X872-v2.0 Overview

Product Overview

The X872 is a USB 3.0 to NVMe SSD expansion board specifically designed for the Raspberry Pi 4, providing a simple and speedy means to expand storage capacity for your Raspberry Pi 4. This compact and sleek shield facilitates effortless connection of various M.2 SSD sizes (including 2280, 2260, 2242, and 2230) to your Raspberry Pi 4. The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port enables rapid data transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps, allowing you to move large amounts of data within seconds. Additionally, the built-in LED light indicates the reading or writing status, eliminating the need for guesswork.

Whether you aim to establish a home media center or create a Network-attached storage (NAS) system for storing and streaming your videos, music, and photos, the X872 can function as an ideal storage solution. Moreover, it supports booting the operating system from your SSD, leading to quicker application launches, web serving, and file copying.

Product Features

Compatible With

• Raspberry Pi 4
• Ideal storage solution for Raspberry Pi 4 - M.2 NVMe SSD Shield
• Supports high-capacity M.2 NVMe solid-state drives up to 4TB
• Accommodates various M.2 NVMe SSD form factors, including 2280, 2260, 2242, and 2230
• Supports booting OS from your SSD for faster app opens, web serving, and file copying
• Integrated USB 3.1 Gen1 to SATA 6Gb/s bridge controller
• USB3.1 Gen1 5Gb/s connectivity offers plug-and-play functionality on your Raspberry Pi
• Compatible with USB 2.0
• LED blue indicator indicates drive status
• Powering via both GPIO pin header and USB port, ensuring sufficient power supply without any worries
• Designed to be attached on bottom, allows using your favorite HATs alongside it
• Specially-made USB3.1 jumper to connect with Raspberry Pi - no additional cables needed

Test & Reviews

Test Conditions

• System board details: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, 1G RAM
• Interface board details: X872 V2.0 USB3.0 to NVMe SSD shield
• Operation system: Raspberry Pi OS with desktop (Debian12 (bookworm), 64bit, Release date: October 15th March 2024)
• Storage details: Samsung PM961 SSD 120GB

Testing the SSD speed from command line with dd

• To test the write speed, writing 1 GB of data in 10 blocks of 100 MB.
• To test the read speed, use dd to read our entire TestingFile file generated from the last command, in 10 blocks of 100 MB each.

As seen above, the final results with the dd command are:

• Write speed: 293MB/s
• Read speed: 267MB/s

Testing disk drive read speed with hdparm

Average read rate: 249.8 MB/s (3 samples)

Testing disk drive Read/Write speed with CrystalDiskMark on Windows

(Connect the X872 to a Windows PC using a USB3.0 male-to-male cable)

Technical Specification

Power supply: 5Vdc +/-5% via USB3 port & GPIO pin header

Ports & Connectors: USB socket - USB 3.0 type A

SSD connector - M.2 KEY-M 67P

PCB Size: 87.3mm x 56mm

Package Contents

• X872 V2.0 shield x1
• Screw pack x1

Important Notes

The X872, a USB 3.0 device, might generate radio frequency interference that can cause Wi-Fi and other wireless devices operating in the 2.4GHz band to have issues communicating with your Raspberry Pi4. To avoid interference on the 2.4GHz band using Wi-Fi, try using the 5GHz band instead. If the problem still exists, please turn off WiFi and use the wired network instead.

For further assistance or inquiries, please reach out to our support team at info@edgecase.shop or sales@edgecase.shop. We are here to help you with any questions you might have.