ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5 Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 26.04 on an entry-level Wildcat Lake mini PC

After checking out the ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5’s hardware with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review, we tested the entry-level Intel Core 3 304 mini PC on Windows 11, and we’ve now taken the time to test Linux on the low-cost mini PC with Ubuntu 26.04.

In this article, we’ll report our experience installing Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS, checking system information, running benchmarks, evaluating storage and networking (2.5GbE and WiFi 6) performance, running a stress test to monitor thermal throttling, and measuring fan noise and power consumption of the mini PC.

Installing Ubuntu 26.04.1

For this test, we installed Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS alongside Windows 11. We started by shrinking the Windows (C:) partition by about half to free up space for the Linux installation. We then plugged in the USB drive and began the installation process.

However, the first installation attempt failed because the system reported an error during installation: “No journal files were found.”

This didn’t seem BIOS-related, but after we set Secure Boot to Disabled in the BIOS, the issue was somehow resolved…

After that, the installation went smoothly, and we didn’t encounter any other issues.

Kron Mini K5 System Information on Ubuntu 26.04.1

Going to the Settings -> About window shows the mini PC model name as “Default String”, but the rest of the information looks correct, including the 12GB of memory,  the penta-core Intel Core 3 304 processor with Intel Graphics (WCL), a 512GB SSD, and the Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS operating system with Linux 7.0.0-42.

We can check additional information with inxi:

Inxi reports an Intel Core 3 304 processor with 5 cores clocked at up to 4,500MHz (P-core) and 3,300MHz (E-cores), Intel Graphics (WCL) GPU, 2.5GbE port via a Realtek RTL8125 controller, and Wi-Fi 6 (and Bluetooth 5.2) via Realtek RTL8852BE chipset. The storage device is a CF620 SSD with 476.94 GiB capacity. The idle CPU temperature is 44.5°C, but we’ll check that in more detail below.

Ubuntu 26.04 benchmarks on the ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5 mini PC

We started benchmarks with the sbc-bench script:

7-Zip averaged 17,430 MIPS in multi-threaded mode with relatively stable performance (three runs at 17557, 17384, and 17343) and 5,051 MIPS in single-threaded mode. The throttling test, which raised the CPU temperature from 55°C to 80°C, showed that the P-core speed remained at 4.284GHz and the E-cores at about 3.278GHz, with no decrease in the measured maximum speed after the test. This test shows that the Kron Mini K5 can maintain consistent CPU speeds under continuous load.

We also checked the power limits:

The PL1 and PL2 power limits are set to 22W (PBP) and 35W (MTP), respectively, while PL4 (Peak Power) is set to 60W. These are the same values as in the Windows 11 review.

The Geekbench 7.1.0 benchmark allows us to further test single-core and multi-core performance.

The Kron Mini K5 achieved 2,294 points in the single-core tests and 6,299 points in the multi-core tests.

Since the Wildcat Lake processor has a built-in AI accelerator, we also tried Geekbench AI. However, by default, the program only detects the CPU backend:

To fix the GPU issue, we installed some additional packages from the official Intel/Kobuk Graphics PPA:

After rebooting, the system could detect the GPU:

Additionally, we enabled the NPU by installing the driver as we did in the GEEKOM IT13 Max review, but the NPU was not detected in Geekbench AI, just like in the Intel Ultra 9 185H mini PC.

Let’s run Geekbench AI on CPU (OpenVINO) to have a reference:

Geekbench AI 1.7.0 results: 903 points (Single Precision), 632 points (Half Precision), and 2,562 points (Quantized).

Let’s now do that on the GPU:

The Geekbench AI test via OpenVINO GPU on Ubuntu encountered an error during GPU processing.

Interestingly, it’s the same result and error as on the LattePanda Mu Ultra development kit (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, Lunar Lake) that Kumpee just reviewed. However, the GPU test worked just fine on the GEEKOM IT13 Max mini PC.

Next, we tested GPU performance with Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0.

The Intel Core 3 304 mini PC scored 419 points with an average frame rate of 16.6 FPS at the standard resolution of 1920×1080.

Let’s now test YouTube 4K and 8K video playback.

YouTube 4K 30 FPS video playback on Firefox works great with almost no dropped frames (2/10,065).

Similar result at 4K 60 FPS, although 208 frames were dropped out of 18,118 frames during a 5-minute test.

However, we can’t say the same for YouTube 8K 30 FPS video playback, with 1,559 frames dropped out of 4,617 frames.

So we tested it in Chrome, but it didn’t help, and the video was also unwatchable with stuttering.

Unsurprisingly, YouTube 8K 60 FPS playback was a complete disaster, with virtually all frames dropped (1,514 frames dropped out of 1,576 frames).

Same result with Chrome. So YouTube 4K video playback works pretty well, but it is not suitable for YouTube 8K playback. That’s completely different from our experience on Windows 11, where the system can handle up to 8K 60 FPS (4320p60) without issues. It’s not specific to this model, as 8K video playback was also problematic on the Beelink EQi 304 mini PC on Ubuntu 26.04.

Next, we evaluated web browsing performance using Speedometer 2.0 on Firefox, where the Krom Mini K5 managed 564 runs per minute.

Since Speedometer 2.0 is now deprecated, we tested the system again with Speedometer 3.1 on Firefox. Score: 31.9 points.

ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5 Ubuntu benchmark comparison against other entry-level mini PCs

Next, we compared the Ubuntu benchmark scores of the ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5 mini PC with the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake 304 and the GEEKOM A5 2026 Edition (AMD Ryzen 5 7530U) mini PCs.

Here’s a quick comparison of the main specifications for the three systems

Here are the benchmark results.

As should be expected, the Kron Mini K5 performs about the same as the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake Core 3 304 mini PC. However, there are two exceptions. First, memory bandwidth is quite lower, but this can be explained by the different RAM speeds: 5600MT/s vs 6400 MT/s. Second, the Speedometer 2.0 and 3.1 scores are significantly higher in the Kron Mini K5. We suspect performance improvements between July 2026 (Beelink review) and now to explain the difference, as otherwise it doesn’t make any sense.

Compared to the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U 6-core/12-thread mini PC, the Kron Mini K5 offers better single-core performance, but the AMD system is still better for multi-core workloads and 3D graphics.

Storage and USB testing

We used the iozone program to test the 512GB NVMe SSD that comes with the mini PC.

The results show a read speed of about 1,708 MB/s and a write speed of about 1,599 MB/s, which is consistent with the CrystalDiskMark results on Windows 11, which had a read speed of 1,780.49 MB/s and a write speed of 1,675.72 MB/s. It’s an entry-level to mid-range NVMe SSD in terms of performance.

Next, we double-checked the speeds of the six USB 3.2 Type-A ports and the single USB 3.2 Type-C port using the ORICO M234C3-U4 M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure.

Here’s the output for the USB 3.2 Type-C (10/20Gbps) port for reference.

That’s the output for the front left USB 3.2 Type-A (5Gbps) port:

Here is a summary for all seven USB ports:

• Front panel
  • USB-C port – USB 3.2 – 10 Gbps – Read speed: 1,010 MB/s; Write speed: 1,004 MB/s
  • USB-A port #1 – USB 3.2 – 10 Gbps – Read speed: 1,012 MB/s; Write speed: 999 MB/s
  • USB-A port #2 – USB 3.2 – 10 Gbps* – Read speed: 1,005 MB/s; Write speed: 994 MB/s
• Rear panel
  • USB-A port #1 (top, left) – USB 3.2 – 5 Gbps – Read speed: 441 MB/s; Write speed: 449 MB/s
  • USB-A port #2 (top, right) – USB 3.2 – 5 Gbps – Read speed: 441 MB/s; Write speed: 448 MB/s
  • USB-A port #3 (bottom, left) – USB 3.2 – 5 Gbps – Read speed: 439 MB/s; Write speed: 448 MB/s
  • USB-A port #4 (bottom, right) – USB 3.2 – 5 Gbps – Read speed: 440 MB/s; Write speed: 448 MB/s

The results are as advertized. Use the USB ports on the front panel if you require the best possible performance.

* Remark: The USB-C port is advertised as 20 Gbps, but we don’t have hardware to test that speed, so it fell back to 10 Gbps.

Network performance (2.5GbE and Wi-Fi 6)

We then tested the 2.5GbE networking performance on the Kron Mini K5 using iperf3.21 and the UP Xtreme i11 Edge mini PC on the other end.

• Download

• Upload

• Full duplex (bidirectional)

Excellent results.

We added the Xiaomi Mi Router AX6000 to our testbeds to test WiFi 6 at 5 GHz band.

• Download

• Upload

Download speed is 824 Mbps, and upload speed is 809 Mbps. That’s similar to our results on Windows 11, and sufficient for high-resolution video streaming, file transfers, and general network use.

Stress test/thermal performance evaluation

We used the command stress -c 5 to test the performance of all 5 CPU cores simultaneously, while monitoring the package temperature and CPU frequency using PSensor and the sbc-bench script.

The CPU typically idles at a temperature of about 44–45°C. When the stress test began, the CPU temperature increased almost instantly to about 90–91°C. The CPU frequency shortly topped at 4.2 GHz (P core) and 3.3 GHz (E cores), before stabilizing at 3.5-3.6 GHz (P core) and 2.7 GHz (E core). Thermal throttling doesn’t occur, as power limits are hit before the CPU temperature reaches Tjunction.

The mini PC has a cooling fan that operates fairly quietly, although it’s noisier under heavy loads. We used a sound level meter placed about  5 cm above the case:

• Idle: 37.0 – 37.3 dBA
• Stress test on 5 cores: 46.3 – 47.0 dBA

For reference, the sound level meter reports about 36.3 – 36.7 dBA in a quiet room. As noted in the Windows review, the noise level is quite higher under load than on the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake Core 3 304 mini PC.

Kron Mini K5 power consumption on Ubuntu 26.04

The Kron Mini K5 can be powered via a 19V/3.42A adapter and supports USB-C PD up to 100W. We tested both:

19V / 3.42A power adapter with wall meter:

• Power off – 0.7 W
• Idle – 4.3 – 4.5 W
• YouTube 4K60fps (Firefox) – 14.0 – 16.5 W
• Stress test on 5 cores
  • First few seconds – 35.0 – 37.6 W
  • Longer run – 27.3 – 28.0 W

USB-C PD tested using the Sabrent Voltik 252W charging station‘s integrated display:

• Powered off – 0.2-0.4 W
• Idle – 3.4 – 4.2 W
• YouTube 4K60fps (Firefox) – 13.6 – 16.5 W
• Stress test on 5 cores
  • First few seconds – 29.8 – 30.0 W
  • Longer run – 25.2 – 25.6 W

Note: During measurements, the mini PC was connected to Wi-Fi 6, an RF dongle plugged into one USB-A port for a wireless keyboard, a wired mouse via a USB-A port, and a 32-inch KTC A32Q8 4K monitor via the DisplayPort 1.4 connector.

Conclusion

The ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5 with Intel Core 3 304 (Wildcat Lake) works quite well on Ubuntu 26.04 for general use. It delivers strong single-core performance, 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 networking, supports up to three 4K displays through HDMI, DP, and USB-C ports, and plays 4K YouTube videos smoothly up to 60 FPS. We didn’t detect any thermal throttling during stress tests either. The most obvious downside is that 8K YouTube videos are unwatchable, but that may not be that big of an issue since video output is limited to 4K.

Compared to the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake Core 3 304 mini PC, it lacks 10GbE and Thunderbolt 4/USB4 high-speed interfaces, the memory has lower capacity and bandwidth (12GB LPDDR5-5600 vs 16GB LPDDR5-6400), and it’s not as quiet as the Beelink mini PC under load. While the 512 GB NVMe SSD included in the ACEMAGIC Kron Mini K5 can be considered “entry-level” to “mid-range”, it’s still faster than the 512 GB UFS found in the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake. Having said that, both have two NVMe SSD sockets, so upgrades are possible.

We would like to thank ACEMAGIC for sending the Kron Mini K5 (Intel Core 3 304) for review. The 12GB+512GB model reviewed here is sold for $399.99  on Amazon, or you can get the 12GB/256GB model for $379.99 in the same link.

CNXSoft: This article is a translation – with some additional insights – of the original review on CNX Software Thailand by Suthinee Kerdkaew.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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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