Can This Mini PC Replace A Desktop PC

[@allaboutvisual]

Thanks for the review Brian, Minix is back!!!! 🎉

[@Britec09]

They sure are, lovely mini pc

[@bazwillrun]

Fanless is the way forwards...i do a lot of audio mic recording, til now these minis have been no use due to fan noise levels...

[@jimcooper2423]

Hi Brian, from what I understand, the Intel N100 supports only single-channel RAM. Thanks for the review!

[@Britec09]

You're welcome

[@SalamatUK]

The N100 is only single channel, so no good wishing it was dual channel!

[@Keith.W]

Thanks for the video Brian!

[@Britec09]

Thanks for watching!

[@IvyMike.]

This has got my firewall/access point taste buds going, quite cheap too.

[@Britec09]

It would be great for that

[@MrPir84free]

Lacks ethernet ports needed ( 2 ) Don't know if the ethernet port in it is ideal or not ( Realtek ? ) Be sure to check out if the wireless card inside it actually supports access point functionality or not. Many such wireless cards do not. Some don't support newer features like WPA3.

[@1shARyn3]

They really need to sell these withOUT an operating system included

[@MrChihinwong]

Nice review as always ❤

[@TheWeatherbuff]

Thank you, Sir! Not sure if you're familiar with Adobe Audition (audio recording software). I'm not doing any huge mix-downs for music, but do you think this will handle some simple voice recording, and a little mixing of music beds? The info you gave is greatly appreciated, Mate!

[@Britec09]

voice recordings will be fine

[@TheWeatherbuff]

@@Britec09 Thank you, Kindly!!

[@Noiconnotag]

I 'm starting to wonder why most of these mini pcs only have 4 cores when all smartphones these days have a minimum of 8 cores. If you can shove an 8 core cpu on a smartphones motherboard, why can't they shove one on a mini cpu motherboard X3-5 of the size ?

[@Britec09]

4 Cores? some have 8 Core and 14 threads. That's a AMD Ryzen™ 9 7940HS in a mini pc. So not sure where your getting only ever 4 cores

[@Noiconnotag]

Isn't this one 4 cores? Why in 2023/24 with gen 12 cpus we still have manufacturers making a 4 cores ?@@Britec09

[@alexanderr.539]

​@@NoiconnotagBecause most ppl don't actually need more than 4 decent cores in their average usage of a PC. ARM and Intel now both feature extra low-power "lite" cores to produce less heat in portables and/or prolong battery life for background processes or lite foreground tasks. But that isn't necessary so much for desktop or nettop configs, you can throttle regular cores as well.

[@antonisautos8704]

​@alexanderr.539 the point about most people not needing more than 4 cores... I'd contest that point. Windows hardly runs well on the lower spec 4 core CPUs. The same with the 4GB of ram. While it can run, it won't run well. Most people aren't using a brand new clean windows install with nearly 0 additional programs installed.

[@MrPir84free]

It's a low power, fanless, and relatively cheap processor; cheap usually means that something is lacking. It is not saying that it can't be useful. Does everyone need a $400 or $500 mini-PC ? Nope: some want just basic functions and 4 core is still more than enough. The manufacturer did scrimp some by putting in DDR4 instead of using DDR5. As the CPU is limited to single channel memory, DDR5 would have improved performance a little bit, but on the same token, DDR4 is cheaper, and cheap is the name of the game on this unit. Personally, I'd rather have a quieter PC than to have a beefier mini-PC with noticeable noise. No, N100 machines are no fun when it comes to Windows Updates, but reality is no machine is fun with regards to Windows Updates; and Windows Updates is probably the most strenuous thing that happens to a machine like this. For light duty office work, or general browsing and streaming, 4 cores is enough. I have 12cores & 16 threads in the mini-PC I'm currently using & yes, I walk away when updates are being applied. But for light browsing, or streaming video, I'm using about 6% utilization. ( I have a N100, and sat there one night watching youtube on it; perfectly fine, and I'm used to 12 cores ) And it's sort of disingenuous to compare a 8 core phone CPU to a desktop; not even close to the same performance. And phones aren't even using the same type of CPU either. A phone simply is not consuming 8 watts of power, let alone 20 or 30. Not even in the same class. If one could put 10 watts of power thru a phone, it'd likely shutdown in seconds; or melt in a few minutes. Probably blow up once you consider the battery getting too hot.

[@EnglishforBackbenchers]

Exceptional insights once again! Fantastic job!

[@Britec09]

Thanks again!

[@MrPir84free]

With most of the intel based chipsets on the mini's, well those dropped frames is usually an issue with the driver; update the driver, or reboot the machine. Win+Shift+B might also help, which reloads the drivers. It is not unique to the N100's either. This core i7-1260P does the same thing ( 12 cores, 16 threads ) on occasion. N100 has limitations based upon Intel's design, like being limited to a single channel of memory, although the manufacturer could have chosen to go with DDR5 instead; according to Intel, the N100 is also limited to 16 G ram, but in actual use, a number of N100 based systems actually support 32G in a single stick. For general browsing, light office work, or even as a general purpose mini-server, the little N100's seem to be more than fine. Would I choose a better mini- likely, but reality is I'd rather have quiet than noise, and for 99% of the stuff I do, N100 would be more than enough Understand that this was a design decision by Intel, for cheaper PC's to differentiate between lower priced CPU's and mid & upper priced CPU's. Simply put, if you wanted more than 16G ( or 32G ) then move up to a higher priced tier of machines. The N100's, N200's and N305's are similarly limited by Intel.

[@johngoard8272]

Although not for me Brian it certainly looks to be something that I would buy if I was interested simply because it is Intel powered as I am a fan of Intel processors. I personally would not like the mounting of the computer to the back of the monitor because that would mean fiddling around at the back of the monitor to insert USB sticks for example. The drive I would change to a Samsung as I do prefer their drives to any others. It would be a great buy for those who do like these mini computers and those who have a limited space in which to work in. Having said that it is really good value for the price eh?

[@goofyrulez7914]

My last two portable computers keep locking up at random. I'm looking to get a proper desktop machine and away from yucky portables (an HP and a Dell). Thanks for this video.

[@Britec09]

You're welcome

[@MrPir84free]

May need to disassemble and clean out the furballs and dust .. Fanless would be a boon in that there's no fan to clean out, so nothing sucking in dustballs.

[@goofyrulez7914]

@@MrPir84free - they were both brand new machines and locked up on the first day. My research says it may ne drivers incompatible with win 11.

[@TheEnDan78]

@Britec09 Congratulations, nice video. I have a question, is it possible to activate HDR mode in the video settings?

[@B3-R]

What's if it would be used for DAW, music making?

[@davehenderson6896]

When a mini PC can have a 4090 in it I will be interested.

[@Britec09]

Fair enough

[@JanosFazekas-i2c]

Hi, is it suitable for running Home Assistant on Proxmox, Linux?

[@paulwarner5395]

Thanx for the video. At the 6.14 mark you show the BIOS and it shows M.2 NVME equipped and a M.2 SATA not equipped. Can it have two drives.??

[@iskandergaba]

I have the same question

[@philtoa334]

Nice .

[@GeoSam]

Nice Mini

[@Britec09]

Cheers

[@KelticLad]

Nice one

[@Britec09]

Thanks 🔥

[@joesworld396]

5:22 "It is just one slot on here which is a bit disappointing. I would have liked to seen dual channel memory...." (Shaking my head). This comment invalidates this review. The Intel N100 only supports a single channel of memory. That is a design choice by Intel, not Minix who cannot do anything about that. If you are not going to bother to read anything about the CPU architecture, how can anything you have to say be taken seriously?

[@shaolindreams]

Celeron N100 is not a good CPU.. i have the better version and that's terrible too. Steer clear of Celeron unless you're on a very tight budget and you dont mind laggy slowness. Ryzen APU demolishes these chips. The Ryzen mini PC are a little more expensive but the absolutely destroy Celeron... You'll have a much better experience with an APU mini PC.

[@MrPir84free]

N100's are fine for certain types of things; but you are right in that most of the higher priced Ryzen based machines offer better and more consistent performance. The Intel based mini's are behind in graphics compared to the Ryzen and have been for quite some time. Been using this 1260P for about a year now; this is an intel 1260P with 12 cores and 16 threads, and I still find the SER6 ( 7735HS ), which is 8 core, 16 thread, to be a better consistent performer. Machines are probably due a disassembly and cleaning out of the dust however. Oddly enough, I don't see high CPU usage on this i7-1260P, it just seems slower. At idle, the Intel idles at a slower clock speed ( about 1.6 to 2 ghz ) whereas the Ryzen runs at about 3 to 3.8 Ghz; sort of like the difference between a 4 cylinder and a v6 or V8. It's a matter of "seems" and not so much about being pegged out.

[@shaolindreams]

@@MrPir84free My nucbox has that Celeron in it.. it's really painful to use for me, i've streamlined it as much as possible and it still struggles doing more than one thing at time. I mean it's not totally useless but for solid Windows experience i don't think it's it.. I'll be turning mine into a retro-game box. I got a laptop with a 5500U and it's a night and day user experience.

[@mikedavis2969]

How do i transfer virus updates to another P.C ?

[@kasumisman]

boesiipc is a better deal for what you get.

[@KLOPGames]

ok

[@PaulECooper10]

Wait where's her review 🦣

[@srvuk]

It is nice to see a fanless N200 box but the market for this processor is highly competitive, so this may struggle to compete at the price. Be wary of the 32Gb RAM claim as Intel themselves only state a maximum of 16Gb (single channel). DDR4 3200 is rather weak too when many other models have DDR 5 4800, which will matter more with only single channel RAM being available, for some tasks and applications. There were many more dropped fames being dropped that I have seen with other competing models. The SSD speeds were decent. Promoting the purchase of patently pirated games, especially from a channel based in the UK could land you a nice new striped suit and new home for a few years. The next knock on the door could be interesting.

[@davidcwilliams4941]

Hi, re Mini PC Replace. My laptop is near it's end now and I don't need another one, I could do with more room on my dick. I have on interest in gamming but would need to do video editing What should I buy? Would be grateful of any advice please. Many thanks David