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November 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Maxtang T0-FP750 review – Part 3: An AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS mini PC tested with Ubuntu 24.04

Maxtang T0-FP750 mini PC Ubuntu 24.04 review

We’ve already checked out the hardware of the Maxtang T0-FP750 mini PC with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review, before thoroughly testing the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS mini PC in Windows 11 Pro. The time has now come to report our experience with Ubuntu 24.04, and more exactly Ubuntu 24.04.1 “dot” release, with the Maxtang T0-FT750 mini PC in the final part of the review. This will include a software overview, feature tests, benchmarks, storage and USB performance evaluation, 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6 network performance tests, a stress test to check for thermal and/or power throttling, and fan noise and power consumption measurements. We will also compare the results of the Maxtang T0-FP750 mini PC in Ubuntu 24.04 against the ones for the earlier Maxtang MTN-FP750 mini PC using AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS CPU which we tested with Ubuntu 22.04. Ubuntu 24.04 system […]

November 8, 2024November 17, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite Review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first boot

GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite is a mini PC based on Intel Processor N100 CPU whose unique feature is to include an external 9-pin expansion header port for expansion to add an external power button, a reset button, and a few LEDs. As its name implies, it’s also a cheaper version of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 that ships with 8GB DDR4-3200 memory and a 256GB NVMe SSD. The mini PC also features HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, and six USB 3.2/2.0 ports. GEEKOM sent us a sample of the Mini Air12 Lite for review. So today, we’ll start by checking out the hardware with an unboxing and teardown, before trying to boot it up, and we’ll then test the system in more detail with Windows 11 and Ubuntu 24.04.1 in the next parts of the review. GEEKOM Mini Air12 Lite unboxing We received the […]

November 7, 2024November 8, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 Max 10GbE mini PC review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first boot

Dual 10GbE Dual 2.5GbE Intel N100 mini PC soft router

iKOOLCORE R2 Max is an Alder Lake-N mini PC, server, and soft router equipped with two 10GbE and two 2.5GbE ports and offered with either an Intel Processor N100 quad-core CPU, or a more powerful Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor. When iKOOLCORE offered me an R2 Max sample for review, I explained I did not own any 10GbE networking gear. So the company decided to send me two samples for testing 10 Gbps Ethernet networking: a fanless Intel N100 model and an actively-cooled Core i3-N305 model. Since we’ve already gone through the specifications in the first article, I’ll start the iKOOLCORE R2 Max review with an unboxing, a teardown, and a first boot. In the second part of the review, I’ll use Proxmox, OpenWrt, Ubuntu, and/or other operating systems to test the devices using one as a DUT (Device Under Test) and the other as a 10GbE server. iKOOLCORE R2 […]

November 5, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Rikomagic RKM MK42 Intel N100 mini PC targets business applications such as digital signage

Rikomagic RKM MK42 is yet another Intel Processor N100 mini PC but geared towards business applications such as digital signage, retail kiosks, or IoT gateway rather than home use. The mini PC ships with 12GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, and offers dual GbE, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, dual 4K display setups through HDMI and DP++ ports, and five USB ports for expansion. Rikomaigc RKM MK42 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ up to 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 12GB RAM Storage – 512GB SSD Video Output HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60 DisplayPort++ connector up to 4Kp60 Up to 2x independent 4K displays Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, digital audio output via HDMI and DP++ Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 USB – […]

October 31, 2024November 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

GEEKOM GT1 Mega AI mini PC Review – Part 1: Specifications, unboxing, teardown, and first boot

GEEKOM GT1 Mega is an AI mini PC based on the latest Intel Core Ultra 5/7/9 Meteor Lake processor. We received a review sample from the company with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H SoC, 32GB DDR5 memory, and a 2TB NVMe SSD as well as an Intel BE200 WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 module. As usual, we’ll do a three-part review starting with an article with the specifications, an unboxing, and a teardown followed by a thorough review with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro operating system, and finally with the latest Ubuntu 24.04.1 OS. GEEKOM GT1 Mega specifications GEEKOM provides the following specifications for the GT1 Mega mini PC and motherboard: Meteor Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 16-core (6P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 2.5 / 3.8 / 5.1 GHz (Turbo) with 24MB cache, 8x Xe-cores Intel Arc graphics @ 2.35 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; […]

October 31, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Intel Processor N150 and N250, Core i3-N355 Alder Lake-N Refresh SoCs show up in ASUS NUC 14 Essential mini PCs

Intel Processor N150, Processor N250, and Core i3-N355 new Alder Lake-N processors have recently shown up in the upcoming ASUS NUC 14 Essential mini PCs and offer a small performance boost compared to existing variants such as the N100, N200, and Core i3-N305. The upcoming NUC 14 Essential family also includes one model with the existing Processor N97 CPU, supports up to three 4K displays via HDMI, DP, and USB-C connectors, offers 2.5 GbE networking, six USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and a single USB 2.0 port. ASUS NUC 14 Essential (NUC14MNK) specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N150 quad-core processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, Intel graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N250 quad-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, Intel graphics; […]

October 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 Max Alder Lake-N mini PC/server features two 10GbE and two 2.5GbE ports

The iKOOLCORE R2 Max is an Alder Lake-N-powered firewall/gateway/server/mini PC that is offered with either an Intel Processor N100 or Core i3-N305 CPU, and equipped with two 10GbE ports and two 2.5GbE ports. It builds upon the iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC and router which we reviewed with Promox VE, Ubuntu 22.04, and pfSense and features four 2.5GbE ports in a smaller form factor. The new R2 Max model uses the N100/Core i3-N305 CPU instead of the N95/Core i3-N300, supports up to 48GB SO-DIMM memory, features a wider yet thinner design, and provides support for both 10GbE and 2.5GbE networking. iKOOCORE R2 Max specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N100 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 15W System Memory – 8GB, […]

October 11, 2024October 15, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

MINIX NEO Z300-0dB fanless mini PC features Intel Core i3-N300 8-core CPU

MINIX NEO Z300-0dB is a fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Core i3-N300 octa-core Alder Lake-N CPU with 16GB DDR4 and up to a 512GB NVMe SSD. It built upon the MINIX NEO Z100-0dB that we reviewed with both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 and performed well albeit not quite as fast as some actively-cooled models. The NEO Z300-0dB brings a faster Core i3-N300 octa-core processor and from what I can see from the specs below, the other features remain the same. MINIX NEO Z300-0dB specifications: SoC – Intel Core i3-N300 octa-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 7W System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB DDDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory, upgradable to 32GB Storage 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB M.2 SSD (PCIe Gen3 x4), upgradable up to 4TB (compatible with SATA SSD too) MicroSD card slot Video Output 2x HDMI […]