Topton Jasper Lake Quad i225V Mini PC Report

[GreenAvacado]

Want to report that installing second NVME sitting just above 40x40x10mm Noctua fan is totally doable. Was able to close the lid without any stand-offs or extra spacers.

Only caveat here is that I had to get rid of the heatsink with fins, otherwise had to remove the fan altogether. Since I'm running Intel 660p NVME, not too worried by the temperature, currently sitting at ~35C idle.

For those paranoid about heatsink, upon further inspection, it seems to me that there is enough clearance to install 1mm cooper heatsink (use silicone straps to hold it in place, without using heat transfer adhesive pads to shave off 1mm extra thickness)

 

[dums]

Since I'm running Intel 660p NVME, not too worried by the temperature, currently sitting at ~35C idle.

So would it be correct to presume that Intel 660p are safe to be used in dual slot configuration?

 

[agent_kenshin]

Don't forget about these i225v-B3 NIC(s); https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003826470053.html
They are cheap and the seller is really quick with postage too. I have even checked all the chips on mine and the serial checks out to be the B3 i225 chip.

Thanks will make a note of this. Much cheaper then Ebay and taking a shot in the dark if they are the B3's. I think I'm done buying Nics for awhile just bought a couple of Mellanox Connect-x2's in addition to the connect-x3's I bought for $22 each.

 

[GreenAvacado]

So would it be correct to presume that Intel 660p are safe to be used in dual slot configuration?

In my case the other NVME slot is populated with Crucial P3 with heatsink.

But I see no issues using Intel 660p on both slots, it's a fairly solid QLC drive and runs much cooler than all the others brands I had (Samsung, Crucial and HP).

 

[dums]

In my case the other NVME slot is populated with Crucial P3 with heatsink.

But I see no issues using Intel 660p on both slots, it's a fairly solid QLC drive and runs much cooler than all the others brands I had (Samsung, Crucial and HP).

In my case main concern is not temperature control, but ability to run 2 devices simultaneously. As current theory goes some devices reserve clock instance, and there's just one spare clock instance for 2 x M.2 slots. So it is impossible to run 2 Samsung SSD (or in my case Samsung SSD + SATA interface adapter) regardless of cooling.
So more specific question is: did you try to install 2x Intel or 2x Crucial SSD at the same time?

 

[burtal]

ok ... i updated to the latest bios v105 the one without the power limiter ))

they set in bios PL1 50w and PL2 65w (this could also be done in v103 version ) but guess what ...in reality is still capped to 20w PL2 ) .

and wost off is that the v103 bios was actually spiking above the 20W PL2 ... i saw 22-23W....so their uncapped bios is worst then the capped one )
but it has a nice CW logo ))

same for v104... cause i cannot find v103 on CW site

also C8 state is not reached on any of the versions , although on toptonV3 was reaching.

Cpu freq are in general slightly lower then on Toptonv3 .....but that can be the silicon lottery .

so ... dont update the BIOS if you really dont need to ... as i said for the toptonV3... they make it worse ....or lets put it this way ....not improving anything

 

[johnknierim]

I ended up selling my N6005 unit. Too much instability. I've been fooled into a false sense of security for days at a time just to have crashes at the worst times. No BIOS settings, fans, and other tweaks can keep this thing stable. Temps were very reasonable and not the issue. There is just something inherently wrong with the design of these units and they cannot be relied on to be a daily driver, especially as a firewall. Wish everyone the best. Moving on from Topton/Changwang/King Novy and the rest of the Chinese fleet of cheap mini PCs. Not worth the warranty struggle.

To give a balanced perspective on these little boxes, I have two of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Firewall-Hardware-OPNsense-Security-Appliance/dp/B09Q37RFKY?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

One running OPNSense and PFSense (latest community editions) and they have been very reliable. The first one has been running for weeks as my main firewall. Streaming, PLEX, Torrents, etc. I think it might be a RAM issue or a BIOS configuration.
My intent is not to detract from your experience as I have not tried the Toptons, Changwangs, or King Novy systems. The HUNSN units look very similar. The big difference is that the units I purchased are running Intel Core i7 1165G7 instead of the Celerons.

 

[roarking]

and wost off is that the v103 bios was actually spiking above the 20W PL2 ... i saw 22-23W

How did you monitor or measure the 22-23W?

 

[GreenAvacado]

In my case main concern is not temperature control, but ability to run 2 devices simultaneously. As current theory goes some devices reserve clock instance, and there's just one spare clock instance for 2 x M.2 slots. So it is impossible to run 2 Samsung SSD (or in my case Samsung SSD + SATA interface adapter) regardless of cooling.
So more specific question is: did you try to install 2x Intel or 2x Crucial SSD at the same time?

Unfortunately, I don't have 2x same brand NVME to try it out. But I'd be really surprised if they don't work.

 

[knight-of-ni]

I wanted to thank those that have contributed the wealth of information in this thread.

My Kingnovy N6005 model arrived Friday:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803806717938.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.8ec418020m6Dh1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

I did not know about the CWWK store util after the unit was ordered.

Installed pfSense 2.7 snapshot, which detected the i226 nics just fine.

After applying the BIOS and pfsense config shown in comment #500, the cpu temp dropped from 56 to 42 degrees. I did not file down the standoffs, but I probably will at some point to see if I can reduce the temp further.

I started with (2) cheap (probably too cheap) Silicon Power 128GB nvme's. However, just like Samsung Evo's, they would not work as a pair. So I pulled one out and added a sata ssd instead. I admit it feels like heresy, configuring an nvme and sata sdd into a ZFS mirror. Should be okay for this purpose.

I don't intend to deploy this until after pfSense 2.7 release date, so I've got some time to test.

 

[burtal]

How did you monitor or measure the 22-23W?

Hwinfo and throttlestop

Weird part is that now im back on v103 but the spikes over 20w doesn't occur that often...on the bios flashed from factory i would get sipkes on prime95 runs all the time...2 out of 3 runs saw the spikes

So yeah...dont update if you really dont need to

 

[GreenAvacado]

I wanted to thank those that have contributed the wealth of information in this thread.

My Kingnovy N6005 model arrived Friday:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803806717938.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.8ec418020m6Dh1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

I did not know about the CWWK store util after the unit was ordered.

Installed pfSense 2.7 snapshot, which detected the i226 nics just fine.

After applying the BIOS and pfsense config shown in comment #500, the cpu temp dropped from 56 to 42 degrees. I did not file down the standoffs, but I probably will at some point to see if I can reduce the temp further.

I started with (2) cheap (probably too cheap) Silicon Power 128GB nvme's. However, just like Samsung Evo's, they would not work as a pair. So I pulled one out and added a sata ssd instead. I admit it feels like heresy, configuring an nvme and sata sdd into a ZFS mirror. Should be okay for this purpose.

I don't intend to deploy this until after pfSense 2.7 release date, so I've got some time to test.

I'd be super interested to hear more on pfSense 2.7 stability on this box. Have you had chance to test the snapshot release?

I did install the 2.7 for I226 shake but holding off the migration to 24x7 environment due to stability concerns of the box and pfSense itself.

Any word on 2.7CE final ETA? I see newer snaps every now and then, so looks like pace is picking up Index of /amd64/pfSense_master/installer/

 

[csgrullon]

Does anyone know where can i buy a copper heatsink block for these units?

I purchased a unit from topton a while back and it came with an aluminum block. I was thinking about returning it but it just takes too long to ship back and forth.

 

[dazagrt]

Unfortunately, I don't have 2x same brand NVME to try it out. But I'd be really surprised if they don't work.

The information came directly from me, they simply don't work in that configuration. I even checked with CWWK and they confirmed it. What more do you want?

 

[knight-of-ni]

I'd be super interested to hear more on pfSense 2.7 stability on this box. Have you had chance to test the snapshot release?

I did install the 2.7 for I226 shake but holding off the migration to 24x7 environment due to stability concerns of the box and pfSense itself.

Any word on 2.7CE final ETA? I see newer snaps every now and then, so looks like pace is picking up Index of /amd64/pfSense_master/installer/

24hour memcheck ran perfectly.

I then booted to a pfsense 2.7 snapshot, and began stress testing at increasing intervals:
stress --cpu 4 --io 4 --vm 2 --vm-bytes 128M --timeout 10m

Temperature immediately spiked to ~70, but then settled down to 56 within just a few seconds. I'm guessing that initial spike was an erroneous reading.

Steady state temp was at 59 while running the test, which is good.
Ambient room temp was 25C

These tests were done without applying new heatsink grease.

Specific to pfSense 2.7:
I am running 2.7.0.a.20221006.0600. I tried to upgrade to 2.7.0.a.20221011.0600 from the web ui, but that resulted in a failure to boot. The kernel would not load. I'll chalk that up to it being a dev snapshot, rather than something wrong with the hardware.

Strangely, hardware crypto shows as Inactive, despite it being detected. AES is turned on, under advanced settings.

 

[csgrullon]

Strangely, hardware crypto shows as Inactive, despite it being detected. AES is turned on, under advanced settings.View attachment 24796
[/QUOTE]

For hardware crypto go to System>Advanced>Miscellaneous and look for Cryptographic & Thermal Hardware .

 

[knight-of-ni]

Strangely, hardware crypto shows as Inactive, despite it being detected. AES is turned on, under advanced settings.View attachment 24796

For hardware crypto go to System>Advanced>Miscellaneous and look for Cryptographic & Thermal Hardware .
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, like I said. It is on.

 

[csgrullon]

For hardware crypto go to System>Advanced>Miscellaneous and look for Cryptographic & Thermal Hardware .

Yeah, like I said. It is on.
View attachment 24798


Try changing cryptographic hardware to cpu based acceleration.

 

[burtal]

Temperature immediately spiked to ~70, but then settled down to 56 within just a few seconds. I'm guessing that initial spike was an erroneous reading.

probably power limit kicked in or thermal or both

im still on windows testing voltages and bios version with CW v4..... but what is this




Max 2ghz ? then that spike might be an bad read ... is this a gui issue or the freq is somehow capped to 2ghz? .... have you seen it pass 2ghz ?

from my topton v3 days, i saw the same thing .... but never got to check if it really caps at 2ghz or not.

can you guys check ?

 

[GreenAvacado]

24hour memcheck ran perfectly.

I then booted to a pfsense 2.7 snapshot, and began stress testing at increasing intervals:
stress --cpu 4 --io 4 --vm 2 --vm-bytes 128M --timeout 10m

Temperature immediately spiked to ~70, but then settled down to 56 within just a few seconds. I'm guessing that initial spike was an erroneous reading.

Steady state temp was at 59 while running the test, which is good.
Ambient room temp was 25C

These tests were done without applying new heatsink grease.

Specific to pfSense 2.7:
I am running 2.7.0.a.20221006.0600. I tried to upgrade to 2.7.0.a.20221011.0600 from the web ui, but that resulted in a failure to boot. The kernel would not load. I'll chalk that up to it being a dev snapshot, rather than something wrong with the hardware.

Strangely, hardware crypto shows as Inactive, despite it being detected. AES is turned on, under advanced settings.View attachment 24796

Nice, this looks promising. Thanks for the update.

How stable was pfSense 2.7 snap as a router - OpenVPN client and server? My sense is that final release will be most likely early next year, Jan or Feb.