Topton Jasper Lake Quad i225V Mini PC Report

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

jak4

New Member
Jan 15, 2023
7
6
3
So after going through almost all posts in here I decided to go with the following: Barebone CWWK N5105 i226 v5.

My thought process for this piece were:
  1. Avoid Topton and its sisterstores (e.g. KingNovy) at all cost. Go with CWWK.
  2. Get the latest iteration of Hardware (v5) incl. Intel 226.
  3. The N5105 should be plenty powerful to run opnsense (even virtualized via proxmox). Hey, btw why is nobody using xcp-ng for virtualization on these devices?
  4. For 90 % of us here (including me) we will not hit any limits regarding up/downstream "encoding" (e.g. vpn) and zenarmor enabled. Who is going to saturate his 1 GB up/downstream all the time? I wonder, if this is the case, if some non-homelab solution would be more fitting and probably more cost-effective in the long run?
  5. Order NVME and RAM seperatly because you will have to open up the device anyway to, at the very least, replace the thermal compound. Check the copper-shim and if need grind it carefully
  6. If you expect moderate to high load a small fan (40 mm) will be required to keep the unit cool.
  7. Buy a heat sink for the NVME
  8. Opnsense and pfSense might have some issues with the newest hardware iteration. Opnsense seems to quicker to provide updates.
  9. Fiddling with varios Bios-Settings will most likely be necessary. Even to the degree that a new BIOS needs to be installed.
  10. Run a stresstest for about 48 hours with memtest86+ and prime95
Cheers
jak4
 

snippem

New Member
Jan 8, 2023
6
2
3
So after going through almost all posts in here I decided to go with the following: Barebone CWWK N5105 i226 v5.

My thought process for this piece were:
  1. Avoid Topton and its sisterstores (e.g. KingNovy) at all cost. Go with CWWK.
  2. Get the latest iteration of Hardware (v5) incl. Intel 226.
  3. The N5105 should be plenty powerful to run opnsense (even virtualized via proxmox). Hey, btw why is nobody using xcp-ng for virtualization on these devices?
  4. For 90 % of us here (including me) we will not hit any limits regarding up/downstream "encoding" (e.g. vpn) and zenarmor enabled. Who is going to saturate his 1 GB up/downstream all the time? I wonder, if this is the case, if some non-homelab solution would be more fitting and probably more cost-effective in the long run?
  5. Order NVME and RAM seperatly because you will have to open up the device anyway to, at the very least, replace the thermal compound. Check the copper-shim and if need grind it carefully
  6. If you expect moderate to high load a small fan (40 mm) will be required to keep the unit cool.
  7. Buy a heat sink for the NVME
  8. Opnsense and pfSense might have some issues with the newest hardware iteration. Opnsense seems to quicker to provide updates.
  9. Fiddling with varios Bios-Settings will most likely be necessary. Even to the degree that a new BIOS needs to be installed.
  10. Run a stresstest for about 48 hours with memtest86+ and prime95
Cheers
jak4
I do believe that any store that is located on Ali-express should be avoided if you want premium service and a premium device.
I bought a Topton N5105 with i226 Nics and can say that the thing took less that 2 weeks to arrive in the Netherlands.
It was well packed and came with all the necessary accessories.
The only thing that was disappointing was the powerbrick it was a samsung branded one ( but probably samsung doesn’t now they produced it ). The power brick works and it doesn’t get get hot but I changed it.
Out off the box my temps where more than acceptable running 48 degrees Celsius idle to the highest off 64 degrees Celsius. ( without any power savings enabled in the bios or opnsense).
When I altered the bios and changed some settings in opnsense the box runs idle 42 degrees Celsius load doesn’t change. These temps are all in a closet with no additional cooling with a nvme drive and dual channel memory.
I have a Topton with the same motherboard that you have
 

Stovar

Active Member
Dec 27, 2022
168
72
28
So after going through almost all posts in here I decided to go with the following: Barebone CWWK N5105 i226 v5.

My thought process for this piece were:
  1. Avoid Topton and its sisterstores (e.g. KingNovy) at all cost. Go with CWWK.
  2. Get the latest iteration of Hardware (v5) incl. Intel 226.
  3. The N5105 should be plenty powerful to run opnsense (even virtualized via proxmox). Hey, btw why is nobody using xcp-ng for virtualization on these devices?
  4. For 90 % of us here (including me) we will not hit any limits regarding up/downstream "encoding" (e.g. vpn) and zenarmor enabled. Who is going to saturate his 1 GB up/downstream all the time? I wonder, if this is the case, if some non-homelab solution would be more fitting and probably more cost-effective in the long run?
  5. Order NVME and RAM seperatly because you will have to open up the device anyway to, at the very least, replace the thermal compound. Check the copper-shim and if need grind it carefully
  6. If you expect moderate to high load a small fan (40 mm) will be required to keep the unit cool.
  7. Buy a heat sink for the NVME
  8. Opnsense and pfSense might have some issues with the newest hardware iteration. Opnsense seems to quicker to provide updates.
  9. Fiddling with varios Bios-Settings will most likely be necessary. Even to the degree that a new BIOS needs to be installed.
  10. Run a stresstest for about 48 hours with memtest86+ and prime95
Cheers
jak4
Think that pretty much is spot on having read this entire thread but is the CWWK affordable edition not the same thing and cheaper?

This one

Oh just saw the wifi antenna output bits are missing from front so your link might be better if you need wifi.

Yes I believe its easier to just get your bits yourself ram/ssd etc, while it should not take longer for him to add the bits it might shave off some delivery time and from what cwwk has told me via chat there is no difference between his ali store or his main website in shipping times anyhow but I do think the aliexpress store has bit more better pricing and models and is more up to date.

I need to go for this model here the 6 port version since got some fussy devices that prefer direct ethernet cable.

From what I asked few pages back with the N5105 you can do 1gig up/down and even under encryption like Nordvpn so it should be powerful enough, the only thing I would have liked is to see the successor in N100 just to see if its just as powerful and perhaps cooler and lesser watts but it feels like it should be similar given the N5100 6watt cpu.
 

johnknierim

New Member
Aug 1, 2022
22
14
3
So after going through almost all posts in here I decided to go with the following: Barebone CWWK N5105 i226 v5.

My thought process for this piece were:
  1. Avoid Topton and its sisterstores (e.g. KingNovy) at all cost. Go with CWWK.
  2. Get the latest iteration of Hardware (v5) incl. Intel 226.
  3. The N5105 should be plenty powerful to run opnsense (even virtualized via proxmox). Hey, btw why is nobody using xcp-ng for virtualization on these devices?
  4. For 90 % of us here (including me) we will not hit any limits regarding up/downstream "encoding" (e.g. vpn) and zenarmor enabled. Who is going to saturate his 1 GB up/downstream all the time? I wonder, if this is the case, if some non-homelab solution would be more fitting and probably more cost-effective in the long run?
  5. Order NVME and RAM seperatly because you will have to open up the device anyway to, at the very least, replace the thermal compound. Check the copper-shim and if need grind it carefully
  6. If you expect moderate to high load a small fan (40 mm) will be required to keep the unit cool.
  7. Buy a heat sink for the NVME
  8. Opnsense and pfSense might have some issues with the newest hardware iteration. Opnsense seems to quicker to provide updates.
  9. Fiddling with varios Bios-Settings will most likely be necessary. Even to the degree that a new BIOS needs to be installed.
  10. Run a stresstest for about 48 hours with memtest86+ and prime95
Cheers
jak4
I have purchased 3 devices from KingNovy via Amazon, all three arrived within 2 weeks. They are very prompt at answering my questions as well as sending the manuals for the systems purchased. I had one NIC on a 4 port i226 5800U unit die, they shipped me a new one and told me to keep the old one. I have had excellent customer service and none of their units had any gaps between the CPU and heatsink or case. I guess luck of the draw. Hopefully this provides a balanced perspective and in now way is this meant to undermine your perspective
 

Sagidullin

New Member
Jan 9, 2023
5
2
3
Good afternoon.
I recently received my Topton - "2022 New 2.5G Soft Router 11th Pentium N5105 4 Intel i226 Nics 2*NVMe 2*DDR4" device, and I'm just starting to understand it.

The inscription on the motherboard: LH-JSP4l ver.3.C.
BIOS version: JK4LV105
The inscription on the back of the mother card: FMI07 N5105 JK 4L-V02 CBOX

Unfortunately, the aliexpress seller - "Topton Computer Store" from whom I bought this device, was sociable only before the purchase, after answering my questions that he knows nothing.

Help me please, point in the right direction:

1) If there is a place where you can download a new BIOS or follow the updates? The aliexpress seller said no, but there are updates for CWWK. How do I know which one suits my device?
2) Also, the aliexpress seller said that Windows is not supported? For the sake of experiment, I installed Windows 11, in the "device manager" there are many undefined devices, including all network adapters. As if there is not enough driver for the chipset? Has anyone tried installing Windows?
3) The kit included a power supply unit "Delta Electronics" model: "eadp-48mb b" for 12 volts and 4 amperes, a company unknown to me.
Perhaps you should buy something more reliable?

Thank you.

If anyone is suddenly interested, I asked the seller of "Topton Computer Store" to put Wi-Fi, and the seller immediately installed the "Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165" board for $ 10 into the case.
RAM (3200) was mine, passed stress tests, bought here: Samsung Laptop RAM (Yao Yue Store).
The kit did not have a mesh for the holes in the case.

I am attaching information about the PC, suddenly someone is interested.
photo1673947035.jpeg photo1673940981.jpeg photo1673947853.jpeg
 

Attachments

Last edited:

sqrwv

Member
Oct 8, 2022
58
45
18
It does say full length miniPCie slot so was looking at something like this kit here or is it better to get an USB Wifi stick?
I've read that intel ax210 doesn't work as AP, also you can't chose the country when working as client, it will read the country from the APs. Beside that, they work very well as client.

Random search:
Do Intel® Wireless Adapters Support Master or AP Mode?
"All current Intel® Wireless Adapters are client-only devices and don't support the master or AP mode.
The Intel Wireless Adapters can support the Wi-Fi Direct (peer-to-peer) or the hotspot features."

Maybe older intel models were different, I don't know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stovar

jak4

New Member
Jan 15, 2023
7
6
3
Think that pretty much is spot on having read this entire thread but is the CWWK affordable edition not the same thing and cheaper?

This one

Oh just saw the wifi antenna output bits are missing from front so your link might be better if you need wifi.
I didn't even realize that it had those wifi antenna output bits. The link you provided is not accessible my country (Germany). I guess it's the same but without those wifi bits. If its cheaper (and visible to me) then this would also have been my preferred choice.

I've no clue about the N100.

Best regards
jak4
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stovar

jak4

New Member
Jan 15, 2023
7
6
3
I have purchased 3 devices from KingNovy via Amazon, all three arrived within 2 weeks. They are very prompt at answering my questions as well as sending the manuals for the systems purchased. I had one NIC on a 4 port i226 5800U unit die, they shipped me a new one and told me to keep the old one. I have had excellent customer service and none of their units had any gaps between the CPU and heatsink or case. I guess luck of the draw. Hopefully this provides a balanced perspective and in now way is this meant to undermine your perspective
This is very good to hear. Although the hardware itself does not seem to be the problem with Topton or KingNovy. Rather that if something does not work, you are basically on your own. I guess we (I) are hoping, that with CWWK the support is better. But afaik nobody did have to deal with CWWK and report about their experience. So they might just be as bad as Topton.

Best regards
jak4
 
  • Like
Reactions: johnknierim

jak4

New Member
Jan 15, 2023
7
6
3
I do believe that any store that is located on Ali-express should be avoided if you want premium service and a premium device.
I bought a Topton N5105 with i226 Nics and can say that the thing took less that 2 weeks to arrive in the Netherlands.
It was well packed and came with all the necessary accessories.
The only thing that was disappointing was the powerbrick it was a samsung branded one ( but probably samsung doesn’t now they produced it ). The power brick works and it doesn’t get get hot but I changed it.
Out off the box my temps where more than acceptable running 48 degrees Celsius idle to the highest off 64 degrees Celsius. ( without any power savings enabled in the bios or opnsense).
When I altered the bios and changed some settings in opnsense the box runs idle 42 degrees Celsius load doesn’t change. These temps are all in a closet with no additional cooling with a nvme drive and dual channel memory.
I have a Topton with the same motherboard that you have

Good to hear. As I replied to johnknierim, the hardware seems not to be the issue for Topton et al. Rather the support if something is not ok. But again, if CWWK is better in that regard, I don't know and I hope I don't need to find out.

Best regards
jak4
 
  • Like
Reactions: snippem

Stovar

Active Member
Dec 27, 2022
168
72
28
This deal looks pretty good to me price wise for anyone looking at an 6x intel i226 and N5105
but its from a company called Anyrevo on aliexpress
 
  • Like
Reactions: agent_kenshin

Stovar

Active Member
Dec 27, 2022
168
72
28
I didn't even realize that it had those wifi antenna output bits. The link you provided is not accessible my country (Germany). I guess it's the same but without those wifi bits. If its cheaper (and visible to me) then this would also have been my preferred choice.

I've no clue about the N100.

Best regards
jak4

Yeah its a bit of a mountain with so many units, going to order soon enough but gonna stick with CWWK, appears more supported and better thermal cpu contact and less issues wise and better bios support even if its at a bit more cost.
 

Stovar

Active Member
Dec 27, 2022
168
72
28
When you order from CWWK does he chuck in that optional 3 (hard line) or sata data/power cable?

I want to get an extra hanging kit and AX610 Wifi6 card but he does not mention any pricing on these optional bits, any idea?

cheers
 

casulo

Member
Nov 30, 2022
47
21
8
Oh just saw the wifi antenna output bits are missing from front so your link might be better if you need wifi.
On some boxes the wifi holes are on the side. But usually they only show front and back pics.

About the intel modules, yes, major disapointment. No AP mode for 5Ghz. I think mediatek chips are good. That's what i hear.

About the n100. I contacted some vendors, they all say it's going to take weeks or even months till the boxes cone out, but the guy behind RS86 is saying they might have one soon.

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1080dcw
Cute box.
 

rub1k

New Member
Dec 13, 2022
27
13
3
Looks like I've taken too long to make up my mind and order one of these puppies. Hah.

N6005 no longer being sold at the CWWC PC Store and it's gone up in price from ~$240 to $290 in the past 7-10 days at the O.G. CWWC Store.

Oh well, I guess I'll try waiting another week or so to see if they'll have any sales for Chinese New Year.
FWIW, I reached out to CWWC via their contact form at the CWWC Store shop to inquire about N6005 boxes no longer being available and got this back:

您好,N6005暂时缺货了

可能会停产,2月份之后才知道是否停产
Meaning, roughly, "Hello, N6005 is temporarily out of stock. It may be discontinued, and we will not know whether it will be discontinued until after February." according to Google Translate.

RIP. I really wanted one of their V5 N6005 boxes. ):
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stovar

jak4

New Member
Jan 15, 2023
7
6
3
When you order from CWWK does he chuck in that optional 3 (hard line) or sata data/power cable?

I want to get an extra hanging kit and AX610 Wifi6 card but he does not mention any pricing on these optional bits, any idea?

cheers
No idea. My guess would be no.

Best regards
jak4
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stovar

ghostface

New Member
Dec 11, 2022
3
5
3
So after going through almost all posts in here I decided to go with the following: Barebone CWWK N5105 i226 v5.

My thought process for this piece were:
  1. Avoid Topton and its sisterstores (e.g. KingNovy) at all cost. Go with CWWK.
  2. Get the latest iteration of Hardware (v5) incl. Intel 226.
  3. The N5105 should be plenty powerful to run opnsense (even virtualized via proxmox). Hey, btw why is nobody using xcp-ng for virtualization on these devices?
  4. For 90 % of us here (including me) we will not hit any limits regarding up/downstream "encoding" (e.g. vpn) and zenarmor enabled. Who is going to saturate his 1 GB up/downstream all the time? I wonder, if this is the case, if some non-homelab solution would be more fitting and probably more cost-effective in the long run?
  5. Order NVME and RAM seperatly because you will have to open up the device anyway to, at the very least, replace the thermal compound. Check the copper-shim and if need grind it carefully
  6. If you expect moderate to high load a small fan (40 mm) will be required to keep the unit cool.
  7. Buy a heat sink for the NVME
  8. Opnsense and pfSense might have some issues with the newest hardware iteration. Opnsense seems to quicker to provide updates.
  9. Fiddling with varios Bios-Settings will most likely be necessary. Even to the degree that a new BIOS needs to be installed.
  10. Run a stresstest for about 48 hours with memtest86+ and prime95
Cheers
jak4
Thanks for the summary, jak4! About "Fiddling with varios Bios-Settings will most likely be necessary. ", I was going through all the pages and found that this will be mainly those settings here:
  • Enable PL1 and set at 10000
  • Enable PL2 and set at 12000
  • Enable C-states
  • Set PECI to off
  • Enable turbo (it’s fine once you’ve got proper settings)
  • Enable Speedstep
  • Set ACPI as auto
  • Enable acoustic noise reduction.
  • If you use pfsense or opnsense, you can tweak the following tunables
Alternatively, you can also try to just set to ASPM to "Auto" as described here.

Is there anything else to mention?