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April 23, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Zimaboard 2 – An Intel N150 micro server and mini PC with dual SATA, dual 2.5GbE, PCIe slot, miniDP (Crowdfunding)

ZimaBoard 2 is a compact Intel Processor N150 “Twin Lake” mini PC and micro server with two 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, two SATA ports, two USB 3.1 ports, and a 4K-capable miniDP video output. It built upon the company’s ZimaBoard introduced in 2021 with an Apollo Lake processor, but offers a much faster Intel N150 CPU, LPDDR5x memory, 2.5GbE networking instead of gigabit Ethernet, and a PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 slot as opposed to a PCIe Gen 2.0 x4 slot. Two variants are offered: one with 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash and the other in a 16GB/64GB configuration. Zimaboard 2 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N150 quad-core “Twin Lake” processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1000 MHz; PBP: 6W (but set to 10W here) System Memory and Storage ZimaBoard 2 832 – 8GB LPDDR5X 4800MHz; 32GB eMMC flash ZimaBoard 2 1664 […]

April 17, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

HoneyComb Ryzen V3000 – An AMD Ryzen V3C18I mini-ITX motherboard with dual 10Gbps SFP+, 2.5GbE, dual SATA III

SolidRun HoneyComb Ryzen V3000 is a mini-ITX motherboard powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C18I processor, supporting up to 64GB of DDR5 memory and M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage, and equipped with two 10 Gbps Ethernet SFP+ cages, a 2.5GbE RJ45 jack, and two SATA III ports for advanced networking and storage applications. The solution is comprised of a mini-ITX motherboard and a Ryzen V3000 CX7 COM Express module, which the company introduced in 2022. As an industrial motherboard, it’s designed to operate in the -40°C to +85°C temperature range. HoneyComb Ryzen V3000 specifications: Ryzen V3000 CX7 COM Express module SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C18I octa-core/16-thread processor clocked at 1.9 GHz / 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 4 MB L2 cache and 16 MB L3 cache; TDP: 15W System Memory – Up to 64GB (2x 32GB), ECC/Non-ECC DDR5 memory up to 4800 MT/s via two SODIMM sockets. Dimensions – 125 […]

December 17, 2024December 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 Max review – Part 2: 10GbE on an Intel N100 mini PC with OpenWrt (QWRT), Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 24.04 and pfSense 2.7.2

iKOOLCORE R2 Max Review Proxmox VE Ubuntu 22.04

I’ve already checked out iKOOLCORE R2 Max hardware in the first part of the review with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel N100 system with two 10GbE ports and two 2.5GbE ports. I’ve now had more time to test it with an OpenWrt fork, Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 24.04, and pfSense, so I’ll report my experience in the second and final part of the review. As a reminder, since I didn’t have any 10GbE gear so far, iKOOLCORE sent me two R2 Max devices, a fanless model and an actively-cooled model. I was told the fanless one was based on Intel N100 SoC, and the actively-cooled one was powered by an Intel Core i3-N305 CPU, but I ended up with two Intel N100 devices. The fanless model will be an OpenWrt 23.05 (QWRT) server, and the actively cooled variant be the device under test/client with Proxmox VE 8.3 server […]

December 13, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

HUNSN RJ42 and RJ43 Intel N150 fanless network appliances and mini PCs come with four 2.5GbE ports, four video outputs

We’ve previously seen the new Intel N150 “Twin Lake” processor in mini PCs such as Beelink EQ14 and ASUS NUC 14 Essential among others, but the new quad-core CPU is now also found in HUNSN RJ42 and RJ43 fanless network appliances with four 2.5GbE RJ45 ports. They also double as mini PCs with multiple video outputs and USB ports. The mini PCs ship with up to 32GB RAM and 512GB of storage, support four independent displays through HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C interfaces, and offer five USB Type-A ports for expansion. The HUNSN RJ42 and RJ43 offer a similar set of features as previous Intel N100 network appliances with 2.5GbE ports such as the iKOOLCORE R2 and INCTEL N100, but with a slightly faster Intel N150 “Alder Lake-N Refresh” or “Twin Lake” processor thanks to higher clock speeds, and extra interfaces. HUNSN RJ42/RJ43 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N150 quad-core “Twin […]

November 10, 2024November 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 369 Comments

Giveaway Week 2024 – iKOOLCORE R2 Core i3-N300 mini PC and quad 2.5GbE router

Let’s end CNX Software’s Giveaway Week 2024 with a bang! The last prize is an iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC and router powered by an Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N CPU, equipped with 8GB RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD, and featuring four 2.5GbE ports. The tiny PC also comes with HDMI and USB-C ports for dual 4K video output, an M.2 E-Key socket to install a wireless module for WiFi and Bluetooth, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port with DisplayPort Alt. mode, and a not-so-useful USB-C audio port using Realtek ALC987 codec. My review of the iKOOLCORE R2 last year was a learning experience as it was the first time I used Proxmox VE and pfSense, and since I wanted to use the system both as a mini PC running Ubuntu 22.04 desktop and a router/firewall running pfSense […]

November 7, 2024December 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 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 […]

April 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Maiyunda M1 Alder Lake-N mini PC comes with four quick-release M.2 NVMe SSD slots, four 2.5GbE ports

Maiyunda M1 is an unusual Intel N100 or Core i3-N305 Alder Lake-N mini PC and soft router equipped with four M.2 NVMe SSD slots so users can replace storage devices without having to open the enclosure, as well as four 2.5GbE ports for networking applications. The mini PC also supports up to 32GB DDR5 memory, wireless connectivity through an internal M.2 socket (that can also be used as a fifth NVMe SSD socket), dual 4K display setups through HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, and offers five USB Type-A ports for expansion. Maiyunda M1 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 – 16GB LPDDR5 4800 MHz upgradeable to 32GB Storage 4x M.2 M-key […]

April 3, 2024 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

$101+ CWWK X86-P1 fanless SBC and mini PC is powered by Intel N3050, N3160, or N3700 Braswell SoC

X86-P1 Development Board Version and Standard Edition

In a previous post, we wrote about the CWWK X86-P5, a $219 fanless mini PC powered by the Alder Lake N-series N100 SoC. However, during a recent search on AliExpress, I stumbled upon the CWWK X86-P1 fanless mini PC and SBC. This compact device offers three variants (N3050, N3160, and N3700) with a TDP of only 6W. It features dual GbE Ethernet, dual USB 3.0, HDMI, and a GPIO header. Additionally, it includes a built-in fan header for improved cooling. It supports Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, and networking OS options like pfSense or OpenWrt along with all major x86-based operating systems. CWWK X86-P1 Fanless Mini PC Specification SoC options Intel Celeron N3050 – Dual core Braswell processor @ up to 2.16 GHz with Intel HD Graphics Gen8 – 6W TDP Intel Celeron N3160 – Quad-core Braswell processor @ up to 2.24 GHz with 12EU Intel HD graphics 400 – 4W […]