CWWK x86-P5 is a fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Alder Lake N-series N100 (quad-core) or Core i3-N305 (octa-core) and equipped with two 2.5GbE ports using Intel i226V controllers making it suitable for networking applications such as a firewall or a soft router.
But it’s also a standard mini PC with two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 3.2 ports, and up to four USB 2.0 ports making it a candidate to run Promox with both a desktop OS like Windows 11 or Ubuntu 22.04 and a networking OS such as pfSense or OpenWrt.
CWWK x86-P5 specifications:
- Alder Lake-N SoC(one or the other)
- 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 – Up to 32GB DDR5 4800 MHz via SO-DIMM socket
- Storage
- M.2 M-key 2242/2280 (PCIe 3.0 x2) socket for NVMe SSD
- 2x 12-pin non-standard SATA connectors (likely not usable in the provided enclosure…)
- Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60
- Networking
- 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Intel i226V 2.5GbE controllers
- M.2 E-Key2230 socket for WiFi 6 wireless module plus two antenna holes for external high-gain antennas.
- USB – 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports, optional 4x USB 2.0 on the front panel
- Misc
- Power button
- Buzzer
- RTC with battery
- Optional external fan for cooling
- AMI BIOS/UEFI with support for auto power on, Wake-on-LAN (WoL), network boot (PXE), and GPIO control
- Internal connectors
- 10-pin GPIO interface (4x DI, 4x DO)
- COM port header
- 2x USB 2.0 headers with (4x USB 2.0?) likely used for the four optional USB 2.0 ports on the front panel
- 2x 4-pin header for 12V CPU fan
- Power Supply – 12V via DC jack
- Dimensions – Motherboard: 90 x 90 mm; device: 112 x 100 x 40mm (aluminum alloy chassis)
- Temperature Range – -10°C to +70°C
- Relative Humidity – 5%-90% non-condensing
The SATA connectors are likely to be used with another enclosure as there does not seem to be enough space for one, let alone two, 2.5-inch drives. Unless I missed it, there’s no mention of a pre-installed operating system, but the company lists FreeNAS, Home Assistant (OS), Debian, CentOS, Ubuntu, RedHat, Android x86, pfSense, Windows, CasaOS, Node-RED, Proxmox, UnRAID, Kodi, and others… Some of those are not operating systems per se but they can be installed through an OS, for example, LibreELEC is a minimal OS based on Kodi.
While the mini PC is fanless there’s an optional 80mm fan that’s not connected through one of the 4-pin fan connector on the motherboard, but instead through one of the USB ports and attached on top of the fanless enclosure. You’d better get the model with four USB 2.0 ports if you go that router…
The x86-P5 mini PC/router can be purchased on Aliexpress or Amazon for as low as $219.99 in barebone configuration with an Intel N100 and no memory or storage, and up to $692.51 with an Intel Core i3-N305 processor, 32GB DDR5, a 1TB NVMe SSD, and the four USB 2.0 ports at the front. You’ll also find both models on CWWK website.
Via Liliputing
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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Nice specs, until you see the price at the end.
Yeah you can get something similar for almost half the price.
That USB powered fan also leaves me with a feeling of a botched product so no thanks.
Some examples of lower priced equivalent ?
Because I’m really tempted by the CWWk x86-P5.
It really depends what you value. If you just need the two 2.5G ports and don’t care about x86, you can have a look at the NanoPC-T6 for less than half the price. If you want x86 but don’t care about the latest x86 chip, there are plenty of other options presented on this site using N5105 and friends. If you want this CPU and don’t really need the 2nd ethernet port, there are other NUC-like devices presented on this site (search for N100). If you want multiple ethernet ports, you can find multiple choices on aliexpress under the brands topton, qotom etc for half the price with and older CPU. If what you want is exactly this combination and the price is fine for you, by all means, go for it! But usually people don’t need the exact combination of features and when you see small variations for half the price, it’s tempting to pass.
Fair enough.
What I want:
N100 (x86)Fanless!2 HDMI ports2.5 Gbs ethernet (1 port would be enough but 2 is great)Wifi 6E (or possibility to add it later)Ideally price for the 8 GB RAM + 128 GB SSD would be $150 (instead of being that of the barebone version)Goal is to create a Kodi HTPC.
That MINIX model meets your requirements with one 2.5GbE (not two). https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/12/06/minix-z100-0db-fanless-intel-n100-mini-pc-2-5gbe-wifi-6-networking/
It’s not the cheapest either. There’s also the M4 fanless mini PC, but with only two gigabit Ethernet ports, and I can’t find it for sale anymore…
https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/10/06/cheap-barebone-m4-fanless-mini-pc-intel-processor-n100/
There are other models for the industrial market, but they’ll be pricey.
More options would be available if you can remove the fanless requirement.
Thanks.
I saw the Minix Z100 but it’s even more expensive than the x86-P5.
No, fanless is mandatory 🙂
x86-P5 is really to closest I ever saw in the last year since I began monitoring the N100 cpus.
I’m not in a hurry, so I’m okay waiting a bit longer until prices decrease to my threshold point.
I have one of these (n100 variant) with proxmox 8.1. It was hard-locking about once per day with a good SSD and RAM installed. No kernel panics or logs or anything, just a complete freeze.
After trying a lot of things, I found out that the shipped BIOS/EFI has DDR5 on-die ECC *off* by default, even though it’s a requirement of the standard. Turning it on seems to have fixed the crashes (fingers crossed). Just a warning for those thinking about one of these.
Had the same freezing problem with N5105 – it was kernel related, with custom kernel (found it via google) proxmox runs w/o any problems.
There’s some interesting posts about this device on servethehome, reddit and a few other places. Searching for “X86-P5” should find those for you. It gets resold via a few different outlets so your mileage may vary.
Case seems quite small, just wondering, what could be max long term average load w/o fan?
I have similar N5105 Topton fanless device with larger G31 case – it is usable w/o fan as proxmox home server, if average CPU loads are <10% and if copper shim is added between CPU and case, as there was quite large gap between.
Quite pricy indeed, if you don’t need the specific form factor… just search AliExpress for n100 and see just how many alternatives there are.
Hello, I have one but I’m unable to reboot it if no mouse is connected (usb). I get a black screen with an error code 98. It looks like it’s before the BIOS boot (some sort of pre usb check). I cannot find any BIOS parameter to disable this check. Does anyone had the same issue ? Best regards
The product page doesn’t specify which voltage the RAM module should support. After I ordered on their site the variant with Intel N100 CPU, no RAM and no SSD (for $149.07), I sent an email, twice, asking for this information, but I didn’t get any reply.
I ordered this one on April 3rd, I looks like today I will receive the parcel.
I’ve had problems previously with Qotom, where they asked me to buy and try multiple RAM modules, with different voltages :)))) Like I was some f*(king tester.
I don’t know if all N100 motherboards use RAM with the same voltage, but for reference, the GEEKOM Mini Air12 uses 1.2V DDR5. See teardown: https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/12/04/review-of-geekom-mini-air12-processor-n100-mini-pc-part-1-unboxing-and-teardown/#teardown
Well, this is going to be a problem. Most DDR5 SODIMMs I found in Romania are running at 1.1 or 1.35V.