High quality thermal pads launched

"The Minus Pad extreme 2 consists of aluminum oxide, aluminum hydroxide, and aluminum powder. The different particle sizes of the materials allow even the smallest gaps in the carrier matrix to be filled with thermally conductive particles. This contributes to lower thermal interface resistance, as the surfaces (top and bottom) of Minus Pad extreme 2 contain more thermally conductive particles than its predecessor.

The Minus Pad High Compression thermal pads feature exceptionally high compressibility. This makes them particularly versatile in applications where a single pad needs to bridge varying height differences simultaneously. This is especially useful when modifying graphics cards with a GPU water block or when replacing thermal pads on GPU coolers, as a Minus Pad High Compression (HC Pad) can be used across different components such as VRAM, voltage regulators, and other contact surfaces." 

Source: Thermal Grizzly

New HDPLEX H1 in the works

The HDPLEX H1 case is being updated with a new version that features the HDPLEX H3's height (114mm). The H1 is HDPLEX's smallest chassis at just 270 x 264 x 63.5mm. In its current form, the case handles CPUs up to 65W TDP. Interestingly, the H1 is the only fanless mini-ITX case that supports the NUC's motherboard.  

Easy Streacom SG10 build

Waiting two years for the Streacom SG10 was a long haul, but this Chinese user's patience paid off. Streacom's giant copper case looks stunning. The PC assembly is very straightforward and when paired with the Ryzen 7 8700G, the heatsink case significantly outperforms Noctua's NH-P1 (seen in the background of the last picture). Given its price, which is roughly twelve times more, that's a welcome relief. At this time, the SG10 is only available to backers of the original Kickstarter campaign, or after buying a €479 pledge voucher here.

Source: Chiphell

How heatsinks are made

Shuttle's DL40N is here

Previously seen at COMPUTEX back in May, Shuttle's Twin Lake fanless PC is now official. Chassis and ports are identical to previous generation but the DL40N features Intel's latest low-power processors. "The DL40N series is a fanless 1.3-liter mini PC designed for 24/7 commercial use. Powered by Intel Twin Lake processors (N150/ N250/ N350) and supporting up to 16GB DDR5-4800 memory, it delivers reliable, energy-efficient computing for embedded and edge applications. Triple display output via HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA provides flexibility for modern and legacy systems. Dual 2.5G LAN, dual COM, multiple USB ports enable seamless integration with peripherals and control systems, making it ideal for kiosks, digital signage, industrial automation, and other space-constrained deployments."

Source: Shuttle 

Snapdragon mini PCs concepts

Courtesy of HotHardware

ASUS feature-rich IoT motherboard

ASUS heard our cries and finally launches a DC-powered N100 motherboard. Positioned for professional applications its industrial-grade design warrants a premium price, though. The passively-cooled N100I-EM-A is already available for $219 directly from ASUS, or for $200 from MIXTPC.

"The ASUS N100I-EM-A is a Mini-ITX industrial motherboard featuring rich I/O capabilities and advanced connectivity. It offers various display outputs: 1 x VGA port, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x LVDS connector. The legacy options for industrial applications like 2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers, 3 x USB 2.0 headers, 3 x COM headers, 3 x COM connectors, M.2 E key, and M.2 M key. Besides, N100I-EM-A  can support to maximum 16GB DDR4 memory and two Intel LAN ports. This makes the ASUS N100I-EM-A an ideal choice for a wide range of embedded applications."

Source: ASUS 

Akasa Maxwell success

"If you are looking for a smaller size silent PC, the Akasa Maxwell AC Pro case with a Intel NUC 13 Pro might be an option if you do not need add in PCIe cards. Here is my desktop setup with a NUC13 I7-1360P, 2TB Samsung 980 NVME and a Samsung 4TB 870 EVO SATA, and 64 GB DDR4. The fanless case works well with CPU temps max at 62C after many hours of sustained 100% CPU stress testing. What was nice about this case is that the heat module (with heat pipes) bolt directly to the intel heatsink mounts on the board so you get a good thermal interface without stressing the board from the corner mounts."

Source: Audio Science Review

The NUC is built to last !

"Two facts about ASUS NUC mini-PCs that you might not know: first, their return rate as of June 2025 is impressively low at just 1%. Second, they stand out in the market with a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 50,000 hours. For those that are counting, that’s nearly six years of nonstop 24/7 use. If you’re working to maximize your return on investment for the next set of mini PCs for your business or organization, there’s no better choice.

For the ASUS NUC lineup specifically, we focus on MIL-STD-810H tests that demonstrate resistance to the environmental hazards that these mini-PCs might face in enterprise deployments. ASUS NUCs serve in environments ranging from corporate offices to factory floors, from aircraft to agricultural settings, and from humid tropical locations to bitterly cold regions.

Reliable operation in humid and hot environments is especially important for many deployment scenarios, so we check for potential performance and cosmetic degradation due to high temperature and humidity exposure. Our humidity test subjects products to 85% relative humidity and 85° C temperatures for approximately 500 hours – nearly twice as long as the comparable MIL-STD-810H test.

Our high temperature test is formulated to assess whether solder joints will be reliable over a product’s lifetime. In this test, ASUS NUC designs show that they can withstand over 600 cycles in our heat bake tests, which place the products in an environment with temperatures ranging from –40° to 100° C.

In our MTBF evaluations, we place forty NUC units in a controlled chamber and expose them to a constant 40° C temperature for a full 90 days. The length of the stress test, along with the tough environment that it requires the products to operate in, allows us to guarantee 24/7 reliable operation and assurance of long-term value for our customers."

Source: ASUS 

Azulle launches N150 stick PC

The Access Pro Twin Lake is Azulle's latest stick PC designed for applications like video conferencing, digital signage, or home entertainment. The stick PC is powered by an Intel N150 quad-core processor which can boost up to 3.6 GHz. The device has 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and only 64GB of eMMC storage.

The Access Pro features an HDMI 2.0 port that supports 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port. The diminutive PC also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Connectivity includes one USB-A 3.0 port and one USB-C port, in addition to a 3.5mm audio jack. The Access Pro comes with Windows 11 Pro but can be ordered OS-free, a nice touch.

Source: Azulle