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July 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 24.04 on an Intel Core i7-1280P mini PC

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition review performance ubuntu 24.04

We’ve already checked out GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC’s hardware with an unboxing and a teardown, and tested the Intel Core i7-1280P mini PC with Windows 11 Pro in detail in the second part of the review. We’ve now had time to test the Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC with Ubuntu 24.04, so we’ll report our experience with Linux in the third part of the review. We’ll specifically go through system information, test key features, benchmark the system and compare it against the earlier Mini IT12 “2023 Edition” powered by an Intel Core i7-12650H processor, because checking out storage and USB performance, WiFi 6 and 2.5GbE network performance, stress testing the mini PC, and finally measuring fan noise and power consumption. Ubuntu 24.04 installation We decided to install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS alongside Windows 11 in a dual-boot configuration, so we resized the Windows 11 partition by about […]

July 8, 2025July 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

NanoPi R76S dual 2.5GbE SBC and router supports up to 16GB LPDDR5, M.2 WiFi module, HDMI 2.0 video output

We just wrote about the NanoPi R3S LTS dual gigabit Ethernet SBC and router with HDMI output and a speaker connector last week, but FriendlyELEC is back again with the similar NanoPi R76S equipped with two 2.5GbE ports, HDMI video output, an M.2 socket for a WiFi/Bluetooth SDIO module, and a more powerful Rockchip RK3576 octa-core SoC coupled with up to 16GB LPDDR5. Like its predecessors, the NanoPi R76S is offered as a bare board or with a metal enclosure. It comes with a 32GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot, a USB 3.0 port for storage or wireless expansion, a USB-C port for power, a small 8-pin GPIO FPC connector, and a few buttons and LEDs. NanoPi R76S specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3576 CPU – Octa-core CPU with 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 2.0 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL […]

July 4, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

System76 Meerkat Linux mini PC gets Raptor Lake or Arrow Lake upgrade up to Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor

System76 Meerkat Arrow Lake Linux mini PC

System76’s Meerkat Linux mini PC family has been around for many years, and last time we covered it, the company offered it with a choice of Alder Lake processors, and Ubuntu 22.04 or Pop!_OS 22.04 operating systems. The latest iteration of the Meerkat Linux mini PC is now powered by the newest generation Raptor Lake or Arrow Lake processors up to the Intel Core Ultra 7 255H and ships with Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS with built-in encryption, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS distributions. System76 Meerkat “Meer10” specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core 3 100U hexa-core (2P+4E) Raptor Lake processor up to 4.7GHz with 10MB cache, 64EU Intel Graphics @ 1.25 GHz ; PBP: 15W Intel Core Ultra 5 225H 14-core (4P + 8E + 2LPE) Arrow Lake processor up to 4.9 GHz with 18MB cache, Intel Arc 130T GPU (63 TOPS), and Intel AI Boost (13 TOPS); […]

July 2, 2025July 2, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Avalue EPI-ARLS 4-inch EPIC SBC features LGA1851 socket for Intel Core Ultra Arrow Lake-S processors

EPI ARLS industrial SBC with LGA1851 Socket and EPIC form factor

Avalue EPI-ARLS is an Intel Core Ultra-based industrial SBC in a 4-inch EPIC (Embedded Platform for Industrial Computing) form factor. Compared to other EPIC SBCs like AAEON EPIC-ADN9, AAEON EPIC-TGH7, and VIA VAB-950, this one comes with an LGA1851 socket supporting desktop-class Arrow Lake-S CPUs, up to 35W TDP. The board supports up to 48GB DDR5-6400 via a single SO-DIMM socket, triple display output (DP 2.0, HDMI 2.0, LVDS/eDP), and up to 3x 2.5GbE ports. Additionally, it features USB 3.2, USB 2.0, COM ports for communication, TPM 2.0 for security, GPIOs, and ALC888S codec for audio. Expansion options include M.2 E-Key for Wi-Fi and dual M.2 M-Key for storage. It runs on 12V DC, supports AT/ATX mode, and comes in Q870 (3 LAN, 3 M.2) and H810 (2 LAN, 2 M.2) variants. Avalue EPI-ARLS specifications: Processor – Features LGA1851 socket and supports Intel Core Ultra (Arrow Lake-S) processors, up to […]

July 1, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

ADLINK SBC35-MTL – A 3.5-inch Intel Core Ultra SBC with up to 96GB DDR5, SBC-FM I/O expansion

ADLINK SBC35-MTL 3.5-inch SBC for high-performance edge AI applications is built around Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) SoCs with integrated AI Boost NPU, and is designed to run real-time AI applications in a small footprint. The SBC supports up to 96GB DDR5 memory, 4K quad-display output (HDMI, DP, eDP, USB-C), dual 2.5GbE, and MIPI-CSI for AI cameras. Storage options include SATA and NVMe via M.2, with expansion through M.2 B-Key and E-Key. There is also ADLINK’s SBC-FM connector for additional I/O options. Other features include TPM 2.0, USB/serial I/O, wide 12–24V input, and a compact fanless design rated for 0°C to 60°C operation. ADLINK SBC35-MTL specifications: Meteor Lake SoC – Intel Core Ultra with either 15W (MTL-U) or 28W (MTL-H) TDP options 15W (MTL-U) Intel Core Ultra 5 125U 12-core (2P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 1.3 / 4.3 GHz with 12MB cache, Intel 4Xe LPG graphics @ 1.85 GHz, Intel AI Boost […]

June 30, 2025July 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro features testing, benchmarks, power consumption

GEEKOM Mini IT12 205 Edition Mini PC review Intel Core i7-1280P Windows 11 Pro

We have already checked out the hardware of the GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review. The new model still relies on a 12th Intel processor, and simply replaced the 10-core Intel Core i7-12650H by a more powerful 14-core Intel Core i7-1280P processor still coupled with 32GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1TB M.2 SSD, although the brands and models of the RAM, storage, and wireless modules have changed. In the second part of the review, we will be testing the GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition mini PC with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro in detail, notably testing most features and running benchmarks before comparing it to the (2023 Edition) Mini IT12 mini PC with an Intel Core i7-12650H processor. We’ll also test 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 networking, cooling performance, and finally measure fan noise and power […]

June 26, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Topton N18 NAS mini-ITX motherboard ships with Intel N150 or Core i3-N305 SoC, offers 6x SATA, 10GbE, 2x 2.5GbE

Topton N18 is a mini-ITX motherboard powered by either an Intel Processor N150 Twin Lake CPU or a Core i3-N305 Alder Lake-N SoC, and suitable for NAS and networking applications with six SATA ports, a 10GbE RJ45 port, and two 2.5GbE jacks. The motherboard also features a DDR5 SO-DIMM socket for up to 64GB memory, two M.2 PCIe sockets for NVMe SSD storage, HDMI and DisplayPort video output, and up to eight USB ports via ports and internal headers. Topton N18 specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N150 quad-core Twin Lake processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 6W Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics @ 1.25 GHz; TDP: 15W System Memory – Single-channel DDR5 SO-DIMM slot fitted with up to 32GB RAM; upgradeable to 64GB […]

June 23, 2025July 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition Review – Part 1: Intel Core i7-1280P mini PC specifications, unboxing, and teardown

GEEKOM Mini IT12 Mini PC Intel Core i7-1280P review

GEEKOM Mini IT12 2025 Edition is a mini PC with three 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU options: Core i5-12450H, Core i7-1280P, and Core i9-12900HK. It supports up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB NVMe SSD, offers various ports such as HDMI 2.0, USB4, and 2.5GbE, and comes with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. GEEKOM sent us a review sample of the Mini IT12 with an Intel Core i7-1280P processor, 32GB DDR4, and a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because we previously reviewed the Mini IT12 with an Intel Core i7-12650H in December 2023/January 2024 with the same name but a different processor, and a few other changes, as we’ll see below. In the first part of the review, we will look at the specifications of the GEEKOM IT12 2025 Edition mini PC, go through an unboxing, perform a teardown to check out […]