CONCLUSION

   I don't recall ever testing a NAS server that makes use of a ARM Cortex A9 dual core 1.2GHz processor and since these are usually used in much lighter applications such as media players and tablets i didn't really expect much from it. However although you can tell just by looking at our charts that the TurboNAS TS-431 is no match for most of the Intel based models we've tested in the past still it does extremely well and actually manages to catch up and even surpass several Marvell based models. Of course the onboard RAM also plays a large role in the performance levels of the unit and that actually makes things even more interesting since with just 512MB DDR3 RAM we really didn't expect such results from the TurboNAS TS-431. Also thanks to the Freescale processor power consumption is very low but we can't really say the same for noise levels although the unit did remain relatively inaudible during the majority of our tests. Needless to say the lack of an HDMI port is unfortunate especially since the Freescale processor comes with support for HDMI v1.4 and should be able to produce smooth media playback up to Full HD 1080p resolution.

   Performance-wise the latest TurboNAS TS-431 NAS server by QNAP may not be at the top of our charts but with a price currently set at USD333.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 315Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) it does over a very good bang for the buck especially for people on a tight budget. Granted the TurboNAS TS-431 would seem like a far better deal to consumers had QNAP placed an HDMI port and perhaps 1GB DDR3 RAM instead of just 512MB but it is what it is and since it does perform very well for its hardware specifications, lacks very few features compared to its higher end brothers and is priced right it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Good Performance
- Features
- 2 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
- 3 USB 3.0 Ports
- eSATA Port
- RAID 0/1/5/6/10/5+Spare
- SATA III (6Gb/s)
- QTS 4.x.x OS
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- No HDMI Port
- Only 512MB RAM