alder lake News - Page 4 of 16 - CNX Software

January 12, 2024March 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

MINIX NEO Z100-0dB fanless N100 mini PC review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first boot

MINIX Z100-0dB (or MINIX NEO Z100-0dB) is a fanless mini PC powered by the popular Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N CPU with up to 32GB RAM, up to 512GB M.2 SSD, various USB 3.2/2.0 ports, a microSD card slot, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and a 2.5GbE RJ45 jack, as well as WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless module. MINIX sent us a sample of the NEO Z100-0dB mini PC for review with 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. Since we’ve already listed the specifications in the announcement, today, we’ll go through an unboxing and a teardown before giving it a quick try booting Windows 11 Pro. We will then test the performance and features of the mini PC in detail with Windows 11 Pro and Ubuntu 22.04 (or 24.04) in the next parts of the review in several weeks. MINIX NEO […]

January 5, 2024January 6, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

TerraMaster unveils F2-424 and F4-424 2-bay/4-bay NAS systems powered by Intel Processor N95 SoC

We have already covered NAS systems based on the Alder Lake-N processor such as the 2-bay AAOSTAR R1 and the 6-bay ZimaCube both powered by an Intel Processor N95. But both are made by smaller companies, and TerraMaster has now introduced the 2-bay F2-424 and 4-bay F4-424 NAS systems equipped with an Intel Processor N95 quad-core processor. The two models ship with 8GB DDR5 memory by default, upgradable to 32GB, and feature two M.2 2280 sockets for NVMe SSDs, dual 2.5GbE networking, and two 10 Gbps-capable USB 3.2 host ports, one being a USB Type-A port, and the other a USB Type-C port. The multimedia capabilities of the Processor N95 CPU can be used through an HDMI 2.1 video output. TerraMaster F2-424 and F4-424 specifications: SoC – Inte Processor N95 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16 EU Intel UHD graphics @ up to […]

January 4, 2024March 2, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H mini PC review – Part 1: unboxing, teardown, and first boot

Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H mini PC windows 11

Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H is a Windows 11 Pro mini PC powered by an Intel Core i7-12650H Alder Lake-H processor coupled with up to 64 GB of DDR4 memory, up to 2TB of M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, and various ports such as HDMI 2.0 video output, USB Type-C and Type-A ports, gigabit Ethernet, as well as a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module. Shenzhen AZW Technology, the company behind the Beelink brand, sent us the Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H mini PC with 32GB DDR4 RAM and a 500GB M.2 SSD 500 GB for review. In the first part of the review, we’ll check out the specifications, before going through an unboxing and a teardown, and checking whether it boots to Windows 11 Pro as expected. We’ll then work on detailed reviews with both Windows 11 Pro and Ubuntu 22.04 in the next few weeks. Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H specifications SoC – […]

January 3, 2024January 2, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Fanless Intel N100 mini PC supports PoE power input, provides four 2.5GbE ports

‎NEOSMAY is selling a fanless Intel Processor N100 mini PC with support for PoE power input, four 2.5GbE ports, HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, and a choice of USB ports for $249 (after ticking the $150 coupon code) on Amazon with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SATA SSD. The mini PC also supports 12V DC power input if you don’t use PoE power input, and comes with an additional RJ45 port acting as an RS232 console. There’s no built-in wireless, but the mini PC can take a WiFi and Bluetooth module, as well as a 4G LTE or 5G module, and features a SIM card slot for the latter. Specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 8GB DDDR4-3200, upgradable to 32GB Storage 128GB M.2 SATA SSD, […]

December 31, 2023December 31, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

2023 Year in review – Top 10 posts, statistics, and what to expect in 2024

It’s the last day and last article of the year, so we will look at some highlights of 2023, some traffic statistics on the CNX Software website, and speculate what interesting developments may happen in 2024. Looking back at 2023 The semiconductor shortage that had happened since 2020 started to fade away in early 2023, and supplies for most electronics components and devices seem to be adequate at this time, so that was a bright spot this year, and hopefully, it will stay that way in 2024 despite geopolitical tensions. We did not have any super exciting new Arm application processors from Rockchip, Amlogic, or Allwinner announced this year, although the Amlogic S928X penta-core Cortex-A76/A55 CPU started to show up in some 8K TV boxes. The launch of the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 processor was probably the main highlight for Arm on this side […]

December 28, 2023March 8, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Review of Blackview MP80 (Processor N97) mini PC with Windows 11 Pro

Blackview MP80 is a tiny pocket-sized mini PC powered by either an Intel Alder Lake-N Processor N95 or Processor N97 CPU with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. We’ve already reviewed the Blackview MP80 (N95) mini PC a few months ago, but the company has now sent us the Processor N97 model for review. Both models look identical with the same ports including three HDMI 2.0 video outputs, three USB ports, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, plus a Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless module. The mini PCs are also actively cooled, and the only obvious differences are the processor (Intel N95 vs N97) and the color of the enclosure. We usually do a three-part review with the first one listing the specs, and going through an unboxing and a teardown, but for the Blackview MP80 (N97) review we will do those and […]

December 19, 2023December 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 (Core i3-N300) system review – Part2: Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense

iKOOLCORE R2 Ubuntu Promox VE dual display

In the first part of iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC & router review, I had a look at the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N computer and also noticed the device booted to a UEFI shell. So for the second part of the review, I will report my experience installing Proxmox VE on the iKOOLCORE R2 and setting up and using Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense 2.7.2, and OpenWrt 23.05 virtual machines, making sure I can still use a physical display, keyboard, and mouse with Ubuntu while pfSense firewall is running. As a side note, the previous generation iKOOLCORE R1 mini PC that was sent to Ian for review with Proxmox VE and various virtual machines preinstalled OpenWrt, Debian 11, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC set to Chinese language by default. As I understand it, iKOOLCORE still does that for the Chinese market, but not […]

December 18, 2023February 4, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Review of GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC with Windows 11 Pro (Part 2)

We’ve already done an unboxing and teardown of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC in the first part of the review and we’ve now had time to test Windows 11 Pro on the Intel Processor N100 mini PC equipped with 16GB SO-DIMM DDR5 and a 512GB M.2 SSD. Despite the low-end processor, the mini PC boots quite fast and it’s perfectly usable to browse the web, play YouTube videos, and perform other tasks like office work and photo editing. In part 2 of the review, we’ll test Windows 11 Pro thoroughly with a software overview, features testing, benchmarks, storage and network performance tests, thermal performance, fan noise, and power consumption of GEEKOM Mini Air12. Software overview and features testing Going to System->About in the Windows settings confirms we have a Mini Air12 mini PC powered by an 800 MHz (based frequency) Intel Processor N100 CPU, with 16GB of RAM, and […]