Thickest MeLE Quieter yet

The new N150-powered Quieter HD is the latest storage-oriented mini PC from MeLE. Memory and expansion options are updated with support for up to 32GB of DDR4 in a single SO-DIMM slot. Storage flexibility remains a major hallmark of the HD series, featuring internal support for an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD up to 4TB alongside a full 2.5-inch SATA drive bay. The MeLE Quieter HD measures 150 mm (5.9 in) in length, 105.4 mm (4.15 in) in width, and 39.6 mm (1.56 in) in height, giving it a total volume of just 0.6 L. It's available today from $449.99.  

Steampunk memories

Taking a trip down memory lane with this 2018 Steampunk build. It features the legendary Nofan CR95C CPU cooler, still one of the most timeless and majestic pieces of hardware ever made. 

Kubb now available in blue or bronze

It's remarkable how much computing power engineers have packed into such a tiny, unassuming cube. The 120 x 120mm Kubb Fanless is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, Intel Core Ultra 5 255H, or Core Ultra X7 355H (if money is no object). The machine is now available in Bronze or a striking Royal Blue. Why hide your fanless PC when it looks this good?

https://kubb.eu/en/mini-pc-kubb-fanless.html

Let's normalize dual 10GbE

This spectacular mini PC / firewall appliance is powered by a rare AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, comes with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, and features dual 10GbE plus dual 2.5GbE Ethernet ports. The system also features an OCuLink expansion interface alongside dual USB Type-C ports for fast data transfers or external GPU support. The only concerning detail is what appears to be a mounting location for a fan, suggesting all these high-performance components might still require active cooling under heavy loads.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HCB3YY4S

Akasa Kepler R - for Redundant PSU

Akasa, a leading provider of thermal solutions, has expanded its Kepler fanless case series with the Kepler R, a 2U rack-mountable fanless case for Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards. Building on the Kepler design, the Kepler R introduces a 120W redundant, hot-swappable ATX power supply unit (PSU), allowing system integrators to keep their systems running even if one PSU module fails. This makes it ideal for critical applications, including enterprise servers, embedded computing, industrial control systems, audiovisual equipment, and medical devices that require silent operation, 24/7 reliability and zero downtime.

The chassis is compatible with Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards with Intel® LGA1851 and LGA1700 sockets, supporting Intel® Core™ (12th / 13th / 14th Gen) and Core™ Ultra (15th Gen) processors up to 35W TDP.

Built with a fully fanless design, it uses a high-performance aluminium thermal module and dual copper heatpipes to transfer heat efficiently from the CPU to the external aluminium fins, increasing surface area for rapid dissipation into the surrounding air without any moving parts.

The front interfaces include two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and four 2.5” SATA SSD/HDD drive bays with tool-free, lockable, hot-swap trays. The rear features support for up to four low-profile PCIe expansion cards. Two pull-out handlebars offer easy installation and servicing when used in standard 19” server racks.

The Kepler R integrates a 120W redundant AC-to-DC power supply, delivered across two hot-swappable 1U fanless modules with active load sharing. When one module fails, load transfers automatically to the second unit, keeping the system operational while the faulty module is replaced.

The PSU accepts 90–264 VAC and 190–310 VDC input, covering mains power systems worldwide and high-voltage DC bus deployments, and outputs the full ATX rail set: +3.3V, +5V, +5V standby, +12V, -12V. It is 80 PLUS Silver certified, achieving up to 89% efficiency at typical load, and rated for operation from -5°C to 50°C. Built-in over-voltage, over-current, over-temperature and short circuit protection safeguards the PSU and connected components. It has a mean time between failures (MTBF) rating of 100,000 hours, equivalent to approximately 11.4 years of continuous operation, and carries UL/cUL, TUV, CB, CE, CCC and FCC certifications.

Source: Akasa 

Gaming on a Subway menu PC

Source: Garkus

N150 Chromebox listed for $729.99

The Acer Chromebox CXM2 is now listed for a whopping $729.99. While commercial-grade PCs certainly deliver top-tier reliability and support, dropping $700+ for a paltry 8GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage is a tough pill to swallow. Connectivity is excellent, though, and includes five USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and two HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing it to support up to three independent monitors. The web-centric machine also features Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. 

Wildcat Lake chips mark the end of ultra-small fanless PCs

When processors jump from 6W (like Intel’s Alder Lake-N and Twin Lake) up to a baseline 15W TDP (with short power bursts stretching to 25W or even 35W), the physics of passive cooling change completely. While 15W doesn't sound like much power, cooling it without a fan in a tiny enclosure is a major thermal engineering hurdle. At 15W sustained, natural convection simply isn't fast enough in a tight space. In fact, 15W TDP brings us back to the original NUC, 14 years ago: The first fanless NUC cases were chunky boys.

Update: The Atom isn't going anywhere, new chips are coming from Intel partner RosaicLabs.

Tom’s Hardware reviews Senza AI

"System tools showed that during light activities like browsing the web and typing reports like this one, the CPU temperature stayed around 30 degrees C. Playing The Division 2 for 30 or 40 minutes, the reported CPU temperature seemed to stay between 60 C and 70 C. It didn’t constantly creep upwards; it would sometimes go towards that upper bound, and sometimes fall again. However, running a workload like Cinebench R23 multicore the temperatures seemed to creep inexorably upwards, with the highest measurement I saw at 96 C. Between tasks, the reported CPU temperature would fall very rapidly. I saw it dive from 75 C to 45 C in under 10 seconds after one of the recent benchmarks I completed. That’s pretty impressive given that there’s no fan."

Source: Tom’s Hardware 

iGPU: Intel is finally ahead

Intel's Core Ultra X7 358H powers the Kubb Fanless