Labthrift Labthrift Buy the boring upgrade. Skip the rest.

Editorial, 23 Aug 2026. Specs from maker pages. Street from named snaps. We have not burned these chassis in. Affiliate tags are not live.

QNAP TS-264 vs TS-262A: skip the extra $120

Same Intel Celeron N5095, same two SATA bays, same QTS. TS-264-8G adds a second 2.5GbE, HDMI 2.1, a PCIe Gen3 x2 slot, and 8 GB instead of 4 GB. QNAP store still prints $489.00 diskless. The QTS 2-bay default is TS-262A at $369. Skip the extra $120 unless you will use those ports.

TS-264-8G: N5095 4C/4T, burst 2.9 GHz, Intel UHD, AES-NI. 8 GB DDR4 SODIMM from Jan 2024 builds; two slots, 16 GB max. Two 3.5" / 2.5" SATA bays. Two M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x1. Two 2.5GbE (2.5G/1G/100M/10M). One HDMI 2.1 (4K60). One PCIe Gen3 x2 slot. Two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, two USB 2.0, USB copy. 60 W brick. One 70 mm fan. Typical draw 29 W with both bays filled (QNAP’s number, not ours). Tower 6.5 × 4.13 × 8.92 in. 3-year paper. QTS, with a later switch to QuTS hero if you want ZFS.

QNAP US store SKU TS-264-8G-US, 23 Aug 2026: $489.00 diskless, in stock. The $349 line on that cart is a Seagate IronWolf 8 TB add-on, not a cheaper NAS. Print the live tag. Amazon and Newegg cards exist; we did not get a clean sold-as-QNAP snap on fetch, so do not treat a marketplace number as street. Skip HDD bundles and eBay lots.

The short list

BoxWhat it isStreet, 23 Aug 2026Buy if
QNAP TS-262A-4GN5095, 4 GB / 16 GB max, 2× SATA, 2× M.2 Gen3 x1, 1× 2.5GbE, QTS, 48 W brick.QNAP store $369 diskless. See that note.You want QTS on two bays. Add RAM. Default.
QNAP TS-264-8GSame CPU and bays. 8 GB, dual 2.5GbE, HDMI 2.1, PCIe Gen3 x2, 60 W, 70 mm fan.QNAP store $489.00 diskless, in stock. Print any live Amazon tag and still do the math.You will trunk two 2.5G, hang a TV off HDMI, or drop in a 10G NIC. Otherwise no.
TerraMaster F2-425 / UGREEN DXP2800Cheaper Intel 2-bays. TOS or UGOS, not QTS.See those notes. F2-425 maker ~$255.You wanted the CPU and 2.5G, not QTS apps.

Skip

Skip TS-264 because the NAS is already QNAP. Dual 2.5G does not make copies twice as fast on a two-disk RAID 1. Skip paying $120 for HDMI you will not plug in. Skip the IronWolf add-on on the store cart if you already have NAS drives. Skip eBay “TS-264” lots. If you actually need 10G, a PCIe NIC in this chassis is the reason to open the tab — not the logo. We have not sat with a unit. QNAP’s firmware history is a real reason some people stay on DSM; this note does not paper over that.

Sources

QNAP TS-264 hardware spec (N5095 4C/4T 2.9 GHz burst, 8 GB DDR4 SODIMM / 16 GB max, 2× SATA, 2× M.2 2280 Gen3 x1, 2× 2.5GbE, HDMI 2.1, PCIe Gen3 x2, 2× USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, 60 W adapter, 70 mm fan, typical 29.086 W, 3-year). QNAP store TS-264-8G-US ($489.00 diskless, in stock; fetched 23 Aug 2026). TS-262A note (store $369). Street moves. Print the live tag.

Also in this lane

QNAP TS-262A: QTS 2-bay with 2.5G and M.2, not the cheap N5095Same N5095 as F2-425, plus two M.2 slots and QTS. Store $369 diskless. TerraMaster F2-425 review: Intel 2-bay with 2.5GbE under $260Official CPU is N5095. One 2.5GbE. No M.2. UGREEN DXP2800 review: 2-bay N100 and 2.5GbE without paying for 10G2-bay N100 and 2.5GbE without paying for 10G.