Motherboard Group Buy/Crowdfunded Modded BIOS for the Asrock A300m (Deskmini A300)

[Curiosity]

I'd be willing to put in another $20 to that bounty. Not much compared to some, but more than nothing.

Super interested in using a non apu CPU in this with a dgpu. Ideally a 3600, but a 2600 would also be fantastic!

Also, thank you for all your work so far, Dan.

 

[Thorieo]

Also, if anyone is using and AMD board with a 7-segment LCD built in for post codes, can you try to find a list of what each code means on your device, as well as try to get a video (slow motion preferably) of the order and speed of each code?

Hey made an account to offer up my biostar x470GTN got it super cheap and it’s waiting for me to get money for a 3600. But I’d be willing to send it over for a month or two. Hope that helps. Also have a B350M pro4

 

[encore2097]

Interested in the BIOS mod as well. Working on getting ECC working..

 

[kroaler]

After a maddening night searching the internet for some way to get the IGPU unlocked, I landed here. Count me in for 50$. Quite frankly, if someone develops a working bios for IGPU I believe they can profit much more than the 500 $ or so bounty. These A300 rigs have been VERY popular.
FYI - I raised my 3d passmark score from 2387 to 2767 just by raising the ram speeds which arent locked to 3300ish mhz from.

 

[W4RR10R]

@Danlopez1222 any news?

 

[Elementary]

Hi there, I'm french and can add like 30$. I'm very intrested in the non-apu CPU support. I have a 3600 and realy want to use it withe an eGPU.

 

[TwinHaelix]

In for $30. Especially interested in overclocking iGPU and fixing the too-high voltage issues.

 

[Robddd]

In for $50. Didn’t even know something like this was possible. Super keen to see it happen.

 

[Elementary]

Just to know wich OS are you using ? Linux ?

 

[W4RR10R]

Just to know wich OS are you using ? Linux ?

I have run both windows 10 and cent os, but the issues with the no OC and non apu support is purely bios. The board doesnt even post with an r5 2600.

 

[kroaler]

Wow - Good bit of interest since my last post. So who is actually working on this? Also to better organize and prioritize, can we get a features list in order of importance so we dont get scope creep? Im thinking first iteration should be IGPU overclock unlock.
1.) IGPU Unlock
2.) ?
3.) ?

Additionally we really need some contact points of who is actually working on this and what resources they require for success.

 

[GLSRacer]

Unfortunately it seems that this project has gone cold. Despite the increase in requests, the parties who were working on this have not posted additional updates in some time. I have had other IT priorities due to work but I'm contemplating a dedicated study session at some point to fill in the knowledge gaps I have with regard to AGESA and BIOS modding. My focus would be to unlock CPU and GPU overclocking. I don't really see the point of the A300W for non-APU use as an ITX case would be a better bet for those wanting dedicated graphics.

 

[Windfall]

I don't really see the point of the A300W for non-APU use as an ITX case would be a better bet for those wanting dedicated graphics.

This is SFF forum. The only "point" we need is "smaller".

 

[GLSRacer]

I thought that might be the common response haha. I'm not trying to be controversial, I just don't see how adding an external GPU to the A300W keeps the size smaller than a good mITX case which integrates the GPU internally. To each their own I guess.

 

[Curiosity]

I'm personally planning an stx+dgpu build right now, the only thing keeping me from starting is money.
The form factor of stx allows me to fit an internal PSU + stepup converter in a smaller case than I would be able to use if I was doing itx. That 30mm matters in this case.
All in all the build is planned to have
140mm rad, 295mm GPU max, internal PSU, and the stx board in a roughly 6.5l space

 

[GLSRacer]

I guess you guys are a lot more dedicated to ultra small PCs than I am. My next system will be a 16 core AMD Ryzen or 32 core Threadripper in a 4U server case. I've got another system that will be going into a 4U SAN case. My A300W functions as a headless microserver on a shelf next to my router, NAS, and cable modem. Eventually all of this equipment will move to a 42U server rack.

 

[NateDawg72]

I thought that might be the common response haha. I'm not trying to be controversial, I just don't see how adding an external GPU to the A300W keeps the size smaller than a good mITX case which integrates the GPU internally. To each their own I guess.

I don't think the idea is to add an external gpu to the A300W, but to make/mod a case for an internal gpu. It will certainly be smaller than ITX. It has been done once already but on an intel platform. See the fantastic STX160.0 project if you haven't already.

This is the path I wanted to follow but with A300W dead in the water for >4 cores with a GPU, I'm going with an intel platform.

 

[GLSRacer]

Interesting, I hadn't seen that project. I guess the mSTX motherboard is a bit smaller, though that forces you into lower performing and higher cost SO-DIMM memory. I guess the trade off may be worth it to some people. My A300W has 32 GB of RAM running at either 2933 or 3 GHz, it was about 25 or 30% more expensive than the full size DIMM equivalent. I like to tinker so I can appreciate that people want to make something as small and powerful as possible. I was following the Subor Z project closely for that reason, when it failed I bought the A300W and Ryzen 2400G.

 

[Windfall]

I thought that might be the common response haha. I'm not trying to be controversial, I just don't see how adding an external GPU to the A300W keeps the size smaller than a good mITX case which integrates the GPU internally. To each their own I guess.

No worries.
Just saw the question, and had to answer!

 

[NateDawg72]

though that forces you into lower performing and higher cost SO-DIMM memory

I do not think that the performance difference is very meaningful, and with memory being cheaper now the cost isn't that big a difference either. If there is an STX board with all the tuning and nobs we hoped the A300W had, a performance difference would be pretty negligible. It would be down to whether you first hit the limits of the CPU's memory controller or the RAM chips. I suspect a lot of SODIMM ram is underrated compared to what it is capable of with a motherboard that can overclock it.

Frankly I think an ITX board with sodimm would be nice too! Surely they could fit 4 of them, I'm pretty sure asrock has done it before.