Intel's Core Ultra 7 265K desktop CPU runs at under 80° C in a Turemetal UP3 fanless mini-ITX case

Even though Intel’s latest desktop processors seem to have lost their edge over AMD’s competitors, at least the power efficiency is somewhat better than expected. Raptor Lake and its Raptor Lake-R successor were plagued with power and stability problems, but these issues appear to be fixed on the new Arrow Lake models. Moreover, a mid-range processor like the Core Ultra 7 265K can now represent a great choice for a fanless mini PC system, as demonstrated by a custom system builder on the Chinese ChipHell forum. 

The Core Ultra 7 265K is by no means a low TDP model, with a default base power rating of 125 W, which can go up to 250 W. It also comes with 8 performance cores and 12 efficiency cores for a total of 20 threads running at up to 5.5 GHz, plus it integrates an NPU and an Arc GPU with 4 Xe cores. In order to keep things running at decent temperatures, the fanless mini PC build does not include a dedicated GPU. The system builder mentions that the PC is made for an audiophile who needs a quiet environment to savor high-quality music. 

Turemetal is already an established brand in the fanless community, so the custom builder chose the new UP3 case that measures 300 x 300 x 200 mm and features six 8 mm heatpipes that connect the CPU passive block to the radiators on the right and left sides. This case packs enough heat dissipation material to keep the  CPU temperature at 46-60° C in moderate use cases, while in full load the CPU could reach 80° C, but this is still well within TJMAX specs. The only component that did not really do well temperature-wise in this chassis was the Samsung 990 Evo Plus 1 TB NVMe SSD that could reach 92° C in full load. An additional heatsink for the SSD is needed in this particular case.

Also included in this build are the Asus ROG Strix B860-I Gaming WIFI motherboard, only 16 GB DDR5-4800 RAM with enough room for future upgrades, as well as an Intel S35101 6 TB SATA SSD for mass music storage.