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Minisforum Shows Off Upcoming AMD Powered NAS at Computex 2025

TheLostSwede

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Tiny PC maker Minisforum was showing off its upcoming N5 Pro NAS at Computex, and it's quite different from what most NAS makers have put out to date. For starters, it's built around AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 370 SoC and has support for up to 96 GB of ECC DDR5 5600 MHz memory over two SO-DIMM slots. Connectivity consists of one 10 Gbps and one 5 Gbps Ethernet port, two USB4 ports—with DP Alt mode support—one HDMI 2.1 port, two USB 3.2 10 Gbps ports and one USB 2.0 port. For some reason the Oculink port, clearly visible around the back of the unit on display, isn't mentioned in the specs we were provided, but it's still mentioned on the product page, so we'll have to wait and see if that will be part of the final product or not.

On the storage side of things there's room for five 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch drives in traditional drive caddies, and drives up to 22 TB in size are supported. In addition to this, there's room for one M.2 NVMe slot which is limited to PCIe 4.0 X1, lengths of up to 110 mm are supported. There is also an extra PCB that can be slotted in that adds support for a further two NVMe drives in either the U.2 or M.2 form factor, one with a PCIe 4.0 x2 interface and one with PCIe 4.0 x1. Judging by the design of this expansion PCB, it might be a bit fiddly to install, but as the main PCB of the N5 Pro slides out for access, it could've been far worse. Internally there's also a full-length low-profile PCIe x16 slot—which was occupied by a GPU in the unit on display—although it's limited to four lanes electrically, as well as a USB 3.2 10 Gbps port. It will apparently come with MinisCloud OS, but Windows 11 is also supported, which means the N5 Pro could be used for something else than just as a NAS. No word on pricing, but the company is offering a 30 percent off discount if you sign up on their website.



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Wont be cheap, I hope by final release they change the cover to be more open(airflow wise). Also that daughter board for U.2 drives is a cool addition.
 
Cheap, not expensive, is whats needed for NAS. NAS's can be had for cheap. Who needs high power for such a device?

The only good thing I see is that daughterboard that Chaitanya stated. But I ran NAS' in the past on what is considered old hardware now, worked just fine.
 
Cheap, not expensive, is whats needed for NAS. NAS's can be had for cheap. Who needs high power for such a device?

The only good thing I see is that daughterboard that Chaitanya stated. But I ran NAS' in the past on what is considered old hardware now, worked just fine.
NAS needs to be built to last, it’s an if not the central point of an smb’s network and needs to be resilient.
Where I do agree that a nas doesn’t need modern powerful hardware to do its basic functionality.
It can services as a docker hub that runs services which can make use of all that power.

Not touching that thing with a 10ft pole, I’m more than willing to get minisforum stuff but not for something critical
 
Looks like a DVD player from the 2000's. Certainly is the only NAS that has that much hardware, but I'm not really seeing the point in it...
 
Still think you'd be better served by an Intel-based NAS or a cheaper Ryzen for that. I guess it depends on the price, but if it comes out over $1100 it's cooked in my opinion.
Sure, and considering the x1 pro base configuration going for 1000 this is bound to atleast cost 1100 given the much higher volume and consequent shipping costs.

Maybe if you have limited space and want a nas and a game box at your tv.
 
In the end the goal is to pass data through ethernet. Even with 10G many of those nas are overkill and full of useless features (oculink seriously ? Basically only overly expensive GPU box can connect to this)

They need to stick to the basics and maybe make it so the HDD and SSD are modular from the motherboard (cheap is the key factor)
 
Really not a fan of using a mobile SoC for something not space constrained or requiring certain energy efficiency.
If I want high power I'd much rather just have an AM5 socket.
It looks nice (minus glossy front), but unless it's stupid cheap this looks like a dud.
 
In the end the goal is to pass data through ethernet. Even with 10G many of those nas are overkill and full of useless features (oculink seriously ? Basically only overly expensive GPU box can connect to this)
OCULink is really cheap to add though, as it's just some PCB traces and a connector.
They need to stick to the basics and maybe make it so the HDD and SSD are modular from the motherboard (cheap is the key factor)
Maybe they wanted to make something different, that doesn't compete with the products already in the market?
 
Video editors and homelab people who run VMs and other services on their network.
youre doing that on a NAS?

No. I mean I wouldn't. NAS is a NAS. Yeah, I guess you can run docker stuff but honestly, I separate the hardware/software
 
youre doing that on a NAS?

No. I mean I wouldn't. NAS is a NAS. Yeah, I guess you can run docker stuff but honestly, I separate the hardware/software
My NAS is too weak but these new units(consumer grade) from Ugreen, TeraMaster and now Minisforum have CPUs powerful enough to run VMs. Had configured a Dell-EMC unit for a client in past to run VMs.
 
My NAS is too weak but these new units(consumer grade) from Ugreen, TeraMaster and now Minisforum have CPUs powerful enough to run VMs. Had configured a Dell-EMC unit for a client in past to run VMs.
Well, I do that too (well, I don't set up the VMs themselves. I just maintain their servers) but the Dell EMC wasn't a nas, the nas for the client (massive company) separated their NAS from their ML servers and what not. As their engineers said to me: "doesn't cost much to separate vs issues that can arise in storing so much backup data in something that's being used for other crap"

More or less paraphrasing if course.
 
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