This 3D-Printed Case Keeps a Raspberry Pi 5 as Cool as Can Be — with a Custom Watercooling Loop
Inspired by gaming PCs, this miniature tower includes a reservoir, radiator, fan, and customized coldplate.
Maker Michael Klements has built a tiny computer tower from a Raspberry Pi 5 — complete with compact watercooling loop, reservoir, and radiator, to keep the single-board computer's temperature under control.
"I previously built a water-cooled Raspberry Pi 4 using a [Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4] module and the official IO Board [carrier]," Klements explains. "While it performed well, the setup was bulky, so I started exploring ways to make it more compact. The main challenge is that standard PC water-cooling components are oversized for a Raspberry Pi — one kit could cool an entire Pi cluster. This requires using unconventional hardware and sometimes creating custom parts."
Launched late last year, the Raspberry Pi 5 is a bit of a beast: despite sharing the same footprint as its predecessors, the single-board computer's new Broadcom BCM2712 system-on-chip delivers a doubling or tripling in performance depending on workload — but, in doing so, generates more heat. Raspberry Pi itself has two accessories to help with that, an official case with a built-in fan and a combination heatsink and fan assembly — but if something's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.
Klement's creation is inspired by gaming PC cases, and uses much the same layout: the "motherboard" is mounted to one side with the ports accessible at the rear, and there's a custom watercooling loop with a radiator at the front and a reservoir — adorned, in this case, with the Raspberry Pi logo — at the rear, all visible through an acrylic window.
The cooling system — which, it must be noted, is absolute overkill for even a heavily overclocked Raspberry Pi 5 — uses the copper coldplate from a 52Pi Ice Pump kit with a new 3D-printed top. The custom parts are mostly 3D-printed, though the case's acrylic side panels are laser-cut. "Idle temps are about 28°C [82.4°F]," Klements notes of the performance, "and under full load the temperature levels off at 42°C [107.6°F] after 90 seconds, staying steady for the rest of the test."
The project is documented in full on Klement's website, and in the video embedded above and on Klements' YouTube channel.