Logic Supply Core-ML320 Fanless Industrial NUC Review

Concluding Remarks

Coming to the business end of the review, it is clear that Logic Supply has been able to deliver effectively on the promise of a fanless NUC. The chassis has been designed to adapt the default NUC configuration for the requirements of industrial PCs. The online ordering page provides lots of options for customization. Even though the capacity choice of the SSDs in the review unit wasn't great, consumers do have the option of going in for larger sized SSDs if desired. That said, the DRAM options are top of the line, with full 1600 MHz support (instead of the 1333 MHz that some vendors put in, in order to cut down power consumption / thermal load).

Our only points of complaint are related to the size of the primary drive and the possibility of a better thermal design. On the former point, 32 GB simply shouldn't be an option, particularly when Windows is being presented as a OS of choice. A bare install followed by a couple of major updates is enough to cause disk space problems. It is also recommended that SSDs keep a fair amount of space free in order to maintain performance. A 32 GB mSATA drive simply can't be recommended. On the latter point, we found that parts of the chassis reached temperatures of 170 F+ under sustained heavy loading. A larger surface area for heat dissipation could have made the unit maintain a lower temperature profile even under high load.

Despite these minor quibbles (neither of which are show-stoppers), we have to say that Logic Supply's Core-ML320 is an excellent option for consumers looking for a passively cooled NUC. Its industrial components lend itself to a multitude of applications such as digital signage, kiosks and the like (even in harsh environments). For DIY builds and those finding the cost of a full-blown pre-built system too high, Logic Supply also sells the chassis standalone (ML320) for $139.