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I'd like to see the numbers around the power usage added too, I see the Pis and audrinos personally as a low wattage device that I don't need to worry about the cost, I'm sure this overcloclocking isn't too much but would be nice to see to weight up viability



Jeff has a N100 vs. Raspberry video where he compares power consumption.

I think he used a GMKTec G3, and the numbers were not bad, but active cooling adds a constant whine to background. Some companies' fans are more whiny than others, too.

N100 is not a "cool" chip by any passive cooling standard, esp. under load. However, its standard (software limited) TDP is around 5W IIRC. You can increase that limit for more speed and added noise.


Yeah GMKTec is pretty bad when it comes to cooling solutions. Literally just had the K9 with the 125H delivered yesterday and while I was expecting the fan setup to be meh, it's honestly like a bad case of tinnitus. Constant eeeeeeee at the most annoying frequencies possible.

They put a tiny 40mm fan on top which resonates with the plastic box and screeches like an absolute banshee all_the_time. That one is a must-remove since it also blocks installation of any heatsinks on the nvme/ram, and a mesh top results in roughly the same temps. But they gotta put their logo on top, priorities.

The second problem is the main cpu cooling, which is actually a really well made bottom intake blower side exhaust setup... but it's set up to run at like half speed even when you're at 30 degrees and there's no bios fan curve control for it except for extreme temp steps. I'm currently pondering adding a pico or attiny that reads the board PWM and retransmitts it so it only runs the fan when it's set above usual. Or maybe just a full passive copper block replacement, but that would require a case redesign...

Otherwise it's a really capable little machine if they put a little effort into making it shut the fuck up at idle.


G3's fan is mostly silent. You might hear a small clicking on lower RPMs, and mostly a whoosh on higher RPMS, OTOH, it' still moving air and sucking dust from the bottom.

Looks like K9 needs to move more air since it's packaing an U5 in that small box, so cooling them silently is much harder.


Iirc the N100 idles at 6W and boosts to 25W, whereas the 125H idles at 35W and boosts to over 100W, which the cooler has to be designed for of course. The Ryzen boxes have similar cooling problems from what I hear.

But if you run the N100 flat out, which is likely to happen given that it's not the fastest thing, and disable turbo on this one (which I've done for now since my use case is a low power server) they are actually surprisingly close in heat output. The Radxa X4 tried to cool the N100 like a Pi 5 and it almost melts.


You can still passively cool it if you want to.


Which limits its performance severely. Even with active cooling it can reach 60 degrees C without much effort.

On the other hand RPi5 idles around 37 and reaches 50 degrees C while passively cooled with a heat-sink case.


>Which limits its performance severely.

Not if you put a large fin block on it.


If I'm going to remove the case and do my own modding, then all best are off. I want something working well out of the box. I have enough computers to play, and not enough space to put Frankenstein systems securely around the house.


Fair enough, but the RPI 5 also won't reach max performance out of the box until you add a third party cooling case on it, be it active or passive. N100 systems at least come with a case already on out of the box that let them reach max performance albeit with some noise.

And we're talking about tinkerers after all, which is the target market for the RPI. Parents won't be buying RPis en-masse for their kids from Walmart to use as their main computer for school instead of Macs, iPads, Chromebooks or Windows laptops.

Average Joes who aren't into tinkering, aren't daily driving a RPI as their main computer. It's a DIY toy/tool for those who want to tinker, learn and make stuff, so some added effort is implied anyway.


Yes, that's sold as a DIY computer, so getting it a case is a must. OTOH, I'll be honest and say, both the official cooler and official case for RPi allows it to run at full-steam, almost all the time.

I especially bought that passive case for my Pi, because it's destined to be a "tuck away server" from get go, and it's trucking along just fine. I'm adding services on top of it slowly, and it's not showing any signs of fatigue.

A2 card and faster SD support really makes that one shine, without adding hats on top of hats. Again, OrgangePi 5B has better hardware, but way worse support.




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