Paragon Project: Unofficial Compute Module 5
One of the most entertaining aspects to the Raspberry Pi 5 announcement was the comments section. A shocking number of people ignored the Pi 5 completely and asked about a Compute Module 5. Well, Arturo182 has fulfilled everybody’s wishes by hacking together this awesome unofficial Compute Module 5.
It’s a project that integrates the Raspberry Pi 5 into the Compute Module size and shape.
Of course, as it says on the PCB, the Compute Module 5 is “Just a meme”, “Not serious”. But this is the best meme board you’re ever going to see. I guarantee it.
Hardware
This unofficial Compute Module 5 makes it possible to hook up your Raspberry Pi 5 to a board that usually takes a Compute Module 4.
In this picture, Arturo182 has the Raspberry Pi 5 connected to a Cytron CM4 Maker Board:
So obviously, it’s a little bit of a headache with all the ribbon cables and adapters, but it’s definitely doable! But with the 3D-printed standoffs to keep the Raspberry Pi 5 mounted on top of the Unofficial CM5, I find this setup really aesthetically pleasing.
Under the right lighting, it’s got a super cyberpunk-y feel to it.
The customized PCB has all the key ports you could want from your Raspberry Pi 5 – PCIe, USB-C, MicroSD, two HDMIs, two CSI/DSIs, a USB-A, and a connector to the GPIO pins.
It’s not, however, a perfect 1-to-1 match with the CM4.
Other than that though, what could you possibly ask for?
Conclusion
This is the kind of creative solution that I live for. Arturo182 has some of the best projects around (if you haven’t checked out his Hackaday page, you should).
If you’re still not sure what to do with a Compute Module, we’ve got you covered:
And, of course, if you want to see more Paragon Projects, you can just click on this button:
What would you do with a CM5?