Throwback Thursday: Scythe Susanoo

The Scythe Susanoo was a massive, high-end CPU cooler officially launched in April 2011 by Japanese company Scythe. It was notable for its exceptional size, earning it a reputation as a "monster" cooler with dimensions of 210 x 210 x 160 mm. Its size meant it covered a significant portion of the motherboard, sometimes even partially covering the graphics card. It featured a record 12 heat pipes and weighed 1.2kg. While it performed well, some reviews at the time suggested that despite its huge size, its cooling performance was not that impressive. The Susanoo was also too large for the vast majority of standard PC cases, and was quickly discontinued.

Image source: Tech-Review 

Passively cool everything

The TERRAMASTER D1 SSD Plus 40Gbps is definitely the most impressive M.2 SSD enclosure available today. This beautiful piece of hardware is made with aerospace-grade aluminum alloy and weights a whopping 246g (without a drive). There is no doubt that this enclosure offers greater cooling capacity than many fanless mini PCs. We want one.

Acer Chromebox Mini review

"Acer’s Chromebox Mini CXM1 is a compelling value for minimal-performance scenarios, such as digital signage and point-of-sale systems. Its compact, fanless design easily mounts out of sight, and it bristles with connectivity, including Wi-Fi 6E. If you're not a business buyer, though, the Mini makes a lot less sense: the system only gives you enough performance for basic web browsing. For the more demanding needs of the mainstream audience, our Editors' Choice-award-winning Geekom A6 and Apple Mac mini receive the nod."

Source: PCMag 

Core Ultra 9 at an okay price

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a beast. This Meteor Lake CPU is configured with 16 cores and 22 threads, composed of six high-performance P-cores, eight power-efficient E-cores, and two ultra-low-power LPE-cores situated on the SoC Tile, which together enable scalable performance and improved power efficiency. This 45W processor can achieve a maximum boost frequency of 5.1 GHz for its P-cores and is built on the state-of-the-art Intel 4 process technology. This multi-LAN machine comes with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for $759.99. 

Small in size, enormous in capability

The OnLogic CL200 Series is purpose-built for data collection, gateway applications, and a wide range of use cases at the edge, the CL200 Series provides powerful, scalable computing wherever you need it most.

The CL200 Series is engineered to be installed exactly where you need reliable computing power. The unique cast aluminum chassis protects the system from dust, debris, and moisture, while efficiently dissipating heat.

The CL200 Series is designed to support the rich I/O required for demanding edge applications. Every side of the system is utilized to provide a complete I/O coastline, ensuring you can connect everything you need.

The new CL260 is an ultra small form factor edge gateway and controller. It provides impressive computing performance via Intel® N-Series (N150 and N250 options available) processing in a palm-sized system engineered for reliability and longevity.

Source: OnLogic 

darkFlash FLOATRON F1 available

The darkFlash FLOATRON F1 is one of the best-looking PC cases of this year, and it's fanless-friendly! Its unique design offers a panoramic view of the internal components (think Noctua NH-P1) giving it a modern and unique aquarium-like appearance. The case heavily prioritizes airflow thanks to an extensive mesh design, with the entire right side and top panel featuring fully open ventilation, perfect for convection to occur. The FLOATRON F1 is now available for $139.99.

32GB Cyber X1 available

The controversial spiky and plasticky fanless PC is now available featuring a whopping 32GB of RAM for $369.99. This is particularly notable considering the Intel N150 processor's 16GB theoretical RAM ceiling. Although this doesn't make the Cyber X1 a gaming rig, using Chrome should be less painful now.

Source: Amazon

90 thermal pastes tested

"Choosing the best thermal paste may sound simple, but a dizzying array of options can turn this seemingly easy choice into a time-consuming and confusing task. We tested 37 different thermal compounds with AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X and over 90 thermal compounds with Intel Core i9 CPUs to help you find the best one to help cool your CPU. 

Thermal paste is designed to minimize microscopic air gaps and irregularities between the surface of the cooler and the CPU's IHS (integrated heat spreader), the piece of metal built into the top of the processor, to transfer heat to the CPU cooler.

Good thermal paste can have a profound impact on your performance because it will allow your processor to transfer more of its waste heat to your cooler, keeping your processor running cool.

Most pastes are made of ceramic or metallic materials suspended within a proprietary binder, allowing for easy application and spread and simple cleanup. Depending on their specific formula, these thermal pastes can be electrically conductive or non-conductive. Electrically conductive thermal pastes can carry electricity between two points, meaning that if the paste squeezes out onto other components, it can cause damage to motherboards and CPUs when you switch on the power. A single drop out of place can lead to a dead PC, so extra care is imperative."

Source: Tom's Hardware 

COM port overload

This Core i5-8265U system is an industrial DIN rail mini PC designed for robust and space-constrained applications. A key feature is its extensive connectivity, which includes eight COM ports supporting the RS232, RS485, and RS422 standards, making it ideal for connecting to various industrial control devices and legacy equipment. This unit is equipped with dual Gigabit RJ45 LAN ports, 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 256GB SSD for $507. Its ability to be mounted on a DIN Rail simplifies its integration into standard industrial cabinets and control panels. A barebone model is also available for $443. 

Akasa Maxwell RC Pro installation

Learn more about the fanless NUC 15 Pro case here.