Tag Archives: HTPC

In October 2019, Noctua introduced the Chromax Black range of its most popular CPU coolers. The company has today announced it is adding to the Chromax Black series with an updated version of its low-profile NH-L9a cooler for AMD AM4 platforms. The latest CPU cooler to be added to the …

Want a console replacement but demand maximum performance? MSI's new Trident X (2018) can ship with an Intel Core i9 9900k and RTX 2080 ti graphics card. Its a beast!

Its a powerful Mini PC with AMD Ryzen 5 processor and Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics. Worth the £699?

It has been a while since we looked at a Shuttle barebones. Is this one any good?

There are no prizes for deducing the new DinoPC Bulldog BD3 gaming PC is built in a Corsair Bulldog chassis. We first saw this Mini-ITX case at its launch during Computex 2015 so the hardware has been a long while coming. The chassis supports a Mini-ITX motherboard and uses a …

Origin PC, a leading maker of high-performance personal computers for gamers, has announced its new line of its high-end systems. The new Omega home theater PC systems are designed for the living rooms and are projected to wed extreme performance with compact sizes and AV equipment design. Origin Omega personal …

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has lifted the curtain on the latest member to its LIVA family of mini PCs. The Liva X is a new, super small, 15w consuming mini PC powered by a 22nm Intel Bay Trail-M System on Chip CPU. Just as impressive is the thermal design, which …

High end graphic cards are cool and sexy, but what if your single biggest concern is reliability or noise?  When you can't have a moving part fail or you need a genuine zero decibel count, then Sapphire's Ultimate series is one of the more popular choice. We bring Bill Donnelly …

Lian-Li has introduced a new mini-ITX chassis, mainly designed for HTPC use. The PC-Q19 is essentially an updated version of the older PC-Q12 slim case. However, the Q19 brings some notable improvements such as VGA support and room for additional storage. The PC-Q19 has a slim profile of 160mm and …

With modern computer components continuing the trend of shrinking in size while also increasing in performance, the small form-factor (SFF) market is big business. Taking size reductions to the extreme, can Gigabyte's BRIX prove its worth to downsizing system builders? Housed in a chassis measuring 10.5cm by 11cm, the biggest …

Today we are going to take a look at the Streacom FC5 EVO Fanless chassis which is designed for those people who are looking to build a completely silent home theatre PC.  This takes things one step further than most HTPC cases which are designed to be low-noise, as there …

An array of performance focused products from Phanteks has taken the high-end CPU cooling market by storm. Can Phanteks replicate its success when diverging into the low profile, SFF CPU cooling market? With a maximum height of 45mm, Phanteks' PH-TC90LS low profile CPU cooler is designed to meet the requirements …

Today we are going to look at the PC-Q30 which is one of the latest Mini ITX cases from Lian Li.  We have looked at a number of compact cases from Lian Li in the past and have been generally very impressed with what they have to offer.  This particular …

Not many things in the world of full-blown, desktop technology products can be said to be 4 inches high. Some tower cases are big enough to house a family – in the case of the Silverstone TJ11. So when we heard that its new case was 10.5cm tall, we had …

Today we are going to take a look at the Enermax Aurora Wireless Keyboard which  incorporates a laser trackball and mouse keys into the bezel of the unit.  This makes it ideal for use with home theatre computers or in other applications where a dedicated mouse isn't preferable. Enermax isn't …

Today we are going to look at the Node 605 from Fractal Design which is designed to be used primarily for home theatre PC builds. It is part of the same range as the Node 304 that we looked at recently which we found to be a very competent product. …

Lamborghini started life as a tractor company, yet – in some ways – managed to eclipse the Ferrari designs that it initially coveted. In a similar way, we're now seeing some interesting industrial designs making their way across from the commercial sector and into our living rooms. Akasa has designs …

We all know Arctic from their cooling products, but as KitGuru discovered a couple of years back, the company has big plans to expand into new markets – and the launch of its brand new, media centre platform is part of that plan. KitGuru checks out the quality on offer …

Today we are going to look at the Fractal Design Node 304, one of the companies first attempts at a small-form factor case.  It boasts an impressive feature set which includes support for six hard drives and an ATX power supply   There is also a fair amount of headroom …

Today we are going to look at one of Arctic's low profile CPU coolers … the Alpine 64 Plus, which is designed to be used exclusively with AMD processors.  This makes it ideal for use in small form factor systems or HTPCs.  We imagine many users will purchase this cooler …

As of 6am this morning, the options available to technology lovers who want oodles of power but no noise and a stylish little package, just got a whole lot more attractive with the launch of Sapphire's Trinity APU-powered Edge VS. KitGuru peers under the bonnet to see what makes this …

Arctic's passive MC001-BD earned our KitGuru 'Worth Buying' award. Can its more powerful, $749.00 sibling impress us equally as much?

Today we are looking at a case designed for the smallest breed of motherboard, the mini-ITX, which was developed back in 2001. These are slightly smaller than Micro-ATX and their key feature is their low power consumption, making them ideal for Home Entertainment systems. Recently we have seen the rapid …

A few months ago we looked at the Grandia GD06 case from Silverstone which impressed us due to solid build quality and competitive pricing. However, it was only capable of accepting Micro-ATX motherboards which was likely to alienate a substantial audience. Today we are going to look at the Silverstone …

Noctua is considered by many in the enthusiast community as the finest manufacturer of high end air coolers.  We have tested a number of their products in the KitGuru labs, including the mammoth NH-D14, and have been very impressed with them all.  So we were very excited when they offered …

Phanteks are a relatively new brand to the high end air cooling market but are certainly a force to be reckoned with.  We tested their first CPU cooler, the PH-TC14PE a few months back and it achieved great results, beating the almighty Noctua NH-D14 in our temperature tests.  So we …

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J&W has now jumped on the Cedar Trail bandwagon in releasing a pair of mini-ITX motherboards for HTPC users in particular. Falling under the company's Minix line, the D2700-DC and D2500-DC are essentially the same board in terms of layout and specs, only they differ in the Atom chips embedded …

Most of you should be familiar with Raspberry Pi, a company aimed at launching an ARM based mini-PC for a mere $25 USD. The whole PC is powered by Micro USB and will be able to run Linux distros such as Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux at launch, with the possibilityof …

Xebec Tech are not a very well known company but they produce a very interesting and innovative range of products which are quite different to what else is available on the market at the moment.  All of their products are designed in the UK and their product range encompasses multimedia …