps with PCIe 3.0.

Previously, we have seen many companies build NVMe HATs for the Pi5 like Waveshare M.2 HAT+, Pimoroni NVMe Base, and PineBerry Pi HatDrive feel free to check those out if you are looking for NVMe HATs.

The Geekworm X1004 HAT+ expansion board appears to be made by SupTronics Technologies and is also known as the “RPi5-PIP NVMe Shield X1004”. The board claims to offer read and write speeds of PCIe 2.0 5Gbps / PCIe 3.0 8Gbps, thanks to the ASM1182e PCIe 2.0 x1 switch. However, upon reviewing the specifications of this chip, it’s clear that it does not support PCIe 3.0 speeds, so you’re limited to PCIe 2.0 5Gbps speeds. In practical terms, this means you can expect up to 400MBps, and if two SSDs are used, the speed drops to 200MBps.

Using an SSD to boot the OS on the Raspberry Pi is not possible with the ASM1182e, as it’s not supported by the Raspberry Pi 5 firmware(and most likely it would never be). You’ll need a microSD card for the OS, and SSDs can only serve as storage, according to Geekworm’s wiki.

Geekworm X1004 HAT+ Specifications:

• Supported SBC: Raspberry Pi 5 only
• Chipset: ASMedia ASM1182e PCIe 2.0 x1 switch, not supporting PCIe Gen 3
• Storage: 2x M.2 sockets for NVMe SSDs, up to 8TB (4TB+4TB)
• Data Transfer Speeds: Up to 5 Gbps with PCIe 2.0, claims of up to 8Gbps with PCIe 3.0 are questionable due to chipset limitations
• Interfaces: Connects via Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe FFC connector and 40-pin GPIO header
• Power Management: 5V DC through 40-pin GPIO, with 2x DC/DC converters delivering up to 3.5A each for SSDs, compatible with HAT+ standby power state
• Additional Features:
  • Designed for dual NVMe SSDs in 2280 size
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi official active cooler
  • Includes blue LED indicators for power and drive status
  • Features high-performance PCIe packet switch
  • Supports stacking with other HATs
  • Automatically turns off with Raspberry Pi 5 shutdown
• Dimensions: 87mm x 57mm

The Geekworm X1004 is available on Aliexpress for $42.99, not including shipping. It will also be on Amazon with similar products soon.

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