DDR5 ZBOX announced

The ZOTAC ZBOX CI360 is an upgraded version of the N150-powered ZBOX CI338, announced at CES 2025 and never released. This new iteration supports up to 16GB of DDR5-4800 RAM and now features four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, for speeds up to 10 Gbps. This particular fanless honeycomb design (launched in 2014) is not particularly good, and is feeling pretty dated by now. It’s definitely time for a total redesign, ZOTAC.

Source: ZOTAC

NUC 16 Pro launch video

Courtesy of ASUS

The NUC 16 Pro is here

The ASUS NUC 16 Pro is here and it's surprisingly larger than previous generations. Powered by Intel's new Panther Lake CPUs up to the flagship 16-core Ultra X9 388H, featuring Intel's most powerful iGPU (Arc B390 with 12 Xe3 cores) the 144 x 117 x 42 mm powerhouse makes room for a second SSD slot and a second 2.5G Ethernet port. You're gonna need a bigger fanless case.

Source: Wccftech 

Intel Panther Lake launched

Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, unveiled at CES 2026, represent the first compute platform built on the advanced Intel 18A process. Codenamed "Panther Lake" this new lineup also features the brand-new Xe3 graphics. The flagship SKUs, including the new Core Ultra 9 and 7 classes, offer up to 16 CPU cores, 12 Xe-cores, and an NPU delivering 50 TOPS for local AI tasks. Beyond consumer products, Series 3 is the first to be certified for industrial edge use cases like robotics, smart cities, and healthcare automation. We strongly believe that Panther Lake will power the NUC 16 Pro, and high-performance fanless PCs in 2026.

Source: Intel

MeLE Cyber X1 as telescope controller

Courtesy of Deep Space Astro

Assemble a fanless PC in just 30 minutes

Launched 12 years ago, the Akasa Euler is still the easiest way to go fanless with a 35W desktop processor. The latest iteration is available for €148.

Add 10 USB ports to the Pi 5

The Suptronics X1013 is a PCIe expansion board designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 to significantly increase its connectivity options. It adds a total of ten USB ports (four high-speed USB 3.2 Gen1 ports and six USB 2.0 ports). The board features a 9-18V DC power input that powers both the expansion hub and the Raspberry Pi 5. The device is driver-free and plug-and-play, supporting various operating systems like Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu, and Windows.

Source: CNX Software 

ARM-powered Linux stick

Following its N100-powered Linux stick PC, Azulle launches a Rockchip-powered Ubuntu computer, the Access ARM. Despite its small size, it provides impressive connectivity, including Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and Gigabit Ethernet. Its graphics capabilities are equally good, featuring an ARM Mali G52 MC3 GPU that supports 4K video output at 120fps through its HDMI 2.1 interface. The entry-level 4GB / 64GB model is available for just $120 while the 8GB / 128GB unit retails for $150.

Ryzen 9 8945HX solution

Keep them coming! We absolutely love these mini-ITX motherboards featuring high-performance mobile CPUs. The MINISFORUM BD895i SE comes with a powerful AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX processor based on the Zen 4 architecture. This "Mobile on Desktop" (MoDT) board boasts 16 cores and 32 threads with a maximum boost clock of 5.4 GHz and integrated Radeon 610M graphics. It supports up to 96GB of dual-channel DDR5-5200MHz memory through two SO-DIMM slots, making it suitable for both intensive gaming and professional creative workloads (active cooling will probably be required). The BD895i SE is available for $529.

Arctic MX-7 launched

The MX-7 is the latest high-performance thermal compound from Arctic. This new formula is characterized by a significantly higher viscosity compared to its predecessors. Because of this dense, viscous texture, Arctic advises users not to use a spatula for spreading and instead recommends the "cross method" where the mounting pressure of the cooler naturally distributes the paste into a uniform layer. In terms of performance, the MX-7 shows temperature reductions of over 2°C compared to MX-6 when used with high-power processors like the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. The MX-7 is available today in 2g, 4g, or 8g.