• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

QNAP TS-473 4-Bay NAS

Joined
Mar 3, 2011
Messages
964 (0.20/day)
Location
Greece
The QNAP TS-473 is a four-bay NAS with high performance and an affordable price for its specifications. It uses an AMD R-Series CPU, and its capabilities can be further expanded thanks to its two PCIe slots, which let you add 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi or an M.2 SSD.

Show full review
 
Last edited by a moderator:

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
23,310 (3.77/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name Codename: Icarus Mk.VI
Processor Intel 8600k@Stock -- pending tuning
Motherboard Asus ROG Strixx Z370-F
Cooling CPU: BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Memory 32GB XPG Gammix D10 {2x16GB}
Video Card(s) ASUS Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 512GB SSD (Boot)|WD SN770 (Gaming)|2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300|2x 2TB Crucial BX500
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White)
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Corsair AX760
Mouse Logitech G900
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
@crmaris Minor bone to pick with your review....

You listed this as a negative...

  • Instead of a single 4 GB DIMM, 2x 2 GB DIMMs are used

But if they did this. It would hurt stock performance as the AMD R-Series RX-421ND supports Dual Channel memory configurations so why not 2x2GB???

  • Plastic trays without locks

Thats kind of nitpicky as Qnap has this kind of tray for almost all of their devices. My TS-251+ isnt any different. In my experience. Once the drives are all locked in. they dont rattle around, so they are pretty secure unless youre going to boot your NAS around like a football then that might be a issue... Not for the corrupted data and Destroyed NAS but also your broken foot.
 
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
1,104 (0.18/day)
Location
Florida
System Name Blackwidow/
Processor Ryzen 5950x / Threadripper 3960x
Motherboard Asus x570 Crosshair viii impact/ Asus Zenith ii Extreme
Cooling Ek 240Aio/Custom watercooling
Memory 32gb ddr4 3600MHZ Crucial Ballistix / 32gb ddr4 3600MHZ G.Skill TridentZ Royal
Video Card(s) MSI RX 6900xt/ XFX 6800xt
Storage WD SN850 1TB boot / Samsung 970 evo+ 1tb boot, 6tb WD SN750
Display(s) Sony A80J / Dual LG 27gl850
Case Cooler Master NR200P/ 011 Dynamic XL
Audio Device(s) On board/ Soundblaster ZXR
Power Supply Corsair SF750w/ Seasonic Prime Titanium 1000w
Mouse Razer Viper Ultimate wireless/ Logitech G Pro X Superlight
Keyboard Logitech G915 TKL/ Logitech G915 Wireless
Software Win 10 Pro
I agree with the above poster...I think we need to see more of these reviews on TPU.
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2011
Messages
964 (0.20/day)
Location
Greece
But if they did this. It would hurt stock performance as the AMD R-Series RX-421ND supports Dual Channel memory configurations so why not 2x2GB???

I had in mind this :) Personally I would be ok with the lower performance, which won't be noticeable especially in a NAS, if it was to save money once I decide to upgrade the RAM by only getting one 4 GB DIMM instead of two.

Also locks are an added measure for physical data protection, which is essential for business environments, even small offices. Such capable NAS servers will be most likely used in small and even medium sized offices, so it is good to have trays featuring locks.
 

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
23,310 (3.77/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name Codename: Icarus Mk.VI
Processor Intel 8600k@Stock -- pending tuning
Motherboard Asus ROG Strixx Z370-F
Cooling CPU: BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Memory 32GB XPG Gammix D10 {2x16GB}
Video Card(s) ASUS Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 512GB SSD (Boot)|WD SN770 (Gaming)|2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300|2x 2TB Crucial BX500
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White)
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Corsair AX760
Mouse Logitech G900
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
I had in mind this :) Personally I would be ok with the lower performance, which won't be noticeable especially in a NAS, if it was to save money once I decide to upgrade the RAM by only getting one 4 GB DIMM instead of two.

Also locks are an added measure for physical data protection, which is essential for business environments, even small offices. Such capable NAS servers will be most likely used in small and even medium sized offices, so it is good to have trays featuring locks.


I understand your point, however I still feel that it's not right to criticize them for it (the ram that is)

They released it in the best stock configuration they could. If you wish to upgrade then that's an issue that lies with you. not Qnap. For the folks that don't wish to upgrade it would be absolutely fine
 
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
17 (0.00/day)
  • Long boot time

Since NASes are rarely restarted, how long was the boot time if it warrants a negative? An hour? I couldn't find the measurement.
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
Does anyone else think these NAS solutions draw too much power at idle?

And while I was reading this, I thought: we can make these things way smaller if we ditch the 3.5" bays. When do you figure we will start see solutions like that?
 

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
23,310 (3.77/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name Codename: Icarus Mk.VI
Processor Intel 8600k@Stock -- pending tuning
Motherboard Asus ROG Strixx Z370-F
Cooling CPU: BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Memory 32GB XPG Gammix D10 {2x16GB}
Video Card(s) ASUS Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 512GB SSD (Boot)|WD SN770 (Gaming)|2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300|2x 2TB Crucial BX500
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White)
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Corsair AX760
Mouse Logitech G900
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Does anyone else think these NAS solutions draw too much power at idle?

And while I was reading this, I thought: we can make these things way smaller if we ditch the 3.5" bays. When do you figure we will start see solutions like that?

my NAS is said to idle at 10w while operating at 18w (give or take but i dont use low power NAS drives) but then again its only a 2-Bay NAS compared to whats reviewed here.

There are smaller NAS's that take only 2.5" drives that are available from the usual manufacturers.

I dont think the entire industry will move to 2.5" time soon because (1)The capacity just isnt there and (2) The overall reliability isnt there either. not to mention you'll probably lose some read/write performance.

DiskStation DS416slim

Qnap - TVS-882ST3

Some more 2.5" stuff from QNAP

QNAP SS-439-PRO

I think Netgear used to make their own... Some of these NAS units are very very old and have been discontinued completely. The first 2 I linked still exist though. But like i said. It just doesnt seem to be a very popular choice. maybe even a niche market. so why waste money making it if nobody wants to buy it?
 
Last edited:

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
my NAS is said to idle at 10w while operating at 18w (give or take but i dont use low power NAS drives) but then again its only a 2-Bay NAS compared to whats reviewed here.
10W is way too much (in my book) for device that does nothing, but stand by.

There are smaller NAS's that take only 2.5" drives that are available from the usual manufacturers.

I dont think the entire industry will move to 2.5" time soon because (1)The capacity just isnt there and (2) The overall reliability isnt there either. not to mention you'll probably lose some read/write performance.

DiskStation DS416slim

Qnap - TVS-882ST3

Some more 2.5" stuff from QNAP

QNAP SS-439-PRO

I think Netgear used to make their own... Some of these NAS units are very very old and have been discontinued completely. The first 2 I linked still exist though. But like i said. It just doesnt seem to be a very popular choice. maybe even a niche market. so why waste money making it if nobody wants to buy it?
Thanks, I really didn't know about those. And yes, I'm with you these won't rule the world anytime soon. But they make nice solution for home users that don't need tons of extra space, but just the means to share between a handful of devices.
 

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
23,310 (3.77/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name Codename: Icarus Mk.VI
Processor Intel 8600k@Stock -- pending tuning
Motherboard Asus ROG Strixx Z370-F
Cooling CPU: BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Memory 32GB XPG Gammix D10 {2x16GB}
Video Card(s) ASUS Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 512GB SSD (Boot)|WD SN770 (Gaming)|2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300|2x 2TB Crucial BX500
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White)
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Corsair AX760
Mouse Logitech G900
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
10W is way too much (in my book) for device that does nothing, but stand by..

Not fussed. There are times during the day where i might not be home for a good few hours so i put it in sleep mode. you can get lower powered NAS units or build your own.

Thanks, I really didn't know about those. And yes, I'm with you these won't rule the world anytime soon. But they make nice solution for home users that don't need tons of extra space, but just the means to share between a handful of devices.

How do i put this... I find your response to be a bit of an oxymoron??? (i dont think thats the correct work for what im trying to describe) but a NAS is a NAS. they come in all sizes. Some are bigger than others while some are the size of a small bookshelf speaker like mine that can easily be stowed away ANYWHERE.

The advantages of 3.5" NAS units outweigh the 2.5" units while both of them perform the same action. so why not 3.5" where the storage capacity is. where the reliability/speed. Unless you really really need something super compact then there are other solutions available. There are devices you can buy on Amazon where you can literally create a 'pop-up-NAS' and share files from a USB Stick/hard drive or a memory card.

Its like having 2 of the same car in a showroom -- Both are identical from the outside but one has an engine from some unknown manufacturer but offers near enough identical performance more or less, but replacement parts might be harder to get if something should go wrong...

Obviously youre going to go for the car with the engine from the manufacturer.
 

peschool

New Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
1 (0.00/day)
This was a really in depth review except it seems like all the data is useless and at first I was concerned about buying this NAS as your numbers are way lower than any other review I've seen. Is there some rationale behind using old-as-dirt 500GB drives with 16MB cache in 2018? I still have no idea how this NAS would perform as most users would set it up. Something like 4x6TB drives with 2 or 4 port aggregation. Also showing how adding some m.2 SSDs and 10gb ethernet would affect performance would have been nice. Well I guess you did used 10gb but your drives probably top out at 50MBPS so they barely saturate a 1gb link.
 

ewsb

New Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2019
Messages
1 (0.00/day)
This is a very interesting review as it rates the 473 significantly lower than the 451+? That does not seem to make sense unless I have misread the report. Qnap themselves indicate that that is not true?
 
Top