QNAP TVS-471-4G (TVS-x71): High Performance NAS with Intel Processor

Conclusion

QNAP continues to deliver top-notch build quality NAS with the TVS-471. The unit offers plenty of features for both the enthusiasts and the average consumers. While target toward small and medium business with the four Gigabit ethernet port with teaming and fail-safe support and Virtualization Station, it is also packed with tons of features such as QVM Desk and Multimedia Station that home users would find it very appealing.

Not only that it is packed with tons of tricks and features, it is also backed with powerful hardware in order to deliver a good user experience. The Core i3-4150 we have and 4GB of RAM delivers very good performance where we do not feel that the unit is lagging at all. It breezes through even more demanding workloads like Virtualization and transcoding. Users who want more performance would be glad to hear that you can upgrade to 16GB of RAM (through a bit of work) and 10GB ethernet. There is even possibility to upgrade the CPU if you are willing to venture into the forbidden territory as it is not something that QNAP sanctions.

The cost is probably going to be the biggest drawback for the TVS-471. Even with our “entry” model, TVS-471-4G would still going to cost you $1000.  Compare this to the TVS-463 that is also a 4-bay unit from QNAP that offers same feature, but at fraction of the cost. One would be asking if it would worth to spend the extra cash and go with the TVS-471? Clearly, you cannot go wrong with the TVS-463 as it has all of the features that is included with the TVS-471. However, the TS-471 is simply able to give you a much better experience. The much more powerful hardware underneath the TVS-471 makes the unit runs very smooth even when navigating the QTS and the more demanding tasks. If you simply want a NAS for file storage purpose, then the cheaper unit like the TVS-463 should be good enough but those who want to really take advantage of the extra features such as Virtualization, Transcoding, and QVM Desk, and others, would definitely want to go with the TVS-471 and enjoy the speedy turbo engine packed inside. Not to the mention that the TVS-471 supports 4K playback and transcoding which makes it more future proof. We think smaller business and home users probably can just get by fine with the TVS-463 but larger business would more benefit from the extra house-power on the TVS-471. Not to mention that the Intel system is more power efficient than the AMD and the unit also runs cooler.