Written 22 Aug 2026. Specs from the maker pages linked below. Prices from those stores. I haven't used these. Confirm the diskless SKU before you click. Amazon is full of drive bundles.

Cheap quiet 2-bay when you want Intel and don't need Synology DSM: TerraMaster F2-425

Cheap quiet 2-bay file box with one faster-than-house ethernet port when you want Intel without Synology DSM. Official chip is N5095. No M.2. Runs TerraMaster TOS, not DSM.

Cheap quiet 2-bay file box when you want Intel and don't need Synology DSM (DSM is Synology’s software). Entry Intel against ARM toys and against a DS224+. Official store specification: Intel Celeron N5095, 4C, 2.0 GHz burst 2.9 GHz, 4 GB DDR4 non-ECC (one slot, official max 16 GB), one 2.5GbE, two SATA bays (3.5" / 2.5" HDD or 2.5" SSD), no M.2, HDMI, USB 3.2 (2× 10 Gbps + 1× 5 Gbps), TRAID plus RAID 0 / 1 / JBOD / Single. 48 W brick. 2-year warranty. 222 × 119 × 154 mm. Tool-free Push-Lock trays.

CPU labeling is a mess on retailer pages. Some Newegg tables and even the TerraMaster store HTML title have said “N95.” The official specification block on the product page says N5095. Quote that. Don't copy Newegg’s F4-425 “N95” row onto this chassis.

Noise claim: 19.0 dB(A) standby, 2 SATA drives, 1 m, 17.3 dB(A) room. Power: official comparison table on the same store lists 22 W access / 11 W hibernation; Neowin measured 22 W / 11 W with 2× IronWolf 4 TB ST4000VN008. Those 4 TB IronWolfs are the 5400-class capacity trap. IronWolf 1–6 TB is 5400 RPM; don't assume the badge means 7200. See CMR picks.

Aging N5095, no NVMe. That is the honesty. You are buying a 2.5G port and an x86 board that can run TOS 6 (store copy still says TOS 6; TOS 7 is being marketed on the same page) for less than a Plus 2-bay. You are not buying DSM, M.2 cache, or a 2024 Intel N-series. HDMI and TRAID are the extras. TOS vs DSM: if the restore has to work on a Sunday, read the existing Synology slot first.

Street, 22 Aug 2026

Four bays, same generation: F4-425. More CPU and 32 GB: F4-424 Pro. 2.5G vs staying on gigabit Synology: 2.5G vs 10G.

Skip

Skip if you need NVMe, dual LAN, or DSM. Skip if the storefront is out of stock and the only Amazon hit is a drive bundle. Skip SMR desktop disks in TRAID: WD Red EFAX, Blue EZAZ, BarraCuda 3.5" 4 / 8 TB. Skip treating two 5400 RPM disks as a VM datastore.