CWWK i5-1235U 6 port i226 report

[skimikes]

if i stress the system it can become a lot hotter. the whole cpu can get up to 80 degrees, with the only performance core hitting 100 and throttling from 4.4 ghz to about 2.5-3 ghz.

I can second this. Measured a chassis temp of 60C (140F) using an IR thermometer after hours of stress testing where the unit was situated in an area with no active airflow. The heat transfer to the chassis is far better on this model than any other unit I have tested (N5105, N6005, and J6413). Even a small amount of airflow would go a long way to cooling the chassis thanks to the large surface area.

 

[iceman_jkh]

Thank you both!
Super useful and fast replies.
(Good pickup on those zoomed-in fins. Never trust marketing material )

My 8505 will run pfSense/OPNSense and replace my Netgate 4860 (Atom C2558), which only ever got to ~15% CPU based on my network setup.
I realise this 8505 is overkill and will have a very easy life - there's only $120AUD difference between the N5105 and 8505 due to current sales.
I skipped the N5105 purely for futureproofing/overkill/lower temps, and I also hoped to max out the 2.5G ports.
I realise that I should probably pair this box with a decent 2.5/10G switch (qnap have some good ones) instead of using the ports as LAN ports. I used LAN ports in bridge mode on the Netgate 4860 though, so I know it works fine (for my application) and doesn't cost too much CPU.

 

[beisser]

i can recommend the qnap switches. im using mine with the QSW-2104-2T (NAS on 10 Gbit, rest on 2.5).
But im also using 5 of the 6 LAN-Ports of the unit as a switch, sice the 4 ports of the qnap are insufficient for me

 

[iceman_jkh]

I can't find a qnap within budget, so I'm probably going with a Mikrotik Cloud Switch CRS326-24G-2S+RM.
I've got to do more research to understand where all the processing (of VLAN traffic) will happen - on the Pentium8508 or the switch's CPU.
I still want some traffic analytics and firewall rules, but don't want to clog up the LAN-switch connection (cable) with unnecessary traffic.

 

[Hotcooler]

Great thread and thanks @fta for the mods, got one on order and coming too, with the i3.

I plan to sort of Frankenstein a 10g nic on it too, I stumbled upon this abomination while browsing aliexpress you can find it by searching for "M.2 To Single Port 10 Gbase".

So the current plan is to convert the wifi slot to M.2 M-key one on a ribbon cable and install 2230 ssd somewhere in the case and plug that nic monstrosity over it, then make a hole for the RJ45 somewhere around the SD-card slot on the front panel.

If the thing requires active cooling or not in this type of an enclosure will be determined later haha, though I suspect it might.

 

[Hotcooler]

(Good pickup on those zoomed-in fins. Never trust marketing material )

From the looks of it there are both case types available, yet heatpipe placement seem identical. According to this video:

Also some seem to come pre-installed with a rather neatly designed wifi-to-ssd adapter.. I do kinda want it now..

 

[beisser]

From the looks of it there are both case types available, yet heatpipe placement seem identical. According to this video:

Also some seem to come pre-installed with a rather neatly designed wifi-to-ssd adapter.. I do kinda want it now..

i can confirm that the adapter comes with the unit.
the resulting m2 slot is only x1 though so dont expect great performance from it.

 

[Hotcooler]

i can confirm that the adapter comes with the unit.
the resulting m2 slot is only x1 though so dont expect great performance from it.

Good to know, I wonder if it depends on the seller though. And yeah I dont need much from it, 1x is plenty fast for everything the thing will ever do.

 

[beisser]

Good to know, I wonder if it depends on the seller though. And yeah I dont need much from it, 1x is plenty fast for everything the thing will ever do.

you mean the adapter?
might be that cheaper units dont have it included.
i have the beefy chassis 8505 version from topton and it came with it.
the x1 thing is unavoidable as it converts mini-pcie to m.2 and mini-pcie always is only x1

 

[miki1982es]

Hi everyone!

First of all I would like to thank all of you for for talking and improving this huge device.

I was interested in this device specs, but although I have seen the forum and the video that @Hootcooler posted, I have some doubts:

- Regarding the m.2 - mini-pcie adaptor, as far as I understood it seems that CWWK store does not send it directly (maybe it does if you buy it from Aliexpress). Do you recommend any adaptor if it's not included?

- Checking the drive slots, i see that I should connect:

• 1 x M.2 NVME 2280 x4 max (directly)
• 1 x M.2 NVME 2280 x1 max (through adaptor from miniPCIE)
• 2 x 2.5" SATA drives (connecting to SATA slots)

Is that true? Can at least one 2.5" SATA drive fit inside the case (and can also screw it on the case)?

- Regarding RAM memory, we can use up to 2 x DDR4 slots (max 64GB / 3200 Mhz). Do you recommend any memory that is compatible?

 

[beisser]

1 2.5" sata drive fits inside the case (gets mounted to the bottom plate), but mounting it will block some of the air holes at the bottom.
i use 2x 16gb noname chinese memory with the device and they work fine.
topton, the company i got mine from, specifically advised against kingston hyperx impact memory modules without naming a specific reason for it.

 

[ChrisP]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading a LOT about all this new boxes, thanks a lot for all the usefull insight you are sharing !!
I'm joining the train now and ordered an i3 1215u version, but I will order RAM and SSD locally now. My plan is to replace my good old Ubiquiti ERLite 3 to use OPNSense for traffic and VPN stuff, and some dockers for additionnal services (Pihole, traefik, checkmk, and some more), everything using proxmox.

For those who have the box, would a m2 with heatsink be ok regarding available space ?

1 x M.2 NVME 2280 Gen4 max (directly)

I believe it's 1 x M.2 NVME 2280 Gen3 x4 instead, but I assume you could plug a Gen4 that would be limited to Gen3 x4.

 

[beisser]

i think he meant x4 instead of gen4, since he also wrote gen1 which doesnt exist. there is no nvme based on gen1 as far as im aware.
so its 4 lanes and 1 lane respectively.

 

[miki1982es]

i think he meant x4 instead of gen4, since he also wrote gen1 which doesnt exist. there is no nvme based on gen1 as far as im aware.
so its 4 lanes and 1 lane respectively.

Sorry for the typo. I meant x4 (instead of Gen4) and x1 (instead of Gen1).

Thank you for your answers by the way!

 

[Hotcooler]

advised against kingston hyperx impact memory modules

I imagine they are talking about the CL19/20 ram. I had issues with those on some other random laptops just not booting it @CL20 for whatever reason. So probably that's why.

I also have the cheapest Chinese 3200 kit on order, since IMO you cant really screw it up at 3200 JEDEC.

ould a m2 with heatsink be ok regarding available space ?

I dont have it yet, but I also was wondering about that since I plan to stuck in a 10G card there, that'll likely require bigger heatsink. From the looks of it there's about 20mm of space may be slightly more, but that will block possible fan installation.

If someone can be bothered to measure it up from the base of the top NVME socket to the bottom plate it would be great though.

 

[beisser]

cant measure it right now but flat m.2 heatsinks such as these two will have absolutely no issues if you dont install the 2.5" sata drive:

bigger than those i would not advise.

 

[fta]

I am using this 4mm heatsink with the fan that came with the box installed. I specifically picked that heatsink because it is shorter than most. I haven't had any issues.

 

[skimikes]

Hi everyone!

First of all I would like to thank all of you for for talking and improving this huge device.

I was interested in this device specs, but although I have seen the forum and the video that @Hootcooler posted, I have some doubts:

- Regarding the m.2 - mini-pcie adaptor, as far as I understood it seems that CWWK store does not send it directly (maybe it does if you buy it from Aliexpress). Do you recommend any adaptor if it's not included?

- Checking the drive slots, i see that I should connect:

• 1 x M.2 NVME 2280 x4 max (directly)
• 1 x M.2 NVME 2280 x1 max (through adaptor from miniPCIE)
• 2 x 2.5" SATA drives (connecting to SATA slots)

Is that true? Can at least one 2.5" SATA drive fit inside the case (and can also screw it on the case)?

- Regarding RAM memory, we can use up to 2 x DDR4 slots (max 64GB / 3200 Mhz). Do you recommend any memory that is compatible?

I purchased mine directly from cwwk.net and it came with the pcie adapter. I get about 800MB/sec from the adapter port.

You can mount a 2.5" drive in there but I would recommend just going with m.2 drives.

I am using 2x32GB Samsung DDR4 3200 modules and it works fine.

 

[ChrisP]

I am using this 4mm heatsink with the fan that came with the box installed. I specifically picked that heatsink because it is shorter than most. I haven't had any issues.

Thanks, I will have a look !

 

[miki1982es]

Hi everyone again! I would like to ask you about the fan that is included. Do you think is good enough or maybe is better to replace it to another one? Have you replaced it?