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 Launches Fanless ZBOX C-Series mini-PCs
At Computex 2014, Zotac has launched four new passively-cooled mini-PCs. All of these C-series units are sized the same as Zotac's existing ZBOX nano lineup (127 mm x 127...
6 by Ganesh T S & Mahendra Lodha on 6/2/2014SilverStone ML04 & ML05 Slim HTPC Cases Review
Silverstone is well-known among technology enthusiasts, and while they offer a great selection of technology-related goods, cases and virtually everything enclosure-related are their specialty. The company offers a very...
39 by E. Fylladitakis on 4/18/2014CyberLink Launches PowerDVD 14 with HEVC Support
A couple of years back, we reviewed CyberLink's PowerDVD 12 in detail. At that time, support for the mobile ecosystem was one of the most important targets for CyberLink...
37 by Ganesh T S on 4/8/2014ZOTAC Goes For Iris Pro in Their New ZBOX E-Series Gaming Mini-PCs
So far there have been only a few ways to get hold of an Iris Pro 5200 enabled machine. The first CPUs with these processors were in laptops, until...
24 by Ian Cutress on 3/10/2014Interacting with HTPCs: IOGEAR and SIIG Options Reviewed
There are many options in the market for users wanting to interact with HTPCs and media streamers. In this short piece, we review the keyboard / trackball / touchpad...
74 by Ganesh T S on 3/2/2014Intel's Haswell - An HTPC Perspective: Media Playback, 4K and QuickSync Evaluated
Over the last two years, the launch of every major desktop CPU family from both AMD and Intel has been accompanied by a dedicated HTPC-oriented article. This coverage has...
95 by Ganesh T S on 6/2/2013QNAP Introduces XBMC App for TS-x69 Pro / L Series NAS Units
The Atom D2700 series CPUs have proved quite popular in the SMB / SOHO NAS market. We saw vendors introduce models with HDMI outputs as early as December 2011...
7 by Ganesh T S on 2/7/2013Arctic Introduces OpenELEC-based MC001-XBMC HTPC
Arctic announced the availability of their MC001-XBMC passive HTPC today. Based on the Intel Atom D525 and the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5430, the unit comes with OpenELEC pre-installed...
17 by Ganesh T S on 2/5/2013Getting the Best out of an Ivy Bridge HTPC: Windows 8, madVR and More..
The build process and thermal performance of a fanless Ivy Bridge HTPC was covered in detail last month. I had indicated that the piece would be the first of...
138 by Ganesh T S on 1/20/2013Interacting with HTPCs: Adesso, IOGear & Rapoo Demonstrate Options at CES 2013
Media Center remotes are a dime a dozen, but, judging by the threads which frequently pop up on AVSForum, it appears as if full-sized keyboards are preferred by a...
13 by Ganesh T S on 1/14/2013Zotac ZBOX ID42 Keeps 'Ion' Alive
Zotac's ZBOX mini-PCs have proved popular in emerging markets. The Ion boxes based on the Intel Atom and NVIDIA GPU combination, however, have run their course. NVIDIA no longer...
5 by Ganesh T S on 1/7/2013Fractal Design Node 605 Case Review: Is Fractal Design Ready for Primetime?
Media center enclosures can be a very tricky business. 25 years ago, horizontally-oriented cases were the norm, but the ATX standard complicates things. We're also dealing with hotter components...
52 by Dustin Sklavos on 1/1/2013Streacom's FC10 and Nano150: Building a Fanless Ivy Bridge HTPC
HTPC enthusiasts often place a lot of emphasis on silent systems for obvious reasons. We have looked at systems with passive thermal solutions before, but never presented the build...
63 by Ganesh T S on 12/22/2012Steiger Dynamics Launches LEET Gaming HTPC Lineup
We are no strangers to boutique PC makers here at AnandTech, having reviewed systems from AVADirect, iBUYPOWER and Puget Systems regularly. Most of these boutique PCs are targeted exclusively...
31 by Ganesh T S on 12/13/2012Aleutia Relia Industrial PC Review: Ivy Bridge & Q77 in a Fanless Chassis
Industrial PCs come with stringent requirements that are not satisfied by generic PCs. It is customary for builders to use active cooling in order to ensure that the components...
47 by Ganesh T S on 12/4/2012Aleutia Launches Ivy Bridge-based Relia Fanless Industrial Media PCs
Aleutia is one of the few companies focusing on fanless and rugged PCs suited for industrial purposes. They started off in 2007 with an intent to serve the social...
17 by Ganesh T S on 11/12/2012ASRock Vision HT: Ivy Bridge Carries the SFF HTPC Forward
The small form factor (SFF) HTPC market has been steadily growing over the last few years. As mobile processors become more and more powerful, it is becoming easier for...
40 by Ganesh T S on 11/12/2012AMD's Trinity : An HTPC Perspective
Intel started the trend of integrating a GPU along with the CPU in the processor package with Clarkdale / Arrandale. The GPU moved to the die itself in Sandy...
49 by Ganesh T S on 9/27/2012Diamond Multimedia Ships GC1000 1080p PVR with Video Passthrough for Game Consoles
Diamond MM is in the process of launching multimedia products in rapid succession. Last week, we had the launch of the Android Media Player AMP1000, and this time around...
6 by Ganesh T S on 8/28/2012Diamond Multimedia Launches AMP1000 Android Media Player
Diamond Multimedia is well known for its AMD graphics cards and USB capture devices. The Android Media Player, AMP1000, being launched today is the latest addition to their TV...
16 by Ganesh T S on 8/21/2012