Any recommendations for a Raspberry Pi 4 case with a fan that doesn’t need the normal power pins and has room for a card? I have a Razberry zWave card module that sits on top and uses the GPIO pins that my previous fan plugged into. (see image)
I could mount the fan on top of this case, assuming there is somewhere else I can draw power, but I’d like to find a case that is better enclosed then this one is.
Thanks,
Robert
I use one made by Geekworm. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W4VH9K6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R45W1LN?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VXF2HJG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Bit on the pricey side but the Argon One M2 case is excellent, and has an internally housed onboard (USB) M2 SATA SSD interface.
If you used a 40 pin extension header I imagine a GPIO board should sit on it fine. Without the extension piece, I suspect the board would touch the top of the case.
https://www.argon40.com/argon-one-m-2-case-for-raspberry-pi-4.html
Callifo…that’s a pretty sweet case, I don’t mind the price for a good case. What is that double USB device on the back? I only use my Raspberry Pi for home automation with HA. What would be the benefit of booting from a SSD? Is it possible to use/need the storage a SSD could provide?
Thanks.
Many plus ones on this, I’ve had both the first gen of this case, and now the m.2 version, and both have been excellent. It’s both passive and active cooling, and the passive portion alone shaved 15 degrees C of my CPU temp.
There is a addon for the fan control, I’ll find the link when I get home tonight.
I can check this for you. I have a Razberry Board currently running in a Pi3, but can pop it over long enough to see if installing it in the case poses any problems
Boot time is much nicer on the SSD, and I find that everything seems snappier, like starting some of the larger add-ons for example.
Once you start logging a lot of sensor values the useful life of the SD Card starts falling off. Even with modern wear leveling, SD cards are not meant for anything remotely database.
If you have the recorder and history integrations disabled then it won’t be a problem, but otherwise the pain of resetting up after a SD Card is worth the 60-100 bucks (AU) for the longevity.
The Argon One case does come in a model without the m.2 base if you like, and the base can be bought separately if you change your mind later
What is that double USB device on the back?
Its the connection for the internal SSD drive. They loop back a USB3 port into the bottom to connect the USB M2 SATA SSD drive.
That connector is a little bit fat though, so I did have to apply a little pressure to get another USB3 cable in besides it, otherwise the design for the case is top notch.
As Freelancer has already mentioned, SD cards are not a good long term solution. I used to corrupt them every 6 months, before moving to a decent SSD, and have not had an issue since. If you keep the database down its probably less of an issue, but mine is about 300MB of writes per day, and with SD cards seemingly having crap/non-existent wear levelling, it wears them out pretty quick.
So turns out your Razberry is a generation newer than mine. Dimensionally the same except yours has an extra strip of PCB running around the front (end furthest from the GPIO) and right side closest to the USB ports with the antenna embedded in it.
Hight-wise, they are the same, and it clears the edge of the Argon One case with about 2mm to spare, so you shouldn’t need an extension header for the GPIO 
The case add-on is this one: Argon One Active Cooling Addon
It’s working a charm so far
Argon One seems to be the most popular. It’s been around for a while. People seem to like it.
There’s also the DeskPi pro. DeskPi is newer. DeskPi is more expensive, but it’s also flat, stackable, runs cooler without active cooling, and has front usb ports. DeskPi places the GPIOs on the back as well.
Both have active cooling and power management features. Both put all ports on the back. Both use a metal case and have rubberized feet.
I have created add-ons for both. The one mentioned by @FreelancerJ, above for ArgonOne and this one for DeskPi Pro DeskPi Pro Active Cooling and Front USB ports
