Motherboard AM4 Thin ITX motherboards, They do exist!

[Valantar]

I am concerned about the chipset heat from all of these thin mini itx designs. TechTablets on youtube tested a barebones using one of these motherboards, and like mine it's chipset ran very hot and it always consumed 20w+ at idle

Define "very hot"?

 

[REVOCCASES]

I've just ordered (not yet arrived) a AsRock thin ITX mobo to build a low TDP APU PC. Do you have some recommendations for small and simple cases?

I had a look around but nothing catched my eyes. So I am thinking if I should build my own case. Already got some suitable aluminum profiles...

 

[kotproger]

I've just ordered (not yet arrived) a AsRock thin ITX mobo to build a low TDP APU PC.

In your photo, it's not thin, but a standard mini-itx board.

 

[REVOCCASES]

In your photo, it's not thin, but a standard mini-itx board.

Correct, I said: "I've just ordered (not yet arrived) a AsRock thin ITX "

Just to check the size... The new board should arrive within the next days...

 

[Ricky Zeng]

Correct, I said: "I've just ordered (not yet arrived) a AsRock thin ITX "

Just to check the size... The new board should arrive within the next days...

Which Asrock board is it? A320TM-ITX?

 

[REVOCCASES]

Which Asrock board is it? A320TM-ITX?

Exactly. Not sure this was the best choice. The ONDA board seems to offer more functions for a better price.

 

[Ricky Zeng]

Exactly. Not sure this was the best choice. The ONDA board seems to offer more functions for a better price.

I'm using the same board (A320TM-ITX) paring with Athlon 3000G as HTPC for living room TV. The case I chose was Silverstone PT13, and also using their low profile (23mm) CPU cooler. It's the smallest I could find from name brands and the ventilation as you can see is actually quite good. Probably not so good value for money though, as a few full aluminium cases can be purchased for half as much cost (both half height ~45mm and full height ~65mm and even thicker ones are available).

I also regret chosing Asrock over Onda for this setup. The Onda A320-IPC board supports dual channel DDR4, and has the WIFI and M2 slot layed out separately (rather than stacked together like Asrock) so better M2 heat sink compatibility. I checked with Onda official store in Taobao and they said there is plan to update the A320-IPC BIOS for future CPU support. Although a vague answer but I think that means hope for 4000 series APU. Seems promising...

 

[kotproger]

By the way, no one knows the exact release date of the 520 chipset? With its appearance, the chances are high to see new thin motherboards.

 

[REVOCCASES]

not sure about the 520 chipset but I got my board up and running.

I regret my choice more and more though. Despite the data sheet saying it runs with 19VDC I was still hoping that it would also work with 12VDC like the ONDA. I can confirm it does not.

Anyways, now that I got the board I must admit I'm a little bit in love with this form factor. It gives some nice and fresh opportunities to design custom cases. Guess I'll try pairing it with a LP GTX and putting it in a <3L case somehow...

 

[Ricky Zeng]

By the way, no one knows the exact release date of the 520 chipset? With its appearance, the chances are high to see new thin motherboards.

I don't know if I'd hold my breath for it. The first batch of A520 boards Asrock seemed to have registered only include one ITX, A520M-ITX/ac, and that sounds like a regular height board:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/new-amd-a520-chipset-motherboards-registered

I just hope Asrock would release a BIOS for A320TM-ITX to allow compatibility with Renoir APU, like the way they did for A300 desk mini.

 

[REVOCCASES]

I am trying to combine a 75W GPU with a thin-ITX board using only one power supply. Problem is that the GPU needs 12VDC and the board needs 19VDC.

Does anyone have experience if a simple 12VDC to 19VDC boost converter would work?

Edit: yes it's working.

 

[Haz]

On viewnote site for Jubo A320i: http://www.viewnote.cn/pro_article.aspx?id=333 there is HDMI BIOS from 05.2020:

Thank's for the reply that would have been useful at the time.
I've went to more extreme measures and modified the board.

 

[LUNA Design]

Interesting idea. I found ADT cables for such usage on Taobao:

淘宝网 - 淘！我喜欢

淘宝网(Taobao.com)作为专业的购物网站拥有全球时尚前沿的消费者购物集市,100%认证网上商城及超值二手商品区，同时购物安全，产品丰富，应有尽有,任你选购,让你尽享网上在线购物乐趣！

item.taobao.com

 

[REVOCCASES]

I don't know if I'd hold my breath for it. The first batch of A520 boards Asrock seemed to have registered only include one ITX, A520M-ITX/ac, and that sounds like a regular height board:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/new-amd-a520-chipset-motherboards-registered

I just hope Asrock would release a BIOS for A320TM-ITX to allow compatibility with Renoir APU, like the way they did for A300 desk mini.

I have tested and can confirm Renoir does not work with A320TM-ITX for now. I do hope but highly doubt they will release a BIOS update to support 4000G APUs. Probably have to wait for some A520 thin ITX.

 

[CC Ricers]

I'm holding my breath on thin ITX A520 boards for now and would be considering sticking with B550 or my B450 if a BIOS update comes to support the 4000 series.

Given that one point with thin boards is to keep volumes as low as possible for me the only way to decrease volume is to create a custom I/O shield that is some 5mm narrower than stock. This is not really unheard of either, as narrow I/O shields exist for 1U server cases.

 

[REVOCCASES]

Asrock's support team doesnt always make the most sense, but I do have a small bit of information, idk if it will help or not, as most of it is repeated information, but for anyone else this may also help.

I had emailed them, and the conversation went as follows:

7/4/2019, Me: Hello, I was thinking about purchasing your a320tm-itx, but I see no place to purchase it. Is it not going to be sold? If it is, how much would it cost and where can I find it? Thanks, Joe Davidson (not my actual name btw).

7/5/2019, Them: Dear Joe, Thank you for your interest of ASRock MB. A320TM-ITX is only for special project we won’t sell it in regular channel. Thanks

*Cut*

So CES 2020 came and went, I found some articles online stating some stuff about the A320TM being released alongside a mini PC called the Jupiter A320. Many articles list that the board that powers the Jupiter A320, which is said to support dual channel RAM as well, is the A320TM-ITX. However, upon closer inspection, this seemed a bit odd to me as the positions and types of ports on the jupiter were not consistent with the a320tm-itx.

anyways, back to the emails.

4/22/2020, Me: Hello, I now understand the A320TM-ITX is for the Jupiter a320, is that correct? However, I had a few inquiries about that. Firstly, does the Jupiter a320 support dual channel ram? According to articles online, both the a320tm itx and the Jupiter a320 have dual channel RAM support, but at the same time someone else had told me that the a320tm itx does not support dual channel. Secondly, I notice on the Jupiter that there is a displayport connector, while on the plain a320tm-itx there is none present. Considering that the Jupiter is supposedly based upon the a320tm-itx, how was the displayport added?

4/23/2020, Them: Dear Taylor (Also not my name, but its the name listed on gmail for me), I will let our tech support to answer your question but just let you know that we don’t sell Jupiter in US or Channel, this model only for special project is Asia. Thanks. Dear John(tech support guy), Please check below see can you help with this end user. Thanks

4/24/2020, John: Hello Taylor, A320TM-ITX motherboard is not for the Jupiter A320. They are different motherboard. I linked the A320TM-ITX motherboard specification for user reference. Specification: http://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/A320TM-ITX/index.asp#Specification. A320TM-ITX supports single channel. Be sure to install the memory module into the DDR4_A2 slot as first priority; otherwise, the system may not boot up properly or may operate incorrectly. About Jupiter A320 inquiry, motherboard has not been launched. Please stay tuned in ASRock website for detailed information. Thank you

4/26/2020, Me: So to be clear, the A320TM does not support dual channel at all? If this is the case, may I ask why?

So this is where I ended up, and hopefully I will get an answer soon. I know he says single channel is supported, but didn't explicitly state that dual channel was not. Upon delving into more detail into the manual of the board, it then struck me. I am pretty certain that the A320TM-ITX does NOT support dual channel, and the proof was right in front of my face. If you look at the board, it shows the RAM slots as "A1" and "A2". on every other dual ram slot itx motherboard that supports dual channel, these slots are labeled "A1" and "B1". In pretty much all motherboards, the letter refers to the channel, and the number refers to the order inside the channel the ram must be placed in. A1 and A2 on the asrock board suggests that there are 2 slots of a single channel. Now why they want you to put ram in a2 first is beyond me, but yeah.


TL;DR A320TM-ITX is single channel only

Thank you for this. Now I know why the graphics performance of my 3200G is so poor.

 

[Vlad502]

IPASON F-migrate barebone with Zen2 APU using custom Jubo A300

 

[REVOCCASES]

IPASON F-migrate barebone with Zen2 APU using custom Jubo A300

If you like to see some actual pictures, selling mine as barebone in the trade section. But with non- modified A300 board (the modded one sits in my new THIN1 build). I was able to dump the modded IPASON BIOS which supports Renoir but not able to flash to the second A300 board I have. If someone is more familiar with BIOSes just let me know.

 

[omgitspngu]

I was wrong on that, jubo lists the pin out a stupid way around. However, my lvds port doesn't seem to be working at all (no voltage). Anyone had any experience with lvds? Does it require a screen before it provides voltage?

Hey! I know it's been a year, but I'd like to ask if you were able to figure this one out. I got an A320TM-ITX and this LVDS to HDMI converter board. Unfortunately, I'm not getting any video output through that. I had a thorough look at the docs to make sure I got the wiring right, tried different jumper configurations and UEFI settings, and in a last ditch effort even soldered the resistor that's suggested by the makers of the converter to switch over to JEIDA from VESA; no luck. Starting to wonder if I perhaps got unlucky and either the Mainboard or, more likely, the converter, is defective - but then again, the latter gets warm to the touch, so it must be doing *something*, right?

Has anyone had troubles with this before and perhaps overcome them? Oh and, to be clear, the regular HDMI outs work just fine. Once I remove the PANEL_DISABLE jumper, I get no video from either the onboard HDMI nor the LVDS+Converter. Using a 3400G.

PS: Here's the (as far as I can tell) relevant portion from both manuals/datasheets:

A320M-ITX Manual
LVDS Converter Datasheet

 

[omgitspngu]

Quick update: Made a bit of "progress". Still not getting any video, but figured I'd just install Ubuntu and look at what's up. The LVDS out is being picked up as eDP, not sure what's up with that.

Sent an email to Asrock support asking for technical details. Also found this chap having trouble with LVDS on the A320M-ITX: https://community.amd.com/thread/255241#comment-2988293

Will report back when I've figured something out, will let this rest for a bit.