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

[teenyweeny]

I got my deskmini and 3200g in last week and it's been a mostly pleasant experience. My only real complaint is that the power supply is really noisy! It has an audible hum and occasionally chirps. When I pull the power out of the wall the humming sound kind of whirs itself down in a few seconds.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

I noticed on user NateDog72's profile picture he has what looks like a Meanwell power supply hooked up to the deskmini, but they don't come in 19v. I need an adult.

 

[Curiosity]

Can you link the picture you're talking about? I'm having trouble finding that user to look at his pic.

I'll personally be testing 12v to power the a300 as soon as the pigtail comes in, since confusis said he's tried a different deskmini with 12v successfully before.

Going to run it off my gunique's pcie power cable since that will be easy

 

[Curiosity]

I always had issues finding the info when I was first looking into the a300-

Here's a clear, large pic of the included power brick mine came with.

 

[m4758406]

AcBel - Power King AD - ADC027
AcBel Polytech Inc.康舒科技
Old Weblink (found some Months ago, do not work anymore!?)
New Link (today found)

 

[Ziyan]

I got my deskmini and 3200g in last week and it's been a mostly pleasant experience. My only real complaint is that the power supply is really noisy! It has an audible hum and occasionally chirps. When I pull the power out of the wall the humming sound kind of whirs itself down in a few seconds.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

I noticed on user NateDog72's profile picture he has what looks like a Meanwell power supply hooked up to the deskmini, but they don't come in 19v. I need an adult.

If you want a high quality power supply, check out my previous post:

It seems that the only SFF UPS is the OpenUPS 1 and 2 (2.5" form factor). They cost $110 w/o batteries and case, so they're not exactly cheap... it seems that I'd be better off buying a normal UPS, which could then also protect my main PC and monitor.

Regarding alternative power supplies, TR9CZ4730L9PCIMR6LPS (this is the 90 W version, but they have a 120 W version as well) is a very high quality replacement. While it costs ~$45, it has an MTBF of 1 million hours (114 years) at full load, and is medical operations certificated.

While I didn't test it yet, according to the specs, it should work with the A300.

 

[teenyweeny]

NateDawg72's profile pic

 

[Valantar]

NateDawg72's profile pic

That's not a deskmini, it's an ITX board with regular DIMM, not SODIMM memory, plus a plug-in DC-ATX PSU.

 

[m4758406]

globtek.com - Power Supply Selector
Watts (min.): 120
Watts (max.): 120
Vout (min.): 19
Vout (max.): 19
Type: Desktop/External
--> Search all supplies

it show me ...
GT-43004P120VV-x.x-T3 (IEC 60320/C14)
GTM961200P120VV.V-T2 (IEC 60320/C8)
GTM961200P120VV.V-T3 (IEC 60320/C14)

what C8 or C14 means ...

IEC 60320 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

C8 is only 2 pin, this should not work
C14 Modells work, they are 3 Pin.
The Original is C6 (3 Pin), Wikipedia say 2.5A max at C6.
Input is 2.2A, so this fit.
C14 is 10A max, we do not need that much

The Original Power Supply - AcBel - Power King AD - ADC027:
IEC/EN 60950-1
Input Voltage 90~264Vac
Input Frequency 47~63Hz
Input Current 2.2A@90Vac
Efficiency 89% @100 & 220Vac max. input
Output Voltage 19V
Load Range Min. 0.63A
Load Range Max. 6.32A
Max Load 18.05V~19.95V
Rataged Power 120W
Operating Temperature 0~40°C
Storage Temperature -20~85°C
Power protection: OVP, UVP, SCP, OTP, OCP
AC Inlet: C6 (3Pin)
Weight: 600g

 

[Curiosity]

So interesting news.
The a300 runs happily on 12v, as shown here.

Dell da2>G-unique Archdaemon>pcie 6pin connector>5.5x2.5barrel jack pigtail>a300
Prime 95+ heaven ultra 8xAA 1600x900 windowed for 2h so far with no issues or weirdness. I'll update this post with how long I ran it once I decide to stop.

 

[Valantar]

C8 is only 2 pin, this should not work
C14 Modells work, they are 3 Pin

Why wouldn't it work? C8 connectors can handle a couple hundred watts without issue. 2.5A is 275W at 110V input or 575W at 230V input. That is more than plenty for a 120W brick. They lack ground, but that's not a very big deal for something in the 100W range. Nice to have, sure, but not a necessity.

From your linked Wikipedia article:

North American rating agencies (CSA, NOM-ANCE, and UL) will certify IEC 60320 connectors for higher currents than are specified in the IEC standard itself. In particular, UL will certify:
...

• C5/C6 connectors for up to 13 A,[8] although 10 A is more commonly seen (IEC maximum is 2.5 A)
• C7/C8 connectors for up to 10 A[9] (IEC maximum is 2.5 A)

 

[m4758406]

I have no experience with electic stuff ... i am beginner.
We need 3 Pin or ?
What is the difference between 2 or 3 pin ?
For me as european it is all 3 pin, normaly.
2 pin is missing the ground right?
Original has 3 Pin, thats why i would only take the 3 pin ones

 

[hasselgren]

I am thinking of buying an A300 and an Athlon 3000G to have as a miniserver. However, I have emailed three resellers here in Sweden and non of them can answer which bios version the A300 is shipped with. Do anyone have experience with buying an A300 and what bios version was on it? I understand that they can have old A300s in stock aswell.

 

[Quango]

I am thinking of buying an A300 and an Athlon 3000G to have as a miniserver. However, I have emailed three resellers here in Sweden and non of them can answer which bios version the A300 is shipped with. Do anyone have experience with buying an A300 and what bios version was on it? I understand that they can have old A300s in stock aswell.

In a few days I hope I can answer your question, but my replacement A300 is still idling in a DHL distribution center nearby. My first try with an A300 and an Athlon 3000G resulted in nothing, since the board didn't even light up the power LED.


I've read sowhere some time ago, that an A300 would at least boot into BIOS with a yet unknown APU, so a BIOS upgrade should be possible via USB, but I don't know if that is actually true.

 

[Curiosity]

Mine came with 3.50 back in September.

 

[m4758406]

Mine came with 3.50 back in early October.

 

[d3w]

Purchased back in early September (in Latvia). Came with BIOS 3.50 and a "Ryzen 3000 ready" sticker on the box.

 

[d3w]

 

[prerunnerwannabe]

Same. I just got mine a couple of weeks ago, and it had the "Ryzen 3000 Ready" sticker and BIOS 3.50.

 

[prerunnerwannabe]

Oh, and I would also recommend updating the BIOS to 3.60 if you're struggling to get higher memory clocks. I'm using a Ryzen 5 3400G and a G.Skill 3000MHz cl 16 2x8GB memory kit (F4-3000C16D-16GRS) and no matter what I tried, (1.35v for the memory and 1.2v SOC) the timings were not wanting to tighten much past the XMP profile and it refused to be stable past like 3033MHz. I updated the bios, and with the memory at XMP timings, the voltage at 1.35v, and the SOC voltage at auto, it booted right into 3200MHz and ran the Firestrike benchmark without issue.

If anyone is wondering, that gave me a Firestrike graphics score of 4040. For comparison, at 3000MHz with the same timings I got a graphics score of 3930, and at 2133MHz I got around 3300 points. Big gains are to be had with faster memory!

I also disabled CPU boost and the XFR profile because nothing I do with this computer needs more than 8 Zen+ threads at 3.7GHz. Plus in return, everything stays super cool and quiet and none of the components are being needlessly stressed.

 

[prerunnerwannabe]

Quick update. 3200MHz isn't totally stable, so I went back to 3000MHz with the XMP profile at 1.2v. Stable so far, and with the lower heat and power consumption versus 1.35v, I might stick with that. . . for now >