Systems
The performance of ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) desktops has improved significantly over the years, thanks to advancements in semiconductor fabrication and processor architecture. Thermal solutions suitable for these 4in. x 4in. machines have also been evolving simultaneously. As a result, vendors have been able to configure higher sustained power limits for the processors in these systems. With Intel and AMD allowing configurable TDPs for their notebook segment offerings, UCFF systems with regular 45W TDP processors (albeit, in cTDP-down mode) are now being introduced into the market. GEEKOM became one of the first vendors to release a Core i9-based UCFF machines with the launch of the Mini IT13. Based on paper specifications, this high-end Raptor Lake-H (RPL-H) UCFF desktop is meant to give the mainstream RPL-P NUCs...
ASRock DeskMeet B660 Review: An Affordable NUC Extreme?
ASRock was one of the earliest vendors to cater to the small-form factor (SFF) PC market with a host of custom-sized motherboards based on notebook platforms. Despite missing the...
27 by Ganesh T S on 1/23/2023CES 2023: Akasa Introduces Fanless Cases for Wall Street Canyon NUCs
Akasa is one of the very few vendors to carry a portfolio of passively-cooled chassis solutions for the Intel NUCs. We had reviewed their Turing solution with the Bean...
1 by Ganesh T S on 1/6/2023ASRock Industrial's NUC(S) 1300 BOX Series Brings Raptor Lake to UCFF Systems
Intel recently updated their low-power processors lineup with the Raptor Lake U- and P- Series 13th Gen Core mobile SKUs. Supporting a range of TDPs up to 28W, these...
1 by Ganesh T S on 1/4/2023Intel NUC13 Extreme Raptor Canyon Review: Sizzling SFF Performance Powerhouse
Intel officially unveiled the details of their Raptor Lake-based NUC13 Extreme last month. Based on the desktop Raptor Lake processors, the 13.7L NUC13 Extreme is Intel's biggest NUC yet...
27 by Ganesh T S on 12/14/2022Intel Launches Raptor Canyon: Desktop Raptor Lake Sizzles in NUC13 Extreme
Intel is officially taking the wraps off the first member of their Raptor Lake-based NUC13 family today. The NUC13 Extreme (like the three previous Extreme NUCs) caters to the...
27 by Ganesh T S on 11/8/2022Intel Announces Serpent Canyon: Alder Lake and Arc Amalgamate in NUC12 Enthusiast
Intel officially unveiled the final member of their Alder Lake-based NUC12 family earlier this week. The NUC12 Enthusiast (like the three previous Enthusiast NUCs) caters to the gaming /...
13 by Ganesh T S on 9/22/2022ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-1260P and 4X4 BOX-5800U Review: Alder Lake-P and Cezanne UCFF Faceoff
The past few years have seen Intel and AMD delivering new processors in a staggered manner. In the sub-45W category, Intel's incumbency has allowed it to deliver products for...
34 by Ganesh T S on 8/5/2022Intel NUC11TNBi5 and Akasa Newton TN Fanless Case Review: Silencing the Tiger
Intel's Tiger Lake-based NUCs have been shipping for well over a year now. Supply chain challenges have been impacting availability of different models in different regions, but that has...
18 by Ganesh T S on 7/22/2022Intel Atlas Canyon (NUC11ATKPE) and GEEKOM MiniAir 11 UCFF PCs Review: Desktop Jasper Lake Impresses
Intel's low-power Tremont microarchitecture has powered a range of products - from the short-lived Lakefield, to Elkhart Lake in the embedded space, and finally, Jasper Lake in the client...
23 by Ganesh T S on 7/14/2022Jasper Lake Fanless Showdown: ECS LIVA Z3 and ZOTAC ZBOX CI331 nano UCFF PCs Review
Intel's Jasper Lake series of products based on the Tremont microarchitecture was launched in early 2021. Since then, we have seen a steady stream of notebooks and motherboards /...
52 by Ganesh T S on 7/8/2022Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra Melds Desktop Alder Lake and NVIDIA Professional Graphics
Over the last decade or so, advancements in CPU and GPU architectures have combined extremely well with the relentless march of Moore's Law on the silicon front. Together, these...
11 by Ganesh T S on 6/21/2022Supermicro SYS-E100-12T-H Review: Fanless Tiger Lake for Embedded Applications
Compact passively-cooled systems find application in a wide variety of market segments including industrial automation, IoT gateways, digital signage, etc. These are meant to be deployed for 24x7 operation...
18 by Ganesh T S on 6/8/2022Cincoze DS-1300 Industrial PC Review: Xeon-Powered Do-it-All
Industrial PCs are meant for 24x7 deployment in a wide range of environments. This brings in a host of requirements such as wide operating temperature range, ruggedness, regulatory requirements...
5 by Ganesh T S on 3/18/2022ASRock Industrial's NUC1200 BOX Series Brings Alder Lake to UCFF Systems
Intel recently updated their low-power processors lineup with the Alder Lake U and P Series 12th Gen Core mobile SKUs. With support for a range of TDPs up to...
22 by Ganesh T S on 3/3/2022SPEC Adds Linux Edition of SPECviewperf 2020 v3.0 Benchmark
The SPEC Graphics Performance Characterization (SPECgpc) group updated the Windows version of the workstation GPU benchmark suite - SPECviewperf 2020 - twice last year. The intent of the benchmark...
14 by Ganesh T S on 3/3/2022The Intel NUC12 Extreme Dragon Canyon Preview: Desktop Alder Lake Impresses in SFF Avatar
Intel kick-started a form-factor revolution in the early 2010s with the introduction of the ultra-compact NUCs. The systems were meant to be an alternative to the tower desktops used...
38 by Ganesh T S on 2/24/2022ASRock Unveils DeskMeet SFF PC Platform with Intel B660 / AMD X300 Chipsets
ASRock has been at the forefront of the small form-factor (SFF) PC revolution right from the Sandy Bridge days. Starting with the Core HT series in the early 2010s...
17 by Ganesh T S on 1/18/2022Intel Teases NUC12 Extreme Dragon Canyon: Socketed Alder Lake and 10GbE in Q1 2022
Intel provided a teaser of their upcoming NUC12 Extreme product at CES 2022. Complete specifications have been promised closer to launch, but the components layout in their virtual presentation...
19 by Ganesh T S on 1/7/2022CES 2022: ZOTAC Unveils ZBOX MAGNUS EN173080C mini-PC with Tiger Lake and Ampere
ZOTAC, one of the major players in the SFF PC market, has two different mini-PC families equipped with discrete GPUs. The larger (~5L) one is equipped with desktop-class GPUs...
5 by Ganesh T S on 1/5/2022CES 2022: Corsair Launches One i300 Gaming PC with Intel Core i9-12900K and DDR5
During CES 2022, Corsair has unveiled its latest compact gaming PC, the Corsair One i300. Equipped with the latest components available, it includes an Intel Core i9-12900K processor, Corsair...
1 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/5/2022