The Pironman 5 and Pironman 5-MAX are SunFounder's two best-selling products, and both turn a Raspberry Pi 5 into a mini PC with a tower cooler, RGB fans, a 0.96" OLED, full-size HDMI and a safe-shutdown power button. The big difference is storage: the Pironman 5 has one NVMe slot, while the 5-MAX has two, with RAID 0/1 support. Here's how to choose.
Comparison table
| Product | Best for | Buy |
|---|---|---|
1 SunFounder Pironman 5Best Value |
One SSD: desktop, Home Assistant or media center | From $79.99 |
2 SunFounder Pironman 5-MAXBest for NAS & AI |
Two SSDs, RAID 0/1 or SSD + Hailo-8L | From $94.99 |
Best Value
#1 · Best Value
SunFounder Pironman 5
Silver aluminum case with one NVMe M.2 slot (PCIe Gen 2, can be forced to Gen 3), tower cooler, two RGB fans and a 0.96" OLED. Rated 4.8/5 from 163 store reviews.
Best for: One SSD: desktop, Home Assistant or media center
Pros
- $15 cheaper
- Direct single-SSD link
- Silver finish
Cons
- One M.2 slot only
- No RAID
- NVMe slots
- 1
- Finish
- Silver aluminum
- Price
- $79.99
- Rating
- 4.8/5 (163)
Best for NAS & AI
#2 · Best for NAS & AI
SunFounder Pironman 5-MAX
Dark case with two NVMe M.2 slots behind a PCIe Gen 2 switch, RAID 0/1 support and an OLED that lists disk status and wakes with a tap. Rated 4.9/5 from 200 store reviews.
Best for: Two SSDs, RAID 0/1 or SSD + Hailo-8L
Pros
- Two NVMe slots
- RAID 0/1
- SSD and AI accelerator together
Cons
- $15 more
- Slots share one Gen 2 link
- NVMe slots
- 2
- Finish
- Dark aluminum
- Price
- $94.99
- Rating
- 4.9/5 (200)
FromFrom $94.99
Check Price on SunFounderQuick verdict
- Choose the Pironman 5 if you'll use one SSD (or one Hailo-8L), want to save $15, or prefer the silver look.
- Choose the Pironman 5-MAX if you want two SSDs, a RAID 0/1 home NAS, or an SSD plus an AI accelerator, or prefer the dark finish.
Side-by-side comparison
| Pironman 5 | Pironman 5-MAX | |
|---|---|---|
| Compatible board | Raspberry Pi 5 | Raspberry Pi 5 |
| NVMe M.2 slots | 1 (2230–2280) | 2 (2230–2280) |
| PCIe | Gen 2.0 certified, can be forced to Gen 3.0 | Gen 2 switch shared by both slots |
| RAID | No | RAID 0/1 |
| AI accelerator | Hailo-8L (uses the slot) | Hailo-8L alongside an SSD |
| Cooling | Tower cooler (PWM fan) + 2× 40 mm RGB fans | Tower cooler (PWM fan) + 2× 40 mm RGB fans |
| OLED | 0.96" (CPU, RAM, temp, IP and more) | 0.96" (CPU, RAM, temp, IP, disk; tap-to-wake) |
| HDMI | 2× standard | 2× standard |
| Finish | Silver aluminum, clear panels | Dark aluminum, dark panels |
| RTC battery | Included | Included |
| Price (case only) | $79.99 | $94.99 |
| With US/EU power supply | $92.99 | $107.98 |
| Rating on store | 4.8/5 (163) | 4.9/5 (200) |
Both ship free from SunFounder's China warehouse, and neither includes the Raspberry Pi 5, SSDs or a power supply unless you pick a power-supply bundle.
Storage: one slot or two?
The Raspberry Pi 5 has one PCIe lane. The Pironman 5 connects a single SSD straight to it; SunFounder says it's certified for Gen 2 (5 GT/s) and can be forced to Gen 3 (10 GT/s). The 5-MAX adds a PCIe Gen 2 switch so two devices can share that lane. That makes it the one to pick for RAID 1 mirroring (a copy of your data on each drive), RAID 0 (two drives as one bigger volume), or an SSD plus a Hailo-8L. If you only ever need one drive, the extra slot doesn't make it faster.
SSD compatibility applies to both. SunFounder lists drives to avoid, mostly with Phison controllers (for example WD Green SN350, WD Black SN770/SN850, Corsair MP600, Samsung PM991). Check the list before you buy an SSD.
Cooling and extras
Both use a tower cooler with a PWM fan on the CPU plus two 40 mm RGB fans, a metal power button with safe shutdown, an IR receiver, an external GPIO extender and a 1220 RTC battery. The 5-MAX's OLED lists disk status among its readouts and can wake with a light tap (newer software uses the power button instead, per SunFounder's FAQ).
The bottom line
For most Raspberry Pi 5 desktops, media centers and Home Assistant hubs, the Pironman 5 does the job for less. If you're building a two-drive NAS or want an SSD and an AI accelerator at the same time, the Pironman 5-MAX is worth the extra $15. Read the full Pironman 5 review, our best SunFounder products and our SunFounder review.