Actually no it won’t if he connects the ssd via usb AFTER rock is installed. If it is hooked up prior to installing rock, then yeah it will get formatted on install.
I believe they were talking about installing an internal 2.5 inch SATA SSD. Many subscribers prefer this approach because it’s more tidy: no external USB drive hanging off of the NUC.
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That is the reason I personally prefer the GMKtec G3 Plus with a N150-processor. It is a little bit bigger than the GMKtec Mini PC N97, but it can have an extra M.2-drive (must be a SATA), on which you can put all your local music, and is seen by Roon as an Internal Storage.
It also runs somewhat colder than the N97, as it has more space in its box. In any case, both small PCs are perfect stuff to run ROCK, and so become a nice MOCK.
I will say, if you get the n150, try to find the G2Plus with 4800 MT/s memory instead of the G3Plus with 3200 MT/s. I have no idea what the naming convention means, but I think the impact of the fast memory is pretty meaningful.
Plus the little guy is red white and blue and only $150!
EDIT: I actually just bought one of these rw&b n150’s b/c their spring sale ends in an hour, and for $150 I might as well put one in my other house!
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But that one does not have a slot for a second M.2 disk.
I get it. I personally use external storage or NAS storage for my library for all my ROCK/MOCKs. It’s just simpler/ easier to me. But yes, the appeal of this is that you have zero internal hardware or bios to mess with and the hardware bang for the buck is insane. But if you prioritize the internal storage, it is true that you lose out on the fast memory. Since I don’t care about internal storage in the first place, it makes it easier for me to make that choice.
For me, I gave up on local storage after my rsync script to keep local copies up to date from my NAS master crapped out and I was too lazy to fix it. Would have taken me 10 minutes but didn’t seem worth it vs pointing storage at the NAS. Much simpler now. But if you have different priorities, yes you gotta pick the other model. For me the fast memory seems to make a noticeable difference in interface responsiveness. But I have no way to test / demonstrate that.
I’ve pointed this out elsewhere, but the microSD slot in the N97 works great for local libraries up to 2 TB. The internal M.2 2242 SATA SSD slot in the G3 Plus has the same capacity limitation: 2 TB. For local music storage, microSD has some advantages; it can be easily moved to another computer for backups or to add more music.
I have the GMKtec G3 Plus (and also the GMKtec G5 Mini PC which has also DDR5). I have done the test with my local music (20000 tracks). It is perhaps nit the biggest music collection, but it is extremely fast and snappy when scrolling and searching. I do not see/feel a difference between those two MOCKs. YMMV
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Indeed, it has a microSD, but the speed of a microSD cannot be compared with the speed of a M.2 SSD. And I personally think a M.2 will survive longer than a microSD. Again YMMV.
To be clear, I never have said that the GMKtec G5 Mini PC is not up to the work as Roon Core. It is. But personally, I prefer the GMKtec G3 Plus (I have them both, so those are just my thoughts and feeling)
In any case, congratulations with your discovery of the GMKtec G5 Mini PC. Due to your thread, I bought one.
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FWIW, the speed of the drive / I/O doesn’t matter to playback (meaning it’s certainly not a constraint / issue), and at least in the case of the internal drive it won’t be the bottleneck for large volumes of file movement - the network will. One of the reasons I like external USB storage is that if I need to move large volumes of files, I can use “sneakernet” and make it FAR faster. Plus it makes backups simpler. Anyways, I’m in reality using my NAS so it’s moot to me. But I love that you love the sol’n too - and I have to admit it doesn’t surprise me that the G5 with 3200 MT/s memory and the G2 Plus with 4800 MT/s memory and a slower processor have similar “snappiness”. Who knows in reality how the trade-off works, it’s a funny benchmarking exercise!
Thanks for the insight.
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