Mini PC News Club

[Jupit3r]

This is the thread to publish the latest mini PC news.

Jan 12th, 2023: Beelink Mini S12 is a mini PC with the Intel Alder Lake-N CPU

Intel’s Alder Lake-N line of processors are low-cost, low-power chips designed for entry-level PC systems. Many PC makers showcased new products powered by Alder Lake-N processors at CES 2023. Beelink, one of the major players in the mini PC industry, has finally announced their first product to feature the Alder Lake N-series prcoesser：the Mini S12.

The Mini S12 is a 4.25" x 4.01" x 1.54" (115mm*102mm*39mm) small form factor desktop PC powered by the Alder Lake N95 processor, and 8/16GB DDR4-3200 RAM. The mini PC employs a plastic chassis enhanced by deep laser engraving, making it ressistant to scratches. The pattern on the top side also gives the device a rather interesting look.

The Intel Alder Lake-N95 SoC has 4 CPU cores, 4 threads with turbo clock of 3.4GHz, and 6MB L3 smart cache. It is said to deliver over 20% of performance improvement over the Intel Jasper Lake N5105 CPU. While the the processor has a standard TDP of 15W, Beelink will do some re-engineering to improve the TDP of the Mini S12 to 20W.

The Mini S12 features a single SODIMM slot, which supports DDR4-3200MHz RAM of up to 16GB. It also comes with an M.2 2280 slot for PCIe/SATA3 SSD storage (up to 2TB), and a SATA3 interface for a 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD (up to 2TB).

Compared to the Mini S mini PC released last year, another upgrade is the cooling mechanism. The Mini S12 sports a large silent CPU fan, a copper heat sink and a dedicated SSD cooling shield, ensuring it to run stably at 20W.

Other features include support for WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.2 and a set of ports:

1 x Gigabit Ethernet
2 x HDMI 2.0
4 x USB3.2 Type-A
1 x 3.5mm audio
1 x DC power input

The mini PC will be able to drive two 4K/60Hz displays simultaneously. Detailed specifications can be found below.

The Mini S12 will be available for purchase on 10th of Feburary, but Beelink hasn't revealed the price yet.

 

[Jupit3r]

Jan 26th, 2023: iKOOLCORE R1 is the smallest PC with 4 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet jacks.

The iKOOLCORE R1 is the tiniest mini PC ever to feature 4 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet jacks, and it is now open for pre-order worldwide, with prices starting at $199.

Product overview​

This tiny desktop PC measures 75*75*48mm (0.27L), small enough to fit into a pocket, or mount to the back of a monitor, or hide under a desk. If you decide to place the mini PC on the desk, its CNC Aluminum chassis should give it a pretty premium look.

As small as it is, the iKOOLCORE R1 packs plenty of ports, including:

4 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet jacks

1 x USB3.2 Gen1 Type-C

2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A

1 x USB-C (Power input)

1 x HDMI2.0 (4K/60Hz video output)

1 x MicroSD card slot

Specifications​

The iKOOLCORE R1 is available in two SoC options:

1) Intel Celeron N5105, 10W TDP, 4 CPU cores, 4 threads @2.0-2.9GHz, 4MB L3 Cache, UHD Graphics EU24

2) Intel Pentium N6005, 10W TDP, 4 CPU cores, 4 threads @2.0-3.3GHz, 4MB L3 Cache, UHD Graphics EU32


The mini PC also comes with either 8GB single-channel or 16GB dual-channel LPDDR4-4233 MHz on-board RAM, and features an M.2 2242 slot for a PCIe-based NVMe SSD. Unfortunately, the RAM will only run at 2933MHz, due to the limit of the Jasper Lake series processors.

For a computer this small, it’s easy for people to assume that it employs a fanless design, but the iKOOLCORE R1 does not. Not only does the mini PC use a copper heat pipe and the Aluminum chassis to passively dissipate heat, but it also feature a ball-bearing silent fan under the hood for active cooling.

Software​

The quad 2.5Gbps Ethernet jacks make it clear that the mini PC is designed for networking applications. You can use it as a router, firewall, or a home server, among other things. Since the mini PC is built around an x86 processor, it can support a wide range of operating systems including Windows 10/11, Android X86, and most Linux distributions. It can also run routing software such as pfSense, OPNSense and OpenWRT. The R1 also supports the virtualization technology, and is compatible with VMware ESXi, PVE, Docker applications, as well as other virtual platform systems.

Price and availability​

The iKOOLCORE R1 is now open for pre-order worldwide, the prices are as follows.

 

[Jupit3r]

Februray 8th Beelink SER5 Plus Mini PC announced —— AMD Ryzen7 5800H I Dual SSD I Dual-Channel Memory I WiFi 6

Beelink announced a new addition to their midrange mini PC lineup: the SER5 Plus. This mini desktop computer will be powered by the AMD Ryzen7 5800H processor, 16GB/32GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM, and will support two storage drives with capacity of up to 4TB.

The SER5 Plus empoys a 126mm*113mm*42mm ABS plastic chassis (0.6 liter), but the mesh on the top and the two sides are made of Aluminum. With the included VESA-mount bracket, it's easy for you to attach the mini PC to the back of a monitor.

The SER5 Plus is powered by the AMD Ryzen7 5800H processor, which is built on TSMC 7nm FinFET process, and features 8 cores, 16 threads, as well as 16MB L3 cache. The CPU cores have a base clock of 3.2GHz, and can turbo up to 4.4GHz when needed. The integrated GPU is AMD's Radeon Vega 8, with a maximum frequency of 2000MHz.

Like the other models from the SER5 lineup, the SER5 plus will feature two DDR4-3200 RAM slots which support dual-channel RAM of up to 64GB, an M.2 2280 slot for PCIe Gen 3 storage of up to 2TB, a 2.5-inch bay for an HDD or SSD, and a wireless card that supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2

The included ports are as follows.

1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Tye-C (with DisplayPort Alt)
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
1 x USB 2.0 Type-A
2 x HDMI 2.0 (4K@60Hz)
1 x 3.5mm audio
1 x GbE Ethernet
1 x DC power input

Unlike previous models from the SER5 family, the SER5 Plus comes with upgraded thermal management. Besides the large CPU fan and the copper heat sink, there's also a metal bracket with a smaller 3505 OS fan to keep the RAM and SSD running cool and stable. I have tested this patented design on Beelink's SER6 and SEi12 series mini PCs, and it really works like a charm.

The SER5 Plus is expected to be available in mid Feburay. Beelink has yet to annouce the price of the new model, but rumor has it that it will be nearly as afforable as the SER5 Pro 5600H, which retails for $389 (16GB & 500GB) on Beelink's official website at the moment.

 

[Jupit3r]

4th of March, 2023: Beelink EQ12 and EQ12 Pro coming soon: Processor N100/N305, DDR5 RAM, dual 2.5Gbps Ethernet

Beelink announced two new products of the thier EQ low-power mini PC lineup: the EQ12 and EQ12 Pro, powered by the Processor N100 and Core i3-N305 respectively. Both mini PCs will come with DDR5 RAM, dual 2.5Gbps Ethernet jacks, and WiFi 6.

The Beelink EQ lineup mini PCs are marketed as low-power and eco-friendly products, focusing on office tasks, video playback and other lightweight computing duties. Besides the obvious upgrade in SoC, the EQ12 and EQ12 Pro has also brought improvements in overall design and some of the key features over last year's EQ59. The mini PC The mini PCs employ a 124*112.7*38.5 mm plastic chassis enhanced by deep laser engraving, making it resistant to scratches and fingerprints. The pattern on the top side also gives the mini PCs a rather interesting look. Both the standard and Pro variants will be available in three color options: dark blue, gray, and white.

The EQ12 and EQ12 Pro are powered by the Intel Processor N100 and Core i3-N305, respectively. Both chipsets belong to the Intel's 12th-generation Alder Lake N series. The Processor N100 has 4 CPU cores, 4threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of 3.4GHz. It has also integrated the UHD EU24 iGPU, with a maximum dynamic frequency of 750MHz. The i3-N305 processor features 8 CPU cores and 8 threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of 3.8GHz. This SoC comes with a UHD EU32 iGPU, with a maximum dynamic frequency of 1.25GHz.

Both mini PCs feature a single SODIMM-DDR5 RAM slot (Alder Lake-N series is only compatible with single-channel memory), which supports DDR5-4800MHz RAM up to 32GB. As thin as they are, the EQ12 and EQ12 Pro can host dual internal storage devices: one M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0*1 NVMe SSD (up to 2TB), and one 2.5-inch SATA III HDD/SSD (up to 2TB).

Other features include support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and a set of ports:

2 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet
2 x HDMI 2.0
1x USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C (with DisplayPort Alt)
3 x USB3.2 Gen2 Type-A
1 x 3.5mm audio
1 x DC power input

The Type-C port and HDMI ports support 4K@60Hz video output, so the min PC can be connected with three 4K monitors simultaneously. Notably, both mini PCs sport dual 2,5Gbps Ethernet jacks, making them attractive for those who want to use their mini-PC as a home server, firewall or router.

Beelink hasn't announced the prices of EQ12 and EQ12 Pro yet, but rumor has it that Beelink will start shipping the standard EQ12 in March, and the Pro variant will be available later, probably in April or May.

 

[Splinterdog]

I'm very tempted by the Beelink and can get one here in Buenos Aires:
BEELINK - RYZEN 5 5500U - SSD 512 GB - 16 GB RAM for around $500. The idea is to replace a high end gaming machine which I'm using next to the TV simply for streaming and it must do 4K.
I've never bought a mini PC before so I'm weighing up the pros and cons of buying one of these or building a cube style with standard ATX size components (not ITX), mainly from an upgrabability point of view.
The price of me building a small PC is a little less than buying a mini PC such as this one off the shelf. The only thing holding me back is durability and bad experiences I've had with laptops, customers' laptops.
Having said that, the footprint of this little device is what really attracts me.

 

[claes]

If it’s just for streaming I’d recommend a dedicated device, with the possible exception being if you’re primarily streaming from your own server.