The ASUS Fanless Chromebox CF40 is a fanless mini PC with an Intel Celeron processor, Wi-Fi and ChromeOS. The closest Thinvent alternative is the Thinvent Neo H Mini PC with Intel Celeron N5095A, which also uses passive cooling in the fanless Neo H SKU and runs Thinux™ Embedded Linux. Thinvent also has the Neo H with Intel Celeron J1900 for a fanless, no-Wi-Fi option.
ASUS Fanless Chromebox vs Thinvent Neo H Mini PC
| ASUS Fanless Chromebox CF40 | Thinvent Neo H Mini PC, Intel Celeron N5095A | Thinvent Neo H Mini PC, Intel Celeron J1900 (fanless) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Celeron N4500 | Intel Celeron N5095A (4 cores, up to 2.9 GHz) | Intel Celeron J1900 (4 cores, up to 2.4 GHz) |
| Cores/Threads | Not confirmed | 4 cores | 4 cores |
| RAM | Up to 16 GB | 8 GB (range 4 GB to 32 GB) | 4 GB (range 4 GB to 8 GB) |
| Storage | Up to 128 GB eMMC | 128 GB SSD (range 32 GB to 2 TB) | 128 GB SSD (range 32 GB to 256 GB) |
| Form Factor | Mini PC | Mini PC | Mini PC |
| Cooling | Fanless | Active cooling | Fanless passive cooling |
| Wi-Fi | Yes | Dual band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) | No Wi-Fi |
| Operating System | ChromeOS | Thinux™ Embedded Linux (choice of Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 IoT, Ubuntu Linux, Thinux™ Embedded Linux, Without OS, DOS) | Thinux™ Embedded Linux (choice of Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 IoT, Ubuntu Linux, Thinux™ Embedded Linux, Without OS, DOS) |
Key differences
-
The Thinvent Neo H with Celeron N5095A supports up to 32 GB RAM, while the ASUS Fanless Chromebox CF40 supports up to 16 GB. Higher RAM is an advantage for Thinvent.
-
The Thinvent Neo H supports storage up to 2 TB in the SSD range, against 128 GB eMMC on the ASUS model. Thinvent has more storage capacity.
-
The Thinvent Neo H with Celeron J1900 is fanless, as is the ASUS Fanless Chromebox. The J1900 model has no Wi-Fi, which the ASUS model includes.
-
The Thinvent Neo H lets the buyer choose the operating system, including Windows 11 Pro, Ubuntu Linux and Thinux™ Embedded Linux. The ASUS Fanless Chromebox runs ChromeOS.
-
The Thinvent Neo H Celeron N5095A has four USB 3.0 ports and a DB9 serial port. We could not confirm the ASUS Fanless Chromebox CF40's serial port or full port layout.
Which one should you choose?
Choose the ASUS Fanless Chromebox CF40 if you want a fanless ChromeOS device with built-in Wi-Fi. Choose a Thinvent Neo H if you need more RAM, larger SSD storage, a choice of operating systems, or a serial port. For a fanless build with no Wi-Fi, choose the Thinvent Neo H with Celeron J1900.
