Kubb available in Germany

The tiny yet powerful Kubb Fanless is now shipping from MediaMarkt. Three colors are available: graphite, bronze, and blue. The units are sold as Windows 11 Pro machines featuring 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The Core Ultra 5 225H versions are priced at €1689 while the Core Ultra X7 358H Kubbs are €2229.

https://www.mediamarkt.de/kubb fanless

NUC 16 Pro Review

"Performance was very good, especially once I started comparing the NUC 16 Pro with larger and more performance-focused systems. Its 10,137 PCMark score was second only to the ASUS GR70 in my comparison, while the Productivity result reached 17,528 and also finished near the top. Geekbench multicore, 7-Zip compression, Blender, and HandBrake followed the same pattern, with the Core Ultra X7 358H regularly finishing ahead of many newer Core Ultra and Ryzen AI Mini-PCs.

Gaming was one of the more surprising aspects of the Arc B390, particularly against the other integrated GPUs in my charts. Cyberpunk 2077 reached 94.57 FPS at 1080p Medium and 76.92 FPS at 1080p High with XeSS Quality, while Counter-Strike 2 reached 119.1 FPS at 1080p High. In both games, the NUC finished well ahead of the Radeon 890M and Arc 140T systems I tested."

Source: TechPowerUp 

CNC machining wizards

Tranquil IT is now 2CRSi Edge (part of the 2CRSi Group) but the Tranquil brand lives on, including for their in-house studio. From prototyping to CNC machining, from raw aluminium billets to a shining finished casing, Tranquil Studio designs and manufactures everything, with no minimum order quantity.

https://www.2crsiedge.com/tranquil-studio

Retro Woodgrain Glowbox

Built as a modest 1080p APU gaming/emulation machine (RetroArch, legacy systems, and lighter modern titles at 720p/1080p low/medium settings) this beautiful machine by WaffleProtagonist was built in 2021 around an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G APU. It prioritizes retro aesthetics and silence over high-end performance. Thermals are excellent, idling between 42 and 46°C and reaching 70°C after long gaming sessions.

Introduction to Terminal Block Power

"In rugged operating environments, standard consumer power connectors like fragile barrel jacks or bulky ATX cables simply won’t cut it. That’s where the industrial alternative comes in: terminal blocks. Terminal blocks are heavy-duty components that act as the critical junction point where power supply lines seamlessly integrate with hardware through direct wire-to-board or wire-to-wire connections. In the world of industrial automation, terminal blocks are the unsung heroes of safe, organized, and reliable power distribution. But how exactly do they work, and how do you choose the right one for your system? Let's dive into the basics.

A terminal block power connector is a modular, insulated electrical interface used to secure and terminate bare or ferruled wires to safely deliver power (typically DC power) to a device. If you have ever looked at control panels, you have probably seen terminal blocks.

Terminal blocks are encased in plastic that provides essential electrical insulation, prevents short circuits, and protects people from electrical shocks. Inside the plastic shell are small, conductive metal bars (commonly made from copper alloy). The wires are tightly clamped firmly onto one of these bars."

Learn more from OnLogic 

The NH-P1 in all its glory

We're still thinking about this incredibly stylish machine from UK's Inside-Tech. Featuring Noctua's NH-P1 fanless CPU cooler and a 65W Intel i9 processor, the system is built around the ITX Tower chassis from Kompcase. While the graphics card orientation isn't ideal, it should handle moderate use just fine.

Source: Inside-Tech 

ASRock iBOX available from $1,120

Powered by the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H or Core Ultra 7 255H ASRock's iBOX is now available from MITXPC. The system features extensive connectivity, including two Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN ports, one USB4/Thunderbolt 4 port, four USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. Storage-wise the iBOX offers three M.2 slots and one SATA 3.0 port. Engineered for multi-tasking, the system supports a quad-monitor setup.

Core Ultra 5 225H https://mitxpc.com/products/ibox-225h

Core Ultra 7 255H https://mitxpc.com/products/ibox-255h

DDR4 is still perfectly fine

ASRock has quietly introduced a DDR4 variant of its passively cooled N250M/D5 board, dropping the original model's /D5 suffix to launch simply as the N250M. Aside from swapping the DDR5 DIMM slot for a DDR4 DIMM slot, the board remains identical to the previous model. It retains the same heatsink-covered 6W Intel N250, microATX layout, triple display outputs (HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA), single M.2 NVMe slot, and USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C connectivity. By re-releasing the board with DDR4 support, ASRock offers a more cost-effective option for ultra-budget builds where repurposing spare, inexpensive DDR4 makes far more sense.

Source: ASRock 

The NUC Essential that never was?

We might have found a batch of Intel NUC prototypes. The chassis comes from an official NUC, and more importantly, it houses a genuine Intel-branded motherboard. The only noticeable difference is the heatsink mounted on top, which passively cools a Pentium J5005. Intel frequently built proof-of-concept units like this to inspire third-party manufacturers. In fact, this $229.99 system may very well have inspired the extremely popular MINIX 0db series.

This waterproof case is surprisingly easy to assemble

The Akasa Pascal MX will be available in the coming days.