Minisforum N5 Pro
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated · Prices checked The Minisforum N5 Pro is a 5-bay NAS on the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 (12 cores, 24 threads) with AMD Radeon 890M graphics and a 50 TOPS NPU, with 16 GB of DDR5 in two slots (up to 96 GB). For a private chatbot it runs Llama 3.1 8B at 4.9 to 8.2 tok/s at Ollama’s default 4k context as shipped (comfortable reading speed). The largest model we would run day to day on the N5 Pro is Gemma 3 4B (7.7 to 13 tok/s). Where to buy it from Canada is below, with every configuration’s price and the date we checked it.
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Where to buy the N5 Pro
| Configuration | Where | Price | Stock | Checked | Llama 3.1 8B (4k) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 GB DDR5 | Amazon.ca | CA$1,599.00 | in stock | Oct 15, 2026 | 4.9 to 8.2 tok/s |
| barebone: no RAM, 128 GB system SSD | Amazon.ca | CA$1,259.00 | in stock | Oct 15, 2026 | depends on the RAM you add |
| 16 GB (one stick assumed) | Sold direct by Minisforum Canada | CA$1,620.90 | in stock | Sep 30, 2026 | 4.9 to 8.2 tok/s |
| 48 GB (one stick assumed) | Sold direct by Minisforum Canada | CA$2,004.90 | out of stock | Sep 30, 2026 | 4.9 to 8.2 tok/s |
| 96 GB (2 × 48 GB, dual channel) | Sold direct by Minisforum Canada | CA$2,409.90 | out of stock | Sep 30, 2026 | 9.9 to 16 tok/s |
N5 Pro specifications
From Minisforum’s own product and spec pages; a blank means Minisforum does not publish it. Sources are listed at the end.
| Processor | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 (12 cores, 24 threads) |
|---|---|
| Graphics | AMD Radeon 890M |
| NPU | 50 TOPS |
| Memory | 16 GB DDR5 SO-DIMM 5600, ECC supported (2 slots), up to 96 GB 96 GB per Minisforum's product page and configurator (one Canadian comparison table says 128 GB). Sold as 16 GB, 48 GB or 96 GB; only the 96 GB configuration (2 × 48 GB) is known to be dual channel. |
| Memory bandwidth | 44.8 GB/s as shipped, 89.6 GB/s with both channels filled |
| Drive bays | 5 × 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA 5 × 30 TB drives, per Minisforum; the M.2/U.2 slots add up to 38 TB more (8 TB + 2 × 15 TB) |
| M.2 slot | M.2 2230/2280/22110 NVMe, PCIe 4.0 ×1, up to 8 TB |
| U.2/M.2 slot A | U.2 or M.2 2280/22110 NVMe, PCIe 4.0 ×1, up to 15 TB |
| U.2/M.2 slot B | U.2 or M.2 2280/22110 NVMe, PCIe 4.0 ×2, up to 15 TB |
| Network | 1 × 10GbE and 1 × 5GbE |
| Expansion | 1 × PCIe ×16 slot (PCIe 4.0 ×4 electrical) and 1 × OCuLink port |
| Operating system | MinisCloud OS |
| RAID | RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6 Minisforum lists "RAID0, RAID1, RAID5/RAIDZ1, RAID6/RAIDZ2 and mixed drive strategies". |
| Power | 280 W power adapter; CPU rated 45–55 W. Minisforum publishes no system idle or load figure. |
| Video transcoding | Radeon iGPU: Jellyfin hardware transcode; Plex AMD support is "as is" |
Local AI on this box
Llama 3.1 8B runs at 4.9 to 8.2 tok/s as shipped (medium confidence). The largest model we would run day to day on the N5 Pro is Gemma 3 4B (7.7 to 13 tok/s). Best upgrade: a matching second RAM stick. It fills the empty memory channel, so chat speed rises about 2x, and doubles memory to 32 GB. That is enough for Qwen3 30B-A3B.
AI photo search (Immich): GPU-accelerated through ROCm (experimental in Immich). AI camera detection (Frigate): ROCm on the AMD iGPU (unofficial in Frigate, works on most).
Strengths
- Two SO-DIMM slots up to 96 GB: filling both doubles memory bandwidth (44.8 to 89.6 GB/s), and local AI speed with it.
- U.2 support: two slots take enterprise U.2 SSDs up to 15 TB each, so a large model library or a fast pool does not have to fit on consumer M.2 drives.
- 1 × 10GbE and 1 × 5GbE: fast enough that a model library or photo archive on the NAS feels local across the network.
- Expansion: 1 × PCIe ×16 slot (PCIe 4.0 ×4 electrical) and 1 × OCuLink port.
Trade-offs
- Minisforum does not say whether the 16 GB and 48 GB configurations use one stick or two; if it is one, the box runs AI at half the bandwidth it could until you add a second.
- Narrow SSD links: the SSD slots run at PCIe 4.0 ×1 and ×2, so even a fast Gen 4 NVMe drive is capped at about 2 to 4 GB/s here. Keep models on the ×2 slot.
- Plex calls its AMD support "as is"; Jellyfin is the better media server for this Radeon iGPU.
- Minisforum publishes no drive compatibility list for the N5 Pro; you are on your own choosing drives (CMR NAS drives are the safe pick).
Everything for the N5 Pro
- Best drives for the N5 Pro
- N5 Pro compatible drives
- How much storage fits the N5 Pro
- Best RAM for the N5 Pro
- Best NVMe for the N5 Pro (AI models)
- N5 Pro capacity calculator
- What can the N5 Pro run?
- What drives work in the N5 Pro?
AI NAS guides
- What is an AI NAS?
- The best AI NAS in Canada
- The best NAS for Ollama
- AI NAS you can buy in Canada
- AI NAS calculator
Sources
- ca.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-n5-air-ai-nas (Minisforum Canada's N5 series comparison table)
- ca.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-n5-pro-ai-nas
- www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDQKMV54 (Amazon US listing)
Devin Chua works out which drives, RAM and NVMe cache fit which NAS model at nasdrives.ca, and what the RAID choice means for usable capacity, checked against what is in stock on Amazon.ca.
Data checked by Owen Nakamura, Technical editor (data checking)