CWWK/Topton/... Nxxx quad NIC router

[Becks0815]

After 134 pages about the N5105/N6005 routers from Aliexpress I decided to start a new thread for the new versions using N95/N100/N200/N305 CPUs. The CPUs became available early 2023 and offer around 20% more CPU power (N100 vs. N5105) compared to the previous lineup of CPUs.

The first machines with 4 ports (Intel i226v NICs) were spotted in March 23 on Aliexpress, and currently at least three companies offer them in potentially three variations. Potentially, because no review, feedback or YT video exists so far to confirm the findings on the supplier pages on ali.


Variation A: (TOPTON): using the same case used for the variation of N5105/N6005 boxes offering the best cooling solution.



Variaton B: (YSJMNPC ) - a case with Y shaped cooler fins used on some I3-1215U boxes (active cooled)



Variation C (YSJMNPC, CWWK): this case was already used for some I3 Intel boxes.




On top it is unclear what details the cases offer. There are two different pictures shown on the webpages, and sometimes the one showing the cooling solution doesn't match the rest of the case:

Cooling solution of an TOPTON i4 1215U router (case variation C ):


The Nxxx router with case variation B:



So like with the N5105 we can expect several variations, upgrades or changes and BIOS versions. At least one detail seems to be clear: the SATA port which was available on the N5105 boxes is gone and only a 4 pin header for SATA power is left on the mainboard. So you either need an adapter or use a NVME drive instead.



My CWWK box should arrive in some weeks. Then we will know more.

 

[fagonzalezro]

Hello..

First time posting in the forum, i was looking on a mini firewall for a couple of months, i choose for a topton N6005 from aliexpress on March 12. last week topton send me a menssage sayng that de N6005 has stopped production, now they offered a Intel N200 Cpu.

How is the Intel N200 Cpu vs the N100? im a little lost with the reviews on internet (CPU performance)

Best Regards

 

[icecrash]

My CWWK box should arrive in some weeks. Then we will know more.

Did you get "Version C"? The one with the big heatsinks on the top? Would love to know the idle / max power draw.

How is the Intel N200 Cpu vs the N100? im a little lost with the reviews on internet (CPU performance)

Check out Intel Ark to compare. For convenience, I added all 4 models to the link (N95, N100, N200, N305). I'll highlight the differences:
N95: 3.4 GHz max turbo, 4 cores, 16 EU graphics [15W TDP]
N100: 3.4 GHz max turbo, 4 cores, 24 EU graphics [6W TDP]
N200: 3.7 GHz max turbo, 4 cores, 32 EU graphics [6W TDP]
N305: 3.8 GHz max turbo, 8 cores, 32 EU graphics [15W TDP]
The rest is the same.

N95 and N305 are likely going to draw more power and run hotter, given their higher TDP limits. I think N100 is likely the sweet spot. N200 has about 9% more turbo boost, and 33% more graphics performance. For a mini firewall/router, graphics performance is not needed. The older-generation N5105 was already performant enough it seems, so the N100 should likely be plenty sufficient, and is a bit cheaper than the N200.

 

[Becks0815]

The router has been flagged as shipped (CWWK, case C) and should arrive until April, 20th. I'll order some RAM (Kingston Fury Impact, 1 x 16GB, 4800 MHz, DDR5-RAM, SO-DIMM), still have an 512GB NVME drive laying around.

 

[Mike9474593]

N305: 3.8 GHz max turbo, 4 cores, 32 EU graphics [15W TDP]

@icecrash Little copy-paste typo here, the N305 has 8 cores

Let's see if the C-case really has heatpipes (as mentioned on Ali, asked changwang about that. They seem to be busy, just got "will reply later" as answer. Also asked about the USB-C and the HDMI+DP in front or back. Will update here.

 

[AdriftAtlas]

The N305 has some impressive early benchmarks for a 15W TDP CPU. My concern is that TDP does not mean much in terms of max wattage. Will it still stay around 30W max like the others or will it spike to something like 60W?

My local ISP (Ziply Fiber) is now selling 5Gbps internet for $120/mo. It's time these came with 10Gbps ports.

 

[kliguin]

Anyone ordered these box already, what is the idle power consumption?

 

[tusk9541]

I think there's still some efficiency to be gained in other areas that aren't the CPU. Maybe LPDDR5 can help shave a few more watts, and soldered storage as well, at the cost of upgradeability which I'm sure at least some of us would take.

 

[dgcorp]

# Will 32GB memory be possible? #

I know it's 'early days' for these models of CPUs / MiniPCs, so I'll have to wait a while for some real answers...

I understand 32GB memory (RAM) is not officially supported (Intel specs for all Alder-Lake-N say: 16GB Max Mem, Single Channel ONLY )...

...but I'd really like to know if anyone has tried putting in a 32GB stick, to see if it works on any of the Intel N100/200/300/305 CPU's ??
e.g. Crucial CT32G48C40S5 (1x32GB DDR5-4800 SODIMM)

I'm looking at buying a new Mini Server (e.g. Beelink / Topton / Kingovy / etc) and it would be much better if it could run 32GB memory in the future!

Cheers, D

 

[Stovar]

The N305 has some impressive early benchmarks for a 15W TDP CPU. My concern is that TDP does not mean much in terms of max wattage. Will it still stay around 30W max like the others or will it spike to something like 60W?

Am guessing it still spikes to 60watts like most of the 8 core mini pcs out there from amd and intel but hopefully some bios options if not power capping can be done to keep it capped.

I would have much preferred an N300 @ 6watts really baffling why they went with the more power hungry N305 not unless they want the N305 aimed at being a more fuller desktop pc replacement.

 

[roarking]

I would have much preferred an N300 @ 6watts really baffling why they went with the more power hungry N305

The reason may be that the i3-N300 is not yet available. The i3-N305 currently has 7 samples on cpubenchmark.net, while the i3-N300 is not on record yet.

cpubenchmark.net: N6005 vs. i3-N305

 

[Stovar]

The reason may be that the i3-N300 is not yet available. The i3-N305 currently has 7 samples on cpubenchmark.net, while the i3-N300 is not on record yet.

cpubenchmark.net: N6005 vs. i3-N305

thanks that makes a lot of sense now, guess will be more patient for the N300.

 

[Patrick]

We are still waiting. I think we have A N100 A N305 and C N305 ordered. Hopefully they get here soon. Two trips to Europe (OCP and ISC), Taiwan (Computex), and two domestic US trips just in the next 8 weeks.

 

[Becks0815]

16 GB RAM are here now, an older SK Hynix BC511 also is waiting and if DPD doesn't have an error on the tracking page, the N100 should arrive in about 5-7 days. Then let's see how warm the machine gets and how much power it consumes.

 

[Patrick]

I had Topton ask to cancel an order for the N305 because they are out of stock. CW still has the active order.

 

[oneplane]

I wonder how the global numbers on Nxxx chip SKUs are doing, seems it's available in a few pockets of retail supply chain but not nearly as broad as I would expect.

 

[DarthCirrus]

Is it too much to ask for these do ECC UDIMMs….

I mean, I know they don’t… because Intel ARK says so, but why can’t we have a nice low power platform based on a new architecture that supports ECC to do routing? Ice lake appears soooo much worse than Alder Lake…

I mean, if the real experts and professionals here say “ECC not required or significantly beneficial in a non production home environment” then I guess I’d go with it… but otherwise it seems like the only options for low power ECC routing on a newish platform would be artificially PL limiting a W680 motherboard to get low power, or ice lake Atoms/Xeon-Ds

 

[marv]

Specs on Ark say these new N CPUs have only single channel memory controller and support max 16GB of RAM. But Aliexpress sellers offer 32GB RAM bundles. Wondering whether these mini PCs have 1 or 2 memory slots and whats real max capacity.

 

[roarking]

Specs on Ark say these new N CPUs have only single channel memory controller and support max 16GB of RAM. But Aliexpress sellers offer 32GB RAM bundles. Wondering whether these mini PCs have 1 or 2 memory slots and whats real max capacity.

1) While Gemini Lake/Elkhart Lake/Jasper Lake (J41xx/J64xx/N51XX/N6005) support two memory modules, there is evidence that Alder Lake-N really only supports one memory module. Intel ARK says so and in addition the Alder Lake-N mainboard pictured below has only one SO-DIMM slot, while the predecessor from the same manufacturer for Jasper Lake N5105/N6005 had two SO-DIMM slots in the same spot in a very similar PCB layout.

2) Intel ARK states the maximum memory supported as 8GB for Gemini Lake, 32GB for Elkhart Lake and 16GB for Jasper Lake but the actual maximum memory is higher: Gemini Lake supports 2x16GB = 32GB and Jasper Lake 2x32GB = 64GB. There are reports that Elkhart Lake supports 2x 32GB = 64GB too, but I do not have a system with this CPU and two slots to confirm this.

3) Alder Lake-N's maximum memory according to Intel ARK is 16GB. Manufacturers mention 32GB for these systems already, so like for the predecessors the actual maximum memory seems to be higher than what Intel states. Since Alder Lake-N supports only one memory slot, the maximum at the moment is 1x32GB. There is a possibility that 1x64GB will work but DDR5 SO-DIMM's with a capacity of 64GB do not exist yet.

 

[Iko]

Just thought I'd mention an alternative: last week I ordered a similar box with another Alder Lake processor, the pentium gold 8505, currently available more cheaply than the N95/N100/N200/N305 boxes, but with specs that seem higher in some respects (cache size, total threads and max turbe freq). It does have a much higher wattage though so I guess the catch will be to see whether it overheats. The box I ordered has an active fan. It's coming by slow boat so I guess I won't know for some time, but thought I'd mention it here in case anyone else is interested.