Minisforum intros powerful AMD Gorgon Halo NAS with 200TB storage support

Minisforum has recently introduced two systems powered by the top-end processor within the AMD Gorgon Halo lineup. One of them is the MS-S1 MAX-P495, which we have already reported on in a separate coverage, and the other is the N5 Max-P495 NAS.

The latter is essentially a slightly upgraded variant of the N5 Max that's powered by the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, a performance-focused APU from the Strix Halo series. As for the N5 Max-P495, it upgrades to the AI Max+ Pro 495, which should bring modest performance uplift.

Specifically, the main difference would be in memory support, with the Max+ Pro 495 offering compatibility with up to 196 GB of RAM. It even has support for faster LPDDR5X-8533 memory. The Max+ 395, on the other hand, maxed out at 128GB.

Getting back to the Gorgon Halo APU, of the 196GB of memory, 160GB can be allocated as the VRAM for the iGPU. Speaking of which, the Max+ Pro 495 has the slightly faster Radeon 8065S iGPU, making the N5 Max-P495 a bit more capable of handling AI workloads. Minisforum didn't share the full spec sheet of this powerful NAS yet, but the company mentions that there's support for up to 200TB of local storage.

Looking back, the N5 Max also offers the same storage support, with 5 HDD bays and 5 M.2 slots for SSDs. The upcoming Max-P495 could bring the same configuration, and the port selection might also be the same. If the latter stays true, the upcoming NAS will have the following:

• 2x USB4 v2
• 1x USB4
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (internal)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1x USB 2.0 Type-A
• 2x 10GbE
• 1x HDMI 2.1

As for the price, it's not expected to be affordable. For reference, the N5 Max with 128GB of LPDDR5X RAM retails for $3,699. There's a slightly more affordable option available, which comes with 64GB of memory ( curr. $2,399 on Amazon). Minisforum hasn't shared anything about availability either, but the Max-P495 is expected to launch soon.