5 devices you can connect to the PCIe slot on the Raspberry Pi 5

On the surface, the Raspberry Pi boards may appear like unassuming little devices. However, these beginner-friendly SBCs are fully capable of running FydeOS, Kali Linux, and a bunch of other GUI desktops. Between the industry-standard 40-pin GPIO headers and the CSI/DSI/MIPI ports, you can equip all sorts of peripherals and accessories to turn your Raspberry Pi into a force to be reckoned with.

What’s more, the Raspberry Pi 5 brings a PCIe Gen 2 interface to the popular SBC lineup, further increasing the connectivity options. From ultra-useful accessories to fun yet cumbersome-to-configure devices, here are five peripherals you can attach to the PCIe interface on your Raspberry Pi 5.

Graphics cards

Only tech gods can pull this one off

Despite the enhanced specs on the Raspberry Pi 5, it’s not the best device if you want to run demanding Steam titles that require powerful GPUs. But if you have the patience to endure hours of debugging, you can try adding an external graphics card to the Raspberry Pi.

While it may sound like a fun project, the reason why GPUs lie at the bottom of the list is due to the performance (or the lack thereof) of the PCIe connection. Leaving aside the extra adapters and PSUs you’ll need for this wacky setup, the PCIe Gen 2 x1 connection will bottleneck any graphics card released in the last decade. Pair that (pun intended) with all the compatibility issues caused by adding an external GPU to an ARM-based system, and it’s clear why only hardcore DIY enthusiasts should tackle this project.

Network cards

Sadly, 10GbE NICs are a little too much for the outdated PCIe interface

The 1 Gigabit connection on the latest and greatest Raspberry Pi may be good enough for small projects, but you’ll want at least 2.5G if you wish to turn it into a NAS server or an OpenWRT-powered firewall. Having two Ethernet adapters is also beneficial for load balancing and port failover provisions.

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Thanks to the PCIe slot, you can use an adapter board to interface a full-sized NIC to the SBC. Or better yet, you can grab a dedicated HAT and spare your setup from looking like something out of Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory. The only caveat here is that anything faster than a 2.5 Gigabit connection would be restricted by the outdated PCIe interface of the SBC.

USB expansion HATs

Great when you wish to add more USB devices to the SBC

The four USB ports on the Raspberry Pi 5 may seem enough at first. But if you try to build complex projects like a surveillance system comprising multiple webcams, you may find yourself running out of ports. That’s where USB HATs come in handy.

From HATs that can add a couple of slower ports to those bearing a single high-speed USB connection, there are plenty of options for your specific needs.

Wonrabai Waveshare PCIe to USB 3.2 Gen1 HAT

AI kits

Yup, you can even add NPUs to this tiny board

While you won’t be able to get Copilot running on the Raspberry Pi, AI accelerator modules can help out when you want to boost the performance of artificial intelligence workloads. A word of advice before you grab one: make sure your specific AI kit is compatible with the project you’re planning to build.

For instance, the official Raspberry Pi AI Kit may seem like a powerhouse with its 13 TOPS NPU. Unfortunately, the Hailo-8L chip only works with select object, pose, and person detection demos and isn’t compatible with local LLMs.

NVMe SSDs

They’re way faster than your typical microSD card

MicroSD cards are the stable storage device for SBCs, and for good reason. Unlike Windows 11 and other x86 operating systems, most CLI (and even GUI) OS for ARM-based SBCs can fit inside a 32GB card. They’re also fairly inexpensive, so you can keep different microSD cards for all your projects.

However, they’re a tad too slow when it comes to read/write operations – and can often bottleneck projects where speed is everything. If you want the lightning-fast transfer speeds of SSDs without blocking a USB connection to an external drive, you can use an NVMe-to-PCIe adapter to interface a tiny SSD to your Raspberry Pi 5. Since outdated PCIe 3.0 SSDs are extremely cheap, you can grab one for well under $50 and enjoy a snappier experience when running your favorite OS.

Turning your Raspberry Pi 5 into a battle machine with useful accessories

While the PCIe slot was a solid addition to the Raspberry Pi, the SBC is already a gold mine for tinkerers who love experimenting with peripherals. For instance, the GPIO header can be outfitted with FM radio modules, all-in-one weather sensors, servo driver hubs, and tons of other HATs. Add in the camera kits and display modules you can attach to the MIPI ports, and you might be surprised at all the cool things you can pull off with your Raspberry Pi 5!

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