Prebuilt [SFFn] ASRock's DeskMini A300 - Finally!
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ASRock Deskmini A300 + ADT-Link R43SG M.2 to PCIE adapter + SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 5500 XT 4GB eGPU build - Part 1
Time has finally come! See the main steps of my long-awaited A300 eGPU build below ?
M.2 adapter arrived (dusty little Deskmini waiting for a minor surgery):
Cable has to go through here (what and where to cut?):
Not much clearance when assembled but should be enough (fortunately cut-out only needed for the ribbon cable, not the adapter part):
I/O shield cut (lower right edge completely removed):
(Note: Bending metal failed
Adapter easily connected to rear M.2 slot (clever & flat solution from ADT-Link, fits perfectly under the motherboard):
OK, not so fast!
Problems:
(Note: Cable has no flex to the sides at all, so it does not align with the new hole on my i/o shield. My bad, always measure twice before cutting
I/O shield cut-out is ok now (with tiny DIY plastic cosmetic & protecting plate glued to the metal), GPU succesfully connected:
All set! The eGPU is hidden behind my desk with all the power bricks, cables etc. (placed on a matching DIY shelf):
Closer look (with the Dell PSU brick attached):
And that's it! Hardware setup is no big deal if you know what to cut and how much to cut... and now you do
ASRock Deskmini A300 + ADT-Link R43SG M.2 to PCIE adapter + SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 5500 XT 4GB eGPU build - Part 2
Follow-up to my eGPU upgrade post above - Operation & Testing ⚙
First of all I have to say that I've not encountered any notable issues during the installation and setup process. After successfully attaching the GPU to A300 via the ADT-Link adapter system posted just fine. The BIOS was automatically reset though (beta 3.60S). After reconfiguring all my settings (XMP, SATA mode, fan speed etc.) Windows 10 just launched fine. Half a minute later OS became somewhat unresponsive, but no system messages or errors were displayed (it was clearly something going in the background) so I did a quick reboot. After logging back to Windows all was Plug & Play, no configuration needed.
Adrenalin listed RX 5500 XT as GPU1 and Ryzen iGPU as GPU2 right away. Bus setting of the 5500 XT was reported as PCI Express 3.0 x4:
Just to be sure I disabled iGPU in device manager (GPU2 entry in Adrenaline disappeared immediately) and ran some benchmarks. I have no baseline for this CPU+GPU setup to determine performance hit of the 32 Gb/s PCIe bus vs the full supported PCIe 4.0 x8 speed (it's said to be ~8%), so I can only compare results to the original 4650G iGPU setup. But this was my main goal anyway: finding out how much more GPU performance can be added to the system this way, compared to a costly 4750G upgrade (ignore CPU core benefit here, as 4650G easily beats 'gaming king' Ryzen 5 3600, while GPU performance remains the weakest point of A300). So let's see my initial results!
Superposition benchmark
This means +255% graphics performance with 5500 XT vs the estimated +15-20% with 4750G. NOT TOO SHABBY
(©Linus Sebastian)3DMark Time Spy
Graphics score improvement vs 4650G iGPU is +286% here ?
FPS changes
All @ High/Ultra settings running on a 1080p 75 Hz Freesync display:
- Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 20-25 fps → 50-60 fps
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 15-19 fps → 50-69 fps
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 | 28-32 fps → 100-110 fps
- Tomb Raider (2013) | 30-36 fps → 95-115 fps
Temps & noise
Nothing exciting to report here, the 25 mm thick system fan keeps everything cool at ~900 rpm in the case. Sapphire PULSE has fan-stop function (no spinning fan @ idle and moderate load) and the double 100 mm fans are inaudible even at full load (obviously no problem with airflow outside the case though).
Conclusion
So I can only say that I'm fully satisfied with the price/performance ratio of this tiny little 1.92L PC (don't mind all the hidden parts like a 23 cm long GPU, a ~40 cm long ribbon cable coming out of the case and a giant power brick, lol).
After a lot of part sourcing, upgrading, DIY work and almost a year passing by, my highly economic but still reasonably maxed out Deskmini build is considered final ?
Full specs & final pictures
- ASRock Deskmini A300 BIOS 3.60S, base version without M.2 Wi-fi module
- Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G with Noctua NH-L9a cooler + NF-A9 25 mm Chromax fan swap
- 2x8 GB G.Skill Ripjaws F4-3000C16D-16GRS CL16 @ 3200 MHz with cheap heat spreader mod
- Adata SX8200 Pro 256GB SSD with Delock heatsink
- Kingston 2x240GB used SATA SSD in RAID0 for fast storage
- ADT-Link R43SG 50 cm M.2 to PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter + Dell Optiplex DA2 D220P-01 PSU + SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 5500 XT 4GB
- Silverstone magnetic dust filter, Deskmini VESA mount
- FiiO K3 USB DAC for decent sound output, connected to front Type-C port
- LG 29UM69G 21:9 UltraWide IPS Gaming Monitor
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this cheap-ass thin alu heatspreader from aliexpress applied with included thermal pads (cut to size) and with original G.Skill alu sticker put back on it:
simple and inexpensive delock accessory applied with the blue thermal pad included:
none of those make such a big difference, if you ask me. it was rather done for the feel of modding
ASRock DeskMini X300
AMD® X300 Plattform mit Sockel AM4 Cezanne,Renoir,Picasso,Raven Ridge bis zu 65W DDR4 3200MHz (Ryzen) 2400MHz (A-Serie) Supports 2x SO DDR4-3200MHz, Max 64GB Dual Ultra M.2 PCIe NVMe (2280) 2x 2.5 Zoll SATA3 HDD oder SSD HDMI, ...
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sorry for spamming thread, but my build is live on egpu.io!
it's the first deskmni a300 there with a deskmini 110 being the closest thing to it
it's the first deskmni a300 there with a deskmini 110 being the closest thing to it
Hi guys, I'm new here, and a newbie at pc in general.
I'm currently facing an issue with my deskmini a300. About a week ago my windows started crashing, start booting up to bios/uefi instead of windows.
So for whatever reason, i decided to update my bios (3.7, i didnt check what was before) and move my nvme ssd from the top side of the motherboard to the btm slot.
After that, i still get boots into bios/uefi most of the time i startup. There is no read on my ssd in the bios. Then I have to just keep restarting to try my luck to get windows to boot. It seems better when ssd is on the bottom slot, top slot windows booting seems non-existent.
I suspect due to unable to boot ssd issues? How do i find out what the issue is? I only have 1 ssd in the setup, neither do i have spair lying around.
Appreciate any advice/feedbacks. Thank you.
setup :
deskmini a300m-stx -bios version: P3.7 - ryzen 3400g -
2x crucial 8gb ddr4-2666 sodimm - ct8g4sfs8266
1x crucial p1500gb 3d nand nvme pcie m.2 ssd - ct500p1ssd8
I'm currently facing an issue with my deskmini a300. About a week ago my windows started crashing, start booting up to bios/uefi instead of windows.
So for whatever reason, i decided to update my bios (3.7, i didnt check what was before) and move my nvme ssd from the top side of the motherboard to the btm slot.
After that, i still get boots into bios/uefi most of the time i startup. There is no read on my ssd in the bios. Then I have to just keep restarting to try my luck to get windows to boot. It seems better when ssd is on the bottom slot, top slot windows booting seems non-existent.
I suspect due to unable to boot ssd issues? How do i find out what the issue is? I only have 1 ssd in the setup, neither do i have spair lying around.
Appreciate any advice/feedbacks. Thank you.
setup :
deskmini a300m-stx -bios version: P3.7 - ryzen 3400g -
2x crucial 8gb ddr4-2666 sodimm - ct8g4sfs8266
1x crucial p1500gb 3d nand nvme pcie m.2 ssd - ct500p1ssd8
@wilsonn8 what BIOS version exactly do you have? Rear M2 Slot is death for the NAND chips on the SSD (for controller itself its fine tho)
Do you have any kind of Virtualization active? Which Windows Edition do you use / is HyperV enabled?
Try to deactivate Virtualization in BIOS options. Try to boot then. (You can do it, with m2 installed in the front slot)
Please report.
Ah, I see - you're using official 3.7, which is outdaten by the time of its release.
Look at suggestion from rubicoin, install 3.60S or R. S is running @rubicoin; R is running here, also P1 Crucial
Do you have any kind of Virtualization active? Which Windows Edition do you use / is HyperV enabled?
Try to deactivate Virtualization in BIOS options. Try to boot then. (You can do it, with m2 installed in the front slot)
Please report.
Ah, I see - you're using official 3.7, which is outdaten by the time of its release.
Look at suggestion from rubicoin, install 3.60S or R. S is running @rubicoin; R is running here, also P1 Crucial
Ah, I see - you're using official 3.7, which is outdaten by the time of its release.
Look at suggestion from rubicoin, install 3.60S or R. S is running @rubicoin; R is running here, also P1 Crucial
also i use adata sx8200pro (SM2262G controller) without any errors on 3.60S, wich is very similar to crucial p1 (SM2263EN controller).
@wilsonn8 what BIOS version exactly do you have? Rear M2 Slot is death for the NAND chips on the SSD (for controller itself its fine tho)
Do you have any kind of Virtualization active? Which Windows Edition do you use / is HyperV enabled?
Try to deactivate Virtualization in BIOS options. Try to boot then. (You can do it, with m2 installed in the front slot)
Please report.
Ah, I see - you're using official 3.7, which is outdaten by the time of its release.
Look at suggestion from rubicoin, install 3.60S or R. S is running @rubicoin; R is running here, also P1 Crucial
Hi, thanks for both your replys! My P1 firmware/run optimization and update utility are up to date. I am a very basic user, my current/previos bios is in its default state. I don't run any virtualization, hyperv. I'm on windows 10 home.
Alright, I will update flashdrive bios to 3.60S, deactivate any virtualization and move the ssd back to the top and report back. Fingers crossed!
Okay, I've done the above. Current issue is windows keeps crashing (blue screen, whea uncorrectable error) after 5mins or less - which then puts me back to bios and i am not able to leave unless i turn off and on my pc again. and repeats.
Are there any settings in bios i should change?
Now, I switched back my ssd back to the btm of motherboard. So far no windows crash yet. But will update if anything happens. Is it that bad to have the m.2 at rear?
I have the A300 and use it with a 4750G. Temperature is much cooler then with the 2400G and the 3400G. At idle it is just using 7 Watt. The 2400G was using more the 10 Watt. But also under load the 4750G is using less power and temperatures are no where near what I have seen with the 2400G and 3400G.
A problem was the Ram (Corsair Vengeance CMSX32GX4M2A3000C16). With the 2400G it was running without any issue. But the 4750G would lock up when running glmark2. Setting the Ram Speed to 2666 solved this. However the system was not sable. I then bought the Kingston HX432S20IBK2/64 and at least for a month now it is running without an problems at 3200.
@wilsonn8 what BIOS version exactly do you have? Rear M2 Slot is death for the NAND chips on the SSD (for controller itself its fine tho)
Do you have any kind of Virtualization active? Which Windows Edition do you use / is HyperV enabled?
Try to deactivate Virtualization in BIOS options. Try to boot then. (You can do it, with m2 installed in the front slot)
Please report.
Ah, I see - you're using official 3.7, which is outdaten by the time of its release.
Look at suggestion from rubicoin, install 3.60S or R. S is running @rubicoin; R is running here, also P1 Crucial
What's wrong with the bottom m2?
@wilsonn8 ugh, sorry to hear that, so you changed your BIOS to 3.60S and installed the M2 currently @rear? well, if it's working like this, I would sqeeze my shoulders and work as it is now. I dunno.
@yuusou while the controller of an SSD likes temperatures to operate it's the opposite for NAND chips where the actual data is stored. in the front M2 I have temps about 2x 45°C for NAND and 65°C-80°C for the controller. On the rear side the controller went up to 100°C und NAND +15°C more -which in the long run is not that good. Just should be considered...
@yck3110 A300-specific there was an option to choose TDP level in earlier BIOS releases. But I do not recommend using them.
@yuusou while the controller of an SSD likes temperatures to operate it's the opposite for NAND chips where the actual data is stored. in the front M2 I have temps about 2x 45°C for NAND and 65°C-80°C for the controller. On the rear side the controller went up to 100°C und NAND +15°C more -which in the long run is not that good. Just should be considered...
@yck3110 A300-specific there was an option to choose TDP level in earlier BIOS releases. But I do not recommend using them.
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