AOOSTAR mini PC is a 3-in-1 AMD Ryzen 5 5500U mini PC with two 3.5-inch SATA bays making it usable as a NAS, and two 2.5GbE networking interfaces to use the mini PC as a software 2.5GbE router that has recently shown up on Amazon for $399.
The mini PC ships with a 512GB NVMe SSD preloaded with Windows 11 by default, as well as 16GB DDR4 memory. It can drive up to three independent 4K displays using HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C ports, and comes with five USB ports including one 10 Gbps USB Type-C port.
AOOSTAR mini PC specifications:
- SoC – AMD Ryzen 5 5500U hexa-core-12-thread processor @ up to 4.0GHz with AMD Radeon Graphics; TDP: 10-25W
- System Memory – 16GB DDR4, upgradeable up to 64GB DDR4 3200MHz (2x 32GB running in dual-channel mode)
- Storage
- 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD, 1x extra M.2 NVMe SSD socket
- 2-bay NAS compatible with 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives
- MicroSD card slot
- Video Output
- 4Kp60 video output via HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort, USB Type-C port
- Up to 3x independent display
- Audio – 2-in-1 speaker/microphone jack
- Networking
- 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Intel i226V controllers
- Dual-band WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 (AX201 module)
- USB
- 2x USB 3.0 ports up to 5 Gbps
- 2x USB 2.0 ports
- 1x USB Type-C port with support for 65W charge, transfer speeds up to 10Gbps
- Misc – 2x powerful low-noise fans, heatsink
- Power Supply – DC input jack
- Dimensions – 162 x 162 x 198 mm
- Weight – 885 grams
The Amazon page has limited information about the mini PC, but a thread on Reddit explains this model is “manufactured/assembled by ODM Dongguan Tuofuton Electronic Technology, under the trade name Topton as a NAS N1 PRO, and also under the trade name KingnovyPC”. A search for NAS N1 Pro quickly points to the device on Aliexpress sold for as low as $324 for a barebone variant without RAM and storage. So if you don’t have any use for Windows 11, you can install another operating system like Ubuntu, TrueNAS, etc…
Thanks to Ian (Linuxium) 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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Hi, I’m an employee of the AOOSTAR brand, and in fact, the model of this machine is R3… Tuofuton is our company’s authorized agent, and the machines are made by our company’s factory. This company just assembles the machines.
We’re very grateful that many websites have been promoting this machine for us recently, but you have written the information wrong, and I don’t know who to talk to about it.
Just explain here in a comment what needs to be corrected, Jean-Luc reads the comments and will be able to correct the info, and possibly even to remove that comment once done so that the article stays clean.
You posted about this device’s predecessor in September last year – https://www.cnx-software.com/2022/09/06/topton-n1-dual-bay-nas-amd-athlon-3050e-cpu-four-ethernet-ports/. You can find it all over AliExpress. Personally I think the version with the 300U CPU is the most attractive, but I didn’t want to buy their unspecified RAM + Storage, and the barebones version comes with a warning that they won’t support buyers who provide their own. So I skipped it.
Ah great, I knew I had already seen that one in the past but couldn’t find where!
Not exactly the same thing though. The housing might be pretty much the same, but all the internals appear to have changed, making this a lot more interesting than the original piece of hardware you linked to.
Is there any word about whether the SATA controller that manages the drives might be able to be passed through to a VM with IOMMU? If it can, then this thing with 64GB RAM and the ability to pass the two drives through into a VM to be used for a ZFS-based NAS would be absolutely incredible.
Does it support SMR drives as well? Many USB drive bays won’t.
Yes, it supports SMR drives, but it is more recommended to use CMR drives
It is possible to pass through the SATA controller directly and pass it through to virtual machines such as PVE.
Those Aliexpress seeler inks keeps updating over time wth different products. Hard to tell what are you got until parcel opened.