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

Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
Maybe ASRock is gearing up for the new X500 model to go with the new Ryzen 5 3600G APU,,,?!?
That would be incredibly premature. AMD has so far not synchronized APU and CPU launches with any Ryzen generation, and there's little reason to believe they're not prioritizing CPU dice on 7nm, at least for the first months - it's a relatively new process, after all, and as TSMC has other customers there are limits to how many wafer starts AMD is able to buy per month. It is very interesting that AMD has yet to launch updated desktop APUs despite launching a laptop APU refresh, but they've also confirmed that there will be no MCM APUs in the Matisse (Zen 2/Ryzen 3000 CPUs) generation. Which means that any 3000-series desktop APUs would require a separate and large die, eating up fab capacity that could likely be better spent on higher-margin high-end CPUs (if they end up being 7nm at all, and not 12nm like the mobile APUs). (For reference, a ~$300 2700X has a 214mm2 die, while a $169 2400G has a 209mm2 die - meaning that the fab cost is a far smaller piece of the price of the 2700X, leaving AMD with higher margins.) Even if 3000-series desktop APUs are significantly higher-end than the 2400G, they'd still be disproportionally large compared to their CPU brethren and thus lower margin at the same price level - and growing the GPU would only serve to increase that disparity, as GPUs are generally larger than CPUs.

Besides that, there's little reason to believe the "leaked" spec sheets - they might be accurate, but we have zero proof to corroborate anything in that list. Better to think it's a fake and be pleasantly surprised than to be let down by specs not matching reality. Besides, with how early it leaked it's quite unlikely that AMD had even finalized specs such as TDP and clocks for their consumer Zen 2 product range at the time - these things are typically defined relatively close to launch as production ramps and binning can be done at scale.

I really want a high-powered APU for my next HTPC, but given the limitations of DDR4 for graphics, I doubt we're getting that until DDR5 arrives with the AM5 (or whatever AMD calls it) socket in >2020. There ought to be room to grow beyond the performance of the 2400G, but not by leaps and bounds, and memory would be a severe bottleneck.
 

Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
On the topic of 3rd gen Ryzen APUs the general specs for the PS5 have been confirmed to a 3rd gen Ryzen 8 core CPU (IDK about SMT) and a Navi based GPU with ray tracing, and the system storage is an SSD. All of this was confirmed by Mark Cerny, its not just rumors anymore, but it won't be released until 2020.
https://www.gamesradar.com/sony-ps5-release-date-news-specs-features/
Yep, that's true. It's just a shame that this is a semi-custom Sony-specced chip that will never, ever see sales outside of Sony hardware, and definitely isn't AM4 compatible. It likely doesn't even have a DDR4 interface - the PS4 uses GDDR5, and there's no way Sony's regressing in memory bandwidth. AMD's architectural modularity means that pretty much any combination of their architectures can be stuck together and work, but the leap from that to hardware being produced is not small. AMD's semi-custom department isn't directly attached to either their CPU or GPU teams, after all, even if they often influence future design decisions particularly for GPUs thanks to the leverage of console makers and the sales volumes they bring.

If they wanted to, AMD could no doubt give us the 8c+>20CU APU that we're all dreaming of - but whether we'll see that any time soon (and whether they could do so without losing a ton of money) is another question entirely.
 

Primerib

Caliper Novice
Apr 5, 2019
24
8
These are B-die: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232725

Currently running them at 3266mhz 14-14-15-14-28 1.35v
The G.Skill 3200 set linked above as well as the G.Skill 3800 MHz 32GB kit are the only B-Die SO-DIMMs I've been able to find.

I purchased the 3200 set and just my luck they must have just switched the manufacturing process because I got Hynix dies. I'm so disappointed. I'm going to be very skeptical of any sodimms from now on. Thinking of selling my whole A300. It's bad enough that it doesn't look like were going to get support for Ryzen 3000....I would have been content if I could just have gotten 3200 at C14. But without spending $350 on the 3800 set of four sticks I don't need I guess there is no chance of a Samsung B now.
 

W4RR10R

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 29, 2019
211
211
I purchased the 3200 set and just my luck they must have just switched the manufacturing process because I got Hynix dies. I'm so disappointed. I'm going to be very skeptical of any sodimms from now on. Thinking of selling my whole A300. It's bad enough that it doesn't look like were going to get support for Ryzen 3000....I would have been content if I could just have gotten 3200 at C14. But without spending $350 on the 3800 set of four sticks I don't need I guess there is no chance of a Samsung B now.
We are getting 3rd gen support.
https://www.pcgamer.com/msi-wont-be-blocking-ryzen-3000-support-on-all-older-motherboards-after-all/

I think everyone kinda jumped the gun on one message from a tech support guy that might not have understood the question.

One of AMD's sellign points for AM4/Ryzen was forward and backward compatibility IIRC "All AM4 CPUs will work in all AM4 boards through 2020".
 

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
KMPKT
Feb 1, 2016
3,382
5,935
I purchased the 3200 set and just my luck they must have just switched the manufacturing process because I got Hynix dies.

Can you still return them? I'd do that and purchase another set somewhere else in hopes you get a good kit.
 

Primerib

Caliper Novice
Apr 5, 2019
24
8
Can you still return them? I'd do that and purchase another set somewhere else in hopes you get a good kit.
Yeah, Newegg RMA's are a a total PITA though. Any other source that has that set has the cost marked up more that the $130 Newegg price and because they're these little random electronics sites I imagine it would be even more trouble to return it to if it was Hynix again. Amazon doesn't seem to have a verified seller of that kit. It's marked up on there too.
 

Danlopez1222

Average Stuffer
Apr 5, 2019
63
101
I purchased the 3200 set and just my luck they must have just switched the manufacturing process because I got Hynix dies. I'm so disappointed. I'm going to be very skeptical of any sodimms from now on. Thinking of selling my whole A300. It's bad enough that it doesn't look like were going to get support for Ryzen 3000....I would have been content if I could just have gotten 3200 at C14. But without spending $350 on the 3800 set of four sticks I don't need I guess there is no chance of a Samsung B now.

Damn.

Fortunately, the timings come loose as all hell on the gskill from factory (CL18 iirc), rated at 1.2v. If you bump voltage to 1.35v, you should be able to set timings a bit tighter, or push a higher frequency. Also, the board has a hard limit at 1.35v, which makes the increased voltage tolerance of B-die a little pointless.

1usmus actually reccomends Hynix right after B-die: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_Memory_Tweaking_Overclocking_Guide/3.html

Can you take a photo of the ram modules themselve so we can figure out which chips are being used?

I'm currently running 3.20 because it allows better subvoltage controls on the RAM. One thing that I needed to do was bump SOC voltage (the only one that sticks besides RAM) up to 1.2125 because it seems there is very poor LLC on this board. I would often see my SOC voltage drop significantly with load on the GPU, as the GPU and SOC share the same rail.

I can upload pictures of my bios timings and voltages if you are interested.
 

Primerib

Caliper Novice
Apr 5, 2019
24
8
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...&cm_re=ASRock_DESKMINI-_-56-158-064-_-Product

A300W back in stock on Newegg. I wonder why they decided to remove the auto notify when it went sold out last time.

Damn.

Fortunately, the timings come loose as all hell on the gskill from factory (CL18 iirc), rated at 1.2v. If you bump voltage to 1.35v, you should be able to set timings a bit tighter, or push a higher frequency. Also, the board has a hard limit at 1.35v, which makes the increased voltage tolerance of B-die a little pointless.

1usmus actually reccomends Hynix right after B-die: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_Memory_Tweaking_Overclocking_Guide/3.html

Can you take a photo of the ram modules themselve so we can figure out which chips are being used?

I'm currently running 3.20 because it allows better subvoltage controls on the RAM. One thing that I needed to do was bump SOC voltage (the only one that sticks besides RAM) up to 1.2125 because it seems there is very poor LLC on this board. I would often see my SOC voltage drop significantly with load on the GPU, as the GPU and SOC share the same rail.

I can upload pictures of my bios timings and voltages if you are interested.
Yeah. As long as I don't need to remove the sticker I can get you some pictures. The list of timing setups you have would be great especially if you have the Hynix dies too. I cant find any good info past just the basic xx-xx-xx-xx settings. I set the bios to 1.35v but it never refletcs that its running at that voltage in CPU-Z or AIDA64. Maybe I need to drop to 3.20 bios and mess around with that.
 

samfisher5986

Efficiency Noob
Apr 17, 2019
7
1
I've read this thread but I'm still unsure what memory to buy for my A300.

I was going to get the Kingston 3200mhz 16GB kit, but it sounds like the timings are bad?

Any suggestions for the best cost/performance ratio? Also is it best to buy them in a kit to make sure they work in dual channel?
 

Primerib

Caliper Novice
Apr 5, 2019
24
8
I've read this thread but I'm still unsure what memory to buy for my A300.

I was going to get the Kingston 3200mhz 16GB kit, but it sounds like the timings are bad?

Any suggestions for the best cost/performance ratio? Also is it best to buy them in a kit to make sure they work in dual channel?
I would say based on price ($120) this one that I got that was recommended in the forums https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232724. I bought the Kingston initially but the dies are Micron which IMHO are the worst you can get and were the same price.

If you feel like you want to spend more than $120 than these are your next fastest https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4YU6WG4367 at $217

You have to spend $375 and have two left over sticks you don't need to get any faster than that. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232673

You can buy sticks individually (same model preferred) and it will still run in dual channel but some enthusiast swear by sets of two because they are tested at the factory for 100% compatibility with each other.

I always recommend G Skill because they have a lifetime of the product warranty so if one of your sticks ever stops working you just give them a call, tell them the serial number and they send you a new one right out.
 
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TheG8One

Efficiency Noob
Apr 17, 2019
7
0
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856158064&Description=ASRock DESKMINI &cm_re=ASRock_DESKMINI-_-56-158-064-_-Product

A300W back in stock on Newegg. I wonder why they decided to remove the auto notify when it went sold out last time.


Yeah. As long as I don't need to remove the sticker I can get you some pictures. The list of timing setups you have would be great especially if you have the Hynix dies too. I cant find any good info past just the basic xx-xx-xx-xx settings. I set the bios to 1.35v but it never refletcs that its running at that voltage in CPU-Z or AIDA64. Maybe I need to drop to 3.20 bios and mess around with that.


I talked to newegg today and asrock, asrock is working on the bios updates coming in the near future, should solve a lot of problems oc uv etc.... Newegg said they have a ton on order, but can't guarentee them to be priced at the current listing price, hence the note they have posted right now.

I believe demand is killing the supply, so the next round i would expect to be more expensive . Also people are buying them up in large qtys and building them out to resell for a profit, this isn't helping us builders. So good luck to those still looking for one, these are just my 2 cents.

As of 5:30am CST 4/18/19they are back instock on newegg, only 50ea or so, with another 100ea due around 4/20/19.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:

TwinHaelix

Efficiency Noob
Apr 18, 2019
6
0
I talked to newegg today and asrock, asrock is working on the bios updates coming in the near future, should solve a lot of problems oc uv etc....

On the ASRock forums, an official account posted that overclocking is not supported on the Deskmini A300 and the upcoming BIOS updates will remove the OC settings.

See: http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11303&title=overclocking-gpu-on-deskmini-a300

Thank you for posting your query to ASRock forum.

AMD A300 chipset does not support overclocking.
This setting shall be removed on next BIOS updates.

Thanks for mentioning.

With thanks,
ASRock TSD