A Closer Look - Inside

Simply remove the screws holding the bottom cover in place to access the interior. As the chassis has been anodized golden, the interior features the same shiny surface as the rest of the chassis. You can expect the same of the black variant, or a silver surface for the untreated unit.


Unlike other NUC cases, the Newton comes with an actual PCB on which the front USB, LEDs, and power button reside. This traditional approach is necessary as the chassis is a bit bigger than the Intel NUC enclosure, which then also makes the front I/O possible—other manufacturers try to put the power button on top of the board instead. The PCB also allows for flexibility, offering other connectivity options should the platform change over time. The cutouts for the motherboard's various connectors are in the rear, and the little opening above the large square for Ethernet connectivity is for a Kensington lock. A protective layer has been added to the rear panel, and the two additional WiFi openings have their own rubber plugs; simply pull these out if you need one for an external antenna.

Assembly

Akasa utilizes one large block to transfer heat from the board to the case fins, while Tranquil PC opts for two separate blocks. The Akasa Newton could then heat the cooler of the two chips up involuntary, but we should not jump to any conclusions until the numbers are in. I uninstalled the board to clearly show where the two large ICs make contact with the chassis. There is loads of space toward the front of the chassis, which is surprising as Akasa could have made the Newton smaller overall. It is most likely in an attempt to increase thermal performance, as the larger chassis also translates into a larger heatsink.


Connecting the front I/O to the NUC board should not be an issue unless you ripped the motherboard out of a retail Intel NUC chassis. You will, if so, miss the USB 2.0 header pins. While the location is clearly there, Intel skipped attaching these headers, resulting in the front USB port's inability to connect properly. A little adapter to transform the internal plug to that on USB sticks would have then been nice since it would make routing the external plug to the front possible. Fortunately, connecting the power button and LEDs works as those pins are present on even the fully encased Intel NUC board.

Finished Looks

With everything connected, both LEDs light up in different colors, with the orange LED being the HDD activity LED and the blue denoting that the Newton is powered on. All the connectors in the rear are easily accessible as the rear is completely flat, with no recessed connectors.