Maxing out at the 12900T means they are using laptop-level SKUs. The nominal TDP of 35W [0] is what you see in high end, performance-oriented laptops. Unsophist

Maxing out at the 12900T means they are using laptop-level SKUs. The nominal TDP of 35W [0] is what you see in high end, performance-oriented laptops. Unsophisticated thermal designs can handle this easily. I have a cheap fanless mini PC from AliExpress. The thermal solution is an all-aluminum case, to which the CPU is coupled with thermal paste. The body is thicker than your typical case to provide thermal mass. The outer surface has thick grooves (approximately 1/2cm). This thing never comes close to throttling. A more sophisticated passive solution that could create convective air movement would dissipate much more heat. [0] I am fully aware of the flaws in the TDP published by CPU manufacturers, but the listed value is useful as a qualitative categorization.