iKOOLCORE R1 review – A quad 2.5GbE mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, Proxmox

iKOOLCORE R1 review

When I first saw the iKOOLCORE R1 I was fascinated that a mini PC of similar size to the smallest fully functional ones available (think Chuwi LarkBox, GMK NucBox or ECS LIVA Q Series) could be equipped with four 2.5 gigabit Ethernet (2.5GbE) ports. I approached iKOOLCORE who kindly provided an R1 for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 and dabbled with using hypervisors on this mini PC through Proxmox virtual environment. iKOOLCORE R1 specifications iKOOLCORE list the R1 specifications on their website as: Of note are the ‘EC, FCC, RoHS’ certifications indicating both European conformity and approval for use in the US. Technically ‘EC’ refers to an ‘EC declaration of conformity’ which is not a certificate, however, the ‘EC declaration of conformity’ is called a ‘CE statement’ or ‘CE certificate’ which is why you often see this abbreviated as ‘CE’. The rest […]

$85+ NanoPi R6C 2.5GbE router and SBC gets M.2 NVMe SSD socket

NanoPi R6C SBC router RK3588S

FriendlyElec has come up with a low-cost version of the NanoPi R6S with the NanoPi R6C router/SBC based on the same Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor but offering just one Gigabit Ethernet port and one 2.5GbE port, and adding an M.2 NVMe SSD socket for storage. The NanoPi R6C is also offered with 4GB or 8GB RAM, an optional 32GB eMMC flash soldered on the board, a Micro SD card socket, an 8K capable HDMI 2.1, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, and a few extra features we’ll discuss further below. NanoPi R6C specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with: CPU – 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with OpenGL ES3.2 / OpenCL 2.2 / Vulkan1.1 support VPU – 8Kp60 H.265/VP9/AVS2 video decoder, 8Kp30 H.264 decoder, 4Kp60 AV1 decoder, 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder AI […]

V600 Alder Lake Mini PC features Thunderbolt 4 port, dual 2.5GbE, up to Core i9-12900H CPU

V600 mini PC

V600 mini PC is equipped with an Alder Lake processor from Core i5-1240P up to a Core i9-12900H, up to 64GB RAM, and high-speed interfaces such as Thunderbolt 4 and dual 2.5GbE networking. The mini PC also comes with two M.2 NVMe sockets, one PCIe Gen 4, one Gen 3, and support for SATA drives up to 7mm thick, offers three 4K-capable video outputs with HDMI and DisplayPort video interfaces, and several other USB 3.2/2.0 ports. V600 specifications: Alder Lake-P/H SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1260P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.40/4.70GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 28W PBP Intel Core i5-1240P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.30/4.40GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 28W PBP Intel Core i7-12700H 6P+8E (20 threads) processor @ 3.5 /4.7 GHz with 96EU Intel Xe graphics; 45W PBP Intel Core i9-12900H 6P+8E (20 threads) processor @ 3.8/5.0 GHz with 96EU Intel Xe graphics; 45W PBP […]

RAKwireless programmable 5G & LoRaWAN small cell device runs Ubuntu on Raspberry Pi CM4

RAKwireless 5G small cell

RAKwireless “All-in-One 5G” is a programmable 64-bit Ubuntu indoor device that integrates AGW (access gateway) through a Raspberry Pi CM4 as well as 5G and 4G LTE cellular and LoRaWAN connectivity. The device is powered through its 2.5GbE PoE++ port and designed for private 5G networks for industrial automation, public safety, and transportation, and RAKwireless says you can also “start earning cryptocurrency by providing LTE cellular and LoRa coverage”, but I could not find details about monetization at this time. RAKwireless “All-in-One 5G” specifications: SoM (AGW) – Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor with 4GB RAM and 32 eMMC flash, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity 5G/4G cellular connectivity LTE Mode- TDD Frequency Bands – Band 48 (3550 MHz to 3700 MHz); band N78 is also supported for global coverage Channel Bandwidth5/10/15/20 MHz Max TX Power – 24 dBm Receiver Sensitivity – -100 dBm Built-in 2-port […]

Beelink SER6 Pro mini PC review – Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, and USB4

Beelink SER6 Review

Beelink upgraded their earlier SER6, which used an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H processor with integrated AMD Radeon 660M graphics, and released the SER6 Pro which has a faster AMD Ryzen 7 6800H processor with much more powerful integrated AMD Radeon 680M graphics. Beelink kindly sent a SER6 Pro unit for review however since receiving the mini PC, Beelink have ‘refreshed’ the processor to use an AMD Ryzen 7 7735H also with AMD Radeon 680M graphics, and called it the SER6 Pro Refresh. As a result, this review looks at Windows performance which should be indicative for both versions, together with a quick look at running Ubuntu and also a more detailed look at the USB4 port which is a new inclusion to Beelink’s mini PCs. Update: you may be interested in the review of the Beelink SER6 Pro 7735HS – in Windows 11 only – as we’ve also received it […]

KC12 Alder Lake-P mini PC supports up to 64GB RAM, four displays, and dual 2.5GbE

Alder Lake-P Mini PC quad display dual 2.5GbE

KC12 is a mini PC powered by either an Intel Core i5-1240P or Core i7-1260P Alder Lake-P hybrid processor with up to 64GB DDR4, SATA and NVMe storage options, HDMI and DisplayPort for up to four 4K displays, as well as two 2.5GbE networking interfaces. The actively-cooled computer also comes with six USB ports, four of which are USB 3.x, audio jacks for a headphone and a microphone, an optional WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 module, an RS232 COM port, and a Kensington lock slot. KC12 mini PC specifications: Alder Lake-P SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1260P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.40/4.70GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP Intel Core i5-1240P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.30/4.40GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP System Memory – Up to 64GB RAM via 2x SO-DIMM DDR4-2666/3200 sockets Storage M.2 2280 SSD slot for SATA or NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD […]

ODROID-H3+ SBC review with “Unlimited Performance” mode and 2.5GbE Net Card

ODROID-H3+ Review with Net Card and Case Type 7

Hardkernel have added Intel Jasper Lake mini PCs to their ODROID-H series and they are known as the ODROID-H3 and ODROID-H3+. Like the discontinued ODROID-H2/H2+, this new series also supports the Net Card which will add four extra 2.5 gigabit Ethernet ports. Hardkernel kindly sent an ODROID-H3+ together with a selection of accessories for review and I’m going to look at the effect on performance when changing the Power Limit values in the UEFI (BIOS) together with the network performance of the Net Card. ODROID-H3+ hardware overview The ODROID-H3+ physically consists of a 110 x 110 mm (4.33 x 4.33-inch) motherboard complete with an Intel Pentium Silver Jasper Lake mobile N6005 processor which has 4 cores and 4 threads and can boost to 3.3 GHz and also includes Intel UHD Graphics. The processor, and nearly the entire motherboard, is covered by a large metal heat sink: The front of the […]

2.5Gbps SFP to RJ45 Ethernet adapter sells for $25 shipped

Banana Pi SFP 2.5G T adapter

Banana Pi has started selling an inexpensive 2.5Gbps SFP to RJ45 adapter for their Banana Pi BPI-R3 WiFi 6 router board that goes for $17.89 plus shipping ($25 shipped here) on Aliexpress. The BPI-R3 router includes five Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports as well as two 2.5GbE SFP cages, but since not everybody has equipment that takes SFP cables, they used to sell it with a $30 TP-Link adapter. The company now appears to have found a cheaper model marked “SFP-2.5G-T” module that works with their board. It’s designed to be inserted into one of the 2.5GbE SFP cages and provide a more common 2.5GbE RJ45 port to the user. There’s very little information about the module except its designed with an up to 100-meter cable, and the serial number BT2211010016 only points to Banana Pi’s Wiki. But I don’t think the company designed its own adapter and found another Wiki […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC