Midlife upgrade

"A midlife upgrade for my parent’s PC that I built for them during COVID. It’s mostly used for word processing, web browsing, and document management. Since I already had a fanless PSU from a previous build I thought I splurge on Noctua’s fanless CPU cooler and give a passively cooled PC a try.

The temperatures seem fine, the highest I’ve seen it go was just above 50 degrees after I played a modern visual novel on it for several hours. I wasn’t expecting a massive air cooler to have trouble handling a 3200G. And the noise levels were silent, of course. It’s actually a bit unsettling how quiet it is; since there is no fan or lighting, it’s sometimes hard to tell if it’s on or off.

The NH-P1 itself was good, it had clear instructions, all of the accessories were organized, and even came with a Torq screwdriver with the correct length for the cooler and thermal paste. The only issue was how enormous the NH-P1 is. It prevented me from screwing in all of the standoffs and plugging in the EPS cable. I had to remove and remount the cooler after I installed the motherboard inside of the case and plugged in all the cables first. Screwing into the mount is also a bit tricky since it’s difficult to align it with the cooler."

Source: PCPP Get the Noctua NH-P1 here

Cooler Master X Silent PSU review

"Internally, the X Silent Edge Platinum is a showcase of advanced thermal engineering. Cooler Master’s in-house development has resulted in a layout that leverages massive heatsink configurations and heatpipe-assisted thermal dissipation to manage heat without any active cooling and under virtually any environmental conditions. All major active components are top-quality Infineon MOSFETs, ensuring stable performance and top efficiency. Typically, such a design should reach Titanium efficiency levels, but the X Silent Edge is tuned towards sustaining its efficiency very high across the entire load spectrum. The use of premium polymer capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, supplemented by a minimal number of Rubycon electrolytic capacitors, further underscores the unit’s dedication to long-term durability and high-end performance. This unit is covered by a 15-year long manufacturer’s warranty – the longest we have ever seen to this date."

Source: Tom's Hardware Get the Cooler Master X Silent here 

Dual 10GbE SFP+ mini PC

This remarkable system features the powerful i7-13620H, a first for a fanless mini PC. The device features four Intel i226 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports for versatile network connectivity, alongside standard USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, and Type-C connections. It also includes two 10 Gigabit SFP+ ports for fiber optic networking. The system is marketed as a micro router appliance, and its hardware supports AES-NI for accelerated encryption, making it suitable for security-focused operating systems like OPNsense. The barebone unit is available for $539.99.

First MINIX Z150-0dB review

Courtesy of Robtech

Turemetal SP7X available in Asia

Turemetal's new SP7X flagship fanless case could change everything. The relatively compact 336 x 267 x 184mm chassis supports Intel and AMD CPUs up to 125W, mini-ITX motherboards, a graphics card, and a standard ATX power supply. The 9.5kg aluminum case is now listed on Taobao for about $410. Hopefully, Turemetal will find distributors in the West soon. For further inquiries, please contact Mical Wong at market@turemetal.com

Rare 35W CPUs available

These power-sipping processors are designed to deliver a balance of performance and efficiency, making them ideal for applications where energy consumption is a concern, and perfect for fanless PC builds. Please note that these CPUs are typically sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Unlike retail "boxed" processors, they do not come with individual retail packaging or a stock cooler.

Source: OnLogic 

MeLE Quieter retro gaming performance

Get the Quieter Dual LAN here

Updated Airtop3 available

The 7.5-liter fanless workstation is back and while it's still rocking a 9th Gen i7, graphics are now updated with NVIDIA's RTX 4060. Connectivity is simply out-of-this-world and includes seven 4K display outputs, six storage units, seven USB ports, dual LAN and more. The Airtop3 is available as a Windows machine for $3,290 or as the Linux Mint-affiliated MintBox3 for $2,780. 

Linus reviews the Streacom SG10

fitlet3 is back in stock

fitlet3 is a miniature x86 industrial computer, optimised for industrial IoT gateway and edge computing applications. Its multiple connectivity options and industrial interfaces make it a highly capable computer in a very small form factor. This Celeron J6413 (Elkhart Lake) barebone edition features six USB ports, dual LAN, HDMI and mini DisplayPort for $299.