Prebuilt [SFFn] ASRock's DeskMini A300 - Finally!

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
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Jun 19, 2015
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Timings @ 2400 for the SODIMM kit: 15-15-15-36. Timings @ 2400 for the ITX Flare-X kit @ 2400 - 14-14-14-34.

On adjusting the SODIMM kit to match the timings of the DIMM kit, I noted slightly less performance (albeit within a margin of error) than at the above timings. So it's not the timings - time to look at boost clocks and the ability to sustain them. More digging is needed.
 
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Karmeck

Efficiency Noob
Apr 3, 2019
5
0
I must ask settings for unigine heaven. 1080p?

I myself are using
G.Skill Ripjaws - DDR4 - 16 GB: 2 x 8 GB - SO DIMM 260-pin - 3000 MHz / PC4-24000 - CL16 - 1.2 V
https://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-3000c16d-16grs

And my score is really difrent.

I also tested with having dedicated ram set too auto and then to 4gb. Literally the exact same score.

Now now, I see alot Linux talk here. But I feel this sheds a bad light on the a3000 and 2400g.

And I'm not home now, but were can I find the silent setting for the fan. I probably find it on my own but I ask anyway.
 

BikingViking11

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Feb 10, 2019
93
167
Well, I jumped on the bandwagon. Ordered the A300 yesterday.

The intent is to get rid of the enormous Alienware case taking up my wife's desk area. I'll be using the 2400G, the NH-L9a AM4 and a Crucial P1 500GB NVMe SSD, but I'm still undecided on memory. My go-to is Crucial, but I'll take any suggestions. Any arguments for 32GB over 16GB with this board?
 
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Karmeck

Efficiency Noob
Apr 3, 2019
5
0
Well, I jumped on the bandwagon. Ordered the A300 yesterday.

The intent is to get rid of the enormous Alienware case taking up my wife's desk area. I'll be using the 2400G, the NH-L9a AM4 and a Crucial P1 500GB NVMe SSD, but I'm still undecided on memory. My go-to is Crucial, but I'll take any suggestions. Any arguments for 32GB over 16GB with this board?

I would say no. I also think it's easier to find ram with good timings at 2x8gb.
 

W4RR10R

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 29, 2019
211
211
What timings would you recommend? I'm not into OCing especially since this will be for my wife. The most demanding thing she'll use it for is WoW.
I've got the Gskill 3000 mhz 2 x 8 gb kit it runs at 3000 mhz 16-18-18-43. You can pickup the 3200 mhz kit for $125 on Newegg.
 
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confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
Original poster
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
4,129
7,057
sff.network
I must ask settings for unigine heaven. 1080p?

I myself are using
G.Skill Ripjaws - DDR4 - 16 GB: 2 x 8 GB - SO DIMM 260-pin - 3000 MHz / PC4-24000 - CL16 - 1.2 V
https://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-3000c16d-16grs

And my score is really difrent.

I also tested with having dedicated ram set too auto and then to 4gb. Literally the exact same score.

Now now, I see alot Linux talk here. But I feel this sheds a bad light on the a3000 and 2400g.


And I'm not home now, but were can I find the silent setting for the fan. I probably find it on my own but I ask anyway.

"Extreme" preset, as per the PPL contest thread :)
 
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Karmeck

Efficiency Noob
Apr 3, 2019
5
0
Just tried to trim the timings. Would power on but no image, could not get in to bios. Had to remove cmos battery. Now it's working again.

I lowered all numbers by 1 all except the last number 43.
 

W4RR10R

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 29, 2019
211
211
Just tried to trim the timings. Would power on but no image, could not get in to bios. Had to remove cmos battery. Now it's working again.

I lowered all numbers by 1 all except the last number 43.
What BIOS version are you using?

Version 3.20 "enhances" memory compatibility
 
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Debris84

Efficiency Noob
Mar 25, 2019
7
1
Nice review! I appreciate the photos as well. Bought this as soon as it went back up on Newegg; Making a sub $300 HTPC using a 200ge. Are they planning on selling this board separate?
 

BenX

Chassis Packer
May 22, 2018
16
5
Are they planning on selling this board separate?

No ... I asked Asrock in the Netherlands and they only sell those board directly from Asia... But you need to buy them in a lot of 300 @ 90$ per piece. So unless one has a bit of "spare change" ( like 27000 dollars + tax + transportation ), your not able to get them individually.

If you take the 90 dollar price, transportation, tax and trow in a power supply, case and the two SATA connectors, your well over the local buy price for the full set.
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
Original poster
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
4,129
7,057
sff.network
Doing clock monitoring testing now, let's see how this goes :)
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
Original poster
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
4,129
7,057
sff.network

BenX

Chassis Packer
May 22, 2018
16
5
I'm not seeing any difference in that Unigine Heaven: Extreme Preset test, yet i see 30 pts lost on the DeskMini. Any ideas?

Just a few ideas:

VRM overheating? The SOC getting less power, where it start to micro throttle? But then i expected to see more clear dips on the A300.

The difference between the SODIMM and normal DIMMs may be the cause. All it takes is a difference of a few % to hurt a precise benchmark run. Especially as the APU depends heavily on memory. As SODIMM are lower power then normal DIMMs ... Potential memory issues affecting bandwidth?
 

annasoh323

Master of Cramming
Apr 4, 2018
424
314
Could it be the Infinity Fabric? Maybe the individual cores and GPU are clocked properly but the interconnect between them is being clocked slower? I'm shooting in the dark. Counterpoint to my own suggestion is I recall some video OC'ing the IF and not really getting any improved results.
 

Danlopez1222

Average Stuffer
Apr 5, 2019
63
101
I'm not seeing any difference in that Unigine Heaven: Extreme Preset test, yet i see 30 pts lost on the DeskMini. Any ideas?

Can you download AMD uProf on both machines and click "see whats guzzling power in your system" on the right, then select all counters? Run time spy and upload photos of the graphs?

This is what caused issues with Ryzen Laptops and their terrible stock performance.

Could it be the Infinity Fabric? Maybe the individual cores and GPU are clocked properly but the interconnect between them is being clocked slower? I'm shooting in the dark. Counterpoint to my own suggestion is I recall some video OC'ing the IF and not really getting any improved results.

IF is directly tied to memory frequency. It shouldn't be different if the memory clocks are the same.