Both Mini-STX and Micro-STX are unlikely to see AM4 versions due to the lack of space for the necessary VRMs.
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Motherboard Mini-STX - here to stay for Ryzen?
- Thread starter alexep7
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Both Mini-STX and Micro-STX are unlikely to see AM4 versions due to the lack of space for the necessary VRMs.
Kinda necro bump, but with Raven Ridge APU around the corner an STX motherboard would be welcomed for light gaming without dGPU.
And with M.2 to PCIe x4 conversions being a thing, I can see them being popular for the SFF market in general.
First GPU score of the higher Raven Ridge APU place the iGPU between an Rx550 and an Rx560. Great candidate for discrete GPU less gaming rig.
Was talking about mini-STX, not micro-STX ;-).
Decent 1080p gaming from an iGPU, while being small and cheap. Enough for couch gaming.
I actually run an i7-4785T with GT1030 on Asus Q87T and even a game like Path of exile can't be maxed out (have to turn vsync off to prevent stuttering). GT1030 is the absolute limit, power wise, to anything plugged to a pcie-4x slot.
There are powered risers , but it feels more like some DIY solutions and 12V motherboard are pretty much inexistent (you need passthrough from 19v to DC-DC, or dual PSU with loadswitch). AM4 APU on mini-STX would make an elegant solution for light coop cough gaming.
Decent 1080p gaming from an iGPU, while being small and cheap. Enough for couch gaming.
I actually run an i7-4785T with GT1030 on Asus Q87T and even a game like Path of exile can't be maxed out (have to turn vsync off to prevent stuttering). GT1030 is the absolute limit, power wise, to anything plugged to a pcie-4x slot.
There are powered risers , but it feels more like some DIY solutions and 12V motherboard are pretty much inexistent (you need passthrough from 19v to DC-DC, or dual PSU with loadswitch). AM4 APU on mini-STX would make an elegant solution for light coop cough gaming.
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The relative terms "mini" and "micro" seem to denote the physically smaller and larger form factors, respectively - which seems to be the opposite one might expect from the relative literal sense of the terms. No wonder I'm confused.
I think it relates to mini-ITX and micro-ATX, not the best choice indeed. It also confused me for a while.
Sorry for a minor thread necro, but I just had a thought.
Looking at this, for an STX board, wouldn't the chipset be completely optional? You'd have your 2 SATA ports, the M.2 slot could be carried with ease from the PCIe 3.0 x4 lane, and you could really do whatever else with the PCIe x16 lane. Also, the 4 USB 3.1 ports would be fine for I/O. Of course, I've not really thought about any other port at that point, but still.
Looking at this, for an STX board, wouldn't the chipset be completely optional? You'd have your 2 SATA ports, the M.2 slot could be carried with ease from the PCIe 3.0 x4 lane, and you could really do whatever else with the PCIe x16 lane. Also, the 4 USB 3.1 ports would be fine for I/O. Of course, I've not really thought about any other port at that point, but still.
Sorry for a minor thread necro, but I just had a thought.
Looking at this, for an STX board, wouldn't the chipset be completely optional? You'd have your 2 SATA ports, the M.2 slot could be carried with ease from the PCIe 3.0 x4 lane, and you could really do whatever else with the PCIe x16 lane. Also, the 4 USB 3.1 ports would be fine for I/O. Of course, I've not really thought about any other port at that point, but still.
Here is a quote from Anandtech, this should be doable from my understanding.
Psssst. The X300 and A300 'chipsets' are not really 'chipsets' at all, just the CPU itself. It's why they're the only two Ryzen 'chipsets' to offer PCIe 3.0 lanes from the 'chipset' rather than PCIe 2.0 as with all the others: that PCIe 3.0 x4 link is what would otherwise be going to the PCH.
Oh, oh wow. With that, I don't see why extremely small form factor (cough mSTX cough) don't exist yet.
Probably because @ASRock System is the only company making them? They already have quite a few SKUs to manage on the intel side for miniSTX and the microSTX variants of the RX and GTX deskmini systems along with the skus for the boards by itself.
Each new board costs a lot in development, prototyping, and production. And when they split it down into more SKUs thats more to add to marketing, packaging, and even copyright. Probably won't be seeing anymore unless they decide its worth the investment or more companies start using the mini/micro STX form factors.
Asus are also doing STX boards. They have one in particular that's quite interesting - the H110S2 - because it has two ethernet interfaces.
Guess I should have said "currently" making STX boards. H110 came out in... 2015? I know Asus and Gigabyte have miniSTX boards from the 100 series, but to my knowledge Asrock is the only one with 200 series and 300 series boards.
I don't believe there was ever a 200 series Mini STX motherboard was there? I believe there are plans to refresh the platform for the 300 series, but don't quote me on that.
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