M70q Gen 1 vs M90q Gen 1
What do you get for the extra money with the M90q Gen 1? The differences that matter for a home server:
- M90q Gen 1 has 2 M.2 NVMe slots; M70q Gen 1 has 1. That matters for ZFS mirrors or separating boot and VM storage.
- M90q Gen 1 can take a PCIe card (PCIe x8 via riser); M70q Gen 1 cannot. Choose M90q Gen 1 for a router, 10GbE or an HBA.
- M90q Gen 1 has a built-in path to a second network port (PCIe 3.0 x8 low-profile slot (uses the 2.5" bay space)); on M70q Gen 1 you would need a USB adapter.
- M90q Gen 1 has a path to 10GbE networking; M70q Gen 1 is limited to 1 GbE plus USB adapters.
- Onboard Ethernet differs: M70q Gen 1 uses Intel I219-V, M90q Gen 1 uses Intel I219-LM.
Full spec comparison
| Spec | M70q Gen 1 | M90q Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2020 |
| CPU generations | 10th gen (Comet Lake) | 10th gen (Comet Lake) |
| Most threads | 16 | 16 |
| Chipset | H470 | Q470 |
| Memory type | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 |
| Max RAM (official) | 64 GB | 64 GB |
| M.2 NVMe slots | 1 | 2 |
| 2.5" bays | 1 | 1 |
| PCIe expansion | None | PCIe x8 via riser |
| Onboard NIC | Intel I219-V | Intel I219-LM |
| Second NIC option | USB only | PCIe 3.0 x8 low-profile slot (uses the 2.5" bay space) |
| 2.5/10GbE path | USB only | 10GbE (owner-reported) |
| AV1 decode | No | No |
| Transcoding | Good for 4K HEVC; no AV1 decode | Good for 4K HEVC; no AV1 decode |
| Idle power (measured) | Not measured yet | Not measured yet |
| Spec confidence | Widely confirmed | Widely confirmed |
Which one for which job
M70q Gen 1
Upgrades: 2× DDR4-2933 SODIMM (max 64 GB official), 1× M.2 2280 NVMe + 1× 2.5" SATA.
M90q Gen 1
- Two NVMe slots
- PCIe slot
- 10GbE
- 2.5GbE+ networking
- 64 GB RAM (official)
- Plex / Jellyfin 4K
- Proxmox node
- OPNsense / pfSense router
- vPro / AMT
Upgrades: 2× DDR4-2933 SODIMM (max 64 GB official), 2× M.2 2280 NVMe + 1× 2.5" SATA, PCIe 3.0 x8 low-profile slot (uses the 2.5" bay space).
M70q Gen 1 detailsM90q Gen 1 details
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