My current favorite is Cirrus7: 100% passively cooled in a great compact custom case: https://www.cirrus7.com/
End conclusion is this:
"At the end of the day, if you are looking for a P-core enabled high-performance mini server or workstation, the Minisforum MS-01 is probably the best out there right now."
The review is why I bought the damn thing. But I didn't go for the most expensive option and bought my own RAM and NVMe for it. NVMe I went with a Samsung PM9A3 for filesystem consistency and heavy writes with Proxmox. For RAM I just went with w/e. It isn't ECC, but also not as bad as non-ECC.
Is the machine perfect, no it isn't. For example all the power saving stuff does not work if you want to use the I226-LM NIC 24/7 and that is a bummer. Also, it took 3 months to arrive (approx 1 month longer than advertised). But other than that? Great machine.
You are misquoting. The next sentence does not say such.
The quote is "At the end of the day, if you are looking for a P-core enabled high-performance mini server or workstation, the Minisforum MS-01 is probably the best out there right now.". After that comes a new part of the article, concerning Where to Buy.
What you quote is mentioned in the article, but taken out of context by you. The full quote however is:
> The Minisforum MS-01 is a really awesome machine. Let us simply say that first. It is hard to make a system that pleases everyone. For one, I might want more RAM capacity and a lower-end CPU. On the other hand, this is a $619 list price CPU (Core i9-13900H) that comes in a system with a SSD, RAM, multiple network ports, chassis, and so forth for $829. That is a lot of extra components for $210. While I may want a lower power processor, I am not sure how much better of a value it would end up being.
In other words, it is actually a compliment. But the Core i9-13900H is the most expensive option. I didn't go for that one. Besides, I also put in my own SSD and RAM (and SFP+).
* assuming no coil whine or PSU clicking
For more processing power, a large case with quiet fans (e.g. Noctua) and a massive CPU cooler is the way to go, but isn’t completely silent (depending on load and environment noise level), and you’ll have to build it yourself.