Fanless Intel N200 Internal Hardware Overview
Inside the unit, we have a fairly standard layout. On the top, we have M.2 slots. On the bottom, we have the SODIMM.
One thing we did not get with this unit was a cable for a 2.5″ SATA drive that we used to get with these units. Instead, we got this. We are going to call this the M.2 H-bracket. The purpose is to take the M.2 slot, normally used for WiFi, and add a second M.2 SSD slot internally. If you really wanted to you could install two 4TB M.2 SSDs into this system and make it a NAS, but it is probably not what we would recommend. In our upcoming N305 video, we have a hot off the presses 4x M.2 board and a new H-board that is much more advanced.
Our unit came with the Fanxiang 512GB NVMe SSD. You can actually buy these SSDs on AliExpress and we saw them on Amazon as well. In these machines, we tend to use low-cost and low-power DRAM-less SSDs when we configure our own since we like to minimize heat and power.
On the memory side, we have perhaps the biggest change. Instead of two DDR4 SODIMMs, we get a single DDR5 SODIMM slot. Alder Lake-N is a single memory channel design but it is DDR5 capable so we get a 50% performance boost from that. In our system was another surprise. We received a Crucial labeled 16GB DDR5 SODIMM. The Crucial-Micron DIMM is perhaps the biggest brand name that we have seen from these AliExpress boxes.
Here is another look at the system configured just to help put things in perspective.
All of this leads us to the performance of the system because that is the big story.
Interesting comments about the difficulties of ordering what YOU want from AliExpress…only to get what they send to you. That’s my take on that matter.
I really feel comfortable ordering from AliExpress…NOT.
The DDR5 option is neat. Single channel and single memory slot are not. What about virtualization???
This is not an Intel N200 but a Topton N200. I would suggest changing the headline so the use of the Intel trademark doesn’t suggest it’s a product made by Intel.
@Stamo, it’s a single memory channel CPU.
Anyone else getting hot (>70°C idle) NVMe in those passive boxes? I had to add a fan
I dunno Patrick, it just looks like a Raspberry Pi replacement to me.
“G” = GPIO?
So what is this CWWK company? I’ve found just cwwk.net. Company behind .net domain? Let’s see about and contacts. About us is some motivation blah and contact is just a pure web form. There is *NO* contact address at all.
Now, tell me, who would deploy device made by such company into the company network? In times when PRC based companies run spy opperation left and right either intentionaly or unintentionally, I should deploy *annonymoyus* company network appliance? For what? Just to save few bucks in comparison with trusted equipment?
Patrick, sorry about rant, but your constant advertisement of PRC based products is getting to my nerves. You can do better, way better. :-)
Again, I take umbrage on your presentation of performance metrics. For deity’s sake, put a clear (red rectangle?) marking on the chip (and associated bar) you want my eye to focus on, don’t make me read 20+ useless CPU descriptors.
I spit on your page 3!
This device with a sfp+ port would be awesome