Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 369 Comments on Giveaway Week 2024 – iKOOLCORE R2 Core i3-N300 mini PC and quad 2.5GbE router

Giveaway Week 2024 – iKOOLCORE R2 Core i3-N300 mini PC and quad 2.5GbE router

Let’s end CNX Software’s Giveaway Week 2024 with a bang! The last prize is an iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC and router powered by an Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N CPU, equipped with 8GB RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD, and featuring four 2.5GbE ports.

The tiny PC also comes with HDMI and USB-C ports for dual 4K video output, an M.2 E-Key socket to install a wireless module for WiFi and Bluetooth, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port with DisplayPort Alt. mode, and a not-so-useful USB-C audio port using Realtek ALC987 codec.

iKOOLCORE R2 Proxmox review

My review of the iKOOLCORE R2 last year was a learning experience as it was the first time I used Proxmox VE and pfSense, and since I wanted to use the system both as a mini PC running Ubuntu 22.04 desktop and a router/firewall running pfSense at the same time, I had to first configure passthrough in Proxmox VE for the Intel UHD graphics and the USB ports connected to a mouse and a keyboard.

Once it was done, I could run Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop, pfSense 2.7.2, and OpenWrt 23.05 simultaneously on the system. Almost everything worked as expected with great 2.5GbE networking performance, all features working on Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop with no obvious impact on performance due to running Proxmox VE in the background. One thing that did not work for me was HDMI audio passthrough…

iKOOLCORE R2 giveaway

The giveaway prize includes the iKOOLCORE R2 with an Intel Core i3-N300, 8GB RAM, a 512GB NVME SSD, and all accessories that come in the package including a 12V/4A USB-C power supply, a VESA mount with a screw bag, a USB Type-C to DC jack in case you prefer to use your own 12V power supply, a QC passed card, and a Quick Guide.

To enter the draw simply leave a comment with your country and whatever else you’d like to say (no links in the body of the comment). If the country is missing, I’ll consider the entry void. Other rules are as follows:

  • Only one entry per contest. I will filter out entries with the same IP and/or email address.
  • Contests are open for 48 hours starting at 10 a.m. (Bangkok time) every day.
  • Comments will be closed after 48 hours. If comments are open, the contest is still going on.
  • Winners will be selected with random.org and announced in the comments section of each giveaway.
  • I’ll contact the winner by email, and I’ll expect an answer within 24 hours, or I’ll pick another winner. Note that I may not be able to contact people who log in with Facebook, Twitter, or Google, so it’s better to use an email address to enter the draw.
  • Shipping
    • $32 for registered airmail small packet or ePacket for overseas shipping payable via PayPal within 48 hours once the contest (for a given product) is complete. If PayPal is not an option in your country, we can try to find another payment solution.
    • All prizes will be shipped at the same time once we get all the winners, so around November 14.
  • I’ll make sure we have 7 different winners, so if you have already won a device during this giveaway week, I’ll draw another person.

Good luck! The iKOOLCORE R2 sample given away here sells for $389 and you can get an extra 5% off with CNXSOFT coupon code. Sadly all variants are out of stock right now, but the company says it will be restocked in January 2025.

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369 Replies to “Giveaway Week 2024 – iKOOLCORE R2 Core i3-N300 mini PC and quad 2.5GbE router”

  10. USA – been reading your site for many years and have spent a lot of money because of it. Thank you for the awesome news coverage and reviews!

  28. Canada. Reading you daily since the appearance of the first hdmi sticks (cx-01 and the like). Thanks.

  39. Wow, I’d love to make a nice wireless router out of this, with a help of m.2 riser or two!

    Belarus

  52. Morocco – It is amazing how much performance that little nugget can deliver. Thank you for the giveaway and the amazing content through all these years.

  78. Heyhey, love your content. It’s one of the tech websites in my RSS feed 😉 I’m from The Netherlands.

  90. USA – I’ve been wanting this since the original review came out. Got a NanoPi R5C until I could afford this but never got around to it.

  94. Germany
    Nice device! My cheap N100 Firebat T8 died recently, so I can make really good use of this one.

  147. Hello, Jean-Luc, Eliot from the UK, here. Would like to enter the competition, please.

    Please also ensure that my address is not kept for any reason beyond this competition alone (or for anything else other than this competition) and that once the competition is completed the email is removed from the competition systems & information storage, and all associated systems & information storage.

    Apologies for having to say all of that, I know I am unlikely to win, and that won’t help, but, yeah, sorry.

  172. Australia – Just saw the review of the R2 Max and was thinking about building a higher performance router

  191. USA I’ve always wanted a mini-pc as a server at home to learn things like homelab or just how to setup home networks.

  199. Canada-thanks for offering this prize I’ve been thinking of getting into the Linux world. This may provide the boost i need to get in there

  212. A great mini PC for home lab projects. I’ve been using an Intel J5005 with Proxmox for a couple of years, and I’m really enjoying it. Israel

  222. US I love the reviews and I think it is great you do the contest as well. It is always great to see the devices to homes that can use it.

  247. I used to get my embedded news from many sources, but now it is mostly you. Thanks for that! I live in Germany.

  250. Bulgaria – Currently experimenting with th arm64 port of Proxmox VE and hittinf some roadblocks, but it’s fun!

  264. Belgium.
    A bit surprised.
    I follow your page every day, and only now I notice the giveaway week?

  293. I’m from the US. Would love to hear about the setup and performance of pfsense behind proxmox.

  316. This is Sachin from India.
    Started reading about your review recently. Good to hear that you have something to share.

    Thanks
    Sachin

  317. I see that there is a lot of comments already but nevertheless here’a a nother one.
    Greetings from Portugal

  322. Greetings from the United States! Have been thinking about one of these for homelab router and possibly IDS

  325. Spain – And I bought an iKoolcore R2 thanks to your great review and instructions. Thanks!

  327. USA – Ouch the comment form is below all the comments.

    Would love to see feature comparisons in this space.

  360. This would definitely make for an interesting tiny home server. Also greetings from Germany.

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