Zotac to demo world's first mini PC with AirJet membrane-based compact coolers at Computex

Earlier this year at CES, Frore was showcasing its revolutionary AirJet coolers that employ vibrating membranes. This solution is ultra-compact since the membranes are very thin, and Frore estimated that the first devices to utilize the AirJet system could launch in the second half of 2023. It looks like Zotac is among the first to integrate the new cooling technology, as the company recently announced that the world’s first AirJet implementation is to be demonstrated at Computex next week.

Zotac’s ZBOX PI430AJ Pico mini PC powered by Intel’s Alder Lake i3-N300 processor with eight efficiency cores and a 7 W TDP will be the first ever commercial devices to feature the Frore AirJet coolers. This mini PC measures 115 x 76 x 22 mm and also integrates up to 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM plus up to 1 TB NVMe SSD storage. As far as porrt selection goes, the front panel includes 2x USB-A 3.2 and a USB-C, as well as a miniSD card reader, while the back panel features DP + HDMI video outputs, a combo audio jack and an Ethernet jack.

With the addition of two efficient AirJet Mini compact coolers, the i3-N300 can run at 7 W TDP and 60 C. According to Frore’s own tests, the i3-N300 would throttle to under 3.5 W TDP without the AirJet coolers, resulting in drastically reduced performance. Of course, Zotac could use regular fan-based coolers, but the chassis would not be as compact. The profile of a mini PC might not really be that important, but the AirJet solution can make a bigger difference when coupled with higher wattage laptop components. Frore says integrators are also interested in adding AirJet coolers to stick PCs, PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs, doorbell cameras with AI features, LED overhead lighting systems, electric vehicle hardware and even augmented-reality glasses.

The ZBOX PI430AJ Pico is expected to see availability in Q4 this year starting at US$500, but Zotac also hinted that the AirJet coolers could be added to more powerful mini PCs.

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