HTPC
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 not prevented Intel's partners from delivering complementary products. Akasa, a well-known manufacturer of thermal solutions for computing systems targeting varied markets, has been maintaining a lineup of passively-cooled cases for Intel's NUCs since 2013. We had reviewed the Akasa Turing chassis for the Bean Canyon NUC a couple of years back, and had come away pleasantly surprised. Today's review presents results from our comprehensive evaluation of the Tiger Canyon NUC (NUC11TNKi5). It also describes the process for installing the kit's board (NUC11TNBi5) in the Akasa Newton TN chassis before analyzing its thermal performance characteristics. Read...
Zotac ZBOX CI662 nano Fanless mini-PC Review: Second Stab at Silencing Succeeds
Zotac is one of the major players in the SFF PC space, having marketed ultra-compact form-factor machines even before the NUCs took off. The growth in that segment has...
16 by Ganesh T S on 1/5/2021
Akasa Turing Fanless Case Review: Unrivalled Noiseless NUC
Silent computing systems are preferable for a multitude of use-cases ranging from industrial applications (where dust and fans make for a troublesome configuration) to noiseless HTPCs (particularly for audiophiles)...
28 by Ganesh T S on 10/26/2020
Intel NUC10i7FNH Frost Canyon Review: Hexa-Core NUC Delivers a Mixed Bag
Small form-factor (SFF) PCs and gaming systems have represented the bulk of the growing segment in the PC market over the last few years. Intel's NUC line-up has enjoyed...
85 by Ganesh T S on 3/2/2020
Chips&Media Launches Wave510A Hardware AV1 Decoder IP
Chips&Media this month has started to license out its Wave510A hardware decoder IP, the industry’s first AV1 video decoder. The base decoder core supports decoding up to 4Kp60, but...
25 by Anton Shilov on 10/21/2019
The Biostar A10N-8800E Motherboard Review: Carrizo in 2019?!
The Biostar A10N-8800 motherboard is a mini-ITX SoC option with an integrated AMD FX-8800P processor. Also featured is support for up to 32 GB of DDR4-2133 memory, a single...
75 by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on 8/14/2019
Shuttle XPC slim DH370 mini-PC Review: A Compact Digital Signage Powerhouse
Small form-factor (SFF) machines have predominantly used 5W - 45W TDP processors. The introduction of the mini-STX form-factor standardized a compact form factor for systems with processors having a...
37 by Ganesh T S on 5/6/2019
The ASRock DeskMini A300 Review: An Affordable DIY AMD Ryzen mini-PC
Small form-factor (SFF) machines have emerged as a major growth segment in the desktop PC market. Performance per watt is an important metric for such systems, and Intel has...
89 by Ganesh T S on 4/26/2019
CyberLink Launches PowerDVD 19 for UltraHD Blu-ray and 8K Videos
CyberLink's PowerDVD remains the only legitimate Blu-ray playback software in the PC space. Over the last few years, the company has been trying to add value to the software...
17 by Ganesh T S on 4/16/2019
The Zotac ZBOX CI660 nano Fanless mini-PC Review: A Promising HTPC Platform
Zotac is a major player in the SFF PC space, and the emergence of the ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) NUCs has broadened the available market for ther mini-PCs. The company...
23 by Ganesh T S on 4/16/2019
Corsair Announces K83 Wireless Entertainment Keyboard for HTPCs: Keyboard Meets Joystick
Corsair this month has rolled out its first keyboard designed primarily for HTPCs. The K83 Wireless Entertainment Keyboard incorporates a tenkeyless keyboard using Corsair's low-profile switches, along with a...
11 by Anton Shilov on 3/12/2019
YouTube, Netflix Publish First Videos Transcoded Using AV1
UPDATE: 9/14 5 PM ET: Adding information regarding Netflix videos transcoded using AV1. YouTube has uploaded about a dozen videos that were transcoded using the AV1 codec, whcih was introduced...
53 by Anton Shilov on 9/14/2018
Intel Officially Launches Bean Canyon NUCs with Coffee Lake-U Processors
Intel's Bean Canyon NUCs have been subject to a number of leaks, notably from FanlessTech. However Intel has finally made things official with a detailed technical product manual for...
38 by Ganesh T S on 7/25/2018
CyberLink Launches PowerDVD 18 - UltraHD Blu-ray Playback with Value Additions
CyberLink's PowerDVD 17, introduced in April 2017, was the first software player to bring UltraHD Blu-ray playback to the PC market (albeit, with plenty of hardware restrictions). We also...
13 by Ganesh T S on 5/1/2018
Alliance for Open Media Releases Royalty-Free AV1 1.0 Codec Spec
Eagerly awaited across the tech industry, this week the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) has published the first complete version of the bitstream and decoding process specification for their...
82 by Anton Shilov on 3/30/2018
The Intel NUC8i7HVK (Hades Canyon) Review: Kaby Lake-G Benchmarked
Intel has enjoyed great success with its NUC line of ultra-compact and small form-factor (UCFF & SFF) PCs. While the UCFF form-factor managed to provide enough horsepower for office...
126 by Ganesh T S on 3/29/2018
Corsair at CES 2018: Wireless K63 Mechanical Keyboard with Accompanying Lap Board
LAS VEGAS, NV — Corsair has announced a companion to the K63 Mechanical keyboard with a wireless K63 version and a new lapboard accessory. The K63 wireless adds 2.4...
19 by Joe Shields on 1/10/2018
ASUS at CES 2018: New Mini PCs, PB40 and PN40, Chromebox 3 and Tinker Board S
LAS VEGAS, NV — ASUS today has announced its latest small form factor products with its PB40 and PN40 adding to its existing VivoMini and ROG GR8 II selections...
11 by Joe Shields on 1/8/2018
Intel's Hades Canyon NUCs with Radeon Graphics are Official: $799-$999, Shipping in Spring 2018
LAS VEGAS, NV — Intel's Skylake-based Skull Canyon NUC has been a popular mini-desktop since its launch in early 2016. We didn't see a corresponding Kaby Lake version...
50 by Ganesh T S on 1/7/2018
Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN1080K Compact Gaming PC Review
Gaming systems and small form-factor (SFF) PCs have emerged as bright spots in the desktop PC market that has been subject to severe challenges recently. Many vendors have tried...
12 by Ganesh T S on 1/2/2018
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