Intel Issues PCN to Improve NUC Cooling

Intel issued a product change notification (PCN), marked 112432-00, which attempts to improve the reliability of the system under heavy wireless network stress. A design flaw in Intel's reference NUC boxes equipped with wireless LAN and Thunderbolt came to light late last year, when a reviewer at TechReport discovered that when under stress, the mPCIe WLAN card can overheat, causing the neighboring mSATA SSD to malfunction. In its latest PCN, Intel included a 9.5 mm-thick flexible thermal pad on the top panel, which draws heat from the SSD, and conducts it to the chassis.