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

yosoywilson78

Chassis Packer
Aug 26, 2020
15
12
It does not support the Zen3 APUs out of the box. You need one of the previous CPUs to upgrade the bios. They are not officially supported, only through a beta bios. Many Deskmini A300 struggle to run the Zen3 APUs with the RAM at anything above 2400MHz.

I dont believe that there are widespread RAM issues. I have had zero issues with my A300/4650g BIOS 3.60s system running OC'd RAM @3400c16 since I built it in August. You will always see all the issues in forums but they are the minority because the people that are happy generally dont say anything.
 
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yuusou

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 16, 2019
115
70
I dont believe that there are widespread RAM issues. I have had zero issues with my A300/4650g BIOS 3.60s system running OC'd RAM @3400c16 since I built it in August. You will always see all the issues in forums but they are the minority because the people that are happy generally dont say anything.
Read this thread, you'll find that most people in fact DO have issues. There's also plenty of youtube, reddit, other forums, of people claiming the exact same. There were also warnings from JZ.de, the people that actually got us the beta bioses, indicating as such. You're the exception, you got a golden sample, but don't equate your experience to that of others.
 

yosoywilson78

Chassis Packer
Aug 26, 2020
15
12
Read this thread, you'll find that most people in fact DO have issues. There's also plenty of youtube, reddit, other forums, of people claiming the exact same. There were also warnings from JZ.de, the people that actually got us the beta bioses, indicating as such. You're the exception, you got a golden sample, but don't equate your experience to that of others.
Im not discounting anyones issues but they are in fact the minority. These issues are experienced by very few people. I will absolutely equate my experience with the vast majority of the user base because I am representative of the majority. Forums are for complaining and problem solving not for people to say they have a working product. User error is unfortunately the biggest issue with everyone fucking with every setting in the BIOS or not doing a fresh install or installing the wrong drivers or a combination of the above.
 

limsandy

Average Stuffer
Jul 3, 2020
71
31
I dont believe that there are widespread RAM issues. I have had zero issues with my A300/4650g BIOS 3.60s system running OC'd RAM @3400c16 since I built it in August. You will always see all the issues in forums but they are the minority because the people that are happy generally dont say anything.

If you don't mind me asking, what's your setting like? Windows 10 version? Which AMD driver?
 

rubicoin

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 12, 2020
164
104
It does not support the Zen3 APUs out of the box. You need one of the previous CPUs to upgrade the bios. They are not officially supported, only through a beta bios. Many Deskmini A300 struggle to run the Zen3 APUs with the RAM at anything above 2400MHz.

little clarification needed:

renoir = 4000 series desktop apu = 3rd gen ryzen = zen2 = a300 beta / x300 official bios support
cezanne = 5000 series desktop apu = 4th gen ryzen = zen3 = x300 official bios support expected
 

alles_alles

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Aug 11, 2020
107
28
little clarification needed:

renoir = 4000 series desktop apu = 3rd gen ryzen = zen2 = a300 beta / x300 official bios support
cezanne = 5000 series desktop apu = 4th gen ryzen = zen3 = x300 official bios support expected

but the a300 bios have cezenna video and cpu mikro code


by the way .. you can flash x300 to a300 bios
 

yosoywilson78

Chassis Packer
Aug 26, 2020
15
12
If you don't mind me asking, what's your setting like? Windows 10 version? Which AMD driver?
Windows 10 Pro 20H2. AMD driver Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.12.1 Optional. AMD A320 chipset driver 2.10.13.408. I always update to the most recent drivers/OS version when they become available.
 

limsandy

Average Stuffer
Jul 3, 2020
71
31
Windows 10 Pro 20H2. AMD driver Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.12.1 Optional. AMD A320 chipset driver 2.10.13.408. I always update to the most recent drivers/OS version when they become available.
Thanks, mate. I have the same AMD driver installed. Just a different version of Win 10. Anyway, it shouldn't be the reason why my system is not stable.

Does anyone care to speculate why my 2200G is stable at 2933 MHz but my 4650G is only stable at 2400 MHz?
 

rubicoin

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 12, 2020
164
104
but the a300 bios have cezenna video and cpu mikro code


by the way .. you can flash x300 to a300 bios

still no official renoir/cezanne support for a300. and never will be.

and still waiting for someone here to post pictures of a working a300 with x300 bios. my last info is that saving settings does not work with it. someone please deny it and confirm that all ok :p
 
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D3NPA

Average Stuffer
Mar 8, 2020
58
41
got an apx-90 from AE

God why

now i need to sand off vrm rad :'D

and fan is kinda loud after 1200RPM

Anybody tried something like BlackSilent XM1R for vrm cooling or it doesn't fit inside?
 
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TomHC81

Trash Compacter
May 21, 2020
44
19
www.sitepoint.sk
Yes, you would have to desolder it (very highly), read and then solder back on :)



Oh, yes very good point! But I did not want to go that "low-level", since it requires soldering. (again, very probably)
But check the Voltage levels before unsoldering with a Voltmeter. I'm kinda paranoic whether 3.3V or 5V :)

But you can (almost) always rescue a flash by that principle.


I know there is no Windows key :D It was just an example / for a placeholder, for couple bytes in the secured area. At this point I'm guessing, but it has to be done somehow, right.
You're welcome :) you may try out to open your BIOS file with the UEFI tool to check the partitions. 3.60R for example has valid partitions - AsRock's 1.40 BIOS has them probably too.
Could be also the case that it's just binary data once flashed on the chip instead of being a more kind of "high-level composed modular object", which partitions resemble.

I mean the flash tool does some magic to the bios file and then writes it onto chip. I don't think that it is as simple as it was in earlier days plain hex or like in ATmega programming for example anymore.

No need to desolder anything, there are SOP clips available .
 
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gustav

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 18, 2020
193
90
@limsandy hey mate, how are you coming along? Wanted to ask... Are you still stuck on the 2400MHz boundary? Maybe do you have a spare AM4 mainboard?
 
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paul

Cable Smoosher
Aug 6, 2020
9
8
I ended up snagging a FE RTX 3060 Ti for my desktop, so I suddenly have a GTX 1070 laying around. I've tried to replicate @rubicoin's setup here, and it will start up and I'll get display through the 1070, but it will head straight to BIOS and not boot the OS. Anyone have any idea what's going on? It's my first time trying an eGPU, and I haven't seen people do it with an Nvidia card (I did find one YouTube video if I recall that couldn't get it with the Nvidia card but could with AMD)... so I'm hoping that there's just something easy and simple I'm missing.

I'll double check my bios version later, but I've not flashed it, so I think it's the standard 3.60. I see a 3.70 out, but I know a lot of people here use the Beta BIOS subversions of 3.60.
Otherwise, a 3400g paired with 2x8 GB G.Skill DDR4 3200, and a 1TB NVMe drive, running Win 10 Pro.

Edit: The video I mentioned... but he goes on to say he got a 1060 and several RTX 2000 series to work. So I feel like this is possible, just something simple I'm missing.
 
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paul

Cable Smoosher
Aug 6, 2020
9
8
I ended up snagging a FE RTX 3060 Ti for my desktop, so I suddenly have a GTX 1070 laying around. I've tried to replicate @rubicoin's setup here, and it will start up and I'll get display through the 1070, but it will head straight to BIOS and not boot the OS. Anyone have any idea what's going on? It's my first time trying an eGPU, and I haven't seen people do it with an Nvidia card (I did find one YouTube video if I recall that couldn't get it with the Nvidia card but could with AMD)... so I'm hoping that there's just something easy and simple I'm missing.

I'll double check my bios version later, but I've not flashed it, so I think it's the standard 3.60. I see a 3.70 out, but I know a lot of people here use the Beta BIOS subversions of 3.60.
Otherwise, a 3400g paired with 2x8 GB G.Skill DDR4 3200, and a 1TB NVMe drive, running Win 10 Pro.

Edit: The video I mentioned... but he goes on to say he got a 1060 and several RTX 2000 series to work. So I feel like this is possible, just something simple I'm missing.
Ugh, never mind. Always change one variable at a time... turns out I had put in an old SSD I thought maybe I'd toss Linux on, but never did and assumed it was just a waste. Turns out, had the MBR on it. So I'll get this rolling again shortly.

While I'm posting, what was the consensus on best BIOS with the 3400g? I heard some people had problems with 3.60S, so there was some talk of 3.60K and 3.60R being good, and of course there is the official 3.70. Any strong data?
 
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paul

Cable Smoosher
Aug 6, 2020
9
8
Happy to say, everything works like a charm. Thanks to @rubicoin for making it so easy by pointing out what to get, and how to set this up. Had over 99% in 3DMark stress tests before and after the change. Some numbers to crunch on (sorry they're all 3DMark... kind of lazy but good for comparison) against the i7-7700 when it had this same GPU with it (which, is a pretty comparable CPU at 4/8 and a max of 4.2GHz):

BenchmarkOverall scoreSystemGraphics ScoreCPU ScoreDateMax CPU/GPU tempsNotes
Time Spy1349A300 3400g 16GB1210389311/14/202072/56iGPU, 3.60 BIOS
Time Spy5404A300 3400g 16GB569941801/13/202167/69GTX 1070, 3.60K
Time Spy5412A300 3400g 16GB568842461/13/202167/67GTX 1070, 3.60S
Time Spy5735i7-7700 16GB5990462412/27/202071/67Stock cooler

Looks like the BIOS updates did help, raising the CPU score. A roughly 5% decrease as expected compared to the i7 desktop on the graphics front, presumably for the adapter. And now, perfect for gaming on a 4k 60Hz TV, you know, if you're into that sort of thing.
 
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limsandy

Average Stuffer
Jul 3, 2020
71
31
@limsandy hey mate, how are you coming along? Wanted to ask... Are you still stuck on the 2400MHz boundary? Maybe do you have a spare AM4 mainboard?

Hey buddy, thanks for asking. Yeah I'm still stuck at 2400 MHz. On the bright side, it's stable at very tight timings like 14-15-15-30-48 or something like that.

Would you care to speculate why my 2200G is stable at 2933 MHz but my 4650G is only stable at 2400 MHz?

Yes I had a spare AM4 mobo the other day. I built a budget system for my ex-manager, with Asrock A320-HDV and my old 2200G. Why? What are you thinking, @gustav ?
 

A300

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jul 13, 2019
96
14
Hi,

Currently, I am on Radeon 20.12.1 & Ryzen 2400G.

Is it OK if I want revert the Radeon software to the old version? This new version makes Windows 10 fonts to crisp for me.

If it is OK, to do that, just install the old version, right?