N7 AMD 8845HS 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review

N7 AMD 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review

The MINIROUTE N7 NAS motherboard, also sold under the CWWK brand, is a compact Mini-ITX board built around the AMD Ryzen 8845HS processor, targeting power users and professionals seeking a dense, high-performance platform for NAS or compact server deployments. With its Zen 4 architecture, integrated AMD Ryzen AI NPU (delivering up to 16 TOPS), and 8-core/16-thread configuration, the board aims to bridge the gap between consumer-grade ITX systems and commercial turnkey NAS solutions. It supports up to eight SATA drives via dual SFF-8643 ports, offers dual 10GbE RJ45 connections using Aquantia AQC113 controllers, and features modern expansion options including PCIe Gen 4, USB4 (40Gbps), and dual NVMe M.2 slots. The system is designed to accommodate DDR5 SO-DIMM memory up to 96GB (2×48GB), and includes support for triple 4K/8K video output. With a retail price of around $489–$509 depending on configuration, the N7 represents a fully DIY-focused solution, delivering a dense hardware feature set for users willing to assemble and fine-tune their own NAS stack. This review evaluates its physical design, storage implementation, hardware layout, connectivity, system performance under various workloads, and its broader viability as a platform for UnRAID, Proxmox, or ZimaOS deployments.

N7 AMD 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – Quick Conclusion

The MINIROUTE N7 (also marketed under the CWWK brand) delivers an unusually comprehensive blend of performance, connectivity, and storage capacity within the compact constraints of a Mini-ITX form factor, positioning it as one of the most capable motherboards in the DIY NAS and small-server market segment. Centered around the AMD Ryzen 8845HS processor, it provides 8 high-performance Zen 4 cores and 16 threads, along with full PCIe Gen 4 support, dual independent 10GbE RJ45 ports, native 8-bay SATA connectivity via SFF-8643, and dual M.2 NVMe slots running at full PCIe 4.0 ×4 speeds. This combination allows users to build a system capable of high-throughput file sharing, virtualized infrastructure, Docker containers, multimedia handling, and even AI-enhanced workloads if supported by the chosen software environment. Its inclusion of USB4 (40Gbps), bifurcation-ready PCIe x16 slot, and triple display outputs (HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C with DP Alt Mode) gives it rare versatility, allowing it to serve simultaneously as a NAS, hypervisor, and local-access media or control interface. These features, delivered without the need for PCIe add-in cards or external HBA controllers, simplify the build process and reduce total system cost when compared to equivalent prebuilt systems or workstation boards.

However, these strengths come with notable considerations. The board’s baseline power consumption is significantly higher than what one might find in ARM-based or low-power x86 embedded solutions, and thermals can become a concern under sustained load unless paired with an appropriate LGA1700-compatible cooler and adequate case airflow. Official ECC memory support is absent, which may limit its suitability for enterprise deployments requiring strict data integrity, even though ECC modules are detected in BIOS and several Linux-based NAS OS environments. The SFF-8643 connectors, while efficient and space-saving, add complexity for first-time builders who are unfamiliar with breakout cables or SAS-style drive setups. Despite this, experienced users will find the trade-offs acceptable in light of the raw capability the board offers. Whether you’re deploying TrueNAS SCALE with multiple VMs, using Proxmox for containerized services, or running UnRAID with GPU pass-through and AI indexing, the N7 provides enough bandwidth, I/O, and compute power to support demanding workloads in a footprint small enough to fit in virtually any modern NAS enclosure. For builders who prioritize flexibility, performance, and dense integration over energy efficiency or plug-and-play simplicity, the N7 emerges as one of the most forward-looking DIY NAS platforms currently available.

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


8.4
PROS
👍🏻High-Performance CPU: Ryzen 8845HS offers 8 cores, 16 threads, and strong single/multi-thread performance suitable for VMs and containers.
👍🏻Dual 10GbE Ports: Independent 10GbE NICs with full PCIe Gen 4 ×1 allocation allow high-throughput networking without contention.
👍🏻Support for 8 SATA Drives: Native 8-bay SATA support via dual SFF-8643 eliminates the need for add-on HBA cards in most NAS builds.
👍🏻Dual NVMe Gen 4 Slots: Two M.2 2280 slots support full PCIe Gen 4 ×4 speeds for fast boot, cache, or tiered storage.
👍🏻PCIe Gen 4 x16 Slot: Full-length slot with x8 signal and BIOS bifurcation enables GPU, RAID, or multi-NVMe card expansion.
👍🏻USB4 Support: Includes one 40Gbps USB-C port for high-speed external storage or passthrough options in advanced OS setups.
👍🏻Triple Display Outputs: HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C (DP Alt Mode) support up to 8K for local GUI or media server applications.
👍🏻Compact ITX Layout: All features integrated into a 17cm × 17cm form factor, compatible with standard NAS and SFF cases.
CONS
👎🏻No Official ECC Support: ECC DIMMs are detected but error correction is unverified, limiting its appeal in critical data environments. (correction, 8845HS Pro CPU DOES support ECC, not this one)
👎🏻Moderately High Power Consumption: Idle power (~25W) and load (>60W) exceed typical low-power NAS boards, requiring active cooling.
👎🏻SFF-8643 Complexity: Requires breakout cables and familiarity with SAS-style connectors, which may confuse first-time NAS builders.

Where to Buy?
  • N7 8845HS 2x 10GbE NAS Board on Amazon ($489) HERE
  • N7 8845HS + Jonsbo Fan 2x 10GbE NAS Board on Amazon ($509) HERE

N7 AMD 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – Design and Storage

The MINIROUTE N7 adheres to the Mini-ITX standard with a footprint of 17 × 17 cm, making it compatible with a wide range of compact NAS and SFF (Small Form Factor) enclosures. Despite its small size, the board manages to integrate an unusually dense set of components, routing power and data traces efficiently around the central CPU socket and key interface headers. The board requires both a standard 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connector, which is a practical choice for users reusing off-the-shelf ATX PSUs. The component layout is designed for vertical airflow, which aligns well with tower-style NAS chassis using top-down cooling. Passive heat dissipation is supplemented by a large copper heatsink preinstalled over the CPU and chipset area, although users will need to add a compatible LGA1700 cooler for effective thermal management in prolonged workloads.

Drive connectivity on the N7 is handled via two onboard SFF-8643 ports, each supporting up to four SATA 3.0 devices through breakout cables. These mini-SAS connectors route through onboard ASMedia ASM1164 controllers and offer up to 6Gbps per port, enabling up to eight storage devices across a single board without the need for a separate HBA card. Each SFF-8643 port is linked to a PCIe Gen 3 x1 lane, which limits peak throughput to just under 1GB/s per group of four drives.

While this isn’t a bottleneck in typical NAS workloads involving sequential reads/writes from hard drives, it may constrain performance with large SSD arrays or heavy mixed IOPS usage. Included in the box are two breakout cables for converting the 8643 ports to 4 × SATA each, streamlining setup and making the N7 more appealing for users assembling 6- to 8-bay NAS systems without additional add-ons.

The N7’s decision to use SFF-8643 instead of individual SATA headers is a deliberate choice that favors a clean internal cable setup, particularly in compact NAS cases with limited clearance or rear-mounted drive cages. This design also supports the use of add-on expansion modules such as CWWK’s 6-bay carrier boards or U.2 and M.2 SATA-to-SFF adapters, adding deployment flexibility for those planning to use a mix of HDDs and SSDs.

During physical inspection and test installation, the SATA connectors routed cleanly to the front of the board, minimizing crossflow interference for cooling and allowing for unobstructed access to RAM and NVMe slots. This layout, while compact, doesn’t obstruct airflow or block RAM or PCIe slot access even when all drive connections are populated.

Storage expansion is also supported via two M.2 NVMe slots: one mounted on the top side of the board and one underneath. Both slots support 2280-length drives at PCIe Gen 4 x4 speeds, providing ample bandwidth for SSD caching or fast boot devices. These NVMe drives are independent of the SATA controller and do not share lanes with the PCIe or USB4 ports, according to observed behavior during SSD testing. Read speeds on Gen 4 drives approached 5.1 GB/s, while write speeds hovered around 4.6 GB/s under sequential workloads. Thermals for these slots will depend on case design and airflow, as there are no included heatsinks for the M.2 bays—something users building 24/7 systems will want to address through motherboard-side or chassis-side cooling accessories.

The storage layout and capacity potential make the N7 particularly well suited for software-defined storage platforms like TrueNAS SCALE, UnRAID, and ZimaOS. RAID arrays, SSD cache pools, and hybrid tiered storage setups can all be constructed using the eight SATA and two NVMe interfaces. Although bandwidth on the SFF-8643 links is limited compared to dedicated HBA cards, the simplicity and integration on a Mini-ITX board are notable advantages. For users building an 8-bay NAS that includes SSD-based caching or boot storage, the N7’s native options reduce both hardware complexity and overall build cost. The only notable storage-related limitation is the lack of support for hardware RAID or U.2 ports natively, but given its price and form factor, the board aligns well with the needs of most advanced DIY NAS builders.

N7 AMD 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – Hardware

At the center of the N7 motherboard is the AMD Ryzen™ 8845HS processor, a Zen 4-based 8-core, 16-thread CPU designed for high-efficiency performance in mobile and embedded systems. With a base clock of 3.8GHz and a maximum boost clock of 5.1GHz, this chip provides considerably more computational headroom than most processors found in pre-built NAS devices or ITX boards at this price point. Its multithreaded performance is particularly well-suited for tasks like virtualization, multi-user services, parallel Docker workloads, and software-defined storage management.

The CPU also integrates AMD’s Radeon 780M graphics engine, based on RDNA 3 architecture, with 12 GPU cores clocked at up to 2.7GHz, which is more than adequate for media playback, transcoding, or even light GPU-accelerated applications under supported environments.

Furthermore, the inclusion of the AMD Ryzen AI engine adds another dimension to its capabilities, offering up to 16 TOPS of local inference performance—opening the door for AI-driven surveillance, metadata tagging, and potentially video analytics if supported by the NAS OS or containers used.

Memory support is provided through two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots, with default 5600MHz support and capacity up to 48GB per stick, enabling a maximum of 96GB of RAM. This high memory ceiling is advantageous for power users running memory-intensive services such as RAM-cached storage, ZFS-based deduplication, large-scale container deployments, or multiple virtual machines. Although the board does not officially support ECC memory, testing on platforms such as UnRAID and ZimaOS showed that ECC modules are recognized and initialized, albeit without clear confirmation of active error correction.

Later investigation showed that the PRO version of the 8845HS CPU does in fact support ECC, whereas the standard 8845HS here does not – which is a shame that there is not a separate configuration that includes this CPU available from the brand at an additional cost for users who consider ECC support a ‘deal breaker’. The SO-DIMM slots are well-positioned and unobstructed, allowing for tool-free upgrades or swaps without removing other components, which is especially important given the compact ITX layout and potential space constraints in NAS enclosures.

What sets the N7 apart from most Mini-ITX NAS boards is its thoughtful PCIe lane distribution, which takes full advantage of the 20 available PCIe Gen 4 lanes provided by the Ryzen 8845HS.

The full-length PCIe slot operates at Gen 4 x8 by default, but also supports bifurcation into dual x4 via BIOS for users installing expansion cards like dual-NVMe adapters or multi-port network cards.

Each M.2 NVMe slot is also connected via a dedicated PCIe Gen 4 x4 lane, ensuring maximum bandwidth of up to 8GB/s for modern SSDs, without any shared bandwidth with SATA or network interfaces.

The two onboard 10GbE RJ45 ports are served by separate Aquantia AQC113C controllers, each connected via their own PCIe Gen 4 x1 link, giving up to 2GB/s per port and ensuring full-duplex throughput without crosstalk.

This dedicated lane allocation across network, storage, and expansion interfaces is rare in compact boards and critical for users seeking consistent performance under concurrent high-load scenarios like multi-user file access, SSD-based caching, and active VM hosting.

Category Specification
Model MINIROUTE N7 / CWWK N7 NAS ITX Motherboard
Form Factor Mini-ITX (17 × 17 cm)
Processor AMD Ryzen™ 8845HS (8 cores / 16 threads, Zen 4, up to 5.1GHz)
GPU AMD Radeon™ 780M (12 cores, up to 2.7GHz)
AI NPU AMD Ryzen™ AI Engine (up to 16 TOPS)
Chipset SoC (Integrated, no discrete chipset)
Memory Support 2 × DDR5 SO-DIMM (up to 96GB total, 5600MHz, non-ECC officially)
M.2 Slots 2 × M.2 2280 NVMe (PCIe Gen 4 ×4 each; top + rear-mounted)
SATA Ports 2 × SFF-8643 (8 × SATA 6Gb/s total via included breakout cables)
SATA Controller 2 × ASMedia ASM1164 (PCIe Gen 3 ×1 each)
PCIe Slot 1 × PCIe x16 (Gen 4 ×8 signal; bifurcation to 2 × x4 supported)
Ethernet Ports 2 × 10GbE RJ45 (Aquantia AQC113C-B1, auto-negotiating 10/5/2.5/1GbE/100M)
USB Ports 1 × USB4 Type-C (40Gbps), 3 × USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
Internal USB 1 × USB 3.0 header, 1 × USB 2.0 header, 1 × Type-E header
Audio 1 × 3.5mm combo audio jack
Display Output 1 × HDMI, 1 × DisplayPort, 1 × USB-C (Alt Mode); up to 8K supported
Power Input 24-pin ATX + 4-pin CPU
Cooling Passive copper heatsink (LGA1700-compatible; cooler not included)
Package Includes 2 × SFF-8643 to 4×SATA cables, I/O shield, screws, warranty card

The MINIROUTE N7 motherboard delivers a well-rounded set of connectivity options, with a clear emphasis on high-speed networking and data transfer—features that are increasingly essential in modern NAS environments. Dominating the rear I/O are two 10GbE RJ45 ports, each backed by an Aquantia AQC113C-B1 controller and connected via independent PCIe Gen 4 ×1 lanes. This design ensures that each network interface operates without contention, allowing for sustained full-duplex bandwidth on both ports simultaneously.

The ports support all major Ethernet standards from 100M up to 10Gbps, enabling the board to adapt to diverse infrastructure including SMB networks, prosumer switches, and enterprise environments with 10GBase-T. For users setting up link aggregation (LACP), isolated network zones (i.e., separation of iSCSI and SMB), or even point-to-point replication between servers, these dual interfaces offer deployment flexibility typically absent on most consumer-grade ITX boards. While copper 10GbE does introduce higher thermal output compared to SFP+, the choice improves compatibility for users relying on standard RJ45 cabling and avoids the cost of optical transceivers.

On the USB front, the N7 integrates a versatile mix of legacy and next-generation interfaces to accommodate a range of peripheral scenarios. The single USB4 Type-C port supports up to 40Gbps data throughput, enabling fast access to NVMe-class external storage or high-resolution display output via DP Alt Mode. It also opens the door for emerging use cases such as external GPU enclosures, dock expansion, or USB4-to-10GbE adapters—particularly valuable for users running Linux distributions like ZimaOS or Proxmox, where hardware passthrough and device mapping are becoming more accessible.

Three additional USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps) Type-A ports are located on the rear I/O and work as expected for more common devices like USB storage drives, UPS interfaces, or external backup systems. Internally, the board offers a USB 3.0 header for front-panel case ports, a USB 2.0 header for basic boot/recovery drives, and a Type-E header compatible with front-panel USB-C or TPM modules. During testing, USB Ethernet dongles including Realtek-based 2.5GbE and 5GbE models were recognized immediately under supported NAS OS environments, and native USB boot was stable across ZimaOS, UnRAID, and TrueNAS.

Display and peripheral audio output are also included, which broadens the board’s versatility beyond a pure headless NAS application. The board features three display output options: HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C via DP Alt Mode, all of which are powered by the integrated Radeon 780M GPU. These outputs can drive up to three displays concurrently, with resolutions up to 4K on all three or up to 8K on select single-display configurations.

This makes the board suitable for tasks like media center builds, HTPC-NAS hybrids, or running direct-access GUIs for NAS software like UnRAID’s web dashboard or Proxmox’s virtual console. The inclusion of these outputs also benefits users setting up the board as a temporary workstation or using the NAS in roles that require visual monitoring, such as security recording or local video playback via Jellyfin. Finally, a 3.5mm combo audio jack is available for users needing direct analog audio output—for example, for alerts, monitoring systems, or simple desktop playback. While not essential for most server roles, these extras enhance the board’s adaptability for multi-role deployments.

N7 AMD 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – Heat, Power and Speed Tests

The N7 motherboard, powered by the Ryzen 8845HS, exhibits performance characteristics closer to high-end desktop platforms than typical NAS or embedded ITX systems. Under idle conditions with no SATA drives connected, the system consumed around 25W of power—measured with the CPU utilization below 5%, one 10GbE port active but unused, and two NVMe SSDs idle. This baseline power draw is significantly higher than what one would expect from Intel N-series or low-wattage embedded solutions, but within expectations for an 8-core Zen 4 processor with multiple PCIe 4.0 devices powered.

During light workloads—such as file transfers, basic Docker container activity, and periodic system logging—power consumption rose to 35–40W, depending on active network interfaces and connected USB peripherals. Once under sustained load, such as running active VMs, accessing both NVMe drives simultaneously, and saturating both 10GbE ports, power consumption reached 62–64W, and could climb higher when SATA HDDs were connected. With full 8-bay drive setups, users should expect total system draw to increase by an additional 40–80W depending on drive type and workload.

Thermal performance remained acceptable, but adequate cooling is essential. The preinstalled copper heatsink provides passive thermal coverage over the SoC, but a dedicated LGA1700-compatible active cooler is required for stable operation. During high CPU utilization tasks (including transcoding and virtualized workloads), the Ryzen 8845HS reached 75–85°C using a standard Jonsbo low-profile air cooler in a ventilated test chassis. NVMe thermals also hovered between 55–65°C under sustained read/write conditions, especially in the rear-mounted slot with limited airflow.

While the chipset and PCIe controllers did not show signs of throttling, compact case designs with poor airflow could reduce long-term reliability unless additional ventilation or targeted airflow is introduced. Thermal probes placed near the SFF-8643 headers showed localized warmth, but no hotspots significant enough to warrant concern, assuming the system is housed in a well-ventilated NAS chassis.

In real-world bandwidth testing, both 10GbE ports were able to sustain near line-rate transfers using iperf3 and large file transfers via Samba and NFS. When paired with two PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs, the system consistently achieved 5.0–5.1GB/s reads and 4.5–4.6GB/s writes under sequential file operations, using CrystalDiskMark and Linux-based fio. When both 10GbE ports were active and transferring simultaneously, total throughput approached 2.8–3.0GB/s across both interfaces, depending on storage configuration and NIC drivers.

The M.2 slots did not exhibit thermal throttling in short bursts, though write-heavy tasks over time may benefit from passive heatsinks or motherboard padding to manage drive temperatures. Notably, a minor anomaly was observed during direct SSD-to-SSD transfers within the system: despite both NVMe drives supporting Gen 4 x4, inter-drive transfers capped at ~900MB/s, suggesting a potential shared PCIe switch limitation or OS-layer bottleneck. However, this did not impact external transfer speeds or typical NAS operations.

For virtual machines and multimedia, the N7 showed strong capabilities. The Ryzen 8845HS handled 6 mixed windows and ubuntu simultaneous VMs with steady responsiveness and no observable instability in both Proxmox and UnRAID and could very easily have been scaled further, up to double figures with ease. CPU utilization remained below 60% during combined 6xVM and 2x 4K converted Jellyfin media playback testing. The integrated Radeon 780M GPU enabled smooth 1080p and 4K media playback using Jellyfin via hardware-accelerated rendering.

8K native playback was supported, though transcoding large 8K files pushed the CPU above 80% utilization, and real-time conversion proved unreliable. Light 4K transcoding was possible, though not as efficient as Intel Quick Sync or NVIDIA NVENC-based solutions. Still, for native playback and lightweight transcodes in a home or SMB setup, the board performs well. Combined with Docker and AI acceleration for metadata tagging or face recognition, the N7 can act as a capable hybrid NAS/media server platform when deployed with suitable software.

Metric Result
Idle Power Draw ~25W (CPU < 5%, 2x NVMe, 1x 10GbE active, no SATA drives)
Moderate Workload Power ~35–40W (light containers, USB, low network I/O)
Full Load Power Draw ~62–64W (2x 10GbE, NVMe access, active VMs, high CPU usage)
10GbE Performance ~2.8–3.0GB/s aggregate (2x 10GbE fully saturated via SMB/NFS)
NVMe Sequential Read/Write Read: 5.1GB/s, Write: 4.6GB/s (Gen 4 SSDs, CrystalDiskMark/fio)
Internal NVMe-to-NVMe Transfer ~800–900MB/s max observed (possible shared path or kernel bottleneck)
Thermal Range (CPU) 75–85°C under load with air cooler
Thermal Range (NVMe) 55–65°C sustained load (rear slot runs warmer)
VM Performance 5–6 simultaneous VMs stable (UnRAID, Proxmox)
Media Playback (Jellyfin) Smooth 1080p/4K native, limited 8K transcoding

N7 AMD 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review – Verdict and Conclusion

The MINIROUTE N7 (also known as the CWWK N7) establishes itself as one of the most functionally complete and performance-oriented Mini-ITX NAS motherboards currently on the market, delivering a dense hardware feature set typically reserved for much larger or more expensive systems. Featuring the AMD Ryzen 8845HS with Zen 4 architecture, dual 10GbE ports, PCIe Gen 4 expansion, and native support for up to eight SATA drives via onboard SFF-8643, the N7 is aimed squarely at users building serious NAS and virtualization setups from the ground up. The inclusion of dual NVMe slots, USB4 support, and bifurcation-ready PCIe x16 further positions this board as a future-ready platform for mixed storage, networking, and container workloads. Unlike many boards in this category, which sacrifice PCIe allocation or require additional HBAs for full drive connectivity, the N7 manages to deliver everything natively within a compact 17 cm × 17 cm layout. Compatibility with UnRAID, Proxmox, TrueNAS SCALE, and ZimaOS means that users have a wide selection of operating environments to choose from, whether prioritizing containerized applications, VM infrastructure, or ZFS-based data integrity.

However, the board’s capability comes with caveats that will be more apparent to experienced system builders. Idle and load power consumption are significantly higher than N-series Intel or ARM SoCs, which may not suit deployments aiming for low-energy, 24/7 operation with minimal thermal output. Thermal demands on the CPU and M.2 storage require effective active cooling, particularly in enclosed NAS cases with limited airflow. Officially, there is no ECC memory support, and although the board recognizes ECC DIMMs in BIOS and some operating systems, the absence of validated error correction will deter users in environments where data integrity is mission-critical. Additionally, while the SFF-8643 layout enables clean cabling for up to eight SATA drives, it assumes familiarity with breakout cables or SAS-style enclosures—potentially adding complexity for users migrating from consumer-oriented boards with standard SATA headers. That said, for advanced NAS builders, home lab enthusiasts, or small-scale professionals seeking a board that combines workstation-grade power, native 10GbE networking, and dense storage connectivity, the N7 represents a well-balanced and highly flexible foundation. Its price may be higher than entry-level ITX boards, but for those seeking high-throughput and virtualized workflows in a compact format, it is one of the most capable DIY platforms currently available.

Where to Buy?
  • N7 8845HS 2x 10GbE NAS Board on Amazon ($489) HERE
  • N7 8845HS + Jonsbo Fan 2x 10GbE NAS Board on Amazon ($509) HERE
PROs of the N7 NAS Motherboard CONs of the N7 NAS Motherboard
  • High-Performance CPU: Ryzen 8845HS offers 8 cores, 16 threads, and strong single/multi-thread performance suitable for VMs and containers.

  • Dual 10GbE Ports: Independent 10GbE NICs with full PCIe Gen 4 ×1 allocation allow high-throughput networking without contention.

  • Support for 8 SATA Drives: Native 8-bay SATA support via dual SFF-8643 eliminates the need for add-on HBA cards in most NAS builds.

  • Dual NVMe Gen 4 Slots: Two M.2 2280 slots support full PCIe Gen 4 ×4 speeds for fast boot, cache, or tiered storage.

  • PCIe Gen 4 x16 Slot: Full-length slot with x8 signal and BIOS bifurcation enables GPU, RAID, or multi-NVMe card expansion.

  • USB4 Support: Includes one 40Gbps USB-C port for high-speed external storage or passthrough options in advanced OS setups.

  • Triple Display Outputs: HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C (DP Alt Mode) support up to 8K for local GUI or media server applications.

  • Compact ITX Layout: All features integrated into a 17cm × 17cm form factor, compatible with standard NAS and SFF cases.

  • No Official ECC Support: ECC DIMMs are detected but error correction is unverified, limiting its appeal in critical data environments. (correction, 8845HS Pro CPU DOES support ECC, not this one)

  • Moderately High Power Consumption: Idle power (~25W) and load (>60W) exceed typical low-power NAS boards, requiring active cooling.

  • SFF-8643 Complexity: Requires breakout cables and familiarity with SAS-style connectors, which may confuse first-time NAS builders.

 

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      156 thoughts on “N7 AMD 8845HS 2x 10GbE NAS Motherboard Review

      1. There are two different use cases which come to my mind:
        – You can stick a simple HDMI-2-USB-adapter onto it, leave it connected to another PC. So, if you can’t reach your NAS, you can see if it is maybe stuck during boot, without needing an extra monitor.
        – If your NAS supports it you can use the HDMI as an oudio-out, to use this device as a audio sink in your network, or install something like a music player daemon.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      2. As usual great review .You are so active ! I don’t know how you consistently bang out so many reviews .Have been watching you from the beginning and I really like the way your channel had evolved. Hope you can keep up the rate and the great work as your videos are a very positive point in my very stressful day .Thank you thank you and may gd bless you with continued success.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      3. 11:40 you can set the base power consumption down to 15 W in the BIOS, according to Geer Seakers in the video “This Mini ITX board is a homelab dream! // Miniroute N7” at 8:58. this is a really interesting board
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      4. Too bad they didn’t go with one of the Ryzen PRO chips for the official ECC RAM support. That saied they use the same memory controler as the none PROs…

        Edit: I like the SFF ports as it makes no sense to me to connect individual drives when you can easily connect to a reasonable backplaine.
        Edit 2: Maybe I should mention that my current homeNAS also runs a AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS great CPU to run a bunch of VMs and containers with.
        My system has 2 x 48 GB DDR5 5600 ECC SODIMMs from innodisk. it works for me but I can’t garantee that it will work for you as my machine doesn’t use this board/BIOS.

        Edit 3: Idle power seems too high. My system is at about half of what you are seeing in balanced mode. Probably the UNRAID kernel isn’t using the CPU right and probably also the NIC. Have I mentioned I hate unraid.? I guess I have.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      5. It’s shame these low power measurements you are doing is kinda meaningless -> Too low wattage for the PSU to hit efficiency, there is confounding factors.

        There are measuring devices on aliexpress to get better readings.
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      6. OMG. This looks amazing.
        I’m wondering/thinking about the daring idea of mounting this N7 motherboard directly on a ventilated 1U shelf using PCB standoffs, so without a case (rather than into a CS3702 for example and then THAT into some sort of Rack on wheels) for home.
        I’m thinking about PCB standoffs or an acrylic tray to mount the N7 board securely…
        a glass-front rack, visible motherboard with fans, LEDs, for all the world to see.
        … I really loved your Project MINI RACK from back in January,
        but would want it done with something like this N7 :-).

        Is the “Naked Rack” concept… with all the innards visable, a thing?.. or are non-conductive rack trays, dust, vibration, noise all hurdles I don’t want to deal with?
        I currently run Proxmox baremetal on a repurposed MBP2015 (don’t hate me for it!) with external DAS passing through 5x HDDs into a TrueNAS (Scale) VM serving slow storage and backup… and pihole, tailscale, homeassistant, Jellyfin, Navidrome, Prometheus etc. I think I’m ready to move on&up (despite how I love that a MBP wins me an unintentional native UPS builtin for the VMs although useless for the external DAS I admit) on the hardware side. Your presentation of the N7 is inspiring.
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      7. The beeping was a bit annoying, but the main thing I want to say is that the idle load is rather disappointing, and the low transfer speed between those drives was a bit strange.
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      8. I thought sff8643 was limited to sata, is it possible to run m.2 or u.2 from sff8643? Even in cwwk website they give different numbers for the m.2 and i assumed there was some kind of incompatibility
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      9. It would be interesting to see a suitable mitx case that pushes some air through in case you’d really want to run a lot on it, can keep those NVME drive cool. I was kindof expecting a PCIE board with several NVME drives to happen, just to see how those lanes are handled.
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      10. I guess it comes down to if this mobo plus a psu, plus a case with 6-8 hdd bays, and a cooler etc works out cheaper than a all in one solution like the Aoostar WTR MAX at 699.99
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      11. Been researching and keep caught up to date with the current tech of NAS – my last build was almost 9 years ago and it’s struggling now and had a quick question about something you brought up in this about the SFF port, is there an SFF protocol that will support 6 sata as opposed to this one that only supports 4 sata? Because using one SFF to 6 sata would absolutely help out so much in my mini itx build in cable management.
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      12. For a time the limited bandwidth available to the SATA controllers made me wonder if was time to start playing with low level formating and changing the sector interleave of HDD’s. It was some time in the 80’s that I last had to do that to optimize drive performance. But as a single Gen 4 PCIe lane can handle about 2GB/s not even four the fastest HDD’s are able to top that.

        And for those to young to have had to change the interleave of the sectors on a HDD it’s exactly what it sounds like. Instead of writing the sectors in the order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and so on on each cylinder you insert a number of sectors between them, so a drive with interleave 2 and 16 sectors per track has the sectors in the order 1, 9, 2, 10, 3, 11, 4, 12, 5, 13, 6, 14, 7, 15, 8, 16.
        This way if you start reading or writing on sector 1 the controller has the time it takes for sector 9 to pass under the head to handle input or output so it is ready when sector 2 is clear to read or write. If the controller and computer is to slow for this the disk can be formatted to use interleave 3 or even 4, giving the controller more time.

        Increased interleave does make the drive slower as it takes the interleave number times of revolutions to read the entire track, so 2 revolutions for IL2 and three for IL3. But it’s still faster than if the computer can’t handle the necessary data fast enough to read and write to the drive with no interleave. If it always failed IL1 then it would have to turn once between every read or write of a sector. So with 16 sectors per track the disk would have to rotate 16 times before the computer would have read or written all the sectors. So using the correct interleave was very important back in the day. All drives also came with written information on a paper or a sticker on the drive that listed all bad sectors. When doing a low level format you entered the list of sectors that were known bad and those were marked bad in the low level format.

        Using HDD’s was a bit more involved back then. I even had to do the occasional head alignment on older Shugart drives. That involved adjusting the head alignment using screwdrivers and running a diagnostic software to see that the alignment was good.
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      13. Hey man, that was fu**ing awesome intro!
        Just a small question, I am about to build my first NAS and thinking is 2.5G enough for 4k editing in Adobe Premiere Pro or not? Couldn’t find videos showcasing that.
        I installed HDD right into the PC to test, and it seems that it works pretty fine with that ~250MB/s I am getting from it, but I heart that NAS could be slower than that
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      14. After buying RAM (which DDR5 SODIMM’s are freakin expensive), an SFF or Flex ATX PSU, SSD’s and Hard drives (if you don’t have any), you are looking at well over a grand. At that point an appliance NAS seems kind of cheap in comparison. The price of DIY is getting so far out of hand these days.
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      15. DIY is the way!
        My pref way is to run NixOS with flake Xen VM setup on any hardware.
        With purpose designed/configured apps.

        This way is sort of harder then using a pre built NAS OS “but” the benefits are amazing.
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      16. Love all your content!
        I wonder if you had the chance to look at the CWWK I5-12450h?
        It seems very similar on paper and might even be less power hungry and cheaper. Could be nice to see a comparison of the two.
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      17. About the power consumption (because it is my main consideration nowadays for my home lab servers) – so I guess the PSU was eating about 5-10 W alone.. I have a HP EliteDesk 800 G6 with i7 10700, 64 GB of DDR4 running at 2133, 2x NVME, 2x SSD, 1 HDD X20 20TB (for my numbers it is in idle), and a additional 2.5 Gbe network card on PCIE, another 2x USB network cards for OPNSense, it is running the 6+ VMs incl. OPNSense and on idle it consumes 18-20W of power with occasional peaks. The full utilization is a different thing (120-140W even). Also under linux it is super easy just to limit the cpu freq using cpupower (eg: sudo cpupower frequency-set -u 3000000 # under 3GHz) and have additional (sudo powertop –auto-tune) power tweaks enabled which cuts the power consumption substantially.

        This new board looks great in terms of spec and performance except the double sided layout as for me. And the whole system will be much more expensive than the used machine that I currently have and probably I will buy at least one more.
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      18. These things are so overpriced. I have no idea why you simply wouldn’t add-on to your main PC. With something like a modern Threadripper or EPYC system, you have no shortage of PCIe lanes, and if you really want to, you can offload all of the CPU overhead to a DPU. $500 buy’s quite a bit of flash storage. It’s nowhere near the realm of HDD’s but it’s faster, and far more reliable.
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      19. My friend, please please stop talking about power consumption when you seem to have ASPM disabled on all devices.. Can you spend a bit more time optimising to make sure c-states are enabled, ASPM L1/L0 enabled, powertop –autotune run, etc ?
        Thank you for covering this board… sadly it won’t ship to my country GG
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      20. The beeps are hilarious, though, when used right. Like in the beginning. ????

        But I personally don’t like the swearing at all (low levels like hell, dammit, etc. are fine). Profanity (especially S and F bombs) is just toxic behaviour and even rude, since, let’s be frank, it’s unnecessary content. I’m a fan of this channel for the information and deep look into all these hardware beauties.

        As for the…mother*****, dang, no thanks. Too much power draw! Unfortunately, the N100 in my system is not enough for me. Still gotta wait for a true successor, but I’m patient.
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      21. Here’s the problem with a board like this and why I don’t recommend them. Soldered CPU and memory, and no upgradability. If a single capacitor, IC, or heavens forbid, the CPU or memory dies, you lose the entire board. The argument of “what about laptops?” doesnt apply here because you’re not traveling around with your NAS. Server ITX motherboards exist; most are cheaper than the “AIO” solution, and you can pick and choose your CPU and memory.
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      22. You’re talking about the SFF connectors, but they are only sata on this board, they have no pcie support, so you CANNOT use one of CWWK’s boards, they are made for PCIE, and also requires specific boards and special bios since it requires some rare bifurcation settings
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      23. Very interesting review.
        I have the CWWK with the 8845HS and have had some (minor) problems. I tried to install a GPU RTX A2000 12GB and another A4000 16GB to 2 NVMe SDD. I happen to have found it impossible to install the GPU in the PCI-e 8X slot next to both SSDs at the same time. The motherboard just won’t power up. I have tried everything and just gave up. I don’t know if it has been some incompatibility with some SSD, but simply 1 SSD + 1 GPU has been functional for me.

        I would like to know if you could perform this test, or if possible, some configuration in BIOS to somehow solve this problem (I did not know how to solve it).
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      24. Some people don’t get us eeeeeeeenglish.

        I mean, we might not be scooorrrrrrrteeesh … but we don’t alf fackin swear a lot … i mean … see you next time/tuesday is quite often a term of endearment over here.
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      25. I love those sff-8643 adapters. I use 2 in my main rig. Got 2 U.2 ports (x4Pcie) running an NVME Micron 7300 SSD and a PCIe slot adapter for an Optane Add in Card (960GB ). Just converting nvme slots is used in 1 system as well. M.2 to U.2.
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      26. those mini-ITX boards are getting somewhat boring, especially when for lower price one can get something like Gigabyte B850 AI TOP (dual 10G, 2x PCIe 5.0×8, 2x M.2 5.0×4…)
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      27. Is there some sort of way to have a nas with hdmi connected to a TV that would just output Jellyfin automatically when turning on the TV, but otherwise is just a regular NAS in all other aspects? I have a geekom mini pc acting almost exclusively as a Jellyfin client (and steam in home streaming occasionally) for my TV. It would be nice If I could just connect a nas (be it unraid, or OMV, or TrueNas) to the TV without the need to have an extra machine connected to the TV.

        Edit: in this case, I don’t mean with a turnkey NAS. I have a Synology, and I’m thinking of transitioning to a more DIY approach in the future.
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      28. A word of warning… I’ve had problems with HDMI from my QNAP NAS. When plugged through an AVR Surround Sound system I could hear the drive noise through my speakers (not just when switched to the NAS input, but all the time), because of something called Ground Loop. It wasn’t practical to connect the NAS to the TV through any other method due to the proximity of devices to the TV and all the cabling being inside the wall. My only solution was to unplug the HDMI or spend quite a bit of money on a ground loop isolator. I chose the free option!
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      29. When you talk about Unraid and a 1-9 menu, you show on screen the TrueNAS menu. Unraid doesn’t show that – it gives you either a logon to the Linux command line (alt-1, alt-2, etc for multiple logon sessions), or as you mentioned, from the boot menu you can choose to have a local web-based UI (that also allows you yo open command line windows). The resolution depends on graphics hardware, etc. My U raid box uses an old Ivy-bridge Xeon cpu with embedded graphics rather than a separate GPU, and run at the UI at 2560×1440.
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      30. What would be nice is if it was easier to make use of the HDMI ports with a flavour of Android TV or whatever nvidia Shield uses. That would remove yet another device in your home.
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      31. Lot of us bought the Ugreen DXP4800+ due to the flow of great hardware reviews. And most reviewers recommended third party OS like proxmox or truenas.
        However with proxmox we’ve lost the easy ability to output to HDMI port. VM and LXC container GPU passthrough is possible, with iommu settings it’s providing jellyfin GPU acceleration.
        However HDMI output for intel integrated GPUs are quite hard to figure out. I wasn’t able to make it work.
        Could you make a guide how to make a Kodi/coreelec, Ubuntu VM in proxmox or truenas, that will have the HDMI output as well? Preferably both with audio and video output for HTPC and other purposes shown in the video.
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      32. My main disappointment with the UGREEN system is that th e output is not activating dolby vison/HDR. It is also not able to passthrough atmos so I am not sure if thia could get fix with update but I don’t think it will happen anytime soon…
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      33. Many years ago I used a Flirc usb to allow my existing remote to be used on my Kodi/LibreElec install, the CEC usb adaptors were a bit to pricey at the time but they would be a great integration item also
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      34. It’s actually pretty neat if you have a NVME based media nas in your living room that could play your media with a supported gpu directly to HDMI via an App. No worry about re encoding as long as the gpu is fast enough to run 60Hz 4k in all major mpeg formats.
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      35. Why on God’s green Earth would anyone use their NAS as a gaming console?

        I wish this video goes into more detail of using the HDMI on the UGREEN NAS given that it is the hot item right now.
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      36. I guess it’s good enough, but if you’re using your NAS to hoard movies and shows you’d probably want the added quality of a dedicated device upscaling the video, supporting Dolby Vision etc.
        And if you’re one of those people who invested enough money in a TV to get all that without a Shield/Apple TV/whatever else, you’d probably want a more complete and polished user interface for the money you put into the setup.
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      37. I want a mobo with support for 12 sata drives, 2+ nvme,10gbe networking and an n150 or better integrated cpu. I have no need for more than a single ethernet port. IPMI would be the bees knees. It would be a perfect upgrade for my rosewill 4u chassis.
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      38. I already have the SFF8654 daughter board, but it does not work. I’ve reached out for help to CWWK, but I’ve gotten no response. If you do find a fix for it, please do share!
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      39. I took a cwwk Core 8505 with the 8654 adapter to 4 nvme 1x they work very well. For now I put 2x1tb in mirror for the VMs. I 3d printed a support for the adapter so that it can be mounted in place of a 3.5 disk inside the Fractal Design Node 304
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      40. I don’t see any retailers in my country stocking them so my biggest concerns will be supply and support. Will I have to order from china whenever I need to replace these things and if I need support of warranty, will there be any?
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      41. I just built my first real NAS in a jonsbo n4 after experimenting in a old SFF workstation for a good while and quickly outgrowing it. With solutions like these in the pipeline (especially the 12-lane, 6-sata 2 m.2 board), I could really see my next build happening inside a custom print case. The n4 is a fine case, but the weird drive layout, low airflow, and lack of backplane for 4 of the drives is less than optimum, and I didn’t have room where I was deploying it to go with an n5. I really wanted the mATX form to utilize additional m.2 slots and have a few spaces for PCIe connections for future expansion. Moving forward, I could easily see a sweet setup using that board I mentioned in a print with a 6-wide raidz2, nvme cache, boot partition all in the space of a n2 case or smaller depending on how you power it. The mATX build would be much less necessary.
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      42. What about the cases/housing for the drives? It’s great to finally be able to just buy backplanes for drives though, maybe we’ll soon have DIY equipment to cobble together redundant hotswappable PSUs setups as well.
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      43. Those multiple m.2 slots at x1 speeds sound interesting.
        You don’t need bifurcation for them as far as I know.
        The speeds aren’t great, but better than sata drives and needs less cables.
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      44. wish they would make that 6 x m.2 board with the longer m.2 form factor for larger capacity, two of those for 12 drives would give you tons of bandwidth to saturate a qsfp+ 25Gbps connection.
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      45. Mr. Hollerand was absolutely right about swearing by the way. It shows a limit to a person’s intellignece and ability to articulate. With that said, what you have shown is so cool. I’ve wanted easy to use, inexpensive backplanes for DIY NAS for a very long time. Nice to see a company finally making this happen.
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      46. Sorry but this is a BS video. The main point to all storage expansion is missing, the „storage controllers“. Where are these 6 sata data connections go, where are the bifurcation chips located, are there pcie splitters involved. Who’s does this all work on the data and electrical side. All the boards and connectors are basically just copper wires and useless without the additional chips.
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      47. Avoid these boards, it doesn’t matter what boards they build or bios updates these boards just won’t have the pci lanes. In short you are likely to see no better speeds than a hard drive. If they update the CPU you pay more money. I think these boards are terrible and just cause more issues unless you understand your pci express lanes.
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      48. Fascinating. Thanks for the update on the future NAS market . . . coming soon. Would be interested in a cost effective solution for a 8-bay NAS . . .
        If it provided some server capability as well that would be a welcome bonus. With 8-bays of more – an HDD upgrade becomes easy.
        Looking forward to a future build series . . .
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      49. Nice overview. Now, what would be awesome is to have an overview of which (jonsbo) nas cases have back plane that support these sff connections directly.
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      50. Very interesting developments. A couple of notes with all due respect,
        1. You’ve briefly mentioned it but it could be worth noting for each one the bottleneck in the line. So for example if you have 4 NVMes and max throughput is 75% that’s notable. There are usecases where that’s fine, but it’s notable.
        2. I don’t know about these specific boards & manufacturers, but at least in the past there were all kinds of breakout boards which were quite shoddy and you’d either lose data or incur a significant hit in performance from data verification trying to fight for a subpar board.

        Due to both of these I’m quite wary these days from going for too good to be true breakouts. Quite often, at least from what I’ve seen, if a reputable brand doesn’t provide it, or provides it at x5-10 the price, or at 1/2-1/4 the slots – there’s a practical reason.
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      51. The seagulls have invaded the studio, they’re knocking things off the shelves now ????

        Interesting gadgets. Do these backplanes follow a standard size and screw placement for NAS type cases, analogous to ATX?
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      52. but these things are already possible no ? when slotting in one of those x16 to 4 nvme like asus hyoer m2 and from there you can choose what you want to do because you can go 4 ways
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      53. Wow. @6:34, will that tiny PCIe x4 card fit in the otherwise useless slot on the Terramaster T12-500 Pro? That now looks like a very promising possibility for using that slow.
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      54. My trobule with all those solutions are usually the case itself, Yes I know that there are many nice computer cases to use as a NAS, but some of us got a rack because we didn’t wanted to have a pile of computers in a corner of the room in a mess of cables.
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      55. i like these adapters but do they work with non CWWK motherboards? It seems they’re somewhat proprietary?

        Don’t they need pcie switch chips to work with non CWWK motherboards? Like the sff-8654 to 6 x m.2? Does it work with an AM5 motherboard that only has X8/X8 or X4/X4/X4/X4 bifurcation? Or even the dual SFF-8654 to 4 m.2, isit a standard adapter?

        Great video btw
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