Technical data
The mini PC that NiPoGi provided us with for testing has the following technical data:
- Processor : Intel Processor N150, 4 cores, 3.6GHz max. (15W TDP)
- RAM : 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 ( KINSOTIN16GB2666MHZ )
- SATA SSD : Netac G537N 512GB
- Power supply : 12V 2.5A (AD0301-1202500GB)
- Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168 Gigabit LAN
- Wi-Fi adapter: Realtek RTL8821CE WiFi 5 802.11ac (433 Mbps)
- USB: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2 x USB 2.0
- GPU: Intel® UHD Graphics (24 EU - 1.0 GHz)
- Monitor ports : 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
- Audio connections : Headphone jack
- Expansion : 1 x M.2 2280 compatible with NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA (occupied) M.2 WiF 2230 (occupied)
Comparison with the Raspberry Pi 5
NiPoGi does not offer the E1 mini PC permanently, but often in the range of 200 euros on Amazon. So you can say that both systems with similar features cost around 200 euros. In the following, we therefore compare the individual areas of both systems as mini servers.
Power consumption and performance
The NiPoGi E1 with Intel N150 consumes approximately two to five watts more for similar performance, but offers access to significantly higher CPU and graphics processing power.
At maximum load, the Raspberry Pi 5 requires about 12 watts, the NiPoGi E1 about 21 watts. However, the NiPoGi E1 also offers more than twice the CPU multicore performance.
The CPU of the NiPoGi E1 is significantly superior to the Raspberry Pi in terms of performance and offers both higher single-core and multi-core performance.
The integrated iGPU of the Intel processor can be used wonderfully to encode multiple H.264 or H.265 streams simultaneously in a power-efficient manner - something that is not possible with the Raspberry Pi.
Memory - Storage
In terms of memory, the NiPoGi Mini PC with 16 GB RAM is clearly superior to the Raspberry Pi with a maximum of 8 GB.
The options for expanding the hard drive storage are also better, as the NiPoGi Mini PC has an NVMe port (PCIe 3.0 x4).
Connection options
The connection options are similar, with one HDMI and DisplayPort connection each, as well as four USB ports (2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0). However, the Raspberry Pi requires additional adapters (micro HDMI), which makes the Raspberry Pi even more expensive.
Connectivity
The network connectivity is similar: Both devices deliver maximum performance with the Gigabit network adapter. The Wi-Fi adapter of the Raspberry Pi and the NiPoGi E1 both support Wi-Fi 5 with 433 Mbit/s. The Wi-Fi adapter cannot be replaced on the NiPoGi E1 either.
Installing the correct Linux kernel
In order for the Intel graphics card of the Intel N150 processor to be recognized, you need a more recent Linux kernel than is included by default in most distributions. For example, the kernel in Proxmox VE 8.3, Debian Bookworm or Ubuntu 24.04 was too old and did not recognize the integrated Intel graphics card.
Operating without a driver for the integrated Intel graphics card results in high power consumption and poor performance.
You can use the lspci -v command to check whether the corresponding kernel module for the Intel graphics card is loaded and used. If the kernel does not yet support the integrated graphics card, the last two lines are missing.
Comparison of power consumption of different Linux kernel versions with Proxmox
| kernel version | power consumption without power top | power consumption with Powertop |
|---|---|---|
| 6.8.12-4-pve | 8.5 W | 7.9 W |
| 6.11.0-2-pve | 5.9 W | 5.4 W |
Installation of Proxmox
When installing, you can follow the installation instructions from Proxmox. You just have to make sure that you select the appropriate network card depending on your intended use.
After installing Proxmox, two specific scripts from https://community-scripts.github.io/ProxmoxVE/scripts are useful for correctly configuring the Proxmox installation and bringing it up to date.
Proxmox VE post install script
bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/raw/main/misc/post-pve-install.sh)"Install the latest Linux kernel
apt install proxmox-kernel-6.11Home Assistant OS VM Install Script
bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/raw/main/vm/haos-vm.sh)"You will then find a Home Assistant VM in Proxmox that can be started and set up.
Power consumption
Below I have put together some load scenarios with different loads on one or more CPU cores. The measurements were carried out without a connected monitor and without USB devices using a Shelly Plus Plug S. The setting powertop --auto-tune was used for all tests.
For the test, an M.2 SATA SSD was used as a hard drive.
Consumption when one core is in use
| Usage (%) | Power (Watt) |
|---|---|
| 10% | 5.8 |
| 20% | 6.8 |
| 40% | 8.8 |
| 60% | 10.9 |
| 80% | 13.1 |
| 100% | 15.3 |
Consumption when using four cores
| Usage (%) | Power (Watt) |
|---|---|
| 10% | 7.9 |
| 20% | 10.3 |
| 40% | 13.8 |
| 60% | 16.6 |
| 80% | 18.5 |
| 100% | 19.6 |
Application-specific energy consumption with Proxmox
- Without load, i.e. without an active virtual machine, the power consumption is 4.6 watts.
- With Home Assistant running, the idle consumption is 5 to 6 watts. If Home Assistant is running computationally intensive processes, consumption can rise to up to 15 watts.
- An active ZigBee stick increases the idle consumption to 7 to 8 watts.
NiPoGi E1 with Intel N150 as a home server
Suitable tasks as a home server
The NiPoGi mini PC is suitable for simple tasks such as home assistant, as a storage server or for less demanding computing tasks. With the integrated iGPU and its hardware acceleration, the mini PC can also be used as a powerful host for a Jellyfin instance, for example. Thermal throttling is not to be expected, as the large heat sink reliably cools the Intel N150 processor.
The mini PC can be described as silent; even when fully loaded, it can only be heard from a few centimeters away.
Simultaneous use as a Linux desktop
With the option of passing the integrated Intel graphics card through to a virtual machine, the NiPoGi E1 with Intel N150 can be used as a desktop computer at the same time. To do this, simply create a virtual machine, install Ubuntu, Debian, Arch Linux or another distribution with the latest kernel and pass the Intel graphics card to the virtual machine via PCI passthrough. Hardware acceleration with the Intel GPU is then also available in the VM.
This setup, which is located exclusively in a virtual machine, makes it possible to use the mini PC simultaneously as a media PC with Jellyfin or as a desktop computer - without affecting the other virtual machines that are already running in Proxmox.
Small Storage Server
The ability to install an NVMe SSD allows the NiPoGi to be used with up to 8 TB of storage. This statement is based on the availability of NVMe SSDs with a maximum capacity of 8 TB; however, it has not been tested.
WLAN access point
The integrated WLAN adapter also allows it to be used as a WLAN access point. In this case, the WLAN adapter is simply passed on to a virtual machine. I will not go into the configuration and operating system of the access point in this article.
Conclusion
The NiPoGi E1 is a good alternative to the Raspberry Pi 5. Thanks to the significantly smaller housing, the mini PC is only slightly larger than the Raspberry Pi 5.
The cumbersome search for suitable accessories, as is common with the Raspberry Pi 5, is also eliminated with the NiPoGi E1 with Intel N150. You get a complete mini PC with a case, fast SSD, power supply, display connections and no need for additional adapters.
The NiPoGi E1 is therefore perfect for building a minimalist home server for home automation or other simple server tasks.
Although the power consumption is around two to five watts higher than the Raspberry Pi, depending on requirements, you get significantly more performance and features. Depending on the functions used, the NiPoGi E1 can even work more energy efficiently than the Raspberry Pi - for example when encoding videos with the integrated graphics.
The NiPoGi E1 with Intel N150 is available on Amazon for 389 euros (RRP). However, with vouchers that are often available, it is already available for around 200 euros, which makes it a clear purchase recommendation.
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