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

[gazpl]

... is-47k suggestion ...

There is a big thread on here discussing this cooler.
Interesting for sure and exhaust configuration may help keep the temps inside the tiny case in check a bit better. Intake may still be better if you are only looking at minimizing cpu temp (given airflow out is good enough and the rest of the system is fine with a couple C more)

 

[outtatheblue]

Speaking about CPU coolers for the A300, I really like the design of the ID Cooling IS-47K. They have placed the fan in-between the CPU and the radiator, and this setup is really nice for people who usually place their A300 horizontally on a table (instead of standing vertically). The fan actually blows hot air upwards toward the ceiling, and that is more ideal than stock AMD cooler which blows air downwards toward the CPU.

More pictures/product details at their website:

http://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/205/name/IS-47K

Photo Credit: https://www.facebook.com/ridwan.fariz
Disclaimer: I do not work for ID cooling and I don't earn commission on their sales.

Did you have any difficulty sliding the full assembly into the A300 casing after installing the IS-47K?

 

[pappl]

Hope X300 will have the same mobo layout like A300.

 

[Hammerfest]

Hope X300 will have the same mobo layout like A300.

Literally identical.

They claim VRM is better, but according to picture and specs NOTHING ELSE hardware wise is changed.

 

[Curiosity]

Literally identical.

They claim VRM is better, but according to picture and specs NOTHING ELSE hardware wise is changed.

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume they're only planning to support Renoir APU's on X300. I dont like them potentially doing that, but I wouldn't be surprised if Renoir stays x300 only.

 

[Hammerfest]

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume they're only planning to support Renoir APU's on X300. I dont like them potentially doing that, but I wouldn't be surprised if Renoir stays x300 only.

As myself and others have mentioned before, they have not dropped Renoir support on A300, at least not officially.

They pulled 3.60L due to issues, and released 3.60N with the fix.
I have NEVER seen the N or L release's on the Us BIOS site for my A300 like others claim, maybe other regions did, I only ever found it from JZelectronic.
Until they pull N and dont release a follow-up, or make a statement regarding, I am not going to call Renoir on A300 cut.

 

[pappl]

AMD X300 and A300 (non-)chipset are identical, only difference is UEFI Bios overclocking capability. Nice update for new Deskmini users.
Ryzen 4000 series will work on both platform. Asrock has great Bios support, i believe they will release a stable A300 Bios for Renoir APUs.
Edit: Does anybody know a comparison (specs & performance) between 3400G and all new 4xxxG APUs?

 

[limsandy]

There is a big thread on here discussing this cooler.
Interesting for sure and exhaust configuration may help keep the temps inside the tiny case in check a bit better. Intake may still be better if you are only looking at minimizing cpu temp (given airflow out is good enough and the rest of the system is fine with a couple C more)

Oh sorry, I didn't know there is already a thread dedicated to discussing this cooler. As I said before, I only check 2 threads in this entire forum. ?

Did you have any difficulty sliding the full assembly into the A300 casing after installing the IS-47K?

The rig is not mine, I only posted pictures I found from Facebook. But the pictures showed that it can be done, even if custom work is needed.

Regarding Renoir APU support on the A300.... BIOS 3.60N definitely supports it, someone has posted pictures of it. Other features (SOC voltage adjustment/overclocking) might not be available, but we know the APU will work. Possible future BIOS updates will only improve things, I hope.

What do we know about A300 vs X300 besides the front casing being visually different?

 

[pappl]

Is 3.60N Bios safe if Ryzen 3400G installed?

https://translate.googleusercontent...apu/2/&usg=ALkJrhgqscolgVT3S_1wqsOI-laLo81vfA

8/8/2020 Update
3.60O Beta BIOS-New voltage options?
Recently ASRock announced the launch of Deskmini X300, just when everyone thought that X300 and A300 would be distinguished by overclocking options....Youtube viewers provided us with the new version of the P3.60O Beta BIOS of the Deskmini A300. The editor tried to upgrade and found that the Ryzen 3 Pro 4350GE processor can be successfully identified after the completion, but a SOC voltage option was added in the BIOS.

 

[D3NPA]

Is 3.60N Bios safe if Ryzen 3400G installed?

yep, i'm on 3.60N with 3200G

File on MEGA

mega.nz

link to 3.60O from here
use at own risk ofc

just installed on mine a300, looks safe

 

[Curiosity]

As myself and others have mentioned before, they have not dropped Renoir support on A300, at least not officially.

They pulled 3.60L due to issues, and released 3.60N with the fix.
I have NEVER seen the N or L release's on the Us BIOS site for my A300 like others claim, maybe other regions did, I only ever found it from JZelectronic.
Until they pull N and dont release a follow-up, or make a statement regarding, I am not going to call Renoir on A300 cut.

Ah, since I wasn't able to find the N bios on the USA site I assumed it was pulled entirely. I knew they pulled L because of bugs, though.
Exiting we've already got an O version!

 

[A300]

yep, i'm on 3.60N with 3200G

File on MEGA

mega.nz

link to 3.60O from here
use at own risk ofc

just installed on mine a300, looks safe

Are using 3.6O or 3.6N?

 

[D3NPA]

Are using 3.6O or 3.6N?

3.60O

 

[paul]

I don't want to junk up this thread if it's inappropriate, so please let me know if this is and I'm happy to move it elsewhere.

I've been looking into getting/building a SFF box, in particular these, and have been doing a bit of research (quite a bit on this site), so if anyone would like to confirm my findings, or set me straight, it would be much appreciated.

If I've researched right, it's hard to go smaller than 4 or 5L for a SFF setup with a dGPU. Is that right? I've determined I really want to go smaller, and AMD APUs are superior to Intel's offerings, which means if I want any gaming capabilities, AMD is the easy choice (even if they'll pale in comparison to even a cheap dGPU). The smallest and most cost effective I've seen for sale is the A300, coming in just under 2L. I've seen mention of the Jupiter A320 at 1L, but haven't found any of them at all (even Intel variants)... is there anywhere I can go for info on those, or are they just not consumer ready?

If I'm right above, I've settled on the A/X300. While it doesn't offer too much right away, the biggest thing for me on the X300 would be OotB support for the Renoir APUs... since I don't have any current AM4 APUs, I can't get an A300 and flash the BIOS, correct? And it appears there are open questions about the stability of the current 3.60L/N/O betas. Also, seems there are open questions if the A300 could even get everything out of the 4000 series APUs... while they might be detected and run, we don't know for sure if they'll get everything out of the higher end 4000 series, due to the VRM?

Having seen some specs on YouTube, it also seems that the 4700g isn't far enough ahead of the 4600g to warrant the (likely) delta in cost. But, the leap from 3400g to 4600g likely does (or is at least a matter of preference).

So, to summarize, best bets (for me) are: A300 with Ryzen 5 3400g right now, or X300 with Ryzen 5 4600g in (hopefully) a month or so?

And, regardless of the above two routes, ditch the built-in m.2 WiFi for the Intel AX200 (cheap and vastly superior), and both the Asrock and AMD provided cooler for the Noctua NH-L9a AM4 (for better fit, cooling, and silent operation)?

 

[ermac318]

I'm disappointed that it doesn't have the impressive I/O of the H470 model (USB-C with 60W PD and Alt mode! Imagine powering your Deskmini through your monitor, with a single cable!), but overall this looks very good.

Where do you see the H470 model supporting USB-PD input? I see Alt-Mode for DP (DisplayPort) but not PD (Power Delivery). Nothing in the manual or the spec page about it.
Considering it accepts 65W CPUs, I don't see how you could run it from a 60w USB-PD input (probably yes on a 100W input).

 

[Valantar]

Where do you see the H470 model supporting USB-PD input? I see Alt-Mode for DP (DisplayPort) but not PD (Power Delivery). Nothing in the manual or the spec page about it.
Considering it accepts 65W CPUs, I don't see how you could run it from a 60w USB-PD input (probably yes on a 100W input).

Techpowerup: https://www.techpowerup.com/270707/asrock-introduces-the-deskmini-h470-deskmini-x300

It's also on Asrock's official product page, under the "USB alternate mode" heading, though going by the illustrations it might be a 60W output rather than an input - though why anyone would want that on the back of their SFF desktop is beyond me. Charging your laptop from your desktop? Yeah, that's a niche activity, that's for sure. A 60W input would be sufficient for a 35W CPU, but obviously not for a 65W one.

 

[ermac318]

Techpowerup: https://www.techpowerup.com/270707/asrock-introduces-the-deskmini-h470-deskmini-x300

It's also on Asrock's official product page, under the "USB alternate mode" heading, though going by the illustrations it might be a 60W output rather than an input - though why anyone would want that on the back of their SFF desktop is beyond me. Charging your laptop from your desktop? Yeah, that's a niche activity, that's for sure. A 60W input would be sufficient for a 35W CPU, but obviously not for a 65W one.

Looking at the graphics there, it seems like this is 60W of power with the DeskMini as the Source, as opposed to the target. They show a Nintendo Switch with a charging icon, a laptop, and a portable monitor. That says to me it's for charging. Of course, pulling 60W from the DeskMini while also running the chip seems like it would put stress on the 120W brick.

 

[Valantar]

Looking at the graphics there, it seems like this is 60W of power with the DeskMini as the Source, as opposed to the target. They show a Nintendo Switch with a charging icon, a laptop, and a portable monitor. That says to me it's for charging. Of course, pulling 60W from the DeskMini while also running the chip seems like it would put stress on the 120W brick.

Isn't that exactly what I said in the post you quoted? And yes, a 60W output would put quite massive stress on that brick if the system is under any kind of load. Also, portable monitors are designed to run off ste standard USB-C 15W (5V3A), they definitely don't need 60W. They also group PD and DP alt mode under the same heading here, so interpreting the pictures is a bit in the realm of guesswork.



60W PD output would likely mean 20V3A, so they'd be feeding power directly from the power brick to that port (though the PD negotiation chip, obviously). I would imagine the output would be limited in voltage though - PD is supposed to cover 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V and 20V, but unless they gave this its own voltage regulation circuit (and that isn't happening on a board this small) I would assume it supports 5V and 20V only. Maybe 12V through the system if you're lucky.

 

[ermac318]

Isn't that exactly what I said in the post you quoted? And yes, a 60W output would put quite massive stress on that brick if the system is under any kind of load. Also, portable monitors are designed to run off ste standard USB-C 15W (5V3A), they definitely don't need 60W. They also group PD and DP alt mode under the same heading here, so interpreting the pictures is a bit in the realm of guesswork.



60W PD output would likely mean 20V3A, so they'd be feeding power directly from the power brick to that port (though the PD negotiation chip, obviously). I would imagine the output would be limited in voltage though - PD is supposed to cover 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V and 20V, but unless they gave this its own voltage regulation circuit (and that isn't happening on a board this small) I would assume it supports 5V and 20V only. Maybe 12V through the system if you're lucky.

Sorry I was calling back to your original comment about powering the DeskMini from your monitor. I believe that would not be possible, but the inverse (powering a USB-C monitor from the DeskMini) would. If you're powering a portable monitor, DeskMini would be the source and the monitor would be the sink, which I think is the reason they show the portable monitor in the graphic.
USB-PD requires supporting all voltages and amperage below your rated spec, so a 60W adapter must support 20V, 15V, 9V, and 5V (12V was deprecated in the USB-PD v2.0 spec), and at up to 3A at each voltage (since 20V @ 3A is how it achieves 60W).

But at this point we're getting pretty off topic since it seems the A300 and X300 don't support either of these.

 

[ConsolidatedResults]

Couple pieces of information coming from JZ on HardwareLuxx Forum:

1. ACPI S3 does not work with Renoir on either A300 or X300. S3 is "Suspend to RAM", aka "Sleep" in Windows (as opposed to S4 "Suspend to Disk" aka "Hibernate". This will likely never be fixed for A300 and is pending investigation between ASrock and AMD for X300
2. A new (newer than O) ComboPI V2 BIOS is in the works for A300 that brings back AMD CBS/PBS menus that are currently not available in the ComboPI V2 Beta BIOSes.

Meanwhile, ASRock Japan Official Twitter says, paraphrasing here, "X300 uses same PSU as A300 because that is 180W and that is plenty":


We know that is not true - A300 has 120W PSU. JZ has confirmed X300 uses the same PSU. I am still amazed here. From the couple reviews I read an OC 4750G alone can pull upwards of 120W with no other system component involved at all. For ASRock to not update the power solution appears... absurd?