I Bought an N100 Mini PC, Then Another
15 days ago
- #Mini PC
- #Intel N100
- #Raspberry Pi
- The author has switched from Raspberry Pis to Intel N100 Mini PCs for R&D work due to their better performance and cost-effectiveness.
- The N100 processor features 4 cores, 4 threads, up to 3.4GHz Turbo Frequency, supports up to 32GB RAM, NVMe SSD, and includes virtualization extensions for KVM.
- N100 Mini PCs are popular as fanless routers with multiple 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports and are affordable, making them suitable for clustering and testing Kubernetes setups.
- Compared to Raspberry Pi 5, N100 offers better performance, native NVMe boot support, more RAM, and full-sized HDMI, though it generates more heat.
- The author uses N100s for headless Linux setups, SSH access, and services like OpenFaaS, Inlets, and Actuated for development, testing, and support.
- N100 Mini PCs are cost-effective compared to cloud VMs, with break-even points within months, and are used for product testing, benchmarking, and long-term environments.
- Heat management is a concern with N100s, especially under load, but they remain stable even at high temperatures.
- Alternatives like Minisforum MS-A2 and Beelink SER mini PCs are noted, but the Acemagic F3A stands out for higher performance and dual NVMe support.
- Geekbench scores show N100 outperforming Raspberry Pi 4 and 5, while Acemagic F3A approaches high-end desktop performance in a compact form.