MINIX NEO J50C-4: INTEL GEMINI LAKE AND WINDOWS 10

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MINIX NEO J50C-4 needs no introduction. Instead, it integrates a 1.5GHz Intel Pentium Silver J5005 (10W) quad-core and Intel UHD 605 graphics, the most powerful "Gemini Lake" chip Intel has released to date. Also on board are 4GB of 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM and 64GB of eMMC 5.1 memory, both of which can be expanded to 16GB of DDR4 memory thanks to the two SODIMM slots and up to 512GB on SSD sdour with the M.2 2280 SATA III slot. This small desktop computer will be able to support 4K UHD streaming on three screens at the same time, taking advantage of the USB Type-C port, the mini DisplayPort and an HDMI 2.0 port. The rest of the interfaces include a 3.5mm audio jack, an optical S/PDIF port and three USB 3.0 Type-A ports, as well as an RJ-45 for Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11ac dual-band and Bluetooth 4.1.

Unlike the other model, the MINIX NEO J50C-4 is not fanless and hides a small fan that helps the dissipation of the heat produced internally while keeping the system silent. The frame remains very compact, with dimensions of 139 x 139 x 30 millimeters. Already available on the market at about 320-350 euros



Minix Neo G41V-4 and MINIX Neo J50C-4 are Mini PCs with Windows 10 Pro, so they can be remotely controlled with the MINIX NEO W2multimedia remote control, specially designed for Windows systems and with a backlit QWERTY keyboard. Its price is 35 euros (25 euros if you buy it with the Mini PC).

Source:
https://notebookitalia.it/minix-neo-...e-prezzo-28784

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MINIX Neo J50C-4

[Bange23]

Nice

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Thanks To Minix lets see what we have to show this day....

Another Day another Mini PC to Explore, Lets get savvy with the Minix Neo J50C-4
Being Minix I think we will find this to be good

Intel Pentium Silver Windows 10 Mini PC
Intel Gemini Lake J5005 Processor
Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
Triple Display Ready
Mini Dp + USB C
4GB DDR4 + 64GB eMMC
Expandable Memory and storage
2 x SODimm slot + 1 2280 M.2 slot, more room to move

On with the show.....

The Box:




What's in the Box:



Ports a plenty:





Remove the base:


A bit closer:


Remove the PCB:


A bit closer:


Looks all good all the Bits to add that extra ram or SSD
and a vesa type Bracket to keep it snug and warm behind the LCD:

More Later...

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All back together and all fired up:
We know what happens next,

The Windows update thing, this will take a little while, currently running 1809 and we go to 1903 if the current space will allow


This Unit is running minimal 4/64 so it may struggle, no spare Ram at present, we can go up to 16GB and that will be nice

Just had the typical Windows OBE Startup, all good set region etc, windows is activated while doing updates and running Win10 64 PRO



More as it happens

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Looking ok so far first part of the update under control
Now to go all the way:


Happily downloading updates etc:



Minix Neo J50C-4: Device manager, main bits.

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All went smooth and now we have the latest and Greatest WIN10



But space is limited....Need to do a bit of clean up me thinks.


A disk cleanup should make things better and reclaim some space

I would recommend more ram a big M2 card and take control then would become a bit of a beast.
4/64GB and Windows it works but not a good experience in the end.

Throwing caution to the wind,
Will remove old version of windows and see clear up some 20GB or so of Windows so we can install other junk as you do



More soon

[RiCkLaR_atvX]

Going to Test LibreELEC on it?

I believe these new Gemini Lake cpu's can actually handle 2-16gb dual ranked sodimm cards to have a total of 32gb of ram in a mini pc. A lot of the manufacturers of mini pc's state the incorrect ram max capacity and even intel website states wrong ram capacity for some of the Gemini Lake chips. Asrock and Gigabyte made boards with Gemini Lake processors can handle 32gb of ram. So the limiting factor would be the board construction. If you have extra ram lying around or can pirate from a compatible laptop that would be something interesting to test out.

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LibreELEC most likely not, this will do most as is,

I have no extra ram at present and this going along ok presenlty with 4GB, good to know if 32gb falls into my hands

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To Continue now with a few tests/benchmarks to see what it can do.
Only using 4GB ram and 64GB eMMC for storage, more Ram and a M2 this would be Beasty.

I think being a MINIX the MINIX NEO J50C-4 Intel box it should do pretty good, Ideal Home office, PC etc


Ethernet and WiFi all good







AIDA64:

AIDA64:

AIDA64: Start: Some stress


AIDA64: 8 Mins In or so: I found CPU Fan not too Noisy even under stress and it kept its Cool


AIDA64: Cool Down:


CrystalDiskMark:

HWInfo64:


CPU-Z: .gif

Managed to get it all updated to the latest Windows 1903 working well.

Video Performance just about does it all for the Avid home user, Kodi, Plex, HD Netflix and others
Gaming well NOT a game Killer PC but should handle many with ease,
Ideal for Internet etc and as Home, Office or School PC
Options for 3rd outputs with use of the USB C port, as well as HMDI and Mini DP
3 x USB3 Ports and a C port
Optical output

Amazon and most other popular outlets:

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More fun to be had with the MINIX Neo J50C-4
Found 16GB of ram cheap on the net and a M2 type Drive



No time like the present to do an update to make this beast a beasty I guess

First get the Product key of the Unit Just incase,
Create a usb disk with the Media Creation Tool

Install the M2 Drive:

In Cmos change Parameter to boot from USB,
When booting do a custom install, you will then see New M2 and all the Old Windows install partitions on the 64GB eMMC
I just deleted all partitions (nothing important) and then told it to install on new M2

No more than 10 minutes all up and running

All Activated found Cmos key



New M2 is now C: drive


All good and easy
A Xmas present for the missus a new PC


Amazon and most other popular outlets:

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A Look at Ubuntu on MINIX NEO G41V-4 and J50C-4 Mini PCs

For those Linux fans this will be of great interest,
I do use linux a little but like to leave it up to the people who know:

Source:
https://www.cnx-software.com/2019/12...0c-4-mini-pcs/
Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium)
A Look at Ubuntu on MINIX NEO G41V-4 and J50C-4 Mini PCs

MINIX Technology Limited recently released two new Gemini Lake mini PCs running Windows 10 Pro namely the MINIX NEO J50C-4 actively-cooled mini PC with an Intel Pentium Silver J5005 processor and the MINIX NEO G41V-4 fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Celeron N4100 processor.

Whilst each mini PC comes with 64GB of eMMC with pre-installed Windows 10 Pro together with 4GB of RAM they also support the addition of an optional 2280 M.2 drive and the MINIX NEO J50C-4 allows optional memory upgrades.

Prior to testing their performance under Ubuntu, I established a comparison baseline by updating Windows to version 1903 and then running my standard set of benchmarking tools first with the default configuration of each mini PC and then repeated having installed the official MINIX 2280 M.2 240GB drives for each device together with adding an extra 4GB RAM to the MINIX NEO J50C-4. The results can then compared them with other Intel mini PCs:
More can be found :
https://www.cnx-software.com/2019/12...0c-4-mini-pcs/