by Brad Linder
14 Comments on $80 Pironman 5 case makes a Raspberry Pi 5 look like a tiny gaming PC (with RGB lighting, NVMe SSD support, and enhanced cooling)
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Most of Raspberry Pi’s single-board computers ship without a case. But the company offers official cases for folks who’d rather enclose the computer in one. And there are dozens of third-party solutions available.
Some are basic plastic shells. Others add features like fans for active cooling. And then there’s the Pironman 5 case for the Raspberry Pi 5. This aluminum and clear acrylic case basically makes the Raspberry Pi 5 look like a tiny gaming desktop, complete with RGB lighting effects, support for multiple cooling fans, and support PCIe NVMe storage. The Pironman 5 is available for $80 from the SunFounder website.
Pat of the case is made from aluminum, while there’s clear acrylic plastic on one side and part of the back of the computer, allowing you to see inside the case.
The case also comes with adapters that allow you to:
- Add an M.2 2230/2242/2260/2280 PCIe NVMe SSD
- Access the GPIO pins through an extender on one side
- Use a remote control thanks to an IR receiver in the front of the case
- View CPU, memory, temperature, and other details on a 0.96 inch OLED status display on the front
- Insert or remove microSD cards through a port on the front of the computer
- Access two full-sized HDMI ports on the back, thanks to micro HDMI to HDMI adapters
The Pironman 5 also comes with three fans: a PWM fan plus two additional fans with RGB lighting effects.
All told, the case can protect a Raspberry Pi 5 from dust, add a bit of visual flair,and offer some functional improvements including fans to lower the computer’s temperature and an IR receiver that makes it possible to use the Raspberry Pi 5 as a media center that can be controlled from your couch.
That said, the $80 case costs as much as a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB of RAM, which means you’re basically doubling the price of the computer if you buy a Raspberry Pi 5 + Pironman 5. And at that rate, you might be better off picking up a mini PC with an Alder Lake-N processor, depending on what exactly it is you’re hoping to do with a mini PC.
via CNX Software
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14 Comments
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Well, it appears that the problem is relatively straightforward to address. If there’s no inlet on the top that I just can’t seem to spot in these photos, I might opt to unscrew the front panel for further examination. Alternatively, I could explore the possibility of borrowing a laser cutter to fashion some aesthetically pleasing air holes in the panel. Visit picsartmodapk
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I hate it when full-fledged desktops look like this as I’m a matte black and/or beige purist but the idea of a little arm board looking like this is so hilariously excessive yet also cute that I would actually consider rocking this lmao.
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I took muhdkn peaco*ck un decked it out wit dem fancy Christmas tree light dat got snatched up by those grimey folks from teh low-end dollar store, man, and it’s looking fly fo next to nothing.
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Must be missin sommthin, looks great to me! Maybe a bunch of haters Just want to bitch for somethin to do. OMG whats next a concert?
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Wow, I could buy a lot of Xiao boards for the price of that case.
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“…makes a Raspberry Pi 5 look like a tiny gaming PC…”
Yeah, now make it much easier to find in the U.S. at an affordable price! The RPi fdn has fallen to new lows. Shame on them…
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Wed all love the top end Pi’s to still be £35 but those days are gone.
They still have the Pi Zeros for the low cost starter optionsReply
This case has a big issue, 2 extracting fans on the back and no air entrances except through opening for GPIO pins and gaps in the case.
Personally I don’t care about RGB, not even in PCs. All bling, fail in form.
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At least it’s easily fixed. If there’s no inlet on the top that I just can’t see in these photos, maybe I’d just unscrew the front panel, or borrow a laser cutter and cut some fancy air holes in it.
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It looks like the cutout around the GPIO header is the intake vent. If you look at their website, they have an image that shows directional arrows simulating the airflow, and it goes through that slot.
Looks like more than enough room for air to flow in. These are small fans, they’re not moving much air.
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But if you use a 40pin IDC connector to connect a cable to the GPIO pins, it will plug most of the entrance of air through there. And there’s no airflow over the NVMe. Simply not a good design for airflow.
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I mean its still a pi, it isn’t a regular desktop where such things actually matter…
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This is really neat. I wonder how loud those fans are. Small diameter fans like that can be pretty loud.
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Just lovely!!!
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