Can the Pimoroni NVMe Base be installed upside-down (flipped orientation)?

Support
1

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a Raspberry Pi 5 project using the Pimoroni NVMe Base and the official PCIe FFC cable (16-pin to 18-pin). For cooling reasons, I’m wondering if it’s safe and functional to mount the NVMe Base upside-down, so that the SSD and heatsink face upward, while the Raspberry Pi remains facing up as usual.

In this setup, the FFC cable would still go:

  • 16-pin end to the Pi 5 PCIe port,
  • 18-pin end to the NVMe Base,
    but the board orientation would be reversed vertically.

My questions:

  1. Is the FFC cable designed to work in this flipped orientation? (i.e., are the contacts and signal alignment symmetric?)
  2. Any electrical or mechanical risks I should be aware of when doing this?

I’d really appreciate any confirmation, photos, or experience from the community.

Thanks in advance!

2

I’m confused by your post?

Mine is configured as follows
Pi heatsink
Pi circuit board
NVME Drive
NVME Base circuit board
Which is as Pimoroni intended.

You can’t flip / rotate the ribbon cable at either end. You will get no connection at the connector.

3

This was my original side by side setup, that does have the NVME Base upside down. It also shows my current stacked setup.
My custom Pi 5 NVMe base Pibow case - Discussion / Projects - Pimoroni Buccaneers

4

Hey, thanks so much for your reply!

I actually came across your setup before — really appreciate you sharing it. I was also thinking of doing a similar side-by-side layout, but with the NVMe Base board facing up, so I could easily add a heatsink on top of the SSD.

I’m still in the planning stage and haven’t purchased the board yet, so I can’t check it myself.

Just wondering if that flipped configuration would still work.

Thanks again!

5

The NVME board can be mounted on top of the Pi 5, NVME drive on top open for cooling. You need longer standoffs, and likely the longer ribbon cable.

6

Why would you want to do that? You are not running a PC that utilizes all PCIe-lanes that the SSD could support. I really suggest that you keep things simple. It is a Pi5 after all.

7

Thanks a lot for your response, I really appreciate it!

You’re probably right, and honestly, I’m still very new to all of this. I just thought it would be fun (and a bit cooler-looking) to add a heatsink on top of the SSD. 😅

Also, I’ve heard that if you run things like a Bitcoin full node, NAS, and boot the OS from the same SSD, the drive can get pretty warm over time — especially since it’ll be running 24/7. In the future, I’d love to explore more advanced Bitcoin node stuff (like Lightning or other features I don’t even fully understand yet 😅), which might add a bit more load.

So yeah — it’s mostly about experimenting, learning, and maybe making the setup look a bit “serious” while I’m at it 😄

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

8

Yes, it can get warm, even hot. But normally the SSD will trigger a self-protection routine once you reach about 70°C. But I am not sure if Bitcoin mining does enough IO to put the SSD under stress. I thought this would be more of a GPU/CPU limited workload.

BTW: for your use-case, you should think about an Intel N100 mini PC instead. You will get a higher performing system for less money if you sum up all the extras you need for a Pi5. Those N100 based mini-PCs are incredibly cheap now a days and all of that in a only slightly larger package compared to a Pi5. And if you pay only a bit more, you will get even more power.

9

Thanks a lot for the insight — I really appreciate it. The Intel N100 mini PC sounds like a solid alternative I hadn’t considered before.

I’m currently working on a Pi5 setup for a Bitcoin node and home NAS, but your suggestion made me realize I should also explore other options that might offer better performance or value.

Definitely adding it to my research list — thanks again for the valuable input!

1 Like