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

[m4758406]

Finally it is finished, the quietest system i ever owned

Spoiler: Jonsbo-HP400 cooling surface not flat enough

Ground flat with a very old knife grinder ...

Spoiler: Jonsbo-HP400 screws evenly. As far as the board does not bend.

Spoiler: Tinkered air duct

Spoiler: Cable through the free audio hole

Spoiler: Grille cut away with cutting disc

Spoiler: Noctua NF-F12 PWM, 120mm

0,6 Watt
1500 rpm max.
120mm Dust grille

I will use this cooler on my next A300.

 

[annak]

Hello everyone,

I'm waiting A300 to arrive but in meanwhile I wonder how I can add BT using a m2 card? Is there an alternative to add two more usb ports and the audio jack at the back of the case?

Thanks

 

[sta999]

I mean, their not wrong... I have had issues with my 3400G giving me a BSOD or freezing while Watching a YouTube video or streaming Netflix\Hulu and playing a "light" GPU intensive game like PAC-MAN 256. The Noctua is 100% the way to go. If it was available when I went to purchase mine I would have gotten the CHOMAX NH-L9a.

Amazon.com: Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 chromax.Black, Low-Profile CPU Cooler for AMD AM4 (Black): Computers & Accessories

Buy Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 chromax.Black, Low-Profile CPU Cooler for AMD AM4 (Black): CPU Cooling Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

amzn.to

Hello and thanks for your reply, but how can it works perfectly for almost 10 months with no bsod and suddenly crashes in every combination i've tried with new hardware, and they can't discover the problem...? I have tried xmp, lower freq, 2 different bios. Previously never crashed on tests, now it crashes in minutes just like the games that i played for hours before.

I already ordered another a300 to try because i will get mad if i don't find the issue which i believe is either mobo or psu , i have tried everything else.

Yes the chromax is gorgeous although will never see it inside the mini Here in Greece it costs 50+ euros and the regular around 43.

 

[sta999]

Hello everyone,

I'm waiting A300 to arrive but in meanwhile I wonder how I can add BT using a m2 card? Is there an alternative to add two more usb ports and the audio jack at the back of the case?

Thanks

Hi yes it is very easy to add the m.2 wifi, beside the one that asrock suggests, i use the intel 9260 with bt 5 which is better than the 3168, on of the best is the ax200 but i don't now if it's compatible

As long as it concerns the usb, i bought mine from ebay.uk for around 15 euros almost the same as the m.2 card.

I personally believe that the audio jack is overpriced and rip-off from asrock, better buy a cheap usb sound card from creative

 

[ShamedGod]

Hello and thanks for your reply, but how can it works perfectly for almost 10 months with no bsod and suddenly crashes in every combination i've tried with new hardware, and they can't discover the problem...? I have tried xmp, lower freq, 2 different bios. Previously never crashed on tests, now it crashes in minutes just like the games that i played for hours before.

I already ordered another a300 to try because i will get mad if i don't find the issue which i believe is either mobo or psu , i have tried everything else.

Yes the chromax is gorgeous although will never see it inside the mini Here in Greece it costs 50+ euros and the regular around 43.

Because windows. Did you try an OS refresh or updated drivers?

 

[annak]

Hi yes it is very easy to add the m.2 wifi, beside the one that asrock suggests, i use the intel 9260 with bt 5 which is better than the 3168, on of the best is the ax200 but i don't now if it's compatible

As long as it concerns the usb, i bought mine from ebay.uk for around 15 euros almost the same as the m.2 card.

I personally believe that the audio jack is overpriced and rip-off from asrock, better buy a cheap usb sound card from creative

Thanks for the reply, can I use the intel 9260 just for the BT without the antennas for the wifi?

 

[SanityKlaus]

Hello and thanks for your reply, but how can it works perfectly for almost 10 months with no bsod and suddenly crashes in every combination i've tried with new hardware, and they can't discover the problem...? I have tried xmp, lower freq, 2 different bios. Previously never crashed on tests, now it crashes in minutes just like the games that i played for hours before.

I already ordered another a300 to try because i will get mad if i don't find the issue which i believe is either mobo or psu , i have tried everything else.

Yes the chromax is gorgeous although will never see it inside the mini Here in Greece it costs 50+ euros and the regular around 43.

Which version of Radeon Software are you running? I have noticed a lot of instability with the latest version 20. 5 .1 on my A300. It seems to be worse if you use the Edge browser. If your crashes are related with this issue you could try reverting to a previous version.

And now off topic, hello all! I've been checking this thread for more than a year and you all have been very helpful to me, but I'm soooooo lazy that I haven't register until now. Sorry about that.

By the way, I remember that some people have experienced occasional failed boots with their units. I reckon that this can happen if you press the power button for too long.

 

[ssouthall6]

@ssouthall6 just curious about your RAM. May I ask, which freq and voltage? XMP&Stock?

Hi @gustav , sorry for the delay coming back to you, unfortunately got hit with a virus, of the pandemic kind, not of the digital kind (thankfully, I think?!)

I'm using Crucial CT32G4SFD832A - frequencies are 1527, 1600, 1600, 1600, 1.2v. I set it to 3200 in UEFI as XMP defaulted it to 2666.

I had a Kolink Satellite arrive today, just trying to decide what to do with it. I've had a HP Microserver n40l with Server 2019 Data Centre edition chugging along for a few years that needs a little refresh So will try and offload some of the pain of this little build onto that.

 

[ssouthall6]

Thanks for the reply, can I use the intel 9260 just for the BT without the antennas for the wifi?

AX200 is compatible. 9260 also works but I have found the ax200 more solid in terms of connectivity.

 

[annak]

AX200 is compatible. 9260 also works but I have found the ax200 more solid in terms of connectivity.

Does AX200 work fine with Linux ? Thanks

 

[Totalschaden1997]

Does AX200 work fine with Linux ? Thanks

If you're running Kernel 5.2 or higher it runs out of the box

 

[khanate]

Does AX200 work fine with Linux ? Thanks

I bought this one and use Linux:

24.24US $ |Dual Band 1.73gbps Wireless-ac For 9260ac 9260ngw Ngff Wifi Card 2.4ghz/5ghz 802.11ac Bluetooth 5.0 Mu-mimo With Antenna Set - Network Cards - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[sta999]

Which version of Radeon Software are you running? I have noticed a lot of instability with the latest version 20. 5 .1 on my A300. It seems to be worse if you use the Edge browser. If your crashes are related with this issue you could try reverting to a previous version.

And now off topic, hello all! I've been checking this thread for more than a year and you all have been very helpful to me, but I'm soooooo lazy that I haven't register until now. Sorry about that.

By the way, I remember that some people have experienced occasional failed boots with their units. I reckon that this can happen if you press the power button for too long.

I had 20.4 then 20.5, fresh install of windows on 2 different ssd's, different bios's. Anyway i'm waiting the new deskmini to try my hardware on i'm very curious to see what will happen with the same setup.

I love this little monster and i hope the new deskmini for the new ryzen will be even better and asrock supports it.

 

[annak]

Thank you all for you recommendations about the wifi-bt card, really helpful !

Can you please recommend an external usb sound card (linux compatible) I could use instead of buying the rear jack?

 

[Griffith499]

Hi there,
is there any BIOS settings guide/summary on one page for the A300?
I can remember I adjusted my BIOS very nicely end of last year with the help of reading through this whole thread and some other sources, but unfortunately I had to reset my CMOS some days ago. It seems my brain was reset also, as I cannot remember any of the setting I changed ( or what makes sense to change).
Do I have to read through 46 pages again?

 

[gustav]

Hi @gustav , sorry for the delay coming back to you, unfortunately got hit with a virus, of the pandemic kind, not of the digital kind (thankfully, I think?!)

I'm using Crucial CT32G4SFD832A - frequencies are 1527, 1600, 1600, 1600, 1.2v. I set it to 3200 in UEFI as XMP defaulted it to 2666.

I had a Kolink Satellite arrive today, just trying to decide what to do with it. I've had a HP Microserver n40l with Server 2019 Data Centre edition chugging along for a few years that needs a little refresh So will try and offload some of the pain of this little build onto that.

Hey, thanks for answering. Dang, you did not get hit by THE virus, I hope

Well, that XMP behavior is weird. Why the heck? Haha Idk.
The second thing was, I meant the SOC voltage since regarding RAM there are not plenty options to choose..
Mine G.Skill are also 1.2V@3200. Now, regarding OC (which is not relevant to that system) but do I get it right:

Samsung B-die are the best (but not manufactured anymore?)
Then Hynix - the one G.Skill also uses - good for OC?
And then Micron being ok?

Thanks folks

 

[rubicoin]

switching topic from ram to ssd a bit: i'd like to have your opinions/experiences about sata ssd raid in deskmini.

i have an adata s8200pro 256gb nvme ssd installed in the main slot as boot drive, which is a speedy little thing for a very little money. i thought it will be more than enough for me (at least initially, i planned a highly cost effective build and expand it with a new apu and bigger cheap storage later when available).

but now, i got 2 pieces of 5-6 year old but still 100/100 condition kingston 240gb sv300 sata3 ssds for virtually no money:

they seem to be the perfect fit for my budget deskmini, i can almost hear the empty double ssd tray on the bottom of the case screaming for them!

the only question is what storage configuration should i use? my goal is to mount them as drive d:, and move my humble steam libary on it completely. no big titles (like my fallout collection, 1 to 76). i have all my sensitive data stored on a nas, so raid 0 seems to be the only real option, specially for steam storage.

these are sandforce mlc drives, but i don't know what performance should i expect using sata raid with deskmini. i don't want to have much higher loading times or any kind of stability issues.

ok, i know performance wise it's not a real question, i should just try it and see for myself. but because of my chromax 25mm fan mod it is a bit challenging to open my case, so i have to wait a bit for doing it till my cheap aliexpress ram heatspreaders arrive. or should i even wait for renoir? it could be released out of the blue this month with a300 support

 

[GLSRacer]

I'm still hoping for 4700G support. As far as SSDs go, I only have a single 1TB NVMe drive installed so I've never tried out ASRock's RAID implementation.

 

[rubicoin]

I'm still hoping for 4700G support.

renoir launches 21st july, so i guess we will know very soon..

 

[GLSRacer]

Thanks for the heads up, I couldn't remember when it was supposed to launch. Hopefully it won't launch to a back-order due to COVID.