Appearance
Hardware
The machine is a Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB) with the official Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ carrying an NVMe SSD (from the official SSD Kit). The whole assembly lives in a 3D-printed stacked-plate ("plato") tower held together by threaded standoffs, with a small fan on the top plate blowing down onto the Pi for cooling.
Electronics links go to rpishop.cz, mechanical parts to GME (both Czech distributors). Czech terms from the original build notes are kept in parentheses.
Electronics
| Qty | Part | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raspberry Pi 5, 8 GB RAM | rpishop |
| 1 | Raspberry Pi SSD Kit, 256 GB — includes the M.2 HAT+ and an official NVMe SSD | rpishop · M.2 HAT+ docs |
| 1 | Raspberry Pi 27 W USB-C power supply (EU, white) | rpishop |
| 1 | Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler | rpishop |
| 1 | Raspberry Pi 5 RTC battery | rpishop — see RTC Backup Battery |
| 1 | Fan, 30 × 30 × 7 mm | generic |
The Active Cooler sits directly on the Pi 5 (the M.2 HAT+ is designed to fit above it); the 30 mm fan on the top plate adds airflow over the HAT+ and SSD.
Alternative option: PoE+ power + NVMe in one HAT
Not part of the current build — documented as an option. Instead of the official M.2 HAT+ and the 27 W PSU, a single third-party HAT can provide both the NVMe slot and PoE+ power, so the Pi needs just one Ethernet cable (at the cost of requiring a PoE+ switch or injector, 802.3at/bt). Jeff Geerling tested three such HATs — blog post (Oct 2024) — and Waveshare demoed theirs on YouTube:
| HAT | NVMe sizes | Notes from the review |
|---|---|---|
| GeeekPi / 52Pi P33 PoE+ | up to 2280 | 5.1 V / 4.5 A, Active Cooler included, GPIO passthrough, no coil whine; tall build; quirk: Pi powers straight back on after software shutdown (52Pi says fixable via EEPROM settings) |
| HackerGadgets PoE + NVMe | 2230 / 2242 | Geerling's overall favorite; also takes USB-C PD (full 25 W from ordinary laptop chargers); the only one that fits the official Pi 5 case — but the closed case overheats badly, so don't; Gen 3-capable FFC; faint coil whine |
| n-fuse PoE HAT (M.2 or mini PCIe) | B/E/M-key variants | Lowest profile (requires snapping fins off the Active Cooler); supports 802.3bt; stick to PCIe Gen 2 (non-impedance-matched cable); no isolation transformer — Geerling wouldn't trust it in fault/high-EMI conditions |
| Waveshare PoE M.2 HAT+ | — | Waveshare's own option, demoed in the linked video; PoE input 37–57 V DC (802.3at range) |
Caveats that apply generally: never backfeed USB-C power while a PoE HAT is installed (the P33 explicitly forbids it), and prefer designs with an isolation transformer — the PoE standard requires isolation for a reason. The official Raspberry Pi SSD from the SSD Kit is 2230, so it would fit any of these.
The current build sticks with the official M.2 HAT+ + 27 W PSU: simpler, fully supported, no third-party power electronics. PoE+ becomes attractive if the Pi ends up next to a PoE+ switch.
3D-printed parts
The tower plates (platos) are printed from Stackable Raspberry Pis on Printables: a base plate the Pi mounts onto, plus stackable levels joined by the M3 standoff columns below, and a top plate carrying the fan.
Mechanical bill of materials
Mounting the Pi 5 + M.2 HAT+ (Upevnění RPI5 s M.2 HAT+)
| Qty | Part | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | DA5M2.5×05 — nickel standoff, 5 mm, M2.5, female–male (matka–šroub) | GME 1482600 |
| 4 | Würth M2.5 hex nut (matice) | GME 1511793 |
| 4 | M2.5 × 5 mm pan head screw | generic |
Quantity note
The original notes say "4×" for the 5 mm standoffs but also mention 16 ks (16 pieces) — most likely a purchase quantity (spares or multiple builds). Four of each part are what one Pi mount consumes.
Likely assembly (inferred from the parts, to be verified during the build): the male thread of each 5 mm standoff passes through a mounting hole in the printed plate and is secured underneath with the M2.5 nut; the Pi then sits on the four standoffs and is fastened from above with the M2.5 × 5 mm screws. The M.2 HAT+ itself mounts above the Pi with the 16 mm spacers and GPIO stacking header included in the SSD Kit.
Stacking (Stohování)
The tower is built from M3 threaded standoff columns clamping the plates together:
| Qty | Part | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | DI5M3×35 — nickel standoff, 35 mm, M3, female–female (matka–matka) | GME 1482458 |
| 12 | DA5M3×35 — nickel standoff, 35 mm, M3, female–male (matka–šroub) | GME 1482474 |
Twelve female–male plus four female–female standoffs suggests four corner columns of four segments each (three male–female segments chained per column, terminated with a female–female), i.e. a stack with several 35 mm levels following the Printables model's geometry.
Top plate with fan (Horní plato s větrákem)
A fan on the top plate provides downward airflow (ofuk) over the Pi 5 and the M.2 HAT+:
| Qty | Part |
|---|---|
| 4 | M2.5 × 16 mm pan head screw |
| 4 | M2.5 hex nut |
| 1 | Fan, 30 × 30 × 7 mm |
The 16 mm screws pass through the 7 mm fan body and the plate, secured with the hex nuts on the other side.
Shopping list summary
Electronics (rpishop.cz): Raspberry Pi 5 8 GB, SSD Kit 256 GB (= M.2 HAT+ + NVMe SSD), 27 W USB-C power supply, Active Cooler, RTC battery.
Standoffs (GME):
- 4× DA5M2.5×05 standoff 5 mm
- 4× Würth M2.5 nut
- 4× DI5M3×35 standoff 35 mm F–F
- 12× DA5M3×35 standoff 35 mm F–M
Generic hardware: 4× M2.5×5 pan head screws, 4× M2.5×16 pan head screws, 4× M2.5 hex nuts, a 30×30×7 mm fan.
3D print: plates from Stackable Raspberry Pis.