MINIX N304-AI

The MINIX N304-AI is a small office and family desktop built on Intel’s Core 3 304, an entry-level “Wildcat Lake” chip positioned as the successor to the N100 class of low-power processors. It suits someone who wants a quiet box that draws about 3 watts at idle, drives three 4K monitors, and handles browsing, documents, and streaming. Team Pandory reported no issues in everyday Windows use and found it ahead of every N100-class chip it tested, and Robtech’s Cinebench single-core result matched the Ryzen 9 7940HS. Robtech’s charts put it last in multi-core, Team Pandory found it badly outclassed by mainstream chips in CPU and graphics tests, and both thought it costs too much for that performance. The 16GB of memory is soldered, so the configuration you buy is the one you keep.

Pros and Cons

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MINIX N304-AI Comparison Chart

	MINIX N304-AI
Price	List Price: $715.00 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...
Version	16GB/512GB/Intel Core 3 304
Performance Rating	3.6
Operating System	Windows 11 Pro
Processor	5-core 1.50 Ghz (max 4.30 Ghz) Intel Core 3 304
GPU	Integrated Intel Graphics
RAM	16 GB LPDDR5X, single-channel (LPDDR5X-6400, soldered)
Internal Storage	512 GB NVMe SSD
Dimensions width x length x thickness	5 x 4.99 x 1.81 inches (127 x 126.75 x 45.97 mm)
Weight	0.79 lbs (0.36 kg)
WiFi	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.3
Ethernet	2 Ethernet ports at 1 Gbps
HDMI	1 Full-Size HDMI Port
DisplayPort	1 DisplayPort (DP 1.4, plus DP Alt Mode on USB-C)
VGA	No VGA Ports
USB Ports	2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3, 1 USB-C Front: 2x USB-A 10Gbps, 1x USB-C 10Gbps. Rear: 2x USB 2.0
Thunderbolt Ports	No
OCuLink	No
Internal SATA Ports	No SATA ports
Card Reader	No Card Reader
Headphone Jack	combo
Fanless	No
VESA Mount	Yes
In the Box	Mini PC, 65W adapter with US/EU/UK/JP plugs, HDMI cable, VESA mount, screws, user guide
Expandability	16GB LPDDR5X soldered, no RAM slot. Two M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 slots (x2 and x1) to 4TB.

Five cores, three displays, and two unequal M.2 slots

The N304-AI is a low square box about 5 inches on a side and 1.8 inches tall, and it weighs under a pound. MINIX lists the case material as plastic; the top has a brushed finish and the sides are ribbed. The front carries a BIOS reset pinhole, the power button, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports. The rear holds two USB 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4 output, an HDMI port labeled 2.1 TMDS, two gigabit Ethernet jacks, and the DC power input. A 65W power adapter (19V, 3.42A) with interchangeable plugs comes in the box, and MINIX also lists USB-C power delivery input.

The Core 3 304 has one performance core running up to 4.3GHz and four low-power efficiency cores, with 6MB of cache and a 15W base power rating. MINIX rates the platform at 24 TOPS of AI throughput: 15 TOPS from the NPU and 9 TOPS from the single-core Intel graphics. Its PassMark CPU Mark is around 11,645, which puts it above N100-class chips and below mainstream Core i5 and Ryzen 5 mini PCs. Memory is 16GB of LPDDR5X-6400 soldered to the board, and the chip runs it on a single channel. The same processor powers the Beelink EQi 304, which adds 10GbE and Thunderbolt 4 but boots from slower onboard UFS flash instead of an NVMe drive.

All three video outputs drive a 4K display at 60Hz, so the N304-AI can run three monitors at once. Team Pandory pointed out that HDMI 2.1 TMDS is HDMI 2.0 bandwidth under a newer label. That covers 4K at 60Hz but not higher refresh rates at 4K. Wireless is Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth 5.3 on a replaceable M.2 2230 card. Storage is a 512GB NVMe drive in one of two M.2 2280 slots: one slot runs at PCIe 4.0 x2 and the other at PCIe 4.0 x1, with up to 4TB across both. Both reviewers found the factory drive in the slower x1 slot and got better results after moving it to the x2 slot. Reaching the slots means peeling off the glued rubber feet, removing the screws under them, and easing the board out of the case.

Reviewer Insights

Team Pandory

Team Pandory tested the N304-AI as a possible successor to the N100. The reviewer’s first impression of the case was that “it feels much cheaper than it looks.” On the HDMI port, the review says the 2.1 TMDS label is a rebrand of HDMI 2.0: “While this rebrand has become standard practice, we think it’s misleading and we’re hoping for a bit more transparency in the future.” The review unit booted with benchmark and optimizer tools already installed, and a Malwarebytes scan flagged ad-related items. The reviewer did not call it malware, but said: “I don’t want any of this benchmarking and optimizing software on a brand new mini PC.” The reviewer reinstalled Windows using drivers from the MINIX site plus a couple from the Microsoft catalog.

Against mainstream processors in Geekbench, Cinebench, Time Spy, and Fire Strike, the review says the N304-AI is badly outclassed. Against the N95, N100, N97, and N200 it beat all of them in Team Pandory’s testing. Rocket League ran at about 40 fps at 1080p on quality settings and above 60 fps in performance mode, Fortnite stayed above 60 fps at 720p with the performance renderer, and Counter-Strike 2 was unplayable. Under Batocera 43.1, video, sound, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth all worked, PlayStation 2 games ran well, and God of War 2 ran at full speed at 720p.

At idle the machine sat around 35 degrees Celsius and drew about 3 watts from the wall. Gaming pushed it to 71 degrees in Fortnite and into the 80s in Counter-Strike 2, at just under 14 watts. The review’s summary: “It’s quiet, has a non-showy case ideal for an office, and the Wi-Fi signal is actually top tier.” The BIOS is basic, with a quiet mode that only lowers the sustained power limit and a manual fan option that offers no actual fan settings. On price, the reviewer judged the machine mid-tier rather than budget and thought hardware like this should sell for far less, concluding that “this is an all right family PC.”

Robtech

Robtech compared the N304-AI with the Core 5 320, a Wildcat Lake chip with two performance cores, and with a field of mid-range and high-end mini PCs. In Cinebench single-core, the one performance core matched the Ryzen 9 7940HS and trailed the Core 5 320 by 3.5 percent. In multi-core it came last on his chart, 10.5 percent behind the Core 5 320, and Geekbench single-core placed it near the Core i7-13620H. Graphics were the weakest area: the Core 5 320 led by 80.5 percent in Fire Strike and 86 percent in Time Spy. Video encoding stayed near the bottom of his chart even with Quick Sync enabled, code compiling was slow, and he notes that PS3 emulation spends a long time compiling shaders on the single performance core.

Inside, he found a Samsung NVMe drive in the PCIe 4.0 x1 slot with the empty x2 slot beside it: “Why the Samsung drive hasn’t been placed there is anyone’s guess.” Moving the drive raised the storage score modestly, though without any cooling the SSD gets warm and will run warmer in the other slot. He was also unhappy about the case screws: “Opening up this mini isn’t difficult, but the glued-on rubber feet cover the screws, which I hate.” His malware scan came back clean, and Windows ran with no missing drivers.

Idle draw was the lowest in his comparison, and peak draw reached only 33 watts, with the CPU staying under 90 degrees Celsius. On noise he said: “Fan noise is okay under load when compared to the rest of minis, but if you take into account how little heat it has to deal with, it’s not exactly impressive.” Wi-Fi held up at 39 feet from the router on 5GHz, and the BIOS covers wake on LAN, power mode selection, HDMI CEC, and AC power loss recovery. His checklist opens with “Build quality is nice.” He also credits MINIX for BIOS updates, driver downloads, and a two-year warranty. His verdict: “However, for the asking price, it can’t compete with the competition on features or performance.”

A low-power desktop for office work and three monitors

At about 3 watts at idle, the N304-AI can stay on all day as a family PC or a small Linux box, and Team Pandory’s Batocera testing shows it handles retro emulation through PlayStation 2. Browsing, documents, spreadsheets, video calls, and streaming are within its reach, spread across up to three 4K displays. Moving the SSD to the x2 slot is worth doing on day one, though the uncooled drive runs warmer there.

Look elsewhere if you compile code, encode video, or play modern 3D games: Robtech’s charts put it last in multi-core, and Team Pandory found it badly outclassed by mainstream chips in CPU and graphics tests. The soldered 16GB rules out memory upgrades, and the gigabit Ethernet ports will limit fast NAS transfers. Buyers who want the same chip with faster networking can compare the Beelink EQi 304, and MINIX’s fanless N300 option is the Z300-0dB. Starry Hope’s Mini PC Comparison Chart lays the specifications side by side.

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