Are you looking to supercharge your Raspberry Pi 5’s performance? Look no further than upgrading to an NVMe SSD drive! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the simple steps to configure and boot your Pi 5 from a blazing-fast Samsung MVME Drive. Forget the sluggish performance of traditional SD cards – an NVMe SSD will take your Pi 5 to new heights of speed and reliability.
While there are different tutorials out there, we’ll provide you with the most up-to-date method for March 2024, ensuring a seamless and hassle-free experience. We’ll be using the Raspberry Pi 5, along with the official cooling kit and power supply, the Geekworm P580 metal case, and the Geekworm X1002 PCIe shield.
These accessories, designed to work seamlessly together, will make the entire process a breeze. However, feel free to use alternative hardware, as the instructions provided should apply to most setups. The Raspberry Pi 5 is the first Pi to officially expose a PCIe interface, enabling a significant performance boost.
While not as fully-featured as desktop PCIe interfaces, the single PCIe 2.0 lane is still a game-changer. We’ll guide you through adapting the Pi 5’s flat flex connector to the M.2 form factor using the Geekworm X1002 shield, supporting various SSD sizes. One caveat to note is the current issue with Phison-based SSD controllers.
While progress is being made, for a plug-and-play solution, we recommend using a Samsung SSD or other reported-working drives. We understand the temptation of cheaper Phison-based options, but a little extra investment ensures a smooth sailing experience. Once the hardware is assembled, we’ll walk you through the software configuration, including updating your Pi OS, flashing the image to the NVMe drive, and setting the boot order to prioritize the PCIe drive.
We’ll even cover an experimental step to switch to PCIe Gen3 for an additional speed boost (though results may vary). By the end of this guide, you’ll have a Raspberry Pi 5 running at blistering speeds, perfect for demanding tasks or simply enjoying a snappier overall experience. We’ll share benchmark results, community comparisons, and tips for ensuring your setup runs optimally.