Products · Topton · NAS
Topton N18 NAS Mini-ITX motherboard
- Chips
- Intel N150 or Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355
- Memory (RAM)
- 8 or 64 GB
- Launch price
- $139
- Released
- 2025
Configurations
Pick one to see which models it runs. More memory lets larger models fit; bandwidth sets how fast they answer.
| Configuration | Memory | Usable for AI | Bandwidth | LLMs that run well | Launch price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel N150 · Intel N150, ships without memory; with 8 GB fitted | 8.0 GB | 5.2 GB | 38 GB/s | 147 of 622 | $139 |
| Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355 · Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355, ships without memory; with 8 GB fitted | 8.0 GB | 5.2 GB | 38 GB/s | 147 of 622 | — |
| Intel N150 · Intel N150, community-tested upgrade, above the maker's stated maximum | 64.0 GB | 54.4 GB | 38 GB/s | 204 of 622 | — |
| Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355 · Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355, community-tested upgrade, above the maker's stated maximum | 64.0 GB | 54.4 GB | 38 GB/s | 204 of 622 | — |
Specifications 8.0 GB configuration
| Maker | Topton |
|---|---|
| Type | NAS |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355 NAS (8 GB) · Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355, ships without memory; with 8 GB fitted |
| Memory (RAM) | 8.0 GB |
| Usable for AI models | 5.2 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 38 GB/s |
| FP16 compute | 0.3 TFLOPS |
| Runs models on | CPU cores |
| Drive bays | 6x SATA III + 2x M.2 2280 NVMe |
| NAS system | Bare motherboard; vendor lists Windows 10 and Linux |
| Containers (Docker) | Yes |
| Virtual machines | Yes |
| Memory upgrade | DDR5 SO-DIMM · 1 slot · up to 32.0 GB per the maker · 64.0 GB reported working by owners · non-ECC |
| Notes | Intel N150 (Twin Lake) or Intel Core i3-N305 (Alder Lake-N). CPU-only N150/i3-N305 with one single-channel DDR5 DIMM and no PCIe slot handles only small quantized models at usable speed. |
| Product page | www.cnx-software.com (opens in a new tab) |
Running AI on the Topton N18 NAS Mini-ITX motherboard
It can, with limits: expect small models only, at modest speed. Models run on its CPU cores, and this configuration leaves about 5.2 GB for them after the NAS system and its storage services. The grades below assume the NAS isn’t busy with backups or media work at the same time. More memory is the upgrade that matters most: see the configurations.
Apps you can install to run models
| App | How it installs |
|---|---|
| Ollama | In a container (Docker) |
| Open WebUI | In a container (Docker) |
Best LLMs for the Topton N18 NAS Mini-ITX motherboard 8.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58Good quality (B) · 58 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 74/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Gemma 4 E2B | Q4_K_M | 4.2 GB | 12.8 tok/s | Runs well |
| 50Fair quality (C) · 50 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 73/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Ling 3.0 Tiny (8B-A1.3B) | Q3_K_M | 5.1 GB | 26.8 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 41Fair quality (C) · 41 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 73/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Unlimited OCR 2 (3B-A0.6B) | Q4_K_M | 3.6 GB | 42.1 tok/s | Runs great |
| 38Basic quality (D) · 38 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Unlimited OCR (3B-A0.6B) | Q4_K_M | 3.6 GB | 42.1 tok/s | Runs great |
| 57Good quality (B) · 57 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 71/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MiniCPM5 2B | Q4_K_M | 2.9 GB | 11.7 tok/s | Runs well |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B | Q2_K | 4.4 GB | 10.8 tok/s | Runs well |
| 47Fair quality (C) · 47 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nanbeige4.2 3B | Q2_K | 4.2 GB | 11.6 tok/s | Runs well |
| 36Basic quality (D) · 36 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Granite 4.0 H Tiny (7B-A1B) | Q3_K_M | 4.5 GB | 33.9 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 47Fair quality (C) · 47 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Gemma 4 E4B | Q2_K | 4.4 GB | 10.8 tok/s | Runs well |
| 54Fair quality (C) · 54 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B | Q2_K | 5.0 GB | 5.1 tok/s | Slowtight fit |
Best Image models for the Topton N18 NAS Mini-ITX motherboard 8.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72Great quality (A) · 72 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX.2 [klein] 4B | Q4 GGUF | 4.6 GB | 2.7 min | Very slowtight fit · encoder unloaded after use |
| 39Basic quality (D) · 39 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SDXL Turbo | FP8 | 4.2 GB | 17 s | Runs well |
| 90Excellent quality (A+) · 90 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX 3 Image Klein | Q8 GGUF | 4.3 GB | 18.2 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 28Basic quality (D) · 28 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SD Turbo | FP16 | 3.3 GB | 10 s | Runs great |
| 82Great quality (A) · 82 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Z-Image Turbo | FP8 | 4.4 GB | 6.2 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 64/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX.2 [klein] 9B | Q4 GGUF | 4.3 GB | 6.0 min | Very slowCPU offload |
Best Video models for the Topton N18 NAS Mini-ITX motherboard 8.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35Basic quality (D) · 35 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 57/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | AnimateDiff v3 (SD 1.5) | FP16 | 4.7 GB | 42.7 min | Very slowtight fit |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 52/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LTX-Video 2B | FP8 | 4.0 GB | 62.5 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 44Fair quality (C) · 44 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 46/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | CogVideoX 2B | FP8 | 4.7 GB | 2.5 h | Very slowtight fit · CPU offload |
Best Decision models for the Topton N18 NAS Mini-ITX motherboard 8.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 87/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | OpenAI Privacy Filter | Q8_0 | 2.4 GB | 114 ms | Runs great |
| 86Excellent quality (A+) · 86 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Jina Reranker v3.5 | Q8_0 | 1.9 GB | 2.5 s | Very slow |
| 84Great quality (A) · 84 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Jina Reranker v3 | Q8_0 | 1.9 GB | 2.5 s | Very slow |
| 80Great quality (A) · 80 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | GLiNER2.5 Decide | Q8_0 | 1.2 GB | 1.1 s | Slow |
| 87Excellent quality (A+) · 87 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3 Reranker 4B | Q5_K_M | 4.2 GB | 16.5 s | Very slow |
| 85Excellent quality (A+) · 85 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | zerank-2 | Q5_K_M | 4.2 GB | 16.5 s | Very slow |
| 80Great quality (A) · 80 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FRIDA-Decisions | Q8_0 | 1.7 GB | 1.8 s | Very slow |
| 85Excellent quality (A+) · 85 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Shieldstral 1.0 3B | Q6_K | 4.4 GB | 15.8 s | Very slow |
Other products with the Intel Core i3-N305 / Core 3 N355 NAS (8 GB)
CyberData Vault CF500 ProProduct page (opens in a new tab)
X86-P6 pocket NASProduct page (opens in a new tab)
N150-K / N355 Mini-ITX NAS motherboard (6x SATA, 2x i226-V)Product page (opens in a new tab)
P5-4M 6-bay Pocket NAS (N100 / N150 / i3-N305 / Core 3 N355)Product page (opens in a new tab)
N22 8-bay 10GbE NAS motherboard (N150 / i3-N300)Product page (opens in a new tab)
CyberData CF500 ProProduct page (opens in a new tab)
F4-425 ProProduct page (opens in a new tab)
Spec sources
Estimates come from published hardware specs and our open formulas, not from running the model on your machine. Real speed varies with runtime, drivers and settings. Numbers marked “Measured” come from a linked benchmark.