Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Ready to cram 11 drives, dual 10 GbE + 2.5 GbE, and an 8-core Zen 4 CPU into the tiniest footprint on your rack? In this review we unpack and stress-test the Aoostar WTR Max to see if it deserves a spot in your 2025 home-lab stack running Proxmox, TrueNAS, Docker, or even VMware ESXi.

Buy the Aoostar WTR Max here: aoostar.com/products/aoostar-wtr-max-amd-r7-pro-8845hs-11-bays-mini-pc?variant=50067345932586

🔗 Full Blog Review (photos, charts & power logs):
👉virtualizationhowto.com/2025/06/aoostar-wtr-max-review-the-almost-perfect-nas-mini-pc

💡 Related Gear Mentioned
• Geekom A5 2025 Edition mini-PC (great low-power companion node) – Geniuslink:
👉geni.us/geekoma52025-3

Join the Home Lab Explorers Community (free on Skool)
👉 skool.com/homelabexplorers/about?ref=25f64c297b724689ae81c7dd30ba2c21

Introduction - 0:00
Overview of the Aoostar WTR Max - 0:25
No NAS operating system - 1:40
All Intel-based NICs - 2:00
Ryzen 7 8845HS processor - 2:17
ECC DDR5 Memory support - 2:47
Connectivity potential - 3:00
OCuLink - 3:30
Looking at getting into the bottom chassis - 3:44
Talking about Proxmox installation - 5:09
Power and Thermals - 5:25
Full power draw - 5:46
Fan cage and cooling potential - 6:00
Showing how to remove the fan tray - 6:15
OS compatibility - 7:02
Pros of the Aoostar WTR Max - 7:45
Cons of the Aoostar WTR Max - 8:19
Talking about tradeoffs and how it makes up for those - 8:47
Should you buy it? 9:05
What do you think and wrapping up - 9:30
HomeLabExplorers! 10:02