Passive PCs are great for those who like to keep background noise to a minimum in their work environments. Traditionally, passive designs have leaned towards the adoption of ‘quiet’ visual designs, too. But that doesn’t have to be the case, as the new Kubb Mini range demonstrates (h/t Fanless Tech). These compact 3-inch cubes are priced at $500 (€430) and come in some rather vivid red, orange, green, and blue options - as well as staid old black or white.
Beneath the colorful aluminum exterior
Passive cooling of these PCs isn’t the trickiest, as the CPU options have rather low TDPs. For example, the Intel Twin Lake N150 with 4C/4T and a top speed of 3.6 GHz has just a 6W processor base power. The Core i3 N300 CPU with 8C/8T and a top speed of 3.8 GHz has a slightly higher TDP at 7W. Both CPUs are fabbed at Intel 7 and have 6MB of Intel Smart Cache on board. Neither should be a challenge to a small passive cooling setup.
The $500 (€430) configuration of the Kubb Mini comes with the weaker N150 processor, but it isn’t barebones. The processor is supported by 16GB LPDDR5-4800 RAM, a 256GB NVMe SSD, and Windows 11 Pro comes pre-installed. Opting for the Core i3 N300 CPU, with all else remaining equal, adds $105 (€90) to the checkout price. Neither config can add more than 16GB of RAM, but 512GB and 1TB storage options can be had for more of your hard-earned cash.
You don’t get oodles of connectivity, which isn’t a big surprise. What you do get is: Realtek RTL8111H 1 GbE, Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 + Bluetooth 5.2, 2 × USB 3.2, 2 × HDMI 2.0, 1 × USB 3.2, and 1 × audio 3.5mm. It looks like there is a barrel jack for the 12 V DC power adapter around the back, but the device can also be powered by one of its precious USB-C ports.
Kubb envisions users buying this 3-inch (8cm) square PC for “office tasks, management, accounting or web browsing.” It also heralds the Mini as a great, silent, thin client that uses significantly less power than a traditional desktop PC. Perhaps more appealing to our audience, Kubb reckons the Mini would also be a good choice for “entertainment and retrogaming for the whole family,” plugged into the living room TV while not becoming an eyesore.
Kubb also makes more powerful (larger) fanless designs and its stables, dominated by cube-like solutions, feature wood- and leather-cased PCs, too.
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