MSI has announced a new variant of its Cubi N family of mini PCs with the MSI Cubi N JSL mini PC powered by a Jasper Lake processor either an Intel Celeron N4500 or a Pentium Silver N6000.
The 0.45L computer also comes with up to 16GB dual-channel DDR4 memory, NVMe and SATA storage, HDMI and VGA outputs, and four USB 3.2 ports.
MSI Cube N JSL specifications:
- SoC (one or the other)
- Intel Celeron N4500 dual-core processor @ 1.1GHz / 2.8GHz (Burst frequency) with Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP
- Intel Pentium N6000 Silver quad-core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 3.1GHz (Burst frequency) with Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP
- System Memory – 2x DDR4 2933MHz SO-DIMMs, Up to 16 GB
- Storage
- 2x M.2 SSD combo (NVMe PCIe Gen3x2)
- 1x 2.5-inch HDD/SSD
- Video Output – 1x HDMI 1.4 up to 4Kp30 (TBC), 1x VGA
- Audio
- Realtek ALC233 audio codec
- 1x Mic-in/Headphone-out
- Digital audio output via HDMI
- Connectivity
- Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port via Realtek 8111H
- WiFi 5 up to 433 Mbps and Bluetooth 5.1 with Intel Wireless AC 9462 OR WiFi 6 up to 2.4 Gbps and Bluetooth 5.2 with Intel Wireless AX201
- USB – 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A ports, 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type A ports
- Security – Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
- Misc – Power button with LED
- Power Supply – 45W via DC jack
- Dimensions – 116 x 112 x 50.47 mm (~0.45L)
- Weight – 500 grams
The mini PC comes with a power supply and cord, a warranty card & warranty book, as well as optional VESA mount kit (100 x 100 mm), user manual, and quick guide.
MSI Cubi N JSL will ship with either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro, with the company recommending the latter for business. There’s no mention of Linux support.
No official pricing was announced, but connection.com has both models listed, albeit out of stock, for $275.58 for the Celeron N4500 model (CUBI N JSL-006US), and $316.88 for CUBI N JSL-005US with a Pentium Silver N6000 processor. It’s not the first Jasper Mini mini PC we cover, but that’s one of the first with pricing, as there was no such information for the competing GIGABYTE GB-BMCE-4500C and Intel Atlas Canyon NUC mini PCs.
Additional information, including multilingual user manuals as well as Windows 10 64-bit drivers, can be found on the product page.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
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 wonder why they didn’t pack the more powerful versions of the CPU’s, N4505 and N6005. It seems a little bit low on power for a mini PC of that size. From 6W to 10W isn’t much but maybe this one is fanless as well, so that would explain it. I wonder if they could have included a small low noise fan and use the 10W CPU’s, it would have been a nice bump on performance 🙂
> maybe this one is fanless
Nope.
In addition to the Gemini Lake vs. Jasper Lake comparison from Jean-Luc there: https://www.cnx-software.com/2021/01/12/intel-jasper-lake-n-series-launched-with-6w-celeron-and-10w-pentium-silver-processors/
The readers should also be aware that the mainstream boxes from Gigabyte, MSI, others (?) do not have the same purpose as the SBC from Hard Kernel, Seeed, others (?). The former privilege with USB 3 Gen 2, Wireless AX for desktop-like usage. The latter are more friendly to DIY users. This results in a different HSIO lanes utilization which are 6 PCIe Gen 2 with Gemini Lake, 8 PCIe Gen 3 with Jasper Lake. The difference shows up in the number of lanes dedicated to the NVMe slot. Two lanes for the former, four lanes for the latter.
Example with Gemini Lake:
# Odroid H2+
sudo lspci -vv -s 01:00.0 | grep Width
LnkCap: Port #8, Speed 8GT/s, Width x8, ASPM L0s, Exit Latency L0s unlimited
LnkSta: Speed 5GT/s (downgraded), Width x4 (downgraded)
# Seeed ODYSSEY-X86J4105
sudo lspci -vv -s 01:00.0 | grep Width
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 8GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L1, Exit Latency L1 <8us
LnkSta: Speed 5GT/s (downgraded), Width x4 (ok)
# Gigabyte MZGLKAP-00 (aka Brix-GB-BLCE-4105)
sudo lspci -vv -s 01:00.0 | grep Width
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 8GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L1, Exit Latency L0s <1us, L1 <8us
LnkSta: Speed 5GT/s, Width x2, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
Both the H2+ and Odyssey enable know-how users to adapt the NVMe slot as a PCIe Gen 2 x4 lanes slot for using PCIe cards. In the example above, the Gigabyte box does not.
Both the H2+ and Odyssey bring 2 NICs, allowing for router making. The Gigabyte box does not (unless you start playing with USB adapters.)
The H2+ tops the list with 2 x 2.5 GbE NICs, plus 4 more with the H2 Net card.
The Seeed brings 40 Pi compatible GPIO + Arduino Coprocessor.
The Seeed ODYSSEY-X86 v2 pushes the limits joining the H2+ with 2 x 2.5 GbE NICs but more importantly goes beyond with Tiger Lake up to 4C/8T, plus 1 PCIe x4 Gen 3 or 4 depending on price. Pricing and TDO go up too.
CONCLUSION
These boxes or DIY SBC boards target different types of user.
The blurring of the frontier between x86 and ARM small boards continues unabated.
ARM still reigns supreme in terms of power consumption for always ON systems.
VGA and HDMI 1.4 in 2021?
Kills the appeal stone dead for me.
That seemed odd. By contrast, the M.2 slots are NVMe-capable, which is quite modern, compared to systems with SATA-onlhy M.2 slots.