M903
Contents
Overview
The M903 shield is a NVME M2 SSD PIP (PCIe Peripheral Board) for the Raspberry Pi 5 that uses the new PCIE interface of the Raspberry Pi 5to utilise the NVME M2 SSDs for fast data transfers and ultra-fast booting.
This shield follows the new "PIP" design guideline from Raspberry Pi fundation ensuring that it will be easy to use and be supported long term by updates to Raspberry Pi OS - though it is very early days and things are improving rapidly there!
Geekworm PCIe to NVME Sets:
After the release of the Raspberry Pi AI Kit, we tested four PIPs: X1001, X1004, X1011, and M901. X1001, X1004, and M901 all support the hailo-8 ai accelerator, but X1011 does not.
It should be noted that X1004 uses ASMedia ASM1182e PCIe switch, and X1011 uses ASM1184e, they can't support PCIe Gen 3 speed, so even though we forced to enable PCIe Gen 3.0 setting in Raspberry Pi 5, it is limited by ASMedia ASM1182e PCIe switch, and speed is still PCIe Gen 2.0 5Gbps speed. when you use an hailo-8 ai accelerator, Raspberry Pi Fundation highly recommends using PCIe 3.0 to achieve best performance with your AI Kit.
Our tentative conclusions are as follows:
- If you need to use hailo-8 ai accelerator with high performance, it is recommended to use X1015/X1002/X1003/M901/ the official M.2 HAT+ etc. When choosing these PIP boards, you should focus on whether there is a conflict between the camera cable and the PIP board installation, and enable PCIe3.0 to use hailo-8 ai accelerator. At the same time, you need to prepare an SD card as the system disk.
- If you don't care about the high performance brought by PCIe 3.0, then you can consider using X1004, so that you can use any socket of X1004 to install NVME SSD as the system disk, and another socket to install hailo-8 ai accelerator, so as to have both.
| Model | Compatible with | Position | NVMe M2 SSD Length Support | Matching Case | Matching Cooler | Support NVMe Boot | Support PCIe 3.0 | Support Hailo-8 AI Accelerator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1000 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Not tested |
| X1001 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242/2260/2280 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Yes |
| X1002 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Bottom | 2230/2242/2260/2280 | P580 / P580-V2 |
Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | NO |
| X1003 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242 | P579 / P425 | Official Cooler / H501 Only | Yes | - | Not tested |
| X1004 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | Dual ssd: 2280 | P579-V2 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes (Requires EEPROM 2024/05/17 and later version) | NO | Yes |
| X1015 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242/2260/2280 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Yes |
| X1005 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Bottom | Dual ssd: 2230/2242/2260/2280 | P580-V2 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes (Requires EEPROM 2024/05/17 and later version) | NO | Yes |
| X1011 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Bottom | 4 ssds: 2230/2242/2260/2280 | X1011-C1 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes (eeprom 2024/05/17 and later version) | NO | NO |
| X1012 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242/2260/2280 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Not tested |
| M901 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242/2260/2280 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Yes |
| Q100 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2242 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Not tested |
| Q200 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | Dual ssd: 2280 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | NO | - | Not tested |
| M300 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242 | P579 | Official Cooler / Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Not tested |
| M400 | Raspberry Pi 5 | Top | 2230/2242/2280 | P579 | Official Cooler/ Argon THRML Cooler / H505/H501 | Yes | - | Not tested |
Features
- Minimalist design, easy to install
- Supports installation of official active coolers;
- SSD ACT LED Indicators-On: Power OK/Standby, Flashing: Reading/Writing
- Supports 2230/2242 NVME M2 SSD
- Can power the M903 shield directly from the FFC PCIe ribbon (providing maximum 5W of continuous power)
Packing List
- 1 x M903 Shield
- 1 x FFC cable 22mm
- 1 x M2*13 mm screw
- 1 x M2*3 mm screw
User Manual
Hardware Installation
Software Installation
FAQ
Q1: Question 1
A: Place the answer here.
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