N305 6-Bay 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – BUDGET BRILLIANT DIY NAS BUILD?

Last updated on 04 Dec 2024 📧 Subscribe
Contents hide
1 The N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard with 10GbE – Should You Buy It?
1.1 Topton MW-N305-NAS ITX DiY NAS Review – Quick Conclusion
1.2 N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Design and Build Quality
1.3 N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Processor and Performance
1.4 M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Ports and Connections
1.5 M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Storage Capabilities
1.6 The N305 10GbE Motherboard – Should You Buy It?
2 Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

The N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard with 10GbE – Should You Buy It?

If you’re considering a custom NAS or server build, the N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard with 10GbE offers an enticing mix of performance, power efficiency, and networking prowess. Designed with modern demands in mind, it combines Intel’s Alder Lake-N processors with a robust set of connectivity options, including a standout 10GbE port. Whether for personal media servers, small office NAS setups, or edge computing, this motherboard brings noteworthy improvements over its predecessors. Let’s explore its design, hardware, connectivity, and practical applications.

NOTE 1 – A version of this motherboard has appeared that features a x4 PCIe slot, but it is shared with the 2nd M.2 slot. You can learn more about it HERE on the Amazon listing

NOTE 2 – The review of the N100 version of this motherboard is now live and HERE on YouTube and HERE on the blog

 

Where to Buy the 10GbE N300/N305 NAS MoBo?
  • Aliexpress $138.96 (N100 10GbE, No Memory or SSD) – HERE
  • Aliexpress $214.99 (N300 10GbE, 8GB Memory, 128GB OS SSD) – HERE
  • Check Amazon HERE

Topton MW-N305-NAS ITX DiY NAS Review – Quick Conclusion

The Topton MW-N305-NAS motherboard is an affordable M-ITX option for basic NAS setups, featuring a low-power yet high capability 8 core i3 CPU, dual 2.5GbE ports, and a rare built-in 10GbE port for faster data transfer. With six SATA ports and two M.2 slots, it offers versatile storage options, although the M.2 slots are limited to PCIe Gen 3 x1, restricting maximum speeds. While the lack of a PCIe slot and ECC support may limit its appeal for advanced users, the N305 10G NAS board performs reliably for general NAS tasks like file storage, backups, and moderate streaming. It’s best suited for budget-conscious users who need a compact and low-power NAS with decent networking options, though not for those requiring extensive expandability or high-speed processing. It’s a shame about the lack of PCIe upgradability (there is a split m.2/PCIe x4 version from Topton in the market), but aside from that, it is incredibly difficult to fault this value 10GbE DIY NAS offering!

BUILD QUALITY - 8/10
HARDWARE - 8/10
PERFORMANCE - 7/10
PRICE - 10/10
VALUE - 9/10


8.4
PROS
👍🏻Affordable price for an ITX motherboard with 10GbE networking capabilities.
👍🏻Built-in 10GbE port (Marvell AQC113C) and dual 2.5GbE ports (Intel i226-V) for versatile networking options.
👍🏻Low power consumption (6W TDP for CPU), suitable for continuous 24/7 operation.
👍🏻Six SATA 3.0 ports and two M.2 NVMe slots, providing flexible storage configuration options.
👍🏻Compact form factor, making it ideal for small NAS builds and limited-space installations.
👍🏻Supports up to 32GB of DDR5 memory, which is adequate for general NAS use.
👍🏻Low heat output with stable thermal performance, reducing the need for extensive cooling.
👍🏻User-friendly BIOS with customization options for PCI and USB settings.
CONS
👎🏻No PCIe slot, limiting expansion options for additional hardware like GPUs or other high-speed components.
👎🏻Lacks ECC memory support, which is often preferred in NAS setups for data integrity.
👎🏻M.2 slots are limited to PCIe Gen 3 x1 lanes, restricting maximum speed for high-performance applications.
👎🏻Requires a 300W power supply despite low power demands, adding potential extra cost and size requirements.



N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Design and Build Quality

The N305 10GbE motherboard adheres to the Mini-ITX standard (17cm x 17cm), making it an excellent choice for compact builds. Its matte black PCB not only enhances aesthetic appeal but also signifies durability, with an 8-layer high-density fiber design that provides resistance against environmental stressors like moisture. This level of build quality ensures long-term reliability, critical for 24/7 NAS operation or server usage.

One of the key selling points of this model is its ability to balance compactness with functionality. Despite its small footprint, the board integrates a range of advanced components, including the Intel Alder Lake-N N305 CPU and a robust networking stack.

Thermal management is supported with well-placed headers for CPU and system cooling fans, ensuring stable performance even under continuous operation.

A notable upgrade in this model is the inclusion of a 10GbE LAN port, alongside two 2.5GbE ports. These features position the N305 as a professional-grade option, capable of handling demanding data transfer and network management tasks. The board also supports dual M.2 NVMe slots and six SATA3.0 ports, offering ample storage flexibility for SSDs and HDDs alike.

Component Details
CPU Intel Alder Lake-N N305, 8 Threads, 3.8 GHz boost
Memory 1x SO-DIMM DDR5 (4800-5600MHz), up to 32GB
Networking 1x 10GbE (Marvell AQC113C), 2x 2.5GbE (Intel i226-V)
Storage 6x SATA3.0, 2x M.2 NVMe (PCIe 3.0, 2280)
Graphics Intel UHD Graphics, 4K@60Hz via HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4b
Power ATX 24+4 Pin, minimum 300W PSU recommended

With its thoughtful design and robust specifications, the N305 10GbE motherboard proves to be a versatile and compact solution for users requiring reliability and high performance in a small form factor.

N305 M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Processor and Performance

The heart of this motherboard is the Intel Alder Lake-N N305 processor, an 8-thread chip with a maximum clock speed of 3.8 GHz. Designed with efficiency in mind, it features a modest TDP of 9-15W, making it ideal for systems running 24/7.

This processor delivers the computational power needed for a wide range of applications, from lightweight virtualization to handling multiple network clients in a NAS setup. I tested the N305 NAS mobo and below are the stats power consumption numbers for both IDLE and 30-50% power use with all drives in use. Testing revealed idle power consumption of just 27-28 watts with six connected drives in hibernation, and a peak utilization of 64-66 watts under heavy RAID 5 operations across six hard drives via 10GbE.

Built on Intel’s Alder Lake-N architecture, the N305 achieves a balance between energy efficiency and performance. This makes it particularly suitable for edge computing, media streaming, and private cloud hosting. Whether you’re transcoding videos for Plex or running containerized workloads in Docker, this CPU handles it all with ease. Additionally, the integrated Intel UHD Graphics (32 execution units) ensures smooth playback of 4K media.

Memory performance on this board is another highlight. The single SO-DIMM DDR5 slot supports frequencies up to 5600MHz and capacities of up to 32GB, delivering fast data access speeds. This enables seamless multitasking and rapid handling of large files, critical for NAS environments where throughput is essential. While the single memory slot may limit scalability for some, it fits well with the board’s compact and power-efficient design. That said, even with it’s more affordable price, the lack of ECC memory support (both a CPU and MoBo limitation) is going to be a dealbreaker for storage veterans.

The N305’s low power consumption doesn’t compromise its capabilities. It can handle a surprising range of tasks for a CPU of its class, making it suitable for both personal and small business setups. The combination of processing power, efficiency, and modern architecture makes this motherboard a compelling choice for users looking to maximize performance without incurring high energy costs.

M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Ports and Connections

Ports and connections are a critical factor for any motherboard, and the N305 doesn’t disappoint. Its rear I/O panel includes a rich mix of options, catering to various connectivity needs.

The standout feature is the 10GbE LAN port, supported by the Marvell AQC113C chipset, which is complemented by two 2.5GbE LAN ports for additional network flexibility.

This combination allows users to configure advanced setups, such as load balancing or link aggregation.

For display outputs, the board features HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4b, both supporting 4K@60Hz resolution. These ports ensure crisp visuals for administrative tasks, media playback, or light graphical workloads. Additionally, a 3.5mm audio jack powered by the Realtek ALC897 codec provides basic audio output, suitable for most NAS or server setups.

USB connectivity includes a mix of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, alongside a Type-C port (albeit limited to USB 2.0 speeds). Internally, headers for additional USB ports and front-panel connectivity provide customization options, enhancing the board’s adaptability for various builds.

Port Type Details
LAN 1x 10GbE, 2x 2.5GbE
Display HDMI 2.1, DP 1.4b (4K@60Hz support)
USB 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x Type-C (USB 2.0 rate)
Audio 3.5mm jack (Realtek ALC897 codec)
Internal Headers USB 2.0, fan control, front panel

Internally, the motherboard is equipped with headers for fan control, USB expansion, and front-panel connections, ensuring that builders can optimize cooling and functionality. The thoughtful inclusion of multiple ports and expansion headers makes the N305 10GbE motherboard suitable for a wide range of applications, from data-intensive NAS setups to compact home labs.

M-ITX NAS Motherboard – Storage Capabilities

Storage flexibility is one of the N305’s strongest features. The board includes six SATA3.0 ports, capable of speeds up to 6Gbps, ideal for building RAID arrays or connecting multiple high-capacity drives.

These ports are managed by the JMB585 controller, which ensures efficient throughput and compatibility with various storage devices.

The two M.2 NVMe slots provide high-speed storage options for caching or boot drives. These slots are PCIe 3.0 x1, supporting 2280-sized drives, and deliver sequential read/write speeds sufficient for most NAS or server needs.

#However, one M.2 slot shares its signal with the PCIe x1 lane, requiring users to carefully plan resource allocation depending on their build priorities.

The storage setup also supports features like TRIM for SSDs and port multiplier configurations, allowing users to expand their storage options further. This is particularly useful for creating large-scale NAS setups, where maximizing drive connectivity is a priority.

The performance of the MW-N305-NAS motherboard showcases a balance of efficiency and capability for its price point.  Storage speeds on the six SATA ports, powered by a JMB 58x controller on a Gen 3×1 lane, achieved sequential read and write rates of approximately 495 MB/s and 350-380 MB/s respectively.

While the 10GbE Aquantia AQC113C controller delivered fully saturated 10GbE throughput, the advertised USB 20Gbps port fell short, maxing out at 1GB/s during tests. Despite its modest clock speeds and limited PCIe lanes, the MW-N305-NAS excels as a cost-effective, low-power NAS motherboard for DIY builders, especially when considering its compact ITX form factor and versatile connectivity. In short – SATA HDD performance over the single 10GbE connection was pretty standard and acceptable, and the 3×1 lane allocation to each m.2 resulted in the expected sub 1GB internal throughput. The two M.2 NVMe slots, also Gen 3×1, reached read speeds of 783 MB/s and write speeds around 655-690 MB/s, performing consistently within the bandwidth constraints.

Transferring data between each m.2 SSD inside the system (1GB repeated file write) dropped performance down noticeably, but again – this was largely expected and based on the lane speed downgrades, hardly surprising.

Storage Type Details
SATA Ports 6x SATA3.0 (6Gbps), JMB585 controller
M.2 NVMe 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots (2280 size)
TRIM Support Yes
Port Multiplier Yes

Whether for storing media libraries, backing up critical data, or running virtual machines, the N305 offers a robust and flexible storage solution. Despite its compact size, the board’s thoughtful design ensures that users can configure it for both speed and capacity. This makes it a compelling option for anyone looking to build a high-performance, high-capacity NAS or server, with the flexibility to scale storage as needed.

The N305 10GbE Motherboard – Should You Buy It?

As of 2024, the N305 M-ITX NAS motherboard with 10GbE represents a versatile and cost-effective platform for users seeking a combination of performance, power efficiency, and robust connectivity. With its Alder Lake-N processor, DDR5 memory support, and standout 10GbE networking capabilities, it delivers exceptional value for its price. This motherboard is particularly well-suited for applications like Plex Media Server, Proxmox virtual machines, or UnRAID/TrueNAS setups, where both processing power and network bandwidth are critical. Its comprehensive storage options and energy-efficient design further solidify its place as a top contender in the compact NAS and server motherboard market.

However, users with high expansion needs or enterprise-level requirements may find its PCIe lane limitations a challenge. For most small-scale and prosumer applications, though, it strikes an excellent balance between capability and efficiency. Whether you’re building a new media server or upgrading an existing NAS, the N305 10GbE motherboard is a strong choice that offers modern features and flexibility in a compact package.

PROS CONs
  • Affordable price for an ITX motherboard with 10GbE networking capabilities.
  • Built-in 10GbE port (Marvell AQC113C) and dual 2.5GbE ports (Intel i226-V) for versatile networking options.
  • Low power consumption (6-10W TDP for CPU), suitable for continuous 24/7 operation.
  • Six SATA 3.0 ports and two M.2 NVMe slots, providing flexible storage configuration options.
  • Compact form factor, making it ideal for small NAS builds and limited-space installations.
  • Supports up to 32GB of DDR5 memory, which is adequate for general NAS use.
  • Low heat output with stable thermal performance, reducing the need for extensive cooling.
  • User-friendly BIOS with customization options for PCI and USB settings.
  • No PCIe slot, limiting expansion options for additional hardware like GPUs or other high-speed components.
  • Lacks ECC memory support, which is often preferred in NAS setups for data integrity.
  • M.2 slots are limited to PCIe Gen 3 x1 lanes, restricting maximum speed for high-performance applications.

 

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      149 thoughts on “N305 6-Bay 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – BUDGET BRILLIANT DIY NAS BUILD?”

      2. My Opinion what a Nas Board needs
        1x 2.5 gb nic
        1x 10gb (maybe 2) nic
        1x 4x fullsize pci (or end Open)
        6-8x sata via sff Port and Not via Full size sata Ports (just Need to much Space)
        Low power but good CPU Like the n100 with a good and silent cooler or mounting holen like 115x.

        Ports:
        1 hdmi,2-4usb3 and the nics from above
        Usb-c is Not needed and the Internat usb2s are nearly useless where the Positioned
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      3. Since JMB58x can only be JMB582 (2xSATA @Gen3x1) or JMB585 (5xSATA @ Gen3x2) and Alder Lake-N offers only 2xSATA by itself, I think it’s JMB585 with 4xSATA @ gen3x1 used and the two SATA-ports from CPU, which use on PCIe (or HSIO)-lane each. Two lanes are used for AQC113, one each for 2xIntel i226 and one for each M.2.

        Would be better to use the ASM1164 (6xSATA @ Gen3x2), not use any SATA-Ports from CPU, use an Intel X550-AT2 or 2xAQC113C for 2x10GbE @Gen3x4 instead of 2xi226, or use just one AQC113C and have 2xM.2 with Gen3x2.
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      4. 视频非常好！ 我的OKX钱包里有USDT，并且我有恢复短语. 「pride」-「pole」-「obtain」-「together」-「second」-「when」-「future」-「mask」-「review」-「nature」-「potato」-「bulb」 我该如何将它们转移到Binance？
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      6. I also bought from Aliexpress and threw my money away, for those who are thinking about buying, believe me it’s better to look for another brand, I bought it and threw my money away!
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      7. Great review. Sadly the idle is a dealer breaker. Perhaps if we keep saying this the manufacturers will change the sata controller.

        Some have hacked the bios and got higher c-states.
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      11. I have this board in use, it’s pretty good. best price-performance ratio I could find (for my needs).
        But be careful, the installed fan seems to get louder from month to month.
        the only thing I would wish for would be a usb 3.0 port (19 pin) on the board.
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      12. Debating on this board for an offsite backup. I picked up a supermicro itx xeon-d board to replace my onsite server. Curious how long it would take to transfer all 40tb of data to a board like this. Probably take quite awhile especially since I use unraid….
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      13. I’ll pay the premium for a NAS from a reputable vendor because I simply don’t want to be responsible for patching and maintaining the software. The cost for me is offset by time and that’s why I continue to use brand name NAS products. This is awesome if you’re budget conscious and a great option for most if you’re willing to tinker.
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      20. At the 1:50 minute mark you stated “but it’s on die ECC” mean? More specially, the word “die”?

        Full statement at 1:50:
        “DDR5 has ECC it technically does but it’s on die ECC is not the same as ECC the way it does the correction all the way through and die hard particularly Flash users do care for the difference there so the lack of ECC is going to bother some users”
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      21. The usb 20 gbps is a messed up thing overall. The exact name is usb 3.2 gen 2×2. Emphasis on x2. It requires an exactly similar device to utilise the second set of pathways to hit that speed. Thunderbolt and usb4 don’t use that configuration and hence only use one set of connection which limits it to 10 gbps.
        TLDR: you need a device that explicitly says usb 3.2 gen2x2 to connect to that port and hit full speed.
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      22. Thank you so much for your ongoing commitment to the community around DIY NAS (and everything else) – your passion for what you do is contagious, and highly entertaining – good stuff, keep it coming, and f*ck those seagulls! 😀
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      23. Seems pretty disappointing – 28W idle power consumption? My *ancient* i5-3550 server with a SATA SSD and two NVMe sticks semi-idles around 35W (light amount of data from a Home Assistant Yellow constantly flowing to postgres on the server, a cloudflare tunnel etc. when it’s not actively doing other stuff). And the PCIe lanes for the NVMe on the MW-N305-NAS is just… well, this is 2024, it’s disappointing even for a cheap low-end system IMHO.
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      24. Link is for N100 motherboard, not N305. And it is still too much. For 350 euros in europe you can assemble full NAS with case, i3 14100 with integrated intel HD730 GPU which is a beast transcoding gpu, and 32GB ram in dual channel, and that is with SSD for boot drive.
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      25. Idk what they are doing here….But I have a 8700G with an Asrock B650M PG lightening….64 gigs of ddr5 and 8 hard drives with a PCIe SATA card and 3 NVMe SSDs. My idle power consumption is 20/30W max with 3 VMs on
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      27. great board, great video, but….

        the german “translation” of the description is total crap. Please just show the original english one.
        The translated one has no relevance for the video or product
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      30. I’m gathering parts to build my first DIY NAS, I did have the n100 version of this in my cart but I changed my mind. Should I hang on for the new n355 and n150 crop of motherboards to come out? I’m not in any rush. I’m hoping for a low power draw but with a little performance.
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      31. After I get more Christmas spending money, I plan to get a Mini-ITX to replace my router host. Is it worth the $60~$100 to get this over an N100 with 4x 2.5Gbps ports? My initial plan is just to run pfSense in Proxmox, but maybe I’ll move my NAS there too ????????
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      34. These little Alder Lake N CPUs are pretty starved of PCIe lanes. 9 Lanes ain’t much. I would have sacrificed a M.2 slot to add another lane to the JMB585. To give those those HDD a more room to breath.
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      37. I have this board (minus the 10GB NIC) and it is running Xpenology in an N2 case. Wonderful, perfect for what I wanted/needed. Get it before tariffs hit. I use the MicroSD card to load ArcLoader for Xpenology.
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      41. You do a great job within this product space, keep it going. I would love to see you improve the video quality though. It looks very compressed / recorded with low bitrate and the highlights are compressed.
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      42. Another Chinese crap’y board without quality control with random defects and no support. He’ll thank you. It’s only just a curiosity for a few people who know how to deal with defective equipment.
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      43. 28 watts idle with the disk powered down is way too much. Powered down HDDs consume very little, which means the other items on this board are very power hungry. A laptop with 1 NVME and in idle uses as less than 5 watts.
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      48. copper rj45 10gbit is worth to me less than 2.5gbit ports 🙁
        I was convinced by people that sfp+ is the way to go, its a nas,it would be near switch in most cases, cheap DAC cables…
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      52. Those combos are insanely affordable. For a price of an underpowered off-the-shelf diskless device without integrated GPU you can build a beast NAS which can everything you want including transcoding. DIY reality
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      54. So if you want to put in 2 nvme drives what would be the best perf/price SSD to choose ? seems overkill to use like 2 Samsung 990 Pro gen4 drives even with utilizing the 10Gbe port
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      63. Ahhhhh, you had to make this video today. lol. I just picked up an Aoostar R1 for $199. It literally came in the mail today. But I don’t need the extra horsepower of the N305 atm, but still cool to have those nics and extra sata ports. I needed a small nas setup either way. Raid 1 and done.
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      64. Will this be decent running Truenas with a 5 or 6 disk SSD array (RAID Z1 or RAID Z2)? I’m trying to ditch my rack mount server to save power, heat, noise, and I’m not entirely certain an n100 has enough to do this. Not needing PCIe expansion, not needing graphics, etc., just going to be storage for my hypervisors with NFS, SMB, and iSCSI. And wanting to get as close as possible to being able to saturate that 10gbe connection from different hosts.

        And yes, I’m baffled by the power supply requirements, I’ll have to see if I can get something that fits the case I want to use.
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      66. “insanely battered box” – shows a box with a tiny crease on it. Ehm, you haven’t been ordering stuff for very long based on that, or have been ‘insanely’ lucky. Boxes looking like someone has driven over them with a whole row of tanks are the usual fare. It WOULD be highly unusual to get a box that is intact, which has never happened to me in more than 15yrs of buying stuff from China. Well, with the exception of double boxed items where the original ‘retail’ box has been taken off and folded neatly into a brown thick cardboard box along the contents. Then it just arrived a bit weirdly folded but without rips or big creases. That way I could take the stuff out, unfold the ‘retail box’ then stuff the contents back into it, tape it shut, then pretend it arrived like that.
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      68. So, I got this board as well. I have failed setting the case fan through the OS (Ubuntu). Has anyone attempted this? sensors-detect won’t show it, whether it’s on manual or automatic mode… neither CPU nor Board fan can be found. Can’t find the manufacturer’s site either to look for a new BIOS. Any ideas anyone?
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      74. Your site promotes both NAS motherboards for DIY projects and retail NAS. I would like you to build a NAS sourcing from the parts you review. Your conviction is part of the process of reviewing and building to completion. I am not interested in the retail NAS because it removes flexibility from my DIY builds and is not about saving money for me, and I look forward to your future projects.
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      76. Hello, the board arrived today. I connected the power supply, and the board started up immediately (power supply fan starts, CPU fan starts). The same behavior whether with or without (Crucial) RAM…

        I’m not getting any video output from the board. Does anyone have any idea? I can’t find the CMOS, and if it’s the two pins next to the 4-pin CPU power connector, nothing changes in the behavior whether I short them with or without power.

        Sorry for my poor English; I had it translated by AI.
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      77. first of, thank you for your videos! I’ve been dreaming of getting, or hopefully build me a NAS, and because of your YouTube I get closer and closer to actually do it! I’m in the process of a house renovation and also make a technical room with a rack to finally get a decent network and a place for all my home automation gear. What I want now is a diy rack mounted NAS. Do you have any suggestions for a rack case (not full depth) for a DIY NAS base on a motherboard like this one?
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      79. ASRock sells a Mini-ITX (EC266D21-2T/AQC) for Xeon processors with two 10GBe LAN ports, 2x OCuLink to control up to 8 SATA drives, a PCIe 4.0×4 M.2 slot for the OS and a PCIe 5.0×16 – but it is about $400
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      81. Well say thanks Intell for supporting only 1 channel of DDR5/LPDDR5 with max 4800 MT/s and no ECC on the N100 also there’s only so much you can do with 9 PCIe Gen 3 Lanes… and
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      83. They probably got overexcited with thr 10g 😉 so what they did inadvertently was to bottleneck the fast ssds in favour of the slower hdd+10g.

        BUT: it is flat, no need for a pcie card. It has 4x nvme. It has sata. This is a insanely nice ceph osd or moosefs board.
        Put in 1/2 of the cheaper m.2 optanes for journal, 2/4/6 disks laid put flat for storage and use the 2.5g’s as client facing and this will likely be able to keep high sustained speed for a good price. And you can just put 8 of them in a little homemade rack, and you’ll have a decent cluster that can actually do stuff instead of being a stack of underpowered arm or a fail-design of 3 oversized nodes.
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      88. Question for the crowd… any recommended small cases for a board like this and 4x 2.5” drives? Doesn’t have to have removable drive slots. Current candidate is the Silverstone CS01.
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      89. This is unreasonable of me to ask, but I’m interested in how well this board works in OpenBSD. If you’re bored, could you try installing OpenBSD with a hard disk attached, and then send a dmesg, pcidump -v and sysctl hw output, and the contents of /var/db/acpi?
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      90. I’m running this board fully loaded with a 200W pico power supply, and no problems. I’m guessing the 300W PSU requirement is a swag not based on any power consumption calc.
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      91. how come this N100 board has been reviewed but not the i5-12450H NAS motherboard?
        The 12450H board has 2x M.2 NVMe slots, 1x SFF-8643 SATA socket which gives 4x SATA ports, 1x SFF-8643 PCle 3.0×4 socket that can be converted out to 4x M.2 NVMe/PCle3.0x1 via an adapter board, 4x Intel 226-V 2.5G Rj45 ethernet ports and 2x SO-DIMM DDR5 RAM slots. The 12450H has 20 (!) pcie lanes!
        If there’s one board that can do it all, it’s this one.
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      93. Actually, its not that bad to leave a cmos battery out. Of course its cheaper, but you never know how long a board will be stored, and many weird pc issues are caused by a weak but not empty cmos battery. I spend days in search of errors until i replaced cmos battery.
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      94. Boy, the n100 already will be at the peak of its performance handling the network interfaces. What do you want to cramp in? Get another CPU for that.

        The nic probably eats up all pcie slots of the CPU anyway
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      96. The ‘old’ NAS motherboard you show in the video isn’t ‘BY’ Topton. Topton are a reseller, nothing more. The board was manufactured by BKHD, and it’s official model number is: BKHD-1338-NAS-17. Just for clarification for anyone else interested in these NAS DIY boards (I own two of them).
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      98. So, just to confirm: 10GBe, internal USB, and PCIe Slots are “ChEeKy” while quad core CPUS are “RoCkInG” and “RoCkInG oUt”?
        Cheeky in British English means indulgent or disrespectful. In Australian English, it means dangerous. In… no common usage does it mean… a port on a motherboard.
        Rocking means to… perform music or to be weirdly proud of running something obsolete in the current year. Quad cores aren’t obsolete for this task.
        It’d be a lot easier to take you seriously if you used actual, adult words.

        The fact they wasted a lane on giving the 10GBe PCIE 3.0 (1GBps) a x2 connection when it’s… you know… it’s 10Gb… and can’t even hit the 10GBe target.
        They don’t ship with batteries as most countries either reclassified or always classified lithium cells as shipping hazards, which greatly increases the cost to ship.
        (There is not a single case of a CR2032 lithium cell catching fire that produced in loss.)
        You don’t actually need a 300-watt supply. They just don’t want you connecting it to a trash one and filing a claim that it can’t power the product. Also, hard drives use quite a bit of current when spinning up. You’d want a decent supply if you have 6 drives constantly spinning up… which is the clear intention of this NAS board.
        Actual NAS PSUs are specifically designed to support the high current load of hard drives starting with a much lower overall wattage.
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      102. Synology should just buy the IP for that board, shove it in a plastic housing with a backplane….and sit back and profit. The fact they didnt do that 3 years ago is criminal lol
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      103. I doubt an N100 based motherboard with PCIe slot will be saturating the bus with a PCIe 10Gbe card installed either. As for complaining about the motherboard not coming with a $1 coin battery…. dude. smh.
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      105. My X10SDV-4C-TLN2F has x16, 6 sata, ecc, ipmi, nvme an 10G, even 10 years on, its the ultimate nas board!! Im now running its 8C big brother now (asrock with D1541) which is also a beast. Good luck finding them though, no ones willing to let them go!!
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      106. I think the problem with these Atom processors is the PCIE lanes. Sure they could have fit a 4x PCIe on this board, but that N100/N305 atom processor only has 9 lanes of 3.0. I bet they’re using a 2.0 controller for the 10G so thats probably taking 4 lanes right there, the sata controller is probably using at least 1 lane, and then the M.2 are probably only given 1 lane, but if they’ve been given 2 lanes, there are quite literally none left for a PCIe slot.
        Now, maybe they’re using a 10G NIC that uses the 3.0 standard and can get by with 2X, maybe the M.2 are given 1x, this would in theory leave 4 PCIe lanes for a card somewhere else. But those newer 3.0 10G controllers cost money, which is why i am assuming this board is less than $170
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      108. Got that board two weeks ago, for the 10 GbE. So far, so good! It is idling around 21W which is higher than I expected.
        Like other N100 systems, it works with 32 GB RAM despite officially supporting 16 GB according to Intel.
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      116. Looking at these boards, i wish they would just go with 1 10GBE instead of 4 2.5GBE network interfaces. If you really need that many, 10G to 4x 2.5G unmanaged switches are reasonably priced.
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      117. I got one of these last month – it’s a great little board. They were going for as little as £103 for the bare board.

        Mine did come with a CMOS battery installed.

        The 10G NIC didn’t work with TrueNAS though – not an issue for me in this case, but it would’ve been nice. I can’t see why TrueNAS support won’t arrive at some point though – the AQC107 chipset works just fine, so the AQC113C should too, right?

        Also, bear in mind the N305 CPU is still limited to 9 PCIE lanes, like the N100. All you’re gaining is core count.
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      119. You could probably use one of the NVMe slots for PCIe expansion. I’m guessing the lack of an actual slot is due to the low number of PCI lanes on the N100. ( just seen you comment on another post, look forward to the video 😀 )
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      120. N100 with 10Gbe for SATA NAS? Its too disbalance IMHO. To saturate 10Gbe you need raid of SATA SSD, not HDD. Raid will something like RaidZ1 or even RaidZ2, so when you will active use array like that power of n100 can be insofficient.

        P.S. About ecc, with ddr5 we have electrically and mechanichally different slots, so its obvious just by looking at the board
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      122. It is the PCI-E lanes which is needed for the 10gbe, something has to give. It is not worth going for a single 10gbe port at a lost of 3 nic and 1 pci-e slot. Most likely we need a new cpu / mobo.
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      124. I was so up when I saw this. I’ve got 4 sas 32g total and hoped and then the crash n burn. Bought those sucker’s by accident for 200. After trying to find a solution thinking ebay and just minimize my loss. Arrrggg
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      125. N100 only has 9 PCIe, forcing you to get something else. I’d like to see a Motherboard with 2x PCIe x8 (elec) / x16 (Physical) with a CPU to support, so you can put a 10/25/40 B in one & HBA in other
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      127. Whilst, to date, these types of reviews do have a caveat or two, I am impressed how they (slowly but surely) are progressing in this arena.
        I truly am. (read: from their choices of CPU I was never that impressed but then I’m a hardware-guy)
        Granted, the choice of CPU and chipsets do put up a fair bit of limitations, but I expect in a year or two we will have far better results (read: lesser caveats) with the way it is going. So it seems.
        Does give good hopes for those who want to plan their DYI, just hang in there a wee bit longer.
        Still, performance-wise (and features, if I want to nit-pick on it) these still won’t really compete with the mainstream vendors.
        But still, I am impressed.
        (same with the mini-pc’s from nowadays, really starting to be powerful and affordable..)
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      128. I would have expected better power results. It seems for such few features and a system optimized for low power, X86 really has not much of a point anymore.
        Intel Xeon D from 2016 is still much better, has enough PCIe lanes for an m.2 drive and an x16 slot and doesn’t even draw much more power. The 10Gbe comes from a BMC on those ITX boards.
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      130. Why waste space with 6 SATA ports when you could save space with one Oculink port which breaks out into 8 SATA ports? But yes, I’d want a full x16 slot and at least two x4 NVME slots.
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      131. think this would be a better router/firewall than a NAS. Would be interested to see if somebody has or will put OPN or PfSense on this thing and see how much it can handle with IPS enabled.
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      132. 11:40
        I think you’re out of the loop regarding JMS585 as a SATA controller, its not fine at all.
        It prevents intel cpu C-States when this chip is on your motherboard, yea similar to disabling C-States in bios but its permanent and you can’t do anything about it. This is extremely bad for a NAS that’s supposed to run 24/7, you’re wasting energy when doing nothing (idle)

        CWWK made a “FAN” version where they listened to all the complaints, example, getting rid of unnecessary 2.5g ports using pcie lanes, swapping JMS585 with ASM1166, pcie slot, BUT no 10g lol. You can’t miss it, its the only PURPLE motherboard anywhere.
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      133. I wonder if TrueNAS behaves favourably on a microSD card or a eMMC to microSD adapter? This would enable to use the M.2 slots for ZFS caches and the 6 sata ports for a decent storage array.
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      136. 10GbE on an ITX mobo is useless and basically a scam for home users and even small offices, let’s be honest.
        Maybe in a few years it will become relevant, but by the time that happens, your cheap chinese board will either die or be replaced anyway.
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      137. 6:32 I think this is because they assume you are going to get the cheap PSUs that have fake rating (real rating is half of what is stated, which is the peak power rating). spin up of 6 drives will overwhelm a cheap PSU with fake rating.
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      138. Great review, thx! I would like to know how much power it draws after some power tuning (powertop autotune). And do you know which SATA controller chip it has? ASM1166 would be a dream^^, but I guess it has JMB something or so.
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      142. So close to perfect for a low power NAS. Shame N100 doesn’t have enough PCIE lanes for a x4 or x8 PCIE slot. Maybe one day we get a Xeon D motherboard from one of these vendors and my dreams will come true. I understand this would be perfect for a lot of people though and am happy to see a board like this even if it doesn’t suit my needs.
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      143. These things would probably be better if they’d decide whether these are NAS boards or router boards. NAS doesn’t need 3-4 NICs. 2 sure, but 4 2.5gbe doesn’t make sense on a NAS. Combining two of the 2.5gbe into one 10gbe NIC is at least a step in the right direction.
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