Akasa Turing - Passively cool an Intel NUC

Intel's NUC (Next Unit of Computing) is a mini barebone PC with laptop hardware to equip an extremely compact computer with powerful hardware. Only SSD and RAM need to be retrofitted by the user to have a full computer. Due to the compact dimensions of 117 x 112 x 36mm or 117 x 112 x 51mm, the corresponding cooling solution of the NUC is similar to that of a laptop and is extremely compact. The cooling of the CPU is sufficient, but not optimally designed for high continuous load and is clearly audible due to the installed fan. No one may have a small jet on their desk or in the living room.

Akasa offers housings that can be used purely passively for cooling by converting the board of the NUC into a housing that itself functions as an oversized heat sink. Due to the enlarged surface area and the sheer amount of aluminum of the housing, the thermal mass or the heat capacity is significantly higher and allows the resulting heat energy to be dissipated purely passively.

For this review, an Intel NUC kit NUC8i5BEK with an Intel Core i5 8259U was used. This CPU is specified with a 28W power dissipation (TDP).

The Akasa Turing case in detail
The Akasa Turing is compatible with the current generation of Intel NUCs with Intel Coffee-Lake-SoC, also known as "Bean Canyon" with the model numbers NUC8i7BEH, NUC8i5BE, NUC8i5BEH, NUC8i3BEK, NUC8i3BEH.

Unpacked, the case already shines in all its splendor and the viewer quickly becomes apparent how the cooling can be done passively. The whole housing is basically an oversized heat sink, which absorbs the generated waste heat of the CPU through the cooling fins and releases it to the environment. For the conversion, only the board of the NUC is used and converted into the middle area of the Akasa Turning. The housing including cooling is thus changed.

In addition to a manual, thermal paste, housing feet and a VESA holder, the scope of delivery of the housing is included. Mounting material and cables for installing a 2.5" HDD or SSD are also included. Since the housing itself acts as a cooler, there is no other material for cooling the CPU, as the whole NUC is simply integrated into the Akasa Turning.

The housing itself has dimensions of 95 x 113.5 x 247.9 mm and can only accommodate the Intel NUC boards of the "Bean Canyon" range as mentioned at the beginning. All connections of the NUC are provided in the usual way at the front as well as at the back, only the WiFi antenna of the NUC itself can no longer be used.

Akasa has integrated two holes at the back of the turning, through which WLAN and Bluetooth antennas can be directed outwards. Unfortunately, these antennas are not integrated in the accessories and have to be chewed and retrofitted independently. The original antenna of the NUC cannot be used for this either.