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DOCTOR
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> N100 conundrum
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Which N100 board?
I’m looking to upgrade my J4125-ITX NAS server, and have settled on Intel’s newest chip—the N100 processor, which benchmarks tell me represents a huge leap for ward over the previous board, even though the J4125 chip has ser ved me well. I see that in addition to ASRock’s N100-based board (the N100DC-ITX), Asus has released its own board, the Prime N100I-D D4.
I can see two obvious differences between the boards: the N100DC-IT X has two onboard SATA connectors to the N100I-D D4’s one, but the Asus board works with a standard power supply like the one currently in my J4125-ITX build, while ASRock’s board has its own built-in power supply with 19V jack, into which I would need to plug in a compatible laptop adapter. Which would you recommend?
—Michael James
THE DOCTOR RESPONDS: Yes, the N100 is a stellar chip, delivering the equivalent performance of a 65-watt i5-7400 or i3-9100 in a 6-watt chip. Sadly, as you’ve identified, there are tradeoffs in terms of available ports, as well as power supply choices. Ultimately, your choice may boil down to availability, as the Asus Prime N100I-D D4 is almost impossible to source from the US—we were able to track down a couple of listings on eBay that shipped from Europe (Germany and Italy respectively) for around $180, but at time of writing there was no inventor y from any US-based sellers. On the other hand, the ASRock N100DC-ITX can be found for $129.99 on newegg (w w w.newegg.com/p/N82E16813162133).