SFF.Network CES 2019: ASRock

Content created by Drew Duncan (@3lfk1ng )

I was looking forward to this one. ASRock has been a strong supporter of the SFF world for some time, let's see what they have on show at CES 2019!

Read more here.

 

[Boil]

So where is the A300 chipset...?

Maybe the "Super I/O"; top right, by the M.2 WiFi & M.2 PCIe SSD slots...?

 

[Therandomness]

So where is the A300 chipset...?

Maybe the "Super I/O"; top right, by the M.2 WiFi & M.2 PCIe SSD slots...?

Ryzen CPUs are SoCs. They have enough I/O to 'function' as the chipset and CPU at the same time.

 

[Boil]

Japanese review of the ASRock Deskmini A300 barebones...

"If you like a small PC you can not find a reason to hesitate to purchase."

 

[Blakfetha]

Japanese review of the ASRock Deskmini A300 barebones...

"If you like a small PC you can not find a reason to hesitate to purchase."

'Since the "AM4 CPU Cooler" is included in the domestic model, there is no need to separately prepare a corresponding CPU cooler' That's nice, but would be better if it can fit an NH-L9a

Also, I wonder if that rear audio cable works with the Intel Deskminis.

 

[Boil]

'Since the "AM4 CPU Cooler" is included in the domestic model, there is no need to separately prepare a corresponding CPU cooler' That's nice, but would be better if it can fit an NH-L9a

Also, I wonder if that rear audio cable works with the Intel Deskminis.

The included CPU cooler (for the Japanese domestic market, not the US market) isd the one by ASRock...

A Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 should fit fine, but removing the outer shroud from the AMD Wraith Stealth CPU cooler should reduce the overall height enough to fit into the Deskini chassis...

 

[SFF EOL]

I bought from CCL (UK).
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x 8GB) 2400MHz DDR4 RAM
Code# RAM3170 Mfg# CMSX16GX4M2A2400C16
£73.99
AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad Core CPU
Code# CPU0536 Mfg# YD2400C5FBBOX
£119.94
Adata XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB M.2-2280 NVMe PCIe SSD
Code# SSD0896 Mfg# ASX8200PNP-512GT-C
£76.96
ASRock DeskMini A300 Mini PC Barebone for Socket AM4
Code# BRB0560 Mfg# 90BXG3G01-A30GA0W
£134.99
Standard DPD
£5.99
Order Total (inc VAT)
£411.86

As you can see I don’t really have the best DDR, but this isn’t going to be used for gaming, it is for my mother so really just productivity and Kodi. I already have two new/spare 500GB SATA SSD so just went with the M.2 NVMe for a boot drive- again speed wasn’t the main factor. It will have W10 I just haven’t decided how I go about that yet.

It arrives tomorrow, and there was no way I could find or justify faster SO-DIMM, there was this ar basement price and otherwise well north of £200 for 16GB. In that sense I probably went overboard on the 2400G I guess? At the same time I could see some benefits in the 2200G that justified the extra cost.

CCL have had 10 in stock for a few weeks I think so it isn’t rushing off the shelves, I suppose given it ends up costing £500 it is a niche purchase as you could get a mATX system with dGPU for about the same price. Anyway wish me luck, I have built a few SFF now, using things like AM1 ITX so hopefully this should be quite easy as a barebones. In theory there should be little to go wrong (he says).

ALso when you order the A300 it gives you the option to add the things like the extra cables, I thoght I did that but looks like I haven't so I'll probably have to back order them. CCL are offering the WiFi Dongle, the VESA mount, and a USB Splitter cable that adds two USB to the side of the case- neither under or over priced.

ETA: Have I missed out a CPU Cooler? If so can someone recommend one, air cooled obviously as I am sticking with the case. Looks like I will have to order those extras above so if I need a cooler better to try and get it from CCL at the same time- something on the silent end that fits as my mother isn't going to be hammering it. It will sit on a shelve doing Email, Facebook, Office Kodi and that's about it.