MSI recently introduced a new member of its Cubi small form factor barebones PC lineup. The Cubi 3 is a fanless PC that is build around Intel’s Kaby Lake-U processors and will arrive sometime this fall.
Notebook Italia and Tek.No got hands on of the MSI mini PC at Computex.
The Cubi 3 is a bit larger than its predecessors, but with the larger enclosure MSI was able to achieve a fanless design for up to (U series) Core i7 processors. The SFF PC sports a brushed aluminum case that shows off the top of the CPU heatsink through vents that run around the top edge of the case. There are two flat antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooh integrated into the left and right sides of the case.
FanlessTech reports that the MSI Cubi 3 will sport 15W Kaby Lake-U processors from low end Celerons up to Core i7 models. These parts are dual core parts with HyperThreading (2c/4t) with 3 MB or 4 MB of L3 cache and either HD (615 or 620) or Iris Plus (640 or 650) integrated graphics. The processor is paired with two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots for up to 32 GB of 2133 MHz memory, an M.2 2280 SSD (there is even Intel Optane support), and a single 2.5” drive.
The Cubi 3 has an audio jack and two USB 3.0 ports up front, and what appears to be two USB 2.0 ports on the left side. Rear I/O includes one HDMI, one DisplayPort, two more USB 3.0, two Gigabit Ethernet, two COM ports, and one power jack for the 65W AC power adapter.
There is no word on pricing yet, but it is slated to begin production in August with availability this fall.
It is always nice to see more competition in this niche fanless SFF space, and the little box would not look out of place on a desk or even in the living room. What are your thoughts?
Since most laptops/tablets
Since most laptops/tablets have more performance than what the vast majority of computer users ‘need’ I think these things (SFF computers) are great. They allow people who want a desktop system to not have to deal with the usual bulk and complexity of a normal desktop system. Or for people who want something simple to connect to a TV. Either way just place it wherever you want your TV/monitor, hook it up and go.
Price is going to be the main
Price is going to be the main deciding factor on whether or not this is worth it. A small premium for fanless operation is justified, but 200 dollars more just because it is fanless would not be worth it.
COM ports? Maybe someone will
COM ports? Maybe someone will buy it to sit on a factory production line somewhere?
Well, it’s 2018 already, and
Well, it’s 2018 already, and I still don’t see this from any of my usual places for PC parts. The Cubi 2 can be found in a number of places, but no Cubi 3.
Availability is, shall we say, somewhat lacking.