Many countries are facing serious energy shortages, and to counter this problem, many are already actively utilizing renewable energy, but they also urgently need the layout of the internet of energy (IoE) to harness this new power. IoE connects equipment, machines, and systems used in energy production, transmission, and consumption through sensors, controls, and software. IoE delivers power where and when it's needed through smart power storage and distribution, and enables forecasting through big data analysis and machine learning. The DV-1000 high-performance and essential rugged embedded computer in the Cincoze Rugged Computing - DIAMOND product line offers high-performance computing in a compact chassis with flexible expansion and industrial wide temperature support, making it the best choice for IoE applications.

Maximum efficiency for renewable energy requires a network for collecting, storing, and distributing energy power. The DV-1000 is compact, about the size of A5 paper (224 x 162 x 64 mm), making it easy to install in any small outdoor electrical cabinet. The DV-1000 supports a 9th/8th generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 (Coffee Lake-R S series) processor and up to 32 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz memory, providing the high-efficiency computing power for the real-time processing and analysis of large amounts of data, and meeting the high computing requirements required for IoE.

Intel as part of its development process with industry partners and OEMs, allegedly released technical documents in a bare URL that's worded to confirm that its next desktop processor socket will in fact be the LGA1851. We've had some idea since June 2021 that LGA1851 will succeed LGA1700, but this can be taken as a confirmation. Although with a higher pin-count, the LGA1851 package will be physically of an identical size to LGA1700, with mostly identical socket mechanism, so the new socket could maintain cooler compatibility with its predecessor. The additional 151 pins come from shrinking the "courtyard" (the region of the land grid in the center that lacks pins and instead has some electrical ancillaries).

The new Socket LGA1851 platform is expected to power Intel's "Meteor Lake-S" and "Arrow Lake-S" microarchitectures. Whether "Meteor Lake-S" gets the 14th Gen Core branding is a whole different question. Leaked benchmarks suggest that 2023 will be a rather slow year from Intel in the area of desktop processors, and that toward Q3-2023, the company will release the so-called "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors. These chips are likely built on the same LGA1700 package, and as we've seen from "Coffee Lake Refresh," could warrant a new generational branding to 14th Gen Core (as CFL Refresh formed the 9th Gen Core). Intel could increase clock-speeds, E-core counts, and other process/packaging-level innovations to segment these chips apart from existing 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake." LGA1851 processors like "Meteor Lake" could debut chiplets for Intel, as these have their CPU cores, iGPU, memory-controllers, and uncore components, spread apart on chiplets built on various foundry nodes.

Intel Graphics, with its latest Graphics Drivers 31.0.101.3222, changed the coverage of its latest driver updates. The company would be providing game optimizations and regular driver updates only for its Gen12 (Iris Xe), and Arc "Alchemist" graphics products. Support for Gen9, Gen9.5, and Gen11 iGPUs integrated with 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th generations of Intel processors, namely "Skylake," "Kaby Lake," "Coffee Lake," "Ice Lake," and "Cascade Lake," will be relegated to a separate, quarterly driver update cycle, which only covers critical updates and security vulnerabilities, but not game optimizations.

Intel's regular Graphics Driver cycle that includes Day-0 optimizations timed with new game releases, will only cover the Gen12 Xe iGPUs found in 11th Gen "Tiger Lake," "Rocket Lake," and 12th Gen "Alder Lake" processors; besides the DG1 Iris Xe graphics card; and Arc "Alchemist" discrete GPUs. Version 31.0.101.3222 appears to be a transitioning point, and so it has drivers from both branches included within a 1.1 GB package (the main branch supporting game optimizations for new GPUs, and the legacy branch for the older iGPUs). You can grab this driver from here.

AIoT is the catalyst for the advent of the smart era, and edge computing devices lie at the core of real-time processing and analysis in the field. The Cincoze GOLD series is a range of GPU computers designed from the ground up to meet the needs of large-scale image processing, machine vision, and machine learning applications in AIoT. The series includes the GP-3000 and GM-1000, which are selectable according to application requirements like size, performance, I/O, functionality, and future upgradeability. Whether it is smart manufacturing, smart transportation, smart cities, or even national defense, the GOLD series is an excellent choice for building smart applications for AIoT.

The GP-3000 series is a top-of-the-line GPU edge computer that supports 720 W total system power. It uses a 9th/8th generation Intel Xeon /Core (Coffee Lake-R and Coffee Lake) high-performance CPU with up to eight cores, has a built-in Intel C246 chipset, and supports two sets of DDR4-2666 ECC/non-ECC SO-DIMM up to 64 GB. The front maintenance area provides four front-accessible SATA III (6 Gbps) 2.5" HDD/SSD trays and supports RAID 0/1/5/10 to improve data storage and security.

ASUS has begun rolling out BIOS updates that add motherboard support for Windows 11 even for processor families that Microsoft said would be left out of their latest Windows OS. Ever since the introduction of Windows 11, the message around specific hardware requirements has been difficult to pinpoint, as the company struggles to send a clear message on exactly which users should be looking to update their hardware - and which should not. ASUS' new BIOS updates will certainly add to the stirring pot, as they are being touted to enable Windows 11 support for Intel CPU families that Microsoft doesn't officially (yet) support for the OS release: Skylake (6th Gen) and Kaby Lake (7th Gen). According to Microsoft, only 8th Gen (Coffee Lake) and later Intel CPUs are supported by Windows 11.

The new BIOS updates typically activate TPM on the users' machine, should it be off at the BIOS level. ASUS has already released beta BIOS versions that introduce support for Windows 11 on Z270, H270 and B250 motherboards, and launched a hub page with compatibility status for a number of its motherboard releases. According to the company in the respective motherboard support pages, "The following motherboards are compatible with Windows 11 under current testing. The upgrability [sic] is subject to the support from operation system or 3rd party drivers availability." Which of course means that even if ASUS has gotten preview versions of Windows 11 to run on systems with this hardware, there's no way to know if the final, retail Windows 11 version will actually offer support for these CPUs. Of course, driver compatibility is also in question, since nothing guarantees Windows 11 to competently manage your hardware on the basis of Windows 10-bound driver packages.

ASUS and MSI have each put out lists of their motherboards and compatible processors that meet the Windows 11 requirement of a TPM 2.0 spec-compliant trusted platform module, without needing an add-on TPM. ASUS says that its motherboards dating back to the Intel 300-series, and AMD 300-series, and processors compatible with them, meet the requirement, which would mean Intel "Coffee Lake" and forward; and AMD "Zen" and forward. MSI, on the other hand, extends support all the way back to Intel 100-series (when paired with "Kaby Lake" or forward); and AMD 300-series ("Zen" and forward).

For HEDT platforms, both companies support TPM 2.0 on Intel X299, AMD X399, and AMD TRX40. Server- and workstation chipsets from processor generations corresponding to these platforms, will also support Windows 11. Intel and AMD began integrating a firmware TPM with these platforms that met TPM 2.0 specification. Older platforms will require an add-on TPM, which scalpers are selling for upward or $100 these days (normally under $20). The firmware TPM, although present, is usually disabled, and needs to be enabled in the UEFI setup program. In addition, the firmware must be configured for UEFI boot, with Secure Boot enabled, to meet Windows 11 requirements.

Cincoze, a professional manufacturer of embedded systems, has announced its new flagship GPU edge computing system, the GP-3000. Its crowning feature is an exclusive GPU Expansion Box that provides expansion for up to two high-end GPU graphics cards and creating a high-performance industrial-grade GPU computer. Brandon Chien, General Manager of Cincoze, stated that "We already know AI will drive innovation and expansion for industrial applications. The GP-3000 is Cincoze's answer for intensive image processing and complex calculations, such as deep machine learning, autonomous driving, automated visual inspection, and mobile monitoring. As our latest flagship model, the GP-3000 multiplies edge computing efficiency, amplifies productivity and reliability, and accelerates AIoT automation."

The GP-3000's extreme computing power starts with an 8th or 9th generation Intel Xeon or Core i3/i5/i7 (Coffee Lake and Coffee Lake-R) CPU, Intel C246 chipset, and supports two sets of DDR4-2666 ECC/non-ECC SO-DIMM up to 64 GB and can support up to two 250 W high-end GPU graphics cards. With a total system power consumption of 720 W, it's easy to meet and exceed high-efficiency application requirements. A precision heat dissipation and cooling design quickly wick away heat, keeping the focus squarely on the breathtaking performance of the GP-3000.

During CES 2020, way back in January of this year, Razer had shown off a quite interesting concept. Called a modular gaming desktop, the concept has a goal to allow users to just swap-out parts on the fly and have no trouble doing so. Today, the company has officially decided to launch the Tomahawk gaming desktop. Designed for small-form-factor computing, the case of the Tomahawk PC is coming in at just 10L volume, with measurements of 210 mm x 365 mm x 150 mm. The case is an all-black aluminium silhouette with the signature Razer logo and Chroma lighting around the base. That gives it a simple look that can blend in with any environment.

When it comes to the insides, the PC features a power supply of 750 Watts that powers one of Intel's NUC Element boards that is a house for a 45 W Core i9-9980HK Coffee Lake processor with eight cores and 16 threads. When it comes to memory, it has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD storage, paired with a 2 TB hard drive. Razer offers users to upgrade memory and storage, while the CPU is soldered to the board. You can pre-order the Razer Tomahawk PC at a price starting at $2,399.99, while if you want to equip it with something like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, you will be paying $3,199.99. If you already have a GPU to install, then you should just order the base.

Intel is planning to introduce its first NUC (next unit of computing) device based on the 11th generation Core "Tiger Lake" processor by the end of 2020, according to leaked company roadmaps covering NUCs. These point to Intel refreshing its "Hades Canyon" performance-segment NUC mini-PC with a "Tiger Lake-U" processor, a 3rd party discrete GPU, and slightly bigger device size (1.35 L vs. 1.2 L of the original "Hades Canyon"). At the very top, the "Ghost Canyon" NUC 9 Extreme with "Coffee Lake-HR" processors will continue to hold the fort into 2021.

The mainstream NUC mini-PC lineup will continue to be "Frost Canyon," powered by "Comet Lake-U" 10th generation Core processors. Q2-Q3 2020 will see Intel launch significant updates to its NUC Compute Element lineup, with "West Cove," "Ghost Canyon," and "Quartz Canyon" holding the mainstream, performance-segment, and professional segment, respectively; while are likely based on "Comet Lake-H" processors; and "Austin Beach" low-power compute element based on "Comet Lake-U."

Intel today issued a product change notice announcing the discontinuation of its 8th generation Core desktop processor family, and models of Pentium Gold and Celeron processors based on the 14 nm "Coffee Lake" silicon. The PCN covers every 8th gen SKU in the retail- and OEM channels. The company set key dates for the discontinuation. The lineup is discontinued as of June 1, 2020. Suppliers and OEM customers can last order their products on December 18, 2020. The last product shipment is slated for June 4, 2021. It's likely that the 9th generation Core desktop processor family will be follow next year. The 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" saw the first increase in core counts for Intel's mainstream desktop processor family in close to a decade.

Lenovo may be planning to join the likes of ASUS, MSI, ASRock and many more in the gaming motherboard market under its Legion brand according to Guru3D. Images have leaked on Weibo of two Lenovo Legion branded motherboards in non-standard form factors with Intel's 300 and 400 series chipsets, for the current generation Coffee Lake and next generation Comet Lake-S chips respectively.

While these boards appear to bare the Legion branding it is likely they will only be used in OEMs due to their non-standard form factor and lack of features. The motherboards appear to sport 8+2 phase power delivery systems, VRM heatsinks, dual M.2 connectors, four DIMM modules, WiFi and dome audio capacitors. The motherboards feature only one 16x PCI-e slot and very minimal I/0, so it will be interesting to see if these motherboards get a consumer launch.

Listings for Intel's Comet Lake-S desktop processors have been found on DirectDial a Canadian PC retailer. Comet Lake-S is the next generation of chips using Intel's 14 nm process and will feature up to 10 cores and 20 threads. The leaked prices reveals a significant fall in per core pricing from Coffee Lake chips however Ryzen 3000 will continue to dominate in pricing if this leak is correct, especially considering the lack of including cooling with the new Intel chips. Below are the leaked prices with direct conversions to USD.

• Core i9-10900 (10 cores / 20 threads, 2.8 GHz to 5.2 GHz): $679 CAD = $486 USD
• Core i7-10700K (8 cores / 16 threads, 3.8 GHz to 5.1 GHz): $585 CAD = $419 USD
• Core i7-10700 (8 cores / 16 threads, 2.9 GHz to 4.8 GHz): $506 CAD = $362 USD

Intel issued a product change notification (PCN) dated November 13, calling for a recall of boxed Xeon E-2274G processors from customers and distributors. The boxed SKU of the E-2274G, which includes a stock cooling solution, has been marked as "discontinued" and "end of life." Intel is offering an E-2274G tray processor (chip-only) as replacement for the returned inventory. The cause for the recall is the cooling solution included in the boxed SKU, which has been found to be insufficient to cool the E-2274G, a 4-core/8-thread processor based on the 14 nm++ "Coffee Lake" microarchitecture, with a rated TDP of 88 W.

The E973708-003 fan-heatsink included with boxed Xeon E-2274G processors is supplied by Foxconn, and has been known to be bundled with Intel's entry-level client-segment processors, such as the Pentium Gold series and Core i3 series (chips with TDP typically rated 65 W or less). It features a thin, circular, all-aluminium heatsink, which lacks a copper core that certain other LGA115x-compatible stock coolers by Intel have. The heatsink makes contact with the CPU over pre-applied TIM on an aluminium surface, with spirally-projecting fins dissipating heat under the fan's airflow. It could be been an oversight bundling such an underpowered cooler with an 88 W TDP processor that's designed for the rigors of mission-critical use-cases such as workstations and small-business servers.Heatsink images courtesy: AndyKingParts (Amazon seller)

Australian e-tailer MWave has put up their product page for the Intel Core i9-9900KS processor that Intel announced earlier this year, but with no actual product in sight. The merchant's listing is showing an AUD 899 price for SKU BX80684I99900KS, which converts to USD 605. The new Intel processor, is basically a binned eight-core Coffee Lake Core i9-9900K, which runs at 4.0 GHz base clock (up by 400 MHz) and 5.0 GHz all-core Turbo (300 MHz increase). Single-core maximum Turbo remains at 5.0 GHz (just like on the Core i9-9900K).

Just earlier this week, ASUS posted a BIOS update note, mentioning in it that the Core i9-9900KS will have a 127 W TDP. It looks like Intel can definitely defend the gaming performance crown with the Core i9-9900KS, mostly thanks to its high clock speeds. However, since most of the improvements are in multi-core workload boost clocks, and single-threaded clocks are identical to 9900K, I'm having some doubts whether the processor can really make any substantial difference — it's definitely not going to beat the $100 cheaper Ryzen 9 3900X in Cinebench, and the 127 W TDP limit might mean that the 5.0 GHz all-core Boost will end up being active only for a short amount of time.

Top-of-the-line gaming brand AORUS, reveals itself at the 2019 GAMESCOM trade show in Germany Cologne, in which the spotlight shines at the all-new 17 inch flagship gaming laptop, the AORUS 17. AORUS takes the lead yet again through the co-op with world renowned switch manufacture OMRON to innovate and develop a set of unique mechanical switches that is tailored for the AORUS 17, not only does the keys offer exceptional durability, it also offers one of the best feeling keys that gamers can find on a laptop. The AORUS greatness continues through the combination of the brand new Intel 8-core CPU, NVIDIA RTX graphics chip with Ray Tracing technology and an exclusive WINDFORCE INFINITY cooling system, the AORUS 17 steadily sits on the high-end gaming thrown with these specs.

AORUS leads the industry again by working with world renowned mechanical switch manufacture, OMRON in order to create a unique set of mechanical keys for the AORUS laptop, with gamer oriented design details, including an optimal 2.5 mm key travel and an actuation point of 1.6 mm, giving gamers both the sensational touch and sound of a crisp blue switch, which gamers can now enjoy the qualities of a full mechanical keyboard right on their AORUS laptop. AORUS pursues further by redesigning the key caps to produce stunning backlit keys with unique "concentric" keycaps, letting the LED underneath the keycap shine though evenly, increasing the overall lighting intensity by 27%, in addition to the AORUS exclusive FUSION 2.0 keyboard customization software, gamers can truly create a unique personal style.

Intel late-May made its first major disclosure of the per-core CPU performance gains achieved with its "Ice Lake" processor that packs "Sunny Cove" CPU cores. Averaged across a spectrum of benchmarks, Intel claims a best-case scenario IPC (instructions per clock) uplift of a massive 40 percent over "Skylake," and a mean uplift of 18 percent. The worst-case scenario sees its performance negligibly below that of "Skylake." Intel's IPC figures are derived entirely across synthetic benchmarks, which include SPEC 2016, SPEC 2017, SYSMark 2014 SE, WebXprt, and CineBench R15. The comparison to "Skylake" is relevant because Intel has been using essentially the same CPU core in the succeeding three generations that include "Kaby Lake" and "Coffee Lake."

A Chinese tech-forum member with access to an "Ice Lake" 6-core/12-thread sample put the chip through the CPU-Z internal benchmark (test module version 17.01). At a clock-speed of 3.60 GHz, the "Ice Lake" chip allegedly achieved a single-core score of 635 points. To put this number into perspective, a Ryzen 7 3800X "Matisse" supposedly needs to run at 4.70 GHz to match this score, and a Core i7-7700K "Kaby Lake" needs to run at 5.20 GHz. Desktop "Ice Lake" processors are unlikely to launch in 2019. The first "Ice Lake" processors are 4-core/8-thread chips designed for ultraportable notebook platforms, which come out in Q4-2019, and desktop "Ice Lake" parts are expected only in 2020.

With 7 nm AMD Ryzen 3000 processor family expected to make landfall early-July, and "Ice Lake" nowhere in sight, a panicked Intel announced the development of the Core i9-9900KS 8-core/16-thread LGA1151 processor. Based on the 14 nm "Coffee Lake Refresh" silicon, this processor has a base-frequency of 4.00 GHz, up from 3.60 GHz of the original; and an all-core Turbo Boost frequency of 5.00 GHz, identical to the original i9-9900K, which has its max-turbo set at 5.00 GHZ, too. A revamped Turbo Boost algorithm is expected to yield significant gains in multi-core performance. The company didn't reveal TDP, pricing, or availability.

Intel Tuesday once again shook the IT world by disclosing severe microarchitecture-level security vulnerabilities affecting its processors. The Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS) class of vulnerabilities affect Intel CPU architectures older than "Coffee Lake" to a greater extent. Among other forms of mitigation software patches, Intel is recommending that users disable HyperThreading technology (HTT), Intel's simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation. This would significantly deplete multi-threaded performance on older processors with lower core-counts, particularly Core i3 2-core/4-thread chips.

On "safer" microarchitectures such as "Coffee Lake," though, Intel is expecting a minimal impact of software patches, and doesn't see any negative impact of disabling HTT. This may have something to do with the 50-100 percent increased core-counts with the 8th and 9th generations. The company put out a selection of benchmarks relevant to client and enterprise (data-center) use-cases. On the client use-case that's we're more interested in, a Core i9-9900K machine with software mitigation and HTT disabled is negligibly slower (within 2 percent) of a machine without mitigation and HTT enabled. Intel's selection of benchmarks include SYSMark 2014 SE, WebXprt 3, SPECInt rate base (1 copy and n copies), and 3DMark "Skydiver" with the chip's integrated UHD 630 graphics. Comparing machines with mitigations applied but toggling HTT presents a slightly different story.

With inventories of the B360 Express digesting nicely, motherboard vendors are finally implementing its replacement, the B365 Express, in premium gaming-grade products. ASUS rolled out its first Republic of Gamers (ROG) product, with the ROG Strix B365-G Gaming. Built in the micro-ATX form-factor, this board packs many gamer-essentials and is targeted at PC gamers who don't bother with overclocking. With its in-BIOS memory frequency setting capped at DDR4-2667, ASUS is very specific about the target audience. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 7+2 phase VRM. The board supports all 9th gen and 8th gen Core "Coffee Lake/Refresh" processors out of the box.

The LGA1151 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots that support up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2667 memory; and the board's sole PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot with a metal reinforcement. A PCI-Express 3.0 x1, M.2 E-key slot (for WLAN cards), and PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (physical x16), make for the rest of the expansion area. Storage connectivity includes two M.2-2280 slots, one of which supports both PCI-Express 3.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps, while the other is just PCI-Express 3.0 x4; and six SATA 6 Gbps ports. The board's sole 1 GbE interface is driven by an Intel i219-V controller. USB connectivity includes two type-A 10 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, besides six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two by headers). The onboard audio solution combines a Realtek ALC1220A CODEC with dual OPAMPs, EMI shielding, audio-grade capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. A couple of 3-pin addressable RGB headers make for the rest of this board, which is expected to retail around the $100-mark.

Supplies of Intel processors will worsen in the second quarter of 2019 according to Taiwan-based industry observer DigiTimes. In a research-based report covering not just the DIY channel, but also the OEM channel focusing on notebook manufacturer, DigiTimes notes that heading into Q2, growth in demand for entry-level portables such as Chromebooks based on entry-level Intel processors, and mainstream notebooks powered by Core i3 processors, which make up the largest demographic of PC consumers in the market.

A pertinent concept to this report is supply-gap, the percentage difference between demand and supply. A positive supply-gap indicates demand exceeding supply and shortages. Leading notebook vendors HP, Dell, and Lenovo, reported supply-gaps of 5% going into Q3-2018, which severely impacted their bottom-lines. The companies waded through Q4 with 4-5%. DigiTimes reports that even Apple wasn't spared from shortages in "Amber Lake" processors. "In the first quarter of 2019, the Core i5 processors featuring Coffee Lake architecture are now having the worst supply shortfall. Some of the demand for Intel's entry-level Atom processors has turned to AMD, while some others have opted for Core i3 processors," the report reads. AMD's market-share among OEMs increased from 9.8% in Q1-2018 to 15.8% in Q1-2019.

Intel rolled out its first Pentium-branded processor with 4.00 GHz clock-speed, the Pentium Gold G5620 (retail SKU: BX80684G5620). The chip replaces the G5600 on top of the entry-level product stack. Based on the 14 nm "Coffee Lake" microarchitecture, it packs a 2-core/4-thread CPU clocked at 4.00 GHz without Turbo Boost. 256 KB of L2 cache per core and 4 MB of shared L3 cache are also offered. The integrated graphics solution is Intel's workhorse UHD Graphics 630, with 24 execution units. The dual-channel DDR4 integrated memory controller supports up to 64 GB of DDR4-2400 memory. The chip's TDP is rated at 65W. Pricing is up in the air, with retail channel shortages expected to swing the chip on both sides of the $100-mark. Availability is slated for early-March, 2019.

Akasa Turing is the company's latest fanless cases for Intel "Bean Canyon" NUC family, which embeds 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" processors. Designed for living rooms or corner offices, the Turing is a carbon-black monolith with its aluminium body doubling up as heatsink for the processor. Fins and ridges of the body panel curve in an almost Art Deco style. You can either orient the case vertically, or sideways. The case can handle SoCs with TDP of up to 28 W without needing fans. Front panel connectivity includes a pair of USB 3.1 type-A, an IR receiver, and headset jack, while the rear panel is designed for most "Bean Canyon" boards. Akasa will reveal pricing very soon.

The 1.3-litre PCs of the XPC slim model series are getting a facelift - the DH370 sports a new chassis design which accommodates Intel processors of the 8th generation for socket LGA1151v2, relies on the faster H370 chipset and offers a total of four USB 3.1 ports with up to 10 GBit/s. With the DH370, Intel's H370 chipset makes its debut in Shuttle's range of 1.3-litre PCs. These not only support Intel processors of the "Coffee Lake" generation with up to 65 Watt TDP and up to 32 GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM memory, it is also possible to control three monitors at once in 4K resolution. An HDMI 2.0b and two DisplayPort 1.2 ports are available to facilitate this. If required, one analog VGA port can be provided optionally. Three of the four monitor ports could then be used simultaneously.

"With these technical specs on paper, the DH370 now bears the title of the XPC model with the highest performance per cubic centimetre," says Tom Seiffert, Head of Marketing & PR at Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH. "The new chassis design sets the appropriate tone." Despite its compact dimensions of just 19 x 16.5 x 4.3 cm (DWH), there is space for a 2.5-inch drive (HDD/SSD) and an M.2 NVMe SSD. Another M.2 slot in 2230 format can be fitted with a WLAN module, for example. The Shuttle WLN-M is the appropriate accessory here. Two antennas guarantee optimum reception quality.

With its 9th generation Core processor family, Intel introduced STIM (soldered thermal interface material) to transfer heat between the processor die and the metal integrated heatspreader (IHS), as opposed to fluid thermal pastes. Enthusiasts prefer soldered IHS for their superior heat-transfer characteristics. It was known since the series launch that STIM will be restricted to the unlocked "K" SKUs, such as the i9-9900K and i7-9700K, while locked SKUs would retain thermal pastes. PC enthusiast @momomo_us (Twitter handle) de-lidded a Core i5-9400F sample to confirm this.

The Core i5-9400F was de-lidded (its IHS removed) and placed next to a de-lidded i5-9600K, showing you TIM residue surrounding the i5-9400F die, and solder fragments on that of the i5-9600K. Interestingly, the i5-9600K die looks visibly larger than the i5-9400F, despite both being 6-core processors with 9 MB L3 cache. This isn't because the latter lacks an iGPU (not physically anyway). The i5-9400F die appears to be roughly as big as the 6-core "Coffee Lake" die used in 8th generation Core 6-core processors, while the i5-9600K appears to be carved out of the 8-core "Coffee Lake" die by disabling two CPU cores. The iGPU is physically present on the i5-9400F, but disabled.

Intel succeeded in bringing down the TDP of its 8-core/16-thread "Coffee Lake-Refresh" silicon all the way down to a staggering 35 W, from its currently rated 95 W, which in real-world usage easily exceeds 110 W, given Turbo Boost, and other performance enhancements enabled by DIY motherboards. The new Core i9-9900T achieves its TDP with a combination of significantly lower clock-speeds, and an aggressive on-die power-management system. Its nominal-clock is down to 1.70 GHz from 3.60 GHz of the original i9-9900K, while 1~2 core Turbo Boost frequency is down to 3.80 GHz from 5.00 GHz of the original. The all-core Turbo clock-speed could be as low as 3.30 GHz. Intel hasn't tinkered with the L3 cache amount, which is still set at 16 MB, and the UHD 630 iGPU retains its EU count and clock-speeds. The chip features its 4-character product code of QQC0.