News AMD Ryzen-Powered Mini-PC Has The Potential To Be The NUC Killer

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digitalgriffin

digitalgriffin

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This thing had the potential to be a killer net app box (pfsense/untangle) with two gig nics and ax200 support. But then I saw zen+ and i was like "nope."

Zen+ is still powerful enough for a small office, but I prefer something that sips power so there is no heat. Staying below 25W tdp is better while 15W is ideal for passive cooling.
 
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escksu

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digitalgriffin said:
This thing had the potential to be a killer net app box (pfsense/untangle) with two gig nics and ax200 support. But then I saw zen+ and i was like "nope."

Zen+ is still powerful enough for a small office, but I prefer something that sips power so there is no heat. Staying below 25W tdp is better while 15W is ideal for passive cooling.
Click to expand...

3550H has a default of 35W TDP but it can be configured between 12 - 35W. However, it would be a waste to run 35W CPU at 12W since 3550U is better suited for that.

However, I do agree Zen2 is a much better choice since its 7nm. IT will be faster than Zen+ at its TDP limit. When its running just 1 core under light loads, it will likely consume less power too.
 
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Jim90

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Nothing new here...below concept as old as the hills.

The usual rules apply: does the CPU/s exceed market requirements (cost, enhanced or extra functionality) significantly enough to yield a competitive advantage ?
If yes, market effectively and monitor buyer uptake (for both the end manufacturer and AMD).

That other old saying applies here, as always...you shouldn't place all your cards on the table at once. Keep that Zen2 option alive, no need to push out that product if things are progressing well with the current iteration. Rinse & repeat for Zen3/4 etc. Remember, Intel did this for waaay too long before Zen2 hit (no competition also allowed them to hit you hard in the pocket).
 
Olle P

Olle P

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digitalgriffin said:
This thing had the potential to be a killer net app box (pfsense/untangle) with two gig nics and ax200 support. But then I saw zen+ and i was like "nope."
Click to expand...
... and then I read "The company expects to launch the Indiegogo campaign soon though." and realised that this computer has been in development for quite some time and that's most probably the reason for using the older APU.
 
Olle P

Olle P

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Jim90 said:
... you shouldn't place all your cards on the table at once. Keep that Zen2 option alive but no need to push out that product... Rinse & repeat for Zen3/4 etc. Remember, Intel did this for waaay too long...
Click to expand...
Intel didn't do it at all! They've released new CPUs every year, forcing motherboard replacements and what not, even though there was no competition! Intel could pretty much have stayed in the lead with the first generation Ivy Bridge CPUs until the release of Zen, but they didn't stay there!

I've seen arguments that AMD should hold back the launch of Zen 3 to make more money from Zen 2 first. That's a bad idea! Given that Intel doesn't run into any additional hick-ups AMD must (probably) release Zen 4 late next year (as close to Alder Lake as possible) to stay competitive. So at best 18 months from now Zen 3 is "outdated" and most of the profits from that architecture has to come within these next 18 months. Holding off with the release (of a finished product) until later is thus just stupid!
 
RodroX

RodroX

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Without Zen 2 this will be a really useless product by the time it hit the market. It could be nice to power some office PC by keeping a really small footprint (attaching to the back of the monitor using a VESA adater).
 
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mspencerl87

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MINISFORUM is a pretty good group of people. They have competitive pricing.
I inquired them about a unit for review and they gave me a great deal.
My personal message is if you don't use Realtek NIC's in this thing. It will sell like hotcakes.
 
digitalgriffin

digitalgriffin

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escksu said:
3550H has a default of 35W TDP but it can be configured between 12 - 35W. However, it would be a waste to run 35W CPU at 12W since 3550U is better suited for that.

However, I do agree Zen2 is a much better choice since its 7nm. IT will be faster than Zen+ at its TDP limit. When its running just 1 core under light loads, it will likely consume less power too.
Click to expand...

For a net app box you wouldn't need that much horsepower. Protectli starts with Intel Celeron® J1800 or J3060 Dual Core Processor, @2.4 GHz. Their top end product is a mobile i5 and that is for medium to large office use.

Where you need to real horsepower is for VPN's and SPI/DPI inspection and sometimes QOS. 15W 3550U passively cooled would be a wonderfully powerful solution for most home users. It will still be more powerful than any consumer mass produced router.
 
AtotehZ

AtotehZ

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It feels like a missed opportunity for AMD not to jump at the low power mini-pc market as well.

The AMD Ryzen 5 4500U and the Intel Core i7 10510U seem to cost around the same(could be wrong about that, was comparing computer prices identical aside from the cpus), but the 4500U is leaps and bounds ahead.

I recently bought a mini-pc with a 10510U, but AMD simply isn't properly on the market and it's a shame.
 
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