Awesome MiniPCs

#Gadgets

Mini PC State of Things in November 2024

The bleeding edge of miniPC world in Intel N100 CPU. The majority of devices are built on top of it with just a few differences:

Intel N100 release date is January 2023, so it probably makes sense to expect something new in the recent future.

There is a twist. Intel N100 officially supports up to 16GB of RAM, but some of the manufacturers manage to put up to 48GB of RAM by somehow tweaking the BIOS. I'm not sure if it's legit but AFAIK there is actually a trade-off between bandwidth & capacity. That's why the official limit probably makes a lot of sense.

There are also very similar CPUs: Intel N200 and N300 but it's basically the same gen as N100 which are very close in performance.

N305 has a slightly higher power consumption, has more cores, and performs a bit better in GPU-related tasks.

Minisforum un100

There are several variatons of un100 with very minor differences. In general, I love Minisforum for their branding and ability to produce miniPCs that doesn't look like a noname OEM garbage.

Reason not to buy:

Beelink MiniPCs: S12, EQ12 and EQ13

Beelinks are one of the most popular miniPCs nowadays. They perform well in benchmarks and according to reviews the quality is a top notch.

One of the notable pros is upgradability. They all have replaceable RAM and SSDs. What's more important, the EQ12 seems to be compatible with out of the specs 32GB RAM which is insane.

Here is an overview from the discussuion on reddit:

EQ13 - Intel N100, DDR4 16GB, 500GB, Wifi6, BT5, integrated power supply.
The updated fan design is a huge improvement and the system runs silent and cool. Even during boot, the fan ramps up but is not annoying loud. One item to note, the power light on the EQ13 is bright but small. The power button light on the EQ12 is much larger and brighter. I prefer the EQ13.

EQ12 - Intel N100, DDR5 16GB, 500GB, Wifi6, BT5.
I stand by my initial evaluation. The EQ12 runs warm and I noticed the fan running from across the room this morning. The fan noise is not awful but it's there. Up close the fan motor is not smooth and actually sounds rather crunchy; this noise profile is difficult to describe.

S12 (non-pro) - N95, DDR4 8GB, 256GB, Wifi5, BT4
Now with a apples to apples comparison, I noticed the S12 is between the EQ12 and EQ13 in terms of noise and heat. The S12 is not a bad system however I prefer the Wifi6 and BT5 upgrades of the EQ13. 8GB is not enough memory for Windows 11. I experienced several browser crashes due to out of memory conditions.

The EQ13 is the largest but it is still a VERY tiny PC and while I didn't think the integrated power supply was that big of a deal, it's nice to have. For someone space constrained, it's very hard not to recommend the S12 or S12 Pro. The noise from the EQ12 is a deal breaker for me.

A quick note: S12 Pro comes with 16GB of RAM & N100 CPU.

CWWK

CWWK is making insane stuff that stands out. First of all, they somehow managed to make N100 work with more than 16GB of RAM. Secondly, just look at these insane mini PCs.

CWWK Magic Computer

It's literally an x86 Raspberry Pi on steroids with an insane passive cooling case and the power of an N100/N200/N305 CPU with up to 32GB of RAM.

Reasons not to buy: It's an incredibly interesting thing, but unfortunately it doesn't fit my needs. I would like the case to be just a bit more protected. For some reason it supports only USB2.0 which is kinda weird. I really need these USB guys to be 3.0 or 3.1.

Review: FANLESS 7W Homelab Fantasy Mini PC - YouTube

CWWK Pocket NAS 4 Bay NVM

Probably one of the most interesting N100 mini PC I've managed to find recently.

Reasons not to buy: weird pricing. Average CWWK Pocket NAS config costs more than other N100 alternatives. The maxed out one competes with lower-end powerful mini PCs from higher league that are incomparably more capable.

It's built on top of CWWK x86 P5 board: CWWK X86 P5 M.2 NVMe NAS Board Review - YouTube

MiniPC review: CWWK Pocket NAS Review: Speed Tests, Windows 11, TrueNAS, & More! - YouTube