Having done absolutely nothing with the Pimoroni Raspberry Pi 5 NVME Kit I bought at Christmas, it seemed eminently sensible to buy it’s bigger brother – the NVMe Base Duo for Raspberry Pi 5! And I’m certain this kit will also enjoy spending the next three months on a shelf!
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-1-2-768x1024.jpg)
The packaging. It’s same overall design as the single NVME kit, however the label had an odd tackiness to it.
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-2-2-1024x768.jpg)
Inside is the m.2 breakout board, a short PCIE link cable, a set of standoffs / mounts / screws, and some self adhesive feet.
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-3-2-1024x768.jpg)
The board itself. Unlike the single NVME board, the dual NVME board contains an Asmedia ASM1182e PCIe switch. This switch allows the Raspberry Pi 5’s single PCIe Gen2*1 port to connect to the two PCIe Gen2*1 NVME ports on the expansion board.
Asmedia also product the ASM1184e – a similar single PCIe Gen2*1 port to four PCIe Gen2*1 switch. One has to wonder if, at some point, Pimoroni are planning to produce a four port NVME breakout board.
Physically the board has mounting points for 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 form form factor m.2 drives – however, the PCIe Upstream slot looks to block the use of 22110 form factor drives.
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-4-2-1024x768.jpg)
The back of the breakout board. I actually prefer this design to the design of the single NVME board.
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-5-2-768x1024.jpg)
Our PCIe flexible link cable. This will be used to link the board to the Raspberry Pi 5.
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-6-2-768x1024.jpg)
Various standoffs, screws, and other mounting paraphernalia.
![](https://www.chrisrcook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-13-raspberry-pi-dual-nvme-7-2-768x1024.jpg)
Four small self-adhesive feet for the bottom of the board.
And that’s it! Let’s see if I actually manage to do something with this kit beyond leaving it on the shelf for quarter of a year!