New mini PCs designed for use as firewalls, routers, and other networking appliances are now available with Intel's latest "Twin Lake" processors, including the more powerful Intel Core 3 N355. These low-power devices are designed for entry-level computing tasks.
Twin Lake Processors: A Step Up in Performance
While many earlier mini PCs of this type featured the quad-core Intel N150 processor, we're now seeing systems with up to an octa-core Intel Core 3 N355 chip with a 15W TDP. These "Twin Lake" processors are a modest update to the Alder Lake-N platform. They are essentially an Alder Lake processor with only Efficiency cores, rather than a mix of Performance and Efficiency cores, but with slightly higher clock speeds, which brings performance boosts.
SJRG Mini PC: Features and Specifications
One example of this trend is the "Firewall mini PC" from SJRG, available on Amazon. This fanless computer offers a choice of Intel N150 or Core 3 N355 chips. Here are some of its key features:
- Four 2.5 GbE LAN ports with Intel i226-V Ethernet controllers.
- Support for up to two M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe SSDs.
- Multiple display outputs:
- 2 x HDMI 2.1
- 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
- 1 x USB Type-C
- USB ports:
- 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A
- 4 x USB 2.0 Type-A
- microSD card reader.
- Two connectors for optional SATA SSDs and HDDs.
- Support for up to 32GB of DDR5-4800 single-channel memory.
Pricing and Availability
The SJRG firewall mini PC is available in barebones configurations, with prices starting at $233 for the Intel N150 model, and $390 for the Core 3 N355 model. While the N150 models offer a lower price point compared to earlier N100-based devices, the Core 3 N355 is a bit more expensive than older i3-N305 based options.
