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Chinese PC maker CWWK’s “Magic Computer” is one of the strangest mini PCs I’ve seen in a while. Basically it’s a single-board computer with an Intel Alder Lake-N processor and enough ports and connectors to make it a pretty versatile system for networking, media, storage, or other applications.
But that little board is attached to the bottom of a heat sink and lifted off the ground by a stands on two sides, leaving the bottom of the board exposed to the elements. This is great if you want a passively cooled system, but it offers little protection for the board itself. It also makes one of the Magic Computer’s most distinctive features look… a little odd. After going on sale at AliExpress late last year, the CWWK N100-WL-PCI mini PC is now available from Amazon as well.
Along one side of the mainboard there’s a PCIe x8 socket that allows you to attach a 10 GbE network card, storage, or other add-ons. But that board will stick out from the side of the computer rather than fitting inside the case (such as it is). So you might also need to put some sort of stand under any expansion cards you connect to keep it from falling off.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that while this is an x8 socket, the computer only actually supports PCIe 3.0 x4 signals from this port.
Other features include an M.2 2280 socket for a PCIe 3.0 x1 NVMe SSD, a single SODIMM slot with support for DDR 4800, 5200 or 5600 MT/s memory, dual SATA 3.0 connectors for 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch drives, and a set of ports that includes:
- 2 x HDMI 1.4
- 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
- 1 x USB Type-C
- 4 x USB 2/0 Type-A
- 2 x 2.5 GbE LAN (Intel i226-V)
- 1 x microSD card reader
The Magic Computer has an aluminum design and a copper thermal block for passive cooling, but there are also headers on the board that can be used to attach a fan if you want additional cooling power. Other pins support USB 2.0, COM, and TPM functions.
The system comes in black, blue, or green color options, comes with a 12V-19V DC power supply. Its mainboard measures 140 x 90mm (5.5″ x 3.5″), and the whole computer measures 144 x 100 x 48mm (5.7″ x 3.9″ x 1.9″) without any expansion boards connected, but things can get a bit unwieldy if you start hooking up hard drives, network cards, or other gear.
The unusual little computer is available from Amazon for $205 and up, although there’s also a coupon for 10% off that you can click at time of publication, bringing the starting price for a barebones model with an Intel N100 processor down to $185.
For that price you get a barebones system with an Intel N100 processor and no memory or storage. But CWWK also offers configurations with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
The company’s AliExpress Store also offers models with a choice of Intel N100, N200, and Core i3-N305 processor options:
Those starting prices are for barebones models with no memory, storage, or operating system. But you can also add up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage to your cart if you don’t want to bring your own.
According to the product descriptions, CWWK may also offer models with Intel N95 and N97 processor options in the future, but I haven’t found any models with those processors yet.
Update: ServeTheHome reviewed the CWWK Magic Computer in December and found it to offer strong performance, a versatile set of useful ports, and overall decent bang-for-the-buck compared with similarly-sized, inexpensive, low-power computers. The PCIe slot is definitely awkwardly positioned though, but there are ways to make it work.
This article was first published February 23, 2024 and most recently updated July 9, 2024 with information about availability from Amazon. Thanks to FanlessTech for the heads up!