SFF.Network ASRock Z270M-STX MXM Micro-STX Motherboard Pictured

This morning we posted about the amazing ASRock DeskMini GTX and DeskMini RX, and now we have shots of the new Micro-STX motherboard that makes this all possible: the ASRock Z270M-STX MXM!

Read more here.

 

[EdZ]

Good news - https://www.techpowerup.com/230473/asrock-unveils-the-h110-stx-mxm-motherboard
Product page - http://www.asrock.com/ipc/overview.asp?Model=H110-STX MXM

1 x M.2 (Key E) , 2 x M.2 (Key M)

Hey, where'd that third slot go?

 

[robbee]

Hey, where'd that third slot go?

From the datasheet:

1 x M.2 Slot (Key M), supports type 2260/2280 M.2 PCIe Gen3 x4 SSD
2 x M.2 Slot (Key M), supports type 2260/2280 M.2 PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA SSD

 

[jeshikat]

I wonder if someone accidentally published the product page early. The formatting doesn't look very polished.

 

[LocoMoto]

Also, is that a lower cost MB?
As it seems pretty different both in features and chipset

 

[Kmpkt]

Hey, where'd that third slot go?

Honestly, three M.2 was kinda overkill anyhow. One of the big blogs (Toms/Anandtech?) published an article a while ago looking at RAID 0 with 2 vs 3 M.2 and there wasn't much improvement when using the third drive.

 

[Phuncz]

Probably because these run over the DMI 3.0 port and are bottlenecked. Unless they actually diverted PCIe lanes from the graphics card bus that connect to the CPU, like they did with the Asus Maximus Impact VII an VIII.

 

[LocoMoto]

Honestly, three M.2 was kinda overkill anyhow. One of the big blogs (Toms/Anandtech?) published an article a while ago looking at RAID 0 with 2 vs 3 M.2 and there wasn't much improvement when using the third drive.

Not overkill if you wanna be an M.2 storage only guy, 2 SATA in a cloned setup with a PCI-E game drive!

 

[EdZ]

Honestly, three M.2 was kinda overkill anyhow. One of the big blogs (Toms/Anandtech?) published an article a while ago looking at RAID 0 with 2 vs 3 M.2 and there wasn't much improvement when using the third drive.

Overkill for storage, but breaking out those m.2 PCIe lanes into other devices (e.g. USB3 host controller) is still useful.

 

[danger]

I thought this was supposed to be based on z270, but the official details now say h110?

 

[3lfk1ng]

I still see Z270 in the Chipset specifications as well as the datasheet.
http://www.asrock.com/ipc/overview.asp?Model=H110-STX MXM
http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Download/e-catalog/H110-STX MXM.pdf

 

[danger]

That is interesting. I have to think either the model number is wrong or the chipset is wrong. I don't see why they'd give a z270 board an h110 model number.

 

[thewizzard1]

That is interesting. I have to think either the model number is wrong or the chipset is wrong. I don't see why they'd give a z270 board an h110 model number.

Agreed, unless somebody thought their STX series was named that way by some other purpose.

 

[Kmpkt]

The picture is Z270 as well. H110 kinda makes more sense IMO since overclocking likely won't be possible given the TDP limits of the board and most coolers compliant with the intended use. Add to that the fact that MXM cards are likely going to push the price quite high, the cheaper chipset lets them bring their price point down enough to keep the unit as a viable purchase. I'd love to see them lose a M.2 only to move more stuff to the back and shorten up the board 10-15mm, or alternatively find a little extra space for an on board 4 or 6 pin DC in.

 

[HeroXLazer]

This is the H110, not the Z270, that's why there are only two slots.

 

[Kmpkt]

Yes I know that. I think the speculation here is that they may be choosing the H110 chipset in place of the Z270 as a cost-saving measure.

 

[HeroXLazer]

Yes I know that. I think the speculation here is that they may be choosing the H110 chipset in place of the Z270 as a cost-saving measure.

Oh...

 

[alexep7]

Honestly, I doubt this form factor will take off because of the implications that putting MXM GPUs for sale would bring to the laptop market. I really appreciate ASRock's constant attempts to innovate and always go smaller though.

 

[alinescoo]

After trying to figure out a mini-ITX build I never got to a point to be happy with all components (small case, i5, m2 SSD, 1050ti) while being sure that the cooling will be good enough and noise level acceptable. I am not ok with water cooling.

I would actually like a barebone with H110 being cheaper than z270 while having the needed ports. Maybe we'll have 2 barebones, one cheaper with h110 and other more expensive for overclockers with z270.
However, I am a bit concerned on the cooling of all this. Since the PSU is external that will help, but I am curious how MXM cooling works and how efficient it is, after all we have quite a very small case compared with a mini-ITX case where cooling is not quite easy to implement.

So basically I am interestingly waiting for the MXM barebone, especially curious on its price. I guess it's either this or a Vivo PC X...

 

[chx]

As for a mini-ITX, I am looking the Silverstone ML09 with a low profile 1050 ti.

I would remove the small fan(s) from the video card and use these 80mm fans. If they need to be slim ones (just eyeballing the case makes me think it might be necessary) then based on this thread these EC8015HH12BP look like a good choice. Two 80mm fans should easily keep a 1050 Ti cool while being whisper quiet. Quite probably one could...

As for the CPU cooler, he case allows for 70mm CPU coolers. The ideal would be Prolimatech Samuel 17 and a 25mm fan from caseking.de, it doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere else, that'd be exactly 70mm but they only ship to the EU. The ID Cooling IS-25 with a normal thickness 120mm fan would be 67mm and it uses screws not clips so switching the fan should be easy. Even with the original thin fan it advertises itself as a 130W cooler so a 25mm fan could be quite slow and still provide enough for a 65W CPU... Or just go with the Rajintek Pallas at 68mm, the fan is only 13mm however.

Finally, either use a semi-passive SFX PSU or just go with a PicoPSU or similar, the whole system is <180W with a 75W GPU and a 65W CPU (I guess you'd buy a Ryzen now not an i5).

If this STX things is a go http://www.aetina.com.tw/products-detail.php?i=184 exists, it's "Type A" but I read "Type A" is just shorter and no problems with a Type B slot.

 

[nix]

The ML09 isn't a bad case but at 7L vs 2.xL for the Deskmini RX/GTX it's really in a different class.