2025-07-01 14:47:57 by Liliputing

Disclosure: Some links on this page are monetized by the Skimlinks, Amazon, Rakuten Advertising, and eBay, affiliate programs, and Liliputing may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on those links. All prices are subject to change, and this article only reflects the prices available at time of publication.The MINISFORUM N5 and N5 Pro are network-attached storage (NAS) devices with the kind of specs that that read like a power user’s wish list. There’s support for up to eight storage devices (5 hard drives and three NVMe SSDs), a PCIe x16 slot, 10 Gigabit and 5 Gigabit LAN ports, and an OCuLink connector.After unveiling the N5 Pro during CES in January, MINISFORUM offered some more details in April. Now the company is taking pre-orders for the N5 and 5 PRO, both of which should begin shipping by the end of July.  Retail prices start at $729 for a barebones MINISFORUM N5 (with a Ryzen 7 255 processor and a 64GB SSD but no memory) or $1299 for a barebones MINISFORUM N5 Pro (Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 and a 64GB SSD). But customers who pre-order can find discount codes on the MINISFORUM Store page that will bring down the prices somewhat… for a limited time.While the MINISFORUM N5 Pro costs nearly twice as much as the entry-level N5, the high markup isn’t too surprising. It’s hard to find laptop or desktop computers with AMD Strix Point processors at lower prices, and the chip brings several key features to the N5 Pro.For one thing, the AMD Ryzen 7 255 is a new chip based on older architecture: it has 8 Zen 4 CPU cores with support for speeds up to 4.9 GHz and Radeon 780M graphics with 12 RDNA 3 GPU cores. Unlike most Hawk Point chips, this processor also has no NPU.The Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370, meanwhile, has 12 Zen 5 series CPU cores, support for frequencies up to 5.1 GHz, 16-core Radeon 890M graphics based on RDNA 3.5 GPU architecture, and an NPU that offers up to 50 TOPS of on-device AI processing performance.As a PRO series chip, it also adds a feature that you don’t often find in consumer-focused NAS solutions: support for ECC memory. The MINISFORUM N5 supports up to 96GB of DDR5-5600 non-ECC RAM, but the N5 Pro supports both ECC and non-ECC memory.Otherwise the two systems are pretty similar. Both are relatively small boxes that measure 252 x 202 x 199mm (9.92″ x 7.95″ x 7.83″) and have room inside for:2 x SODIMM slots for RAM (up to 96GB total DDR5-5600)5 x bays for 3.5 inch SATA 3.0 HDDs1 x U.2/M.2 2280/2210 slot (PCIe 4.0 NVMe x2)1 x U.2/M.2 2280/2210 slot (PCIe 4.0 NVMe x1)1 M.2 2230/2280/22110 slot (PCIe 4.0 NVMe x1)1 x PCIe x16 slot (PCIe 4.0 x4)1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (internal)The system supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 6 storage.Both systems also have plenty of I/O capabilities thanks to a set of ports that includes:1 x 10 Gb Ethernet (AQC113)1 x 5 Gb Ethernet (RTL8126)1 x OCuLink2 x USB4 Type-C (w/DisplayPort Alt Mode)2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A1 x USB 2.0 Type-A1 x HDMI 2.11 x 19V DC power inputThe system comes with a 280W power supply and features a set of status lights on the front of the case that provide status indicators for network and drive activity.While the N5 and N5 Pro ship with an operating system called Minicloud OS that’s designed to offer an out-of-the-box solution for setting up a home server and backup solution, MINISFORUM says the system also supports Windows 11 Pro and Linux, which means it should be possible to install other operating systems like TrueNAS Scale, Unraid, OpenMediaVault or Proxmox.This article was first published July 1, 2025 and most recently updated July 3, 2025 with new pricing details. Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.Contribute to our Patreon campaign or...Contribute via PayPal * If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it. Join 9,512 other subscribers