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

Stevo_

Master of Cramming
Jul 2, 2015
449
304
2400G cost almost $130 - it has worst memory controller, and it is not soldered + clocks are lower too

So my candidates for buying are 3200G or 3400G

ps 3200G looks more balanced

Meh, good thing it's soldered. Looks like the only reason it can do those clocks is due to that, it would be steaming otherwise

 
Last edited:

k0n

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jul 3, 2019
213
280
The 3200G has the same baseclock as the 2400G... 3,6. Boost is 4 instead of 3,9.... no HT and Vega 8 instead of Vega 11. 2400g is available in Germany for only 115€.
 

Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
3200G also has support for faster memory, a few percent improved IPC, a soldered IHS and faster iGPU clocks, and so on. The improvements aren't huge by any means, but it's at least on par with the 2400G.
 

ShamedGod

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 21, 2019
147
77
3200G also has support for faster memory, a few percent improved IPC, a soldered IHS and faster iGPU clocks, and so on. The improvements aren't huge by any means, but it's at least on par with the 2400G.

I would have to aquire a 3200G to test it in the A300 to know for sure BUT the difference in performance between the 3400G and 2400G CPU is maybe a couple percentage points. Nothing worth upgrading for or spending exstra money on. Maintainable boost clock speed was about the same Plus the cooler that comes with the 3400G doesn't fit so one would need to purchase a Noctua which adds another $40 to the purchase price.

The faster Vega 11 in the 3400G is all you get and it's not much faster.

I find it hard to believe that, in the A300, giving up SMT and would be worth buying a 3200G over a 2400G. Now the 2400G can easily be found for $120 and the 3200G can be found for $100; which is basically paying $20 for SMT.

The integrated graphics is a bonus in my opinion so your use case will determine what's a better bargain. I just think it's awesome discreet graphics cards aren't mandatory anymore for decent gaming.

As far as memory goes, the 2400G and 3400G both had ZERO issues running ram speeds of DDR4-3333. The 3400G would, mostly, run DDR4-3400 but windows would still randomly glitch even after loosening the timings to the point it was better to run DDR4-3333 settings.

Regardless, a ZEN 2 APU should be available next year and I'm hoping the 4400G is 15-18% faster with a Navi iGPU at the $150 price point. That would be a worth while upgrade.

Untill the Zen 2 APU arrives the best value for the A300, in my opinion, is the 2400G. If you just want to save $20 waiting for the Zen 2 APU to release at least the 3200G comes with a wraith stealth. If you can hold out MAYBE an upgraded A300 will get released or some competition will immerge.
 
  • Like
Reactions: k0n

Quango

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Apr 6, 2019
102
34
I would have to aquire a 3200G to test it in the A300 to know for sure BUT the difference in performance between the 3400G and 2400G CPU is maybe a couple percentage points. Nothing worth upgrading for or spending exstra money on. Maintainable boost clock speed was about the same Plus the cooler that comes with the 3400G doesn't fit so one would need to purchase a Noctua which adds another $40 to the purchase price.

The faster Vega 11 in the 3400G is all you get and it's not much faster.

I find it hard to believe that, in the A300, giving up SMT and would be worth buying a 3200G over a 2400G. Now the 2400G can easily be found for $120 and the 3200G can be found for $100; which is basically paying $20 for SMT.

The integrated graphics is a bonus in my opinion so your use case will determine what's a better bargain. I just think it's awesome discreet graphics cards aren't mandatory anymore for decent gaming.

As far as memory goes, the 2400G and 3400G both had ZERO issues running ram speeds of DDR4-3333. The 3400G would, mostly, run DDR4-3400 but windows would still randomly glitch even after loosening the timings to the point it was better to run DDR4-3333 settings.

Regardless, a ZEN 2 APU should be available next year and I'm hoping the 4400G is 15-18% faster with a Navi iGPU at the $150 price point. That would be a worth while upgrade.

Untill the Zen 2 APU arrives the best value for the A300, in my opinion, is the 2400G. If you just want to save $20 waiting for the Zen 2 APU to release at least the 3200G comes with a wraith stealth. If you can hold out MAYBE an upgraded A300 will get released or some competition will immerge.

You are missing an essential difference regarding media 4K HDR output:

"A new feature coming to the APUs is support for 4K protected video streaming, such as Netflix 4K. This is a feature that has been missed on the previous generation, especially as AMD’s APUs have found their way into a number of small form factor systems and HTPC builds. The new APUs also support Radeon Anti-Lag, a new feature to reduce controller-to-display lag input times. "


For me that would count. The Deskminis are certainly no gaming machines, feature priorities should be office usage and media playback.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: silverand

ShamedGod

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 21, 2019
147
77
You are missing an essential difference regarding media output:

"A new feature coming to the APUs is support for 4K protected video streaming, such as Netflix 4K. This is a feature that has been missed on the previous generation, especially as AMD’s APUs have found their way into a number of small form factor systems and HTPC builds. The new APUs also support Radeon Anti-Lag, a new feature to reduce controller-to-display lag input times. "


For me that would count.

Then I guess you found a niche case where it maybe better to get a 3200G; If those are features you'd use. I had no issue streaming content, there was no noticeable input lag with my wireless mouse/keyboard, and FreeSync worked just fine. (EDIT: when I had my 2400G, my buddy has it now and he's very happy with it. I upgraded for no other reason then I could)

For most people having SMT and not needing to purchase an additional cooler would make the 2400G the best value for building their own A300.

I am still hoping the 4400G comes out and just makes the whole comparison a moo point. Those are 10 months away if leaked info can be trusted though? A nerfed 3600 (4/8) with a Navi RDNA iGPU? Sounds to good to be true.
 
Last edited:

k0n

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jul 3, 2019
213
280
3200G also has support for faster memory, a few percent improved IPC, a soldered IHS and faster iGPU clocks, and so on. The improvements aren't huge by any means, but it's at least on par with the 2400G.

:/

The 3200G isn't soldered. Doesn't matter though. The 3200G doesn't have higher iGPU clocks... The 2400G has 704 Shaders and the 3200G has 512 Shaders both at 1250Mhz! Both 3,6Ghz base... 2400G with HT, 3200G with slightly higher IPC.
 

silverand

Cable Smoosher
Aug 30, 2019
11
3
3200G:
- Soldered (as result better temp)
- Higher boost frequency + 3% ICP
- $25 cheaper
- 4K

2400G:
- SMT
- 704 SP
 

NateDawg72

Master of Cramming
Aug 11, 2016
398
302
3200G also has support for faster memory, a few percent improved IPC, a soldered IHS and faster iGPU clocks, and so on. The improvements aren't huge by any means, but it's at least on par with the 2400G.
Where is that few percent IPC coming from? 2400g is already zen+ iirc
 

ShamedGod

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 21, 2019
147
77
3200G:
- Soldered (as result better temp)
- Higher boost frequency + 3% ICP
- $25 cheaper
- 4K

2400G:
- SMT
- 704 SP

Again, if the 3400G only saw minimal gains over the 2400G in the A300 (and I am ONLY talking about the A300) then I have a hard time believing someone would be better served with a 3200G.

If a 3200G is what you want, and you are happy with it, then that's great. But from my personal testing with the A300 *ShruG*
 

NateDawg72

Master of Cramming
Aug 11, 2016
398
302
2400G (and 2200G) are something of a mish-mash of Zen with some minor Zen+ features - from what I can remember (which is likely wrong!) some of the cache improvements were ready and ported to the APUs before Zen+ launched.
But that's what I'm getting at, 2400g already has the IPC improvements of zen+, it just doesn't have the slightly improved power efficiency that 3400g would have from the slightly improved process.

2400G is zen
Not exactly - 2400g isn't the same zen as 1xxx ryzen, it has the zen+ cache & boost improvements of 2xxx ryzen.
 

silverand

Cable Smoosher
Aug 30, 2019
11
3
Just to provide valid info:

In general caches for zen and zen+ are the same:
L1I Cache64 KiB/core 4-way set associative
L1D Cache32 KiB/core 8-way set associative
L2 Cache512 KiB/core 8-way set associative
L3 Cache2 MiB/core 16-way set associative

Key changes from Zen:
 
  • Like
Reactions: NateDawg72

NateDawg72

Master of Cramming
Aug 11, 2016
398
302
Key changes from Zen:
That's all true for Summit Ridge vs Zen+ CPUs, but not for Raven Ridge. Raven Ridge already had Precision Boost 2 and the 3% increased IPC (which came from the cache optimizations). The big change between 2400G and 3400G is the 12nm process.

AMD introduced Precision Boost 2 with Raven Ridge
 
  • Like
Reactions: silverand