Rumor Possibility of AMD on STX form factor

There are so many frieds discussed about AMD solution on STX form factor.
I told Crew ASRock had one AMD FM2+ 5x5 board....
Let me show off one board I found on my boss's table.

We did a very very quick research during CNY.
AMD 2200G box fan is so high that can't be installed into our chassis.
BUT... how about install CPU fan and heatsink separately? HAHAHA...

Only for fun

 

[W4RR10R]

Ok, update/troubleshooting
I got the my a300 last night and assembled all my parts. I'm attempting to use an r5 2600 (not officially supported for lack of igpu) and a vega 56 with a powered m.2 to pcie adapter.

I'm not getting vga out, but all the fans spin up, including the ones on the gpu as well as the led on it, when I try to start the pc. When I power the adapter without it attached to the motherboard only the led turns on no fans. So I think it detected on some level.

I believe there are 2 things happening here, either or both could be causing this.
1. The CPU is not recognized because it's not officially supported
2. The board isnt detecting the gpu as a display adapter. It may see it as some other pcie device.

I have sent an email to asrock support but I don't know how much help they could be. I don't have and apu to test, maybe I'll buy a 200ge.
Does anyone know how this board communicates post codes (LED or on board speaker). If it's an LED I can't find it, and I'll have to find a speaker.

 

[Kmpkt]

I'd personally get my hands on a 200GE or some other cheap/compatible APU through Amazon (easy returns) and troubleshoot using that to get the GPU running. Once you've got that going, swap in the 2600 and return the APU for refund.

 

[Zackmd1]

So I'm planning to put enough cash into KMPKT corp on the 15th to fund the order and should hopefully have stock within 4 weeks.

Gotcha. So the power sync functionality is only available on the 360? Would the mini be able to support powering just the GPU (I know pico PSUs get finicky when a straight 12v load is applied) with something to turn it on like the add2psu? I ask because I am looking at completing a proof of concept/ first iteration with a spare 2200g while I wait for 3rd gen ryzen within the next few weeks.

 

[Zackmd1]

Ok, update/troubleshooting
I got the my a300 last night and assembled all my parts. I'm attempting to use an r5 2600 (not officially supported for lack of igpu) and a vega 56 with a powered m.2 to pcie adapter.

I'm not getting vga out, but all the fans spin up, including the ones on the gpu as well as the led on it, when I try to start the pc. When I power the adapter without it attached to the motherboard only the led turns on no fans. So I think it detected on some level.

I believe there are 2 things happening here, either or both could be causing this.
1. The CPU is not recognized because it's not officially supported
2. The board isnt detecting the gpu as a display adapter. It may see it as some other pcie device.

I have sent an email to asrock support but I don't know how much help they could be. I don't have and apu to test, maybe I'll buy a 200ge.
Does anyone know how this board communicates post codes (LED or on board speaker). If it's an LED I can't find it, and I'll have to find a speaker.

What m.2 riser did you use?

 

[W4RR10R]

I'd personally get my hands on a 200GE or some other cheap/compatible APU through Amazon (easy returns) and troubleshoot using that to get the GPU running. Once you've got that going, swap in the 2600 and return the APU for refund.

That is/was my plan. Though one issue could be that the r5 2600 is not recognized by the bios (kind of the reverse of what happened with the 300 series boards and the APUs when they came out). I can't tell if it is the CPU or GPU because I can't figure how to get the post code from the a300.

Can you return a opened/used CPU?

What m.2 riser did you use?

The adtlink R43SL:
http://www.adtlink.com/product/R43.html

It and the card being powered by a jumped 300W psu that I had laying around.

As for the email I sent to Asrock support, what it lacked in helpfulness it made up for in response time ( >1 hour).

The reply:
"You can not install the type of CPU with this motherboard ,since 2600 does not comes with video controller , you need to install a processor which included the video controller within



CPU support list for your model
https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini A300 Series/index.us.asp#CPU"

So anyone know how this board shows the post code error or if it even does?

 

[Kmpkt]

Gotcha. So the power sync functionality is only available on the 360? Would the mini be able to support powering just the GPU (I know pico PSUs get finicky when a straight 12v load is applied) with something to turn it on like the add2psu? I ask because I am looking at completing a proof of concept/ first iteration with a spare 2200g while I wait for 3rd gen ryzen within the next few weeks.

I built the sense functionality into the 360 specifically so it could be used in cases like this. Using the Dynamo Mini with the Add2PSU should be fine as there is (IIRC) a power switch mechanism on the Add2PSU unit.

 

[peak_mu]

What about hight in the ssd bottom area, is there enough to cut a slot into the case and screw a low profile card to the case? Is the area vented?

There is enough height, but you are limited to pretty much the height of the ports. You would probably have to also remove some of the ssd mounts to give you a flat surface.

So anyone know how this board shows the post code error or if it even does?

There are post codes displayed on screen while booting. It doesn't have a traditional POST screen, though. It's just a blank screen with the post codes in the lower right. No processor info, memory, drives detected...nothing but a black screen before the OS takes over.

The DEL key enters the bios by the way.

I have a 1700 I can try with it, but probably won't get the chance to test until sometime this weekend.

 

[W4RR10R]

There are post codes displayed on screen while booting. It doesn't have a traditional POST screen, though. It's just a blank screen with the post codes in the lower right. No processor info, memory, drives detected...nothing but a black screen before the OS takes over.

Will it beep a system speaker? Because my problem is that I can't get anything on screen, and I'd like to know if it recognizes the cpu. Some boards will flash an LED in a specific pattern or emit a series of beeps from a system speaker.

 

[peak_mu]

There isn't a speaker in the case, but there is a header on the motherboard for one. I don't have it hooked up, so unfortunately I couldn't tell you if there are any beeps.

 

[W4RR10R]

Thanks, when I get off work, I'll see if I can find or cobble together a speaker to try.

 

[W4RR10R]

I'd personally get my hands on a 200GE or some other cheap/compatible APU through Amazon (easy returns) and troubleshoot using that to get the GPU running. Once you've got that going, swap in the 2600 and return the APU for refund.

Did that, got everything up and running with a 200ge, but when I swap back to the 2600 no post. The power light wont even turn on, like it does during post with my 200ge.

 

[NateDawg72]

Did that, got everything up and running with a 200ge, but when I swap back to the 2600 no post. The power light wont even turn on, like it does during post with my 200ge.

I hope that doesn't mean the 2600/2700 really aren't supported... Sad days.

 

[Boil]

I hope that doesn't mean the 2600/2700 really aren't supported... Sad days.

Why would they be supported on a motherboard designed for APUs...?

 

[Brian_Buckley]

Why would they be supported on a motherboard designed for APUs...?

Some people are interested in connecting a GPU over an M.2 to PCIe riser for custom projects. It's not the main focus of the motherboard but it's still a good use case for people who really need the smaller form factor compared to ITX. People have been doing it with the Intel version of this board for a while.

 

[Boil]

Some people are interested in connecting a GPU over an M.2 to PCIe riser for custom projects. It's not the main focus of the motherboard but it's still a good use case for people who really need the smaller form factor compared to ITX. People have been doing it with the Intel version of this board for a while.

The GPU over M.2 is super niche, so I would not expect the bios to be set to deal with that usage at all...

The reason it is being done on the Intel side is because of the iGPU within the Intel CPU...?

 

[W4RR10R]

The GPU over M.2 is super niche, so I would not expect the bios to be set to deal with that usage at all...

The reason it is being done on the Intel side is because of the iGPU within the Intel CPU...?

Well, the bios has no issue with a gpu in an m.2. I'm trying to get my build working with a 2600 a vega 56, the Vega works just fine along side a 200ge, but the system wont post with the 2600. There are also other use cases that don't need an igpu and would benefit from from more than 4c/8t, home servers, NAS, router.

As I understand it, the non APU parts are essentially not on a list of approved CPUs, much like what happened for the APUs and the 300 series boards, all that would have to happen to get the non APUs working would be to add them to that list.

 

[Kmpkt]

I really don't see why you couldn't just buy an APU and run a discrete GPU anyways (ie. this whole thing seems kinda moot). Unless you really need 6 cores on the 2600 instead of 4 cores (no reason to need this for most gaming applications), just return the 2600 and buy a (cheaper) 2400G. Seems like a no brainer to me. With all of this being said, I find myself wondering if we could flash an A320 AsRock BIOS onto this board which would likely fix these problems altogether : )

 

[W4RR10R]

I really don't see why you couldn't just buy an APU and run a discrete GPU anyways (ie. this whole thing seems kinda moot). Unless you really need 6 cores on the 2600 instead of 4 cores (no reason to need this for most gaming applications), just return the 2600 and buy a (cheaper) 2400G. Seems like a no brainer to me. With all of this being said, I find myself wondering if we could flash an A320 AsRock BIOS onto this board which would likely fix these problems altogether : )

Well I also intend to use this computer for CAD, CAM, CFD, and FEA all relatively light but do all scale quite well with more cores. Also one of my main goals was to kind of just be a little over the top. the A320 BIOS might work but I'd be afraid of bricking my board.

 

[Boil]

I really don't see why you couldn't just buy an APU and run a discrete GPU anyways (ie. this whole thing seems kinda moot). Unless you really need 6 cores on the 2600 instead of 4 cores (no reason to need this for most gaming applications), just return the 2600 and buy a (cheaper) 2400G. Seems like a no brainer to me. With all of this being said, I find myself wondering if we could flash an A320 AsRock BIOS onto this board which would likely fix these problems altogether : )

A320 still locks out overclocking...?

Even though I have yet to receive my Deskmini A300W, I am already wondering when ASRock will give us a X300-based mini STX motherboard to run a Ryzen 5 3600G APU on...!?! ;^p

 

[Boil]