KAMRUI Pinova P2 (Intel Core 3 304)

This build of the KAMRUI Pinova P2 is a small, quiet desktop for office work, schoolwork, video calls, and a desk with several monitors, sold ready to use with Windows installed. It keeps the name and case of the older KAMRUI Pinova P2, but the board inside is a newer Intel design with faster wired networking. The memory is soldered and cannot be upgraded, so buy it only if the amount it ships with will cover you for the life of the machine.

Pros and Cons

KAMRUI Pinova P2 (Intel Core 3 304) Comparison Chart

	KAMRUI Pinova P2 (Intel Core 3 304)
Price	List Price: $380.00 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...
Version	12GB/256GB/Intel Core 3 304
Performance Rating	3.4
Operating System	Windows 11 Pro
Processor	5-core 1.50 Ghz (max 4.30 Ghz) Intel Core 3 304
GPU	Integrated Intel Graphics
RAM	12 GB LPDDR5 (Soldered; KAMRUI lists 5600 and 6400MT/s)
Internal Storage	256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD (PCIe 3.0)
Dimensions width x length x thickness	5.04 x 5.04 x 1.73 inches (128.02 x 128.02 x 43.94 mm)
Weight	1.26 lbs (0.57 kg)
WiFi	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.2
Ethernet	1 Ethernet port at 2.5 Gbps
HDMI	1 Full-Size HDMI Port
DisplayPort	1 DisplayPort (DP 1.4, plus DP 1.4 over USB-C)
VGA	No VGA Ports
USB Ports	6 USB 3, 1 USB-C Front: USB-C 20Gbps (DP, PD), 2x USB-A 10Gbps. Rear: 4x USB-A 5Gbps
Thunderbolt Ports	No
OCuLink	No
Internal SATA Ports	No SATA ports
Card Reader	No Card Reader
Headphone Jack	front
Fanless	No
VESA Mount	Yes
In the Box	Mini PC, 65W power adapter, short HDMI cable, VESA bracket with screws, manual
Expandability	12GB LPDDR5 soldered (not upgradeable). Second M.2 2280 NVMe slot; SSD and Wi-Fi card replaceable.

Ports and networking

The case measures about 5 x 5 x 1.7 inches and weighs about 1.3 pounds. The front holds a USB-C port, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports at 10Gbps, a 3.5mm audio jack, and the power button. KAMRUI rates the USB-C port at 20Gbps with DisplayPort 1.4 video and 100W power delivery. The back carries HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, one 2.5GbE port, four USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports at 5Gbps, and the barrel power input. HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C each drive a 4K display at 60Hz, for three monitors at once. Wireless is Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth 5.2, and KAMRUI lists TPM 2.0 and scheduled power-on.

Processor, memory, and storage

The Intel Core 3 304 has one performance core and four efficient cores, five threads in total, and boosts to 4.3GHz. Intel rates it at 15W base power; KAMRUI runs it at 22W. Its PassMark multi-thread score of about 12,300 sits well above the Intel N150 (about 5,300) and above the Ryzen 3 4300U in the older Pinova P2 builds (about 7,300), and well below 12-core chips such as the Core 5 220H (about 21,900). The NPU is rated at 15 TOPS for on-device AI features.

Memory is 12GB of LPDDR5 soldered to the board. KAMRUI gives the memory speed as both 5600MT/s and 6400MT/s. The 256GB SSD is an M.2 NVMe drive rated for PCIe 3.0 x4, and KAMRUI rates both M.2 2280 slots at PCIe 4.0 x2 for up to 4TB in total. There is no 2.5-inch drive bay. The lid lifts off once one small screw and a switch on the back are moved, which exposes the SSD, the Wi-Fi card, and the second M.2 slot above the Wi-Fi card.

Reviewer Insights

Carey Holzman

Carey Holzman covered a pre-release engineering sample KAMRUI sent him across two live streams, Part 1 and Part 2, before the Core 3 304 build went on sale. His unit had 12GB of memory and a 512GB SSD, where the build sold now ships with 256GB. The box held a 19V, 65W power brick, a VESA bracket with screws, and a short HDMI cable meant for mounting the unit behind a monitor. He pointed out that the case is plastic, which keeps the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas from sitting behind a metal shield, and that the copper trim is “just a piece of plastic painted copper.” Of the soldered memory he said: “You will not be able to upgrade this.”

During setup and Windows updates he found that “the machine’s really, really quiet.” The BIOS has no preset quiet or performance modes, and the defaults are “PL1 of 22 watts and PL2 is 35 watts,” which he advised leaving alone. CrystalDiskMark showed the bundled PCIe 3.0 x4 drive “running at half speed. It’s running at times two,” at about 1,700MB/s against roughly 3,600MB/s on four lanes, and moving the drive to the other slot gave the same result. He suspected a BIOS setting on the sample; KAMRUI’s own spec lists both slots as PCIe 4.0 x2, so the two-lane link is how the board is built.

In Part 2 he compared the P2 with the Minisforum M2 Air, which uses the same chip with socketed memory, USB4, two 2.5GbE ports, and one full-speed M.2 slot. He summed up the KAMRUI side as “12 gigs soldered on RAM, two NVMe slots, each one running at half speed,” and put the choice this way: “If you want the performance, you go with the Minisforum. If you want the capacity, you go with the Kamrui.” He also noted the warranty gap: “2-year warranty on the Minisforum, only a 1-year on the Kamrui.” His overall take in Part 1 was “I personally think it’s speced out really, really good as an entry-level computer.”

Our verdict

The Core 3 304 Pinova P2 suits someone who wants a Windows 11 Pro desktop that runs out of the box and is sure 12GB of memory will last for years. The M.2 slots run on two lanes each, so a PCIe 4.0 SSD is the drive to add; on two lanes it gets about the bandwidth a PCIe 3.0 drive gets on four.

Skip it if you game or edit video. Buyers who want faster networking can look at the Beelink EQi 304, which pairs the same chip with a 10GbE port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. The ACEMAGIC Kron K5 and MINIX N304-AI are other Core 3 304 boxes to weigh.

Frequently Asked Questions