Argon ONE V5 M.2 NVMe Case for Raspberry Pi 5 | Aluminum Pi 5 Case w/Active + Passive Cooling, Dual Full HDMI Port, NVMe M.2 SSD PCIe 2.0/3/0 Slot, DAC Audio, USB Expansion

This is definitely one of the nicest Pi 5 cases on the market. Exceptional cooling capability, NVME support and rearrangement of the Pi's frankly bad port layout. What's not to love? Push button power support, front USB. This may be the ideal case for a retro game setup! Only complaint is that the included thermal pads were a bit on the small side and overall hard to apply. Not a dealbreaker. They might have been precut and I just didn't notice because I kept having them split apart (cleanly) at odd locations after I cut them.

I didn’t have any major problems with my unit. I purchased the full set with all available accessories for this case — besides the case itself and the M.2 SSD expansion board, I also bought the Zigbee module and the OLED screen. Overall, it left a very positive impression. However, I agree that the connection between the Raspberry Pi board and the expansion board is a bit tricky. Tactile-wise, it’s unclear how much force you need to apply for the connection to lock in place and be stable. The first time I assembled the case, the Raspberry Pi didn’t boot. I’m not sure what exactly caused it — poor contact between the two boards (less likely), or a short circuit somewhere. After this initial failure, I disassembled the case and made two changes: 1) pressed the boards together more firmly (although I was afraid of breaking something by applying too much force), and it turned out there was indeed some extra room to connect them further; 2) repositioned the fan cable from underneath the heatsink to the top (visible in the photo). This cable is already arranged at the factory, but as some commenters have correctly pointed out, it’s better to route it over the surface of the heatsink. Because this cable can interfere with proper placement of the Raspberry Pi, which might cause shorting of contacts. I don’t know which of these changes helped, but after reassembly everything worked fine. The case is quite prone to fingerprints, as others have noted in the comments, but I’m still satisfied with it.

I found the value for money to be within the range I wanted to spend on a Raspberry Pi 5 case. It had one M.2 slot, 2 full size HDMI ports and added two additional USB ports. The first time assembling was easy. I was happy with the aluminum quality. I was not happy with how quickly the aluminum and plastic surfaces attracted finger prints/oils. Unfortunately, I could not get the Pi to power on. I discovered the PCIe cable and power supply were very finicky. I reseated both ends of the power cord for the M.2 board and used the second, included, PCIe cable. Miraculously, it booted. Until I lifted the unit to move it slightly. I couldn't get it to power on again with the PCIe adapter board connected. I ended up returning it. Too bad. This isn't the one.

Feels high quality works well. Good choice for my low volume iot product.

The case is great. I would give it five stars, but one of the case magnets was loose in the box. As others have said, connecting the Pi 5 to the IO board can be fiddly. You need to push pretty hard and favor the USB C connector end as that is the power connector for the Pi 5. I'd advise testing the power connection before moving on to the next step. Otherwise the assembly is very straight forward. And having full-sized HDMI ports is a godsend. Oh, and Argon40, the past tense of "cast" is "cast", not "casted".

Very good quality. Keeps Pi5 cooler than many other cases. OLED allows me to check CPU temp and usage. Good sound quality from DAC and compensates for lack of an audio jack on the Pi5. TIPS: 1) Consider routing fan wiring carefully as the instruction method results in pinching the wires under the Pi ethernet/USB connections. Recommend running fan wires on top section along (but not in) the cooling fins (see photo). The NVME power wires are ok to run per the instructions. 2) Pay attention to the case cover when removing it. There is a tab on the side opposite the screws and the cover should be slid to the rear prior to lifting up. I broke the case recess because I lifted straight up! 3) If Pi does not boot - reseat the NVME ribbon cable or use the second cable provided to avoid shorts. Overall great case!

I’ve run one of these continuously for months and I think the negative reviews might be from people with weak nerd arms (or incompatible SSD’s). Short story is that I have two of these things, one from Amazon and one of them imported from Pimoroni (UK/GB Raspberry Pi shop) months ago. I have four Argon cases total among my pile of Pi servers, and I’ve never had issues with any of them. The daughter board you have to plug in the Pi’s power and HDMI slots into has stiff inputs and if you don’t push with some force, the connection might be inconsistent. You need to summon all the strength your weak nerd arms have to make sure it’s inserted properly (or just go to the gym). My long-running case has a 16GB Pi in it with a 2TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD, which is an absolute powerhog of an NVME drive and quite obviously overkill for a PCIe Gen 3 slot. But the point is that it’s been on continuously for months with a DRAM SSD that peaks at 8 Watts without issue, serving as a combination server and small form factor ARM dev station. I’ve had no issues and it’s easily the (literally) coolest and quietest Pi case I have, since it’s a huge aluminum block. Notably, it doesn’t block access to the camera slots while still providing access to the PCIe slot, which was important for me so that I could use it to develop camera apps. The case is great and I bought another a few weeks ago that also has no issues. Work out more, nerds.