In Search for a Budget Mini PC for my Home Lab

 

Lately, I’ve become obsessed with the idea of self-hosted solutions to reduce my reliance on cloud platforms, whether subscription-based or “free” (where the trade-offs aren’t always obvious, especially when you become the product). That curiosity led me to discover Immich, a powerful, self-hosted alternative to Google Photos. Its facial recognition and machine learning-based query features are genuinely impressive.

This newfound fascination has drawn me deeply into the world of Docker containers and self-hosted services. I’m eager to try Jellyfin, having had limited success running Plex on our aging WD NAS. That system simply doesn’t have the processing power for transcoding, and I’m ready for something more capable. I’m also looking forward to tinkering with NAS-centric OSes like Unraid and TrueNAS to explore storage and media server setups firsthand.

Narrowing Down the Options

After extensive research, I've narrowed my choices to two budget-friendly mini NAS PCs:

• BeeLink ME Mini NAS
• GMKTec NucBox G9 NAS

Both units share the same core specs:

• Intel N150 processor, optimized for low power usage
• 12GB LPDDR5 RAM (non-upgradeable)
• M.2 NVMe flash storage, which, while more expensive per gigabyte, delivers faster performance
• Dual 2.5GbE networking ports, which support link aggregation for higher bandwidth, assuming your switch can handle it.

NVMe vs. HDD Design Advantages and Trade-Offs

Before going into the detailed comparison between the two systems, let me first discuss why I chose an all-SSD NAS solution instead of the traditional multi-bay HDD NAS device. I'm referring to NVMe SSDs in particular. Going all-in on NVMe storage means sacrificing on storage media capacity per cost, but it comes with major benefits. NVMe-based NAS setups offer a compelling upgrade over traditional HDD-based systems, especially if you're chasing performance, silence, and energy efficiency. 

Performance Advantages

• Blazing speed: NVMe SSDs can reach 3,500 to 7,000 MB/s, compared to ~150 MB/s for HDDs and ~550 MB/s for SATA SSDs.
• Lower latency: NVMe uses a streamlined protocol over PCIe, reducing delays in data access, making them ideal for virtualization, media editing, and databases.
• Better IOPS: NVMe handles thousands of input/output operations per second, making it perfect for multi-user environments or apps with frequent small file access.

Noise Reduction

• Silent operation: NVMe SSDs have no moving parts, unlike HDDs with spinning platters and read/write arms.
• Ideal for home theaters, bedrooms, or quiet offices, where mechanical noise from HDDs can be distracting.

Power Efficiency

• Lower power draw: NVMe SSDs typically consume 2 to 4W, while HDDs can use 6 to 10W or more, especially under sustained load.
• Over time, this translates to lower electricity costs and less strain on your power supply, especially in always-on NAS setups.

Heat Generation

• Less heat than HDDs: NVMe drives generate less heat overall due to their efficient architecture.
• However, high-performance NVMe drives (especially PCIe Gen 4) can run hot under sustained workloads, so passive heatsinks or airflow are recommended.

Other Benefits

• Durability: No mechanical parts means NVMe drives are more resistant to vibration and shock, great for multi-drive NAS arrays.
• Compact form factor: M.2 NVMe drives save space, allowing for sleeker NAS designs or more drives in the same enclosure.
• Energy-efficient caching: NVMe is ideal for cache pools, speeding up access to frequently used files without spinning up slower drives.

Between the two devices under consideration, BeeLink offers six M.2 slots**, compared to GMKTec’s four. Take note that BeeLink does not necessarily have the advantage here, as these 2 units do not have the same PCIe slots.

Hardware Bottlenecks

There is so much more going on here than I am comfortable to expound on since I'm a noob on most of these things. As far as I understand, the BeeLink has a much more inferior hardware with 5 single lane PCIe gen 3.0 and 1 which has 2 lanes, which severely limits the read and write bandwidths. The GMKTec, on the other hand, has 4 slots of PCIe gen 3.0 x2, but is also severely limited in write speeds due to some other issues, as tested in some hands-on reviews by other parties (NASCompares). All of these are somewhat moot since the max bandwidth of the dual 2.5GbE networking ports even with link aggregation will be approximately 625MB/s which will most likely be the bottleneck (the observed write speeds in that online review from NASCompares is even slightly below this but it is only one data point and I suspect real world performance might vary considerably).

Cooling Considerations

Thermals became a key deciding factor. Reviews on YouTube (Jeff Geerling's video titled: Is this the Perfect Mini NAS?) revealed that GMKTec experienced instability and frequent crashes during stress tests when all M.2 slots were populated. The consensus was that custom cooling would be necessary to prevent overheating.

By contrast, BeeLink seems engineered with thermal management in mind, featuring a central fan and heatsinks that occupy much of the internal space.

Final Decision

Considering all the factors (performance, thermals, flexibility, and budget), I decided to go with the BeeLink ME Mini NAS. I ordered the unit without storage, planning to buy M.2 NVMe drives locally. I’m beyond excited to get started and hope the setup goes smoothly.

I'll post an update once everything's up and running.

A big shoutout to the team at NASCompares and to Jeff Geerling for their in-depth reviews. Their content has been an invaluable resource for budget-conscious enthusiasts like me.