GeeekPi N07 PCIe M.2 M-Key NVMe SSD PCIe Peripheral Bottom Board for Raspberry Pi 5, Support M.2 Key-M NVMe SSD 2230/2242/2260/2280

The GeeekPi N07 PCIe M.2 Bottom Board works exactly as expected, providing NVMe SSD support for the Raspberry Pi 5. The performance is solid, and having storage directly connected via PCIe is a big upgrade over microSD cards. One of the best features is that it’s a bottom-mounted board, meaning you can still stack HATs or other accessories on top without interference. This makes it a great choice for more complex builds. The only downside is that finding a case that fits with this setup can be tricky. Most Pi 5 cases aren’t designed to accommodate a bottom-mounted expansion, so be prepared to get creative with mounting solutions. Overall, it’s a great add-on for anyone looking to expand their Pi 5 with NVMe storage while keeping the top clear for additional hardware.

The N07 was the best choice for me to keep my official red and white Pi case, not obstruct airflow, and work with full size 2280 NVMe SSD sticks. This unit came with an extra PCIe cable (thanks GeekPi), all the screws and some extras with a small Phillips screwdriver. Take extra care when inserting the PCIe cable, in my case I used tweezers to insert it straight on, any slight deviation or if it isn't entirely seated will result in the boot reporting the NVMe but failing to boot, so do make sure to seat it straight and push in all the way with tweezers and use a plastic pen/stylis or other soft plastic pointy tool to push the clasp shut. For this to work in the official case I used a 1/4" drill bit, flat head screw driver, hammer, and file. First remove the Pi from the case entirely, then drill out the bottom four post holes, this allows the N07 board to get nice and snug against the bottom with its brass standoffs. Next drill 2 holes near the left GPIO pins inline with the left post hole, this will be where the pogo pins enter the case. Next punch a hole for the PCIe cable with the flathead screwdriver and hammer inline and adjacent to the SDCard slot. Lastly file the two drill holes for the GPIO entry into a square so the pogo pins will fit and proceed with assembly making sure to put the PCIe cable in the Pi first so you can feed it through the slot you made. Then add the N07 up against the bottom snugly pushing it up against it and screwing in the retaining screws into the brass risers that now slid into the case thanks to drilling out the holes to a larger diameter. Burn-in test after 12 hours revealed no issues and a very fast boot and OS experience.

The SSD functions perfectly and is easy to install. However, after the installation, the Raspberry Pi's WiFi stopped working. It continuously searches but cannot connect to my WiFi network. The SSD seems to be causing interference in the same frequency range as the WiFi. As a result, I had to use the Ethernet port and disable the WiFi.

This item is great! Now rather than having to rely on tiny SD cards that are easily lost and short on storage I now can use my 1Tb NVMe! And with Raspberry Pi OS you use the card copying program to easily and quickly copy your entire OS straight to your NVME drive. This "bottom hat" is perfect if you also have the Tower ICE cooler. When I first noticed that since I am using the cooler I noticed that it was not going to work because of way it attaches with the screws. But then I figured I could just reverse the setup and it worked. I did have some loose sides when I was done (see video) but where it connects with the GPIO pins was tight and secure. If you run into this issue you can use some washers if you have any lying around. Some might not like the LED activity light but I rather like it. It's super bright and lights up my desk when it's flashing when it's dark in my room. To me it looks really awesome and it lets me know whenever my drive is being accessed. To me and for my needs this works great and I now use my Raspberry Pi 5 as my main PC! I can now download anything and not worry about running out of card space. I highly recommend this item if you have a tower ICE cooler or something else that would block you from using the top of your Pi!

First of all, it works. A lot of reviews for these types of products complain about the drive retainer screw. I used the longest(2280, is it?) form factor drive, and this position has the threaded insert. The other positions do not, although they include a threaded nut for the shorter drives, but I didn't have to deal with that. The insert I did use; it was difficult to get the screw started, because there's a thin coating on the insert. So, before you assemble any part of it, I recommend you put the screw in, because it takes a bit of force to get it going. Then you can remove the screw and put it back easily when you install the SSD. The interface cable: there's a pictorial step by step in the included manual, so if you match that, you'll get the cable on correctly. Getting your drive recognized: If you're using a brand new drive, it may have nothing on it, not even a partition table. I used gparted(with the drive in a USB enclosure) to format and partition with my laptop, and all's well. The drive I used is TeamGroup 256gb. It's gen 3-4 pcie, but it worked without modifying Rpi config.

I have been using the PCIE SSD interface for >6 months. I will say it appears that this device is a beast and has insane R/W speeds that yield an obvious decrease in boot time. I haven't had any issues with it and I really appreciate the reliability I have gotten for the price. I also like the location of it since it doesn't interfere with any cooling/gpio interface. This product is really just a rock-solid piece of engineering. If I experience any issues, I will be sure to update this review but as it's been a 6 months of constant use I really don't expect to have any.

Works great I would say it is the best one.

Ruban cable works perfectly between rpi5 and the board. Great buy.

It WORKS. Nuff said.

Fonctionne bien pour mon rpi5 mais diffuse la chaleur du nvme au rpi