SupTronics X1011 is Designed to add Four SSDs to Raspberry Pi 5

SupTronics X1011 is a HAT for Raspberry Pi 5 that uses the latest HAT+ standard to add in up to four M.2 NVMe SSDs to the Pi making it a great option for building a DIY! NAS. The HAT connects to the Pi and other SBCs with the PCIE Interface and offers PCIe Gen2 transfer speeds.

In our previous post, we wrote about various SSD Driver boards like Pimoroni’s NVMe Base,  52Pi HATs for the Raspberry Pi 5, and Geekworm X1004 HAT+ which holds 2 SSDs but this is the first time we have seen a dev board which have four SSD Support.

The company mentions that the HAT works with PCIe GEN2 Speeds, though it can be configured to PCIe Gen 3, however, this is not advantageous because the PCIe switch only supports PCIe Gen 2 x1. On top of that, this solution will provide approximately the same sequential read/write performance as SATA hard drives. But the good thing will be that it’s now in a small form factor. Despite this limitation, random I/Os are expected to perform considerably faster, for more technical details and instructions to get started, you can check out their wiki page.

To test the board to its capacity Jeff Geerling conducted performance tests on the sample and compared it to the FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit powered by the Rockchip RK3588, which is slightly pricier at around $20 more. The CM3588 NAS Kit boasts a PCIe Gen3 x4 interface, offering significantly better performance than the Raspberry Pi 5’s PCIe Gen2 x1.

SupTronics X1011 Specifications

• Supported SBC: Compatible with Raspberry Pi 5 and other SBCs featuring a compatible 16-pin PCIe FPC connector and mounting holes
• Chipset: ASMedia ASM1184e PCI express packet switch with 1x PCIe Gen2 x1 upstream port and 4x PCIe Gen2 x1 downstream ports
• Storage Capacity: 4x M.2 sockets supporting up to 16TB storage capacity (4x 4TB) with M.2 NVMe 2280/2260/2242/2230 SSDs (SATA not supported)
• Max Data Transfers: Up to 5 Gbps PCIe 2.0
• Host Interface: Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe FFC connector (37mm FFC cable provided)
• NVMe Boot: Not supported due to the current lack of Raspberry Pi firmware support for PCIe switches
• Power Management:
  • 5V/5A DC via FFC & pogo pins (utilizing the USB-C port on the Pi 5)
  • 5V/5A DC via 5.5/2.1mm DC power jack
  • DC/DC step-down converter delivering a maximum of 10A to power the SSDs
  • Compatible with HAT+ standby power state, automatically turning off when the Raspberry Pi 5 shuts down
• Caution: Do not power the Raspberry Pi 5 through its USB-C port simultaneously if using the DC jack
• Dimensions: 109 x 87.2mm

More details about the new SupTronics X1011 SSD board can be found on the SupTronics website. While SupTronics does not sell directly to consumers, Geekworm is the first retailer to offer the board in single units. As a special launch offer, the board is currently available for $51, discounted from its planned retail price of $55.

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