Quiet, ultrathin AirJet solid state active cooling chips could replace fans

AirJet Mini

Frore Systems Airjet Mini and Airjet Pro are active cooling chips that are just 2.8mm thick and quietly suck cool air in from the top of the chip before pushing it out the sides with the aim to replace traditional fan-based solutions in ultrabooks, or be integrated into VR headsets and smartphones for improved cooling. Yesterday we saw that cameras could clean themselves with micro-vibrations, and it happens that processors can be cooled with vibrations too as the Airjet chips are comprised of tiny membranes that vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies to generate a flow of air that enters through inlet vents in the top and transformed into high-velocity pulsating jets exiting from one side of the chip. The AirJet module is actually not placed directly on the processor in ultrabooks but on copper pipes because it allows for thinner designs that way. The company says the AirJet Mini and Pro […]

MeLE PCG02 Pro Review – A Fanless Intel Celeron J4125 / N5105 mini PC with an ultra-compact form factor

MeLE PCG02 Pro review

MeLE has launched a new ‘stick’ mini PC called the PCG02 Pro. It comes in two models featuring either a mobile Gemini Lake Refresh or a Jasper Lake processor. Both models appear physically similar however the memory, WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB ports differ plus only the lower-powered model includes an M.2 NVMe or SATA slot. MeLE kindly sent both models for review and I’ve looked at the performance running both Windows and Ubuntu. MeLE PCG02 Pro hardware overview The MeLE PCG02 Pro physically consists of a 146 x 61 x 20mm (5.75 x 2.40 x 0.79 inches) rectangular plastic case that ‘wraps’ around a plastic inner frame. The outside of the case has a knurled or cross-hatched pattern (engineered to provide high thermal conductivity) and the inner frame has the WiFi antennas glued to it. As passively cooled mini PCs, the first model known as the PCG02 Pro J4125 uses […]

Bedrock V3000 Basic fanless industrial computer is powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 processor

Bedrock V3000 Basic embedded computer

SolidRun Bedrock V3000 Basic is an industrial fanless computer based on the new AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 Zen3 processor family designed for storage and networking applications. More specifically, the embedded computer is based on the AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C48 octa-core/sixteen-thread processor with up to 64 GB DDR5 memory, support for up to three M.2 key-M 2280 NVMe SSDs, and impressive network connectivity options with two SFP+ cages capable of 10 Gbps speeds, four 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, and optional support for WiFi 6, 4G and/o 5G cellular connectivity. Bedrock V3000 Basic specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 family with up to 8C/16T Zen3+ cores @ up to 3.8 GHz; TDP: Up to 45W System Memory – Quad-channel DDR5-4800 up to 64 GB ECC / non-ECC via 2x SODIMM socket. The RAM is conduction-cooled Storage 1x M.2 key-M 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x 4 socket, conduction-cooled, with optional power-loss protection 2x […]

Fanless rugged controller offers 2.5GbE networking, 5G cellular, 9-36V wide power input

9 36V DC fanless rugged mini pc

ARBOR ARES-1980 is a fanless rugged industrial controller powered by an Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake Core processor with 9-36V wide power input, 2.5GbE, optional 4G/5G cellular and/or WiFi connectivity, and designed for factory automation. The embedded computer also comes with two PoE-capable Gigabit Ethernet ports, support for NVMe and SATA storage, eight digital outputs, eight digital inputs, several serial ports compatible with RS232,  RS422, and/or RS485, and more. ARES-1980 specifications: SoC – Intel Core i3-1115G4E, Core i5-1145G7E (default), or Core i7-1185G7E Tiger Lake processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics System Memory – Up to 64GB 3200MHz RAM via 2x 260-pin DDR4 SO-DIMM sockets Storage 1x M.2 M-Key 2242/2280 (PCIe Gen III x4 + SATA III) socket 1x 2.5-inch HDD/SSD SATA III tray Video Output 1x HDMI 2.0b connector up to 4Kp60 resolutions 1x DisplayPort 1.4 connector up to 4Kp60 resolutions 1x DVI-D connector up to 1080p60 resolution Networking 2x […]

MeLE Quieter3C fanless mini PC review with Ubuntu 22.04, Windows 11

Mele Quieter3c review

MeLE’s newly launched Quieter3C is an update to their earlier Quieter3Q product which replaces one of the Type-A USB ports with a Type-C USB port and includes both power delivery and video display output, together with changing one of the HDMI ports to a mini DisplayPort. MeLE kindly sent one for review and given these are the only differences I’m only going to take a cursory look at performance benchmarks together with looking at these new features. MeLE Quieter3C hardware overview The MeLE Quieter3C is physically the same size as the Quieter3Q and consists of a 131 x 81 x 18.3mm (5.16 x 3.19 x 0.72 inches) rectangular plastic case with a metal base plate. The top half of the case has the characteristic fine grooves that mimic the fins of a heat spreader and is made of plastic rather than metal to allow reception to the WiFi antennas as […]

Mekotronics R58 review – Part 2: Android 12 on Rockchip RK3588 CPU

RK3588 mini PC SATA SSD

I’ve written the first part of Mekotronics R58 review last month with an unboxing, teardown, and first boot with 3D graphics benchmarks. I’ve now had more time to play with Android 12 on the Rockchp RK3588 mini PC, so I’ll report my experience with the device. User interface and settings As already mentioned, the box ships with Android 12 for TV and the stock launcher. The Google Play store is working, and I had no troubles installing all apps I needed for the review. Most of the settings are pretty much standard. While the first time, I used Ethernet, and also tried WiFi 6 connecting the R58 to Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router. It worked but not without some effort, as initially, all I got were messages like “Couldn’t find SSID” both with 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs. It turned out I had to disconnect the Ethernet to make WiFi work, and […]

Compact fanless firewall appliance offers 6x 2.5GbE ports for $230 and up

Firewall appliance 6x 2.5GbE ports

KingNovy has introduced a small fanless firewall appliance powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 Gemini Lake Refresh processor, equipped with six 2.5GbE ports through Intel i225-V Rev 3 Ethernet controllers, and selling for as low as $230 for the barebone model. The system supports up to 32GB RAM, mSATA and 2.5-inch SATA storage, features HDMI output and four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, plus an RJ45 console port, and is said to work with pfSense 2.5.x, OPNsense 22.1, OpenWrt, ROS7, ESXI, Proxmox, CentOS, and more. Specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) / 2.4 GHz (Turbo all cores) with Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250/750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – Dual-channel Memory DDR4 (2400MHz) supporting up to 32GB RAM in total Storage – 1x mSATA socket, 2.5-inch SATA bay for SSD or HDD Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K […]

NVISEN FU01 is a fanless Tiger Lake mini PC with a Thunderbolt 4 port

Tiger Lake Thunderbolt 4

NVISEN FU01 fanless mini PC is offered with a choice of Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Tiger Lake processors, fitted with up to 16GB RAM (upgradeable to 64GB), a 256GB or 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD, and the highlight of the computer is its 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 port with 8K video output support. The Tiger Lake system can drive up to three 4K displays with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort connectors adding to the Thunderbolt 4 port, offers Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, plus six USB 3.0/2.0 Type-A ports for expansion. NVISEN FU01 specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-1115G4 dual-core processor @ 3.0GHz, up to 4.1GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD graphics; 28W TDP Intel Core i5-1135G7 quad-core processor @ 2.4GHz, up to 4.2GHz (Turbo) with Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP Intel Core i7-1165G7 quad-core processor @ 2.8GHz, up to 4.7GHz (Turbo) with Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP System Memory & […]