One would think they'd choose NVMe or at least SATA m.2 for storage for this form factor. They could easily fit two m.2 slots instead of one 2.5in sata. It would allow for more flexibility in storage options.
Btw the prices have really gone down on those m.2 drives. 2.5in sata SSDs too.
I don't think you would see much of a difference between M.2 and a SSD via SATA using the Celeron N4100 with a base clock or 1.1GHz. And to use it as a HTPC you would have even less of a necessity for storage that fast.
My ancient HTPC from 2010 with a i5 661 with a 60GB SSD (SATA 2) on boots in about 5 seconds and launches chrome in a split second. And at 4.2GHz (2c/4t) I'm certain it's faster than the N4100.
This thing is mainly about low-cost, which is not (yet) consistent with NVMe.
And, as @NeatOman said, you wouldn't notice much performance difference. Also, I wonder if they even have x4 lanes free for a full NVMe interface, since the SoC has only x6 lanes of PCIe 2.0, to start with. It'd probably have to be x2 of PCIe 2.0, which would max out at about 1 GBps.
Sadly, this thing doesn't even have the fastest Gemini Lake, and further hamstrings its SoC with single-channel memory. Don't even try to tell me they couldn't have passively dissipated 10 W.
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The Chill Blueberry - Thursday, May 17, 2018 - link
One would think they'd choose NVMe or at least SATA m.2 for storage for this form factor. They could easily fit two m.2 slots instead of one 2.5in sata. It would allow for more flexibility in storage options.Btw the prices have really gone down on those m.2 drives. 2.5in sata SSDs too.
Golgatha777 - Thursday, May 17, 2018 - link
I think a combo of m.2 and 2.5in SATA is the most flexible. m.2 for your boot disk and 2.5in SATA for bulk storage, backups, game installs, etc.NeatOman - Thursday, May 17, 2018 - link
I don't think you would see much of a difference between M.2 and a SSD via SATA using the Celeron N4100 with a base clock or 1.1GHz. And to use it as a HTPC you would have even less of a necessity for storage that fast.My ancient HTPC from 2010 with a i5 661 with a 60GB SSD (SATA 2) on boots in about 5 seconds and launches chrome in a split second. And at 4.2GHz (2c/4t) I'm certain it's faster than the N4100.
IntelUser2000 - Thursday, May 17, 2018 - link
On these boards with any M.2, they only support x2 connection so you won't get the full throughput.On a low cost setup like this its also an advantage to support HDDs so it needs to have an SATA port.
mode_13h - Friday, May 18, 2018 - link
This thing is mainly about low-cost, which is not (yet) consistent with NVMe.And, as @NeatOman said, you wouldn't notice much performance difference. Also, I wonder if they even have x4 lanes free for a full NVMe interface, since the SoC has only x6 lanes of PCIe 2.0, to start with. It'd probably have to be x2 of PCIe 2.0, which would max out at about 1 GBps.
oRAirwolf - Friday, May 18, 2018 - link
This may be interesting depending on what ethernet controllers it is using. Might make for a nice sophos or pfsense firewallErtaz - Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - link
Probably Realtek again. Have they ever made an entry level box with Intel Nics?mode_13h - Friday, May 18, 2018 - link
Sadly, this thing doesn't even have the fastest Gemini Lake, and further hamstrings its SoC with single-channel memory. Don't even try to tell me they couldn't have passively dissipated 10 W.