A $230 10GbE and i3 6 Bay NAS Mobo - HOW? Any Good? (MW-N305-NAS)

[@otter-pro]

this is the best channel for DIY nas builds. I haven't found any channel that matches the quality and coverage.

[@nascompares]

Thanks for the kind words and the positive vibes bud!

[@moralreality7328]

I had an n100. It wasnt powerful enough for my nas needs. The n305 has been perfect. Never goes above 65% usage wheras the n100 was always maxxed out

[@glujaz]

What were you doing with it ? I am planning to do something with an N100, but it will only have Truenas and host files. I will have a second machine for pro mix doing all the heavy duty stuff. I though until now the N100 it was all good enough .

[@4eyesleo]

Can't imagine what your NAS was doing all the time... Did you mine with it?

[@Nachiel]

Doesnt dnough for NAS??? Holy s…. What are you doing with it? NASA rocket trajectory? Mars colonization? DNA calculation?

[@thezfunk]

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.

[@xavyod8740]

I want to see how it performs over a 10Gbe SMB connection from Raid 5

[@SephirothVG]

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

[@88Stanley]

You can get n305 and n100 mobos for cheap now. Next month Intel is releasing refresh of these and topton is building stock. They just can't sell them yet

[@nascompares]

Funny you should mention this, CWWK contacted me about the n355 and n150 versions of this...strap in! It's gonna be busy!

[@frankwong9486]

​@@nascompares 355 unleash max boost clock to 3.9Ghz which is crazy Hope hey made something with slightly robust VRM and we can unlock the TDP My n305 on cwwk p5x86 pull 37W on CPU+IGP load and it still got room to go up ( not brave enough to unlock higher)😂

[@Tigerfox_]

@@frankwong9486 We need more and more modern PCIe-Lanes, not more CPU-clock. Alder Lake N being refreshed means we won't getting anything better for another couple of years.

[@frankwong9486]

@@Tigerfox_ refresh means there are no new design except small optimize and most probably higher clock more pcie was impossible as 9 was what they have natively 😆 that's why I don't include this in hope

[@Tigerfox_]

@@frankwong9486 I know what refresh means, that's why I'm criticising that we will get a refresh instead of some new architecture with more and more modern PCIe-Lanes. Plus, we are already two generations away from the Gracemont-E-cores of Alder Lake-N (Crestmont in Meteor Lake and Skymont in Lunar Lake/Arrow Lake), so it's not like there hasn't been any progress. Especially the Skymont cores were marketed es nearly as fast as previous P-cores.

[@damotourettes]

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! :D

[@damotourettes]

Juts as a matter of interest, it appears that the Erying i9 13900HK mobos have fallen off the face of the Earth on AliExpress. What gives there?

[@ochneefelix]

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.

[@4eyesleo]

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

[@Galmok18]

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.

[@toseltreps1101]

facts

[@knabbagluon]

I want to see a nas with intel lunar lake. Should be have very low power.

[@sebi65490]

I ordered one of these boards but sent it back for this exact reason. My N100 Beelink Mini PC sits at ~7W with loads of docker containers running. 4 times that is just way too much.

[@toseltreps1101]

@@sebi65490 28W idle is regular Intel desktop territory. my 10850K/64GB/2xNVMe/1xSATA SSD ITX system idles lower than this without special power saving active.

[@danielhumphreys7892]

I was queued up to take a drink when you said "243 knicker" but you dropped a dollars on us!

[@nascompares]

Sorry for the currency faux pas! It's a really bugger staying on them all in one vid. I really only cover $ because that's the bulk of the viewers (according to the stats), but will try to redress this in 2025 man

[@danielhumphreys7892]

@@nascompares it's all good, man, I enjoy your content and style.

[@honaker326]

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.

[@tttomtxhc]

You could have saved about $50 on aliexpress

[@nascompares]

Sorry bud...but TBF as the other commentator says. You like saved some $, it's still a good processor AND the intel N150/N355 boards are just about to drop. You did well bud

[@honaker326]

@@nascompares I'm still happy with the purchase. I thought the R1 was a unique design and wanted to support the idea. I hope they make a newer version of the R7 with something similar to the N305 as well.

[@honaker326]

@@tttomtxhc Yea, I could have, but the place I bought from had them in stock in USA warehouses. I didn't want to wait for the shipping from China.

[@simplexicated]

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.

[@keningilbert]

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"

[@scottag0]

Both of your N305 links point to N100 varieties.

[@nascompares]

Unfortunately that's an AliExpress short linking issue. I keep having to update them almost weekly. Will hit this ASAP. Sorry for the delay bud

[@mrdali67]

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

[@EmperorTerran]

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...

[@D9ID9I]

relax, sfp+ is still the way to go unless you want to cook something using heat from 10G copper port

[@jonjohnson2844]

28 watts idle on that is terrible, some BIOS optimisation and power top I'd expect closer to about 15 watts max.

[@monohydrate2]

I agree. i3-12100 can hit 11 watts idle. I suspect the topton motherboard can’t reach proper c states. An N300 should be idling at sub 10 watts

[@D9ID9I]

6 SATA drives. Even if each consumes 2W while idling only, that is already 12W just from the drives. And when active these drives alone can consume like 45W.

[@lirae121]

Try to use the i5 1135g7, it has low consumption of 15w, it can have up to 64gb of ram in dual channel, it has the intel iris xe igpu with double decoders for h264, h265 and av1

[@snemarch]

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.

[@tolpacourt]

The mainline retail manufacturers like Asrock, MSI, Asus, etc. really missed the boat.

[@ClayBellBrews]

Awesome breakdown (as always). It’s a hard pass for me, but I’d love to see something like this with a lot more nvme and no USB other than USB 2x.

[@nascompares]

I know that Minisforum are working on something like this using the MS-01/A1 chassis. Plus CWWK already have the N100 in a 4 bay NVMe microboard...so maybe/hopefully they extend the logic to the N305/N355

[@ClayBellBrews]

@ hopefully more stable than the MS-01 I have. It locks up every 6-9 days. I can’t get any good data on the thermals, so I don’t known if it’s the microcode issue or heat. It does seem to run longer if I leave the case off though.

[@SheLeftMeUnsupervised]

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....

[@BenReese]

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 🤔🤔

[@mjn96]

The usb 20 gbps is a messed up thing overall. The exact name is usb 3.2 gen 2x2. 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.

[@mannyellis9347]

I have the cwwk version of this board with 4 x Intel i226V 2.5Gbs ports, and I can't get it below 50w at idle using TrueNAS scale and all my hdd spun down. Any help appreciated.

[@JeroenBraes]

I really hope we get lower power consumption in the future Running this device 24/7 .. . Ouch 😓

[@superangrybrit]

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.

[@laurililleoks9595]

if I want to use unraid plex server with 30 pisses 20 * 22 *24 tb hdds is this MW-N305-NAS ok ore is better to buy 14100 intel and some desktop pc motherboard

[@hiraksarma3068]

The biggest disadvantage of these boards are if any components like cpu, ram etc fails the entire board need to be replaced as everthing is soldered.

[@seanburke997]

My biggest takeaway here is that the power consumption difference between n305 and a 4650g is pretty marginal

[@mindshelfpro]

Any small boards support 6+ SAS drives onboad?

[@Paintopia_VR]

If it had a heat spreader for a normal cooler rather that tiny annoying fan it would be a good buy

[@hectyre]

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.

[@arthurswart4436]

On board SAS controller?

[@HooMinGuen]

If that cooling fan is broken, can I attach a PC cooling fan?

[@brankojurisa6613]

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.

[@hapskie]

Could you specify parts for that particular build, very interested

[@mannyellis9347]

What motherboard?

[@brankojurisa6613]

@mannyellis9347 I used MSI B760 board. It was like arround 100 Euros

[@D9ID9I]

Why would anyone want 10GbE copper port? It is hot, it is not always stable. Optics is the way to go.

[@mpstein1976]

So what is the best option if ecc is needed?

[@nascompares]

The AMD emb Ryzen (mobile versions) are your best bet. Even then, massively Mobo dependant at ITX level

[@barerfont]

Just can't find one that is actually confirmed with ECC support. Topton doesn't respond

[@eanalyst]

can i power everything from usb-c?

[@KBMamba0824]

not sure i want to aliexpress a nas mobo. if it fails all the data could be gone

[@4eyesleo]

It can happen only if a nas mobo starts a fire or something like this. But you have your important data on an offsite backup, right?....... Right?

[@nascompares]

I mean, ya man there has a point. Technically, if any Mobo fails..and you haven't a backup, it doesn't matter if the mobo came from AliExpress, Amazon or Tesco Express... The data is probably toast

[@kyleunrearl2o4049]

Not sure you understand how data on drives works

[@nascompares]

Mate! We know, yes, it's still on there (and a good NAS OS can pick up the raid for a recovery in a new system like nothing happened - barring a write error or the thing that killed the mobo wasn't system critical like a surge or lightning). But just for the context of the op's comment, we are just saying that a MOBO is Chinese does not defacto mean it will fail.

[@Bytional]

I just can't see much of the point to buy N305, yes it has 8 cores, but still only 9 lanes, better get a 8505 or even i3.

[@nascompares]

Now there are a bunch of read to go mobile versions in mobo bundles - huge agree! But the TDP on this one is pretty bloody impressive

[@reqoil]

@@nascompares TDP doesn't really say anything. It's just the designed power that the processor can produce. But it doesn't have to. Depending on what options and settings the board has. In previous Chinese releases, these c-state options are missing or they don't work and the motherboard with the N100 CPU (TDP 6W) on the Chinese board draws 20-30W in idle.

[@habana7638]

@@reqoil The c-state problem depends on the controller used, the ASM1166 would have been a better choice.

[@Kickipod]

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

[@themunter6533]

Just me? the N305 aliexpress links take me to a N100

[@nascompares]

Sadly, no, it's not you. I have to regularly replace links to AliExpress as stores leave/change/close/modify their pages. I'll get this changed soon, as I have to address this repairs almost monthly! Also....MAN ALIVE THAT GODAMN WEBSITE MAKE MY BRAIN ACHE TO BROWSE...but it's the only place that has these proper DiY/BYO bundles MITX boards before everyone else for so long. Sorry bud

[@ConorHanley]

Its really disappointing , yet again, the mobo has so few pci lanes at such low speed. Its about time this was ameliorated for those 'NAS Mobo's'

[@nascompares]

But for the premium efficiency buyer, there's still plenty of reasons to opt for this

[@toseltreps1101]

@@nascompares this isn't premium in any way. especially not great in efficiency. how the fuck do you not know this??

[@nascompares]

Dude, who wound you up? Chill. Efficiency as in price, size, power consumption - yet still scalable and capable. Suggested alternatives?

[@TFHeviad]

It's work with 32gb ddr5!

[@host-t3v]

Very disappointing idle power consumption 28watt.....................

[@12gark]

27W on idle is beyond pathetic for a board you may want to have powered on 24/7. When will they get rid of that horrible sata controller?

[@habana7638]

👍 the ASM1166 would have been a better choice.

[@meanmarine24]

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.

[@nascompares]

I get ya. Got some new kit up and running in the studio and just getting to grips with it fully before I migrate over. Bare with. Thanks for watching bud

[@mutovkin]

16gb means - no ZFS…

[@habana7638]

My NAS (Truenas) with only 8GB and five HDDs works fine with ZFS

[@mutovkin]

How did you avoid the need to have 1gb of ram per 1tb?

[@agx93]

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.

[@red_geist9741]

Anyone have an AMD version of this? I don’t have time for Intel anymore.

[@-.Gaba-.]

KZbin your translate AI is crap!

[@reqoil]

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.

[@mattym00]

Calm your farm. 90 day no question asked return policy on AliExpress for any item.

[@hereticerik]

This is cool. Respectfully, your mic quality isn't very good.

[@nascompares]

Thanks for the feedback bud - and received with respect too. Working on improving. Thanks man

[@temp50]

No ECC support -> Not a NAS board. As simply as that.

[@yusky03]

Pops head into room... No ECC Leaves room

[@nascompares]

I mean....BURN!!!!!

[@toseltreps1101]

hey look, it's Teef Richards the lispin' luddite

[@nascompares]

Dude? What in your life that made you this way and just "go negative". Hope, whatever it was, gets better and you do too bro.