Mini PCs with built-in power supply units as well as Intel N150
Following the example of the Mac mini, more x86 minis with built-in power supplies are coming, including one with Intel's low-cost processor rehash N150.
The Beelink EQ14 mini PC with Intel N150 has a built-in power supply unit.
(Image: Beelink)
While Apple's Mac mini is connected directly to a 230-volt socket, many mini PCs with x86 processors require external power supply units. This not only makes computers more compact, but also cheaper.
Now some Mini PCs are coming with built-in power supply units. One of them contains a processor that Intel has not even announced yet.
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However, the sparrows are whistling from the rooftops that Intel is replacing the processors of the Alder Lake-N series around two years after their introduction. The Intel N97, N100, N200 and Core i3-N305 will apparently not really be followed by new chips, but by a so-called "refresh" –, i.e. only slightly revised versions. Intel has not yet released any information, but more and more Chinese manufacturers of mini PCs are advertising devices with Intel N150 and N250 from the Twin Lake-N series.
(Image: c’t Magazin)
According to this, the N150 clocks at a maximum of 3.6 GHz, almost 6 percent higher than the N100 (3.4 GHz). This is not noticeable when working with the computer. Just like its predecessors, the N150 only has efficiency cores (E-Cores), presumably still from the Gracemont generation.
The integrated GPU increases by a third from 0.75 to 1 GHz. However, the N100/N150 only have a single RAM channel for either DDR4-3200 or DDR5-4800, meaning that the GPU can only use a comparatively poor data transfer rate. And many cheap mini PCs are also designed for the slower DDR4 RAM. As a result, the GPU remains rather lame despite the higher clock rate.
Mini PC with built-in power supply unit
Apple's latest Mac mini generation shows that an integrated power supply unit can also be accommodated on the footprint of an Asus NUC.
Some Chinese mini PC manufacturers also offer devices with an integrated voltage converter, such as Beelink's EQR5, EQi12 and EQ13 devices with mobile processors from AMD or Intel.
Beelink equips the EQ14, which is already available to order, with the Intel N150.
Maxtang also offers a Mini-PC with an integrated power supply unit, the MAX-N100 with Intel N100.
An integrated power supply unit not only takes up space in the housing, but also increases the cost of developing and certifying the devices. This is because power supply units have to meet relevant standards, for example for electrical safety and efficiency, which also differ from country to country. It is therefore much easier for PC developers to design their devices for a low voltage supply only and include external power supply units depending on the country of delivery.
More twin-lake minis
The Chinese company Newsmay is now producing a second generation of the fanless mini PC AC8-N with Intel N150 or N250; the older version used N100/N200. The Newsmay AC8-N comes with an external power supply and is also available as Szbox AC8-N on AliExpress. As a special feature, it also has a VGA output in addition to HDMI and Displayport. Unlike the Beelink EQ14, however, there are USB sockets with a maximum of 5 Gbit/s, while Beelink also uses USB 3.2 Gen 2 with 10 Gbit/s.
The GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus also uses the Intel N150, but with both an external power supply unit and a fan cooler. This device has a built-in network chip for Ethernet with 2.5 Gbit/s.
(ciw)
