MINIX showcased some unnamed Braswell mini PCs at IFA 2015 last September, but since then the company has been pretty quiet about their new Intel based mini PCs. The good news is that MINIX NGC-1 will be launched in about two weeks with an Intel Celeron N3150 quad core “Braswell” processor coupled with 4GB RAM, and 128GB M.2 SSD, and beside running Windows 10 64-bit, it will also support Ubuntu.
MINIX NGC-1 specifications:
- SoC – Intel Celeron N3150 quad-core processor @ 1.6 GHz / 2.08 GHz (Turbo) with 2MB L2 cache, and Intel HD graphics with 12EU (4W SDP / 6W TDP)
- System Memory – 4GB DDR3L
- Storage – 128 M.2 SSD
- Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K @ 30 Hz, and mini DisplayPort
- Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm stereo jack (microphone + headphone), and optical S/PDIF
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 with two external antennas
- USB – 3x USB 3.0 host ports on front panel
- Misc – Kensington lock
- Power Supply – 12V/3A
We also know the mini PC has a fanless design.
Braswell and Cherry Trail processors have similar performance, but if you check the features’ comparison between Atom x7-Z8700 and Celeron N3150, you’ll find the Braswell processor has more PCIe lanes, USB 3.0 ports, and natively supports SATA 6Gb/s.
Tech Connect noticed the mini PC at CES 2016 and shot a short video.
MINIX did not provide pricing information yet, but another CES video mentions the price should be $399. Since the product will launch in about two weeks, we shall find out the exact price soon.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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I’d be more likely to buy @ 8gb for the 400 buck price. Not interested @ 4gb though.
I’ve got 2 small win 10 boxes you recommended and a pad, nothing over 135 bucks, and the delta in price here isn’t jumping out at me.
@Jim st
$399 seems quite high for the specs, so I hope it was a misunderstanding.
For reference, ASRock Beebox (same CPU) with 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD costs just under $250 on Newegg – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856158045
I also think $399 is extremely high for the specs. Unfortunately just the Recommended Customer Price of Intel Celeron N3150 is 107 USD. In comparison the price of Atom x7-Z8700 is $37.
In my opinion, Intel processors remain to have quite high prices without providing much worth for the money.
For about half the price you can get a Gigabyte Brix barebone with N3150.
Or even can get Intel NUC with better support and perfect BIOS and 399 USD is really too much for this product
@Dim
You can buy Braswell boards for much cheaper than that list price. I got my ASRock N3150M board for $70 back in July when Newegg first listed it.
I’ve used mine with as little as 2GB and it worked OK. The single core performance of the N3150 is worse than the Bay Trail J1900, so unless you have programs that eat memory and use little CPU performance then anything over 4GB isn’t going to help performance much. Having dual channel memory is important, and given the cheap cost of DDR3 these days it doesn’t make sense to buy 2x2GB for ~$20 when you can get 2x4GB for ~$30 on sale and put together your own HTPC. Going this route would take up a larger footprint but drastically cheaper than some other options. However, 8GB will not fix the weak single core performance issue.
My guess is that if they made an 8GB version people would buy it up and almost unanimously be disappointed. Unless you absolutely need low power draw, Braswell should be skipped. Honestly you could limit the clock speed on a Bay Trail and get nearly the same performance and power usage.
What are Minix thinking, the price is way too much.
@Techy nuc doesn’t have perfect bios, nuc bios has been hit and miss especially last gen i5.
The previous gen celeron nuc’s were more stable.
The i7 nuc okay.
Looking forward to the new quad core i7 nuc
@AI
New Braswell based nuc’s with n3050 and n3150 have perfect bios. About i-series I dont know but regarding braswell celerons all ok.
The little new Intel Compute Stick 2016 one. They will be coming out with sounds better for about the same price and better CPU and USB 3.1 on it.
Well the price is not yet confirmed so I do not understand what all the hype about? I too will wait, as the minix has a great software support and great hardware development too.
Else, you can still buy VOYO V3 for 210€ at gearbest, which would probably be first choice if the price for MINIX would be too high!
http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_292915.html
LOL 399 for a small brand celeron? What are people thinking?
Buy a INTEL NUC Celeron + a few sticks of ram and you’ll have a better mini pc with display port, usb 3.1 for like $160
@Al I sell Intel NUC’s on eBay and I can tell you the bios issues were with the first gen and second gen NUC’s. It was bad but they have been resolved. This box is a rip off and specs can easily be matched for half the price in the US using better hardware.
And ugly looking plastics box too.