Mini PC, Pi5, Intergrated UPS (X1203) & 3.5 Touch Screen

Warning! This project utilizes a lithium-ion battery. Anyone choosing to build this project should exercise caution, as improper handling of lithium-ion batteries can cause fires or injuries. 

Introduction:

While the title of this project is Mini PC, in reality, it's a case specifically designed for the X1203 UPS. This design can be modified to use other Pi Hats.

Before building this, consider buying an off the shelf solution. An off the shelf solution will likely be more cost effective & work better. 

Skills Required:

• Knowledge of Lithium Ion Batteries

• Soldering

• Basic Electronics

Specs:

• Storage: 128GB

• OS: PiOS or any Linux Distro

• UPS

• Screen:

  • 480x320 Resolution

  • Resistive Touch Screen

• System:

  • Approximately 1 hour of battery run time

  • 60-65C CPU temperature typically*

  • Can thermo throttle at 100% CPU load. 

  • Weight: 430 Grams/1 lb

• Battery Specs

  • 5500 ah

  • 8C

  • 3.7v

• Pi 8GB Specs

  • Broadcom BCM2712 2.4GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 CPU, with cryptography extensions, 512KB per-core L2 caches and a 2MB shared L3 cache

  • VideoCore VII GPU, supporting OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.3

  • Dual 4Kp60 HDMI® display output with HDR support

  • 4Kp60 HEVC decoder

  • LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM (1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB)

  • Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi®

  • Bluetooth 5.0 / Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

  • microSD card slot, with support for high-speed SDR104 mode

  • 2 × USB 3.0 ports, supporting simultaneous 5Gbps operation

  • 2 × USB 2.0 ports

  • Gigabit Ethernet, with PoE+ support (requires separate PoE+ HAT)

  • 2 × 4-lane MIPI camera/display transceivers

  • PCIe 2.0 x1 interface for fast peripherals (requires separate M.2 HAT or other adapter)

  • 5V/5A DC power via USB-C, with Power Delivery support

  • Raspberry Pi standard 40-pin header

  • Real-time clock (RTC), powered from external battery

*Using an external screen with high resolution will result in higher temperatures. 

Known Issues:

Issue 1: Running on the battery only, the PI will shutdown frequently. This happens when the amp draw on the battery hits 3.8A. I emailed the UPS supplier, and they told me to remove the battery management. I have opted to ignore them, as I did not feel comfortable removing the battery management. A second battery may resolve this issue, as well. 

Issue 2: The touch screen doesn't work very well. Expect to have to use a keyboard & mouse for navigation. Additionally, I have had other issues with the buttons & HDMI adapter breaking. As long as you aren't assembling & disassembly the unit, this should not be an issue.  

Issue 3: There is component on the screen that prevents the screen's IO plug from seating all the way on the pins. The case has been designed to accommodate this interference.  

Assembly:

Below you will find an exploded view to assist in the assembly process. 

Screen Setup:

https://www.waveshare.com/3.5inch-hdmi-lcd.htm

UPS Setup:

https://wiki.geekworm.com/X1203

PCIe to M.2 Adapter & SSD Setup:

The adapter does have a wiki page. I found it confusing. If I remember correctly, it covers changing the boot order and formatting the SSD. I was able to install the distro by booting on an SD card then using the PI imager to flash the SSD. I didn't need to format my SSD.  Lastly, There is a way to change the PI to use gen 3 speeds versus gen 2. I am running gen 2, and I don't have issues. I read gen 3 can be unstable.

BOM:

Below I have provided the Amazon listings for each component. The total cost comes to $419 before taxes & shipping, as of Jan 2026. If you want to reduce the price, I would recommend shopping around on Waveshare & Geekworm.

Comment: A 2230 SSD must be used. The 2242 will not fit with the screen.