Prebuilt [SFFn] ASRock's Z370 DeskMini GTX1060 - Barebones Bonanza?

[confusis]

When Craig reviewed ASRock's B250 DeskMini GTX1080, we were impressed by the utter performance density offered by the platform. A GTX1080, with desktop GPU performance, in a box under 3 litres of volume. Today it's my turn to look at a DeskMini GTX/RX model, albeit the next generation, based on Intel's Z370 chipset.

The ASRock DeskMini GTX/RX line is based on the Micro-STX form factor, a variation on the STX form factor originally launched by Intel as "5x5" a few years back. ASRock realised that by adding in a mere 2 inches in length (ugh... metric plz) meant that the addition of an MXM slot was possible, opening up the form factor to upgrades of the GPU variety.

Lets's see what this iteration of the DeskMini has to offer! A note before we begin; the ASRock DeskMini product line is a barebones product, with the chassis, power supply, WiFi card, motherboard and MXM graphics card included. You'll have to add your own storage, CPU, CPU cooler and RAM for this system to be bootable.

This article will be published in two parts, due to the length of the content, and the detail I've gone into. Part two will be published in one weeks time and will be linked here when published.

Read more here.

 

[Boil]

Looking forward to Part Two...!

Also looking forward to seeing more on the Digital Storm Spark when that comes out, and looking forward to seeing what @Kmpkt is coming up with for a custom replacement chassis for the DeskMini...!

 

[ChairmanDev]

I really hope that rumor about ASRock getting into making MXM gpus is true. I'd like to jump into micro stx, but MXM is just too scary atm.

 

[Biowarejak]

Wonderful read I appreciate your eye for the details in the chassis design. It really highlights the little things that go a long way into making an exceptional product.

What I've always found neat and yet somewhat worrisome with the STX format is having the front IO integrated. I suppose I just enjoy feeling like I can swap enclosures at a whim

 

[Phuncz]

What I've always found neat and yet somewhat worrisome with the STX format is having the front IO integrated. I suppose I just enjoy feeling like I can swap enclosures at a whim

It's not really a practical problem, because the mSTX format has this in its spec. So any mSTX case needs to have that cutout and you'll be able to upgrade the front I/O along with the board, which often needs to be the case anyway (USB Type-C currently for instance).

In my opinion, it's a good choice for this format.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Now we need a Quadro + Xeon m-STX for professional ultra compact goodness

 

[AleksandarK]

Now we need a Quadro + Xeon m-STX for professional ultra compact goodness

Pretty sure Xeon D can be embedded in there!

 

[EdZ]

However, action by NVIDIA to curtail the sales of MXM outside the laptop space

That's interesting, and not something I can find reported elsewhere. Do you have any more info on this? I could see wanting to limit/prevent the use of mobile-binned GP104/GP106 dies on desktop cards (as while those are the uppermost binning with the lowest available voltage for the specced performance) limiting use of desktop-binned GPUs on MXM cards doesn't make much sense.

 

[confusis]

That's interesting, and not something I can find reported elsewhere. Do you have any more info on this? I could see wanting to limit/prevent the use of mobile-binned GP104/GP106 dies on desktop cards (as while those are the uppermost binning with the lowest available voltage for the specced performance) limiting use of desktop-binned GPUs on MXM cards doesn't make much sense.

That's information I've been told by numerous industry partners who do not wish to be named.

 

[warfreak131]

Any ETA on part 2?

 

[Biowarejak]

Any ETA on part 2?

His internet was down for awhile, should be coming along soon

 

[confusis]

It's very close, I couldn't download the benchmarking programs to test things! It should be up in the next 2 days

 

[confusis]

https://smallformfactor.net/reviews/asrocks-z370-deskmini-gtx1060-barebones-bonanza-part-2 !!

 

[pyxls]

https://smallformfactor.net/reviews/asrocks-z370-deskmini-gtx1060-barebones-bonanza-part-2 !!

I just read part 2 and noticed that half-way through you switched from Z370 to Z270 and i7-7700 instead of an 8th gen. i7.

 

[confusis]

Typos Fixed now!

 

[RoLexus]

I buy a new Asrock X99 motherboard last year, it's terrible in stability, many times restarts automatically, driver not start..., use very old wifi card for new motherboard, It makes me very worry about Asrock quality, I now use goods from other branch like MSI, Asus...

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

I buy a new Asrock X99 motherboard last year, it's terrible in stability, many times restarts automatically, driver not start..., use very old wifi card for new motherboard, It makes me very worry about Asrock quality, I now use goods from other branch like MSI, Asus...

Maybe it had a defect, happens with all manufacturers. Also, issue can come from many things like CPU, Ram, PSU ... Those three can cause nasty stability issues.

 

[Phuncz]

If it's an AzureWave Wifi card, I think most motherboard brands (including Asus ) have stopped using those after X99 and Z87 boards. They gave a lot of people headaches. Why a system is unstable can have so many reasons and basing this on one bad experience is going to leave you with no brand to choose from in the end, because all of them can have issues. Some more than others but one sample size won't give you a meaningful statistic.

 

[RoLexus]

Drive not auo-start and I have start manually in Windows is USB 3.1 and wifi ( intel 31XX) all are on board component. (yellow color ! in windows DM).
Can't install new wifi card driver after 1 month using due old wifi card model. I used 3 Asus, 1 MSI, 1 Asrock and just unlucky for me with Asrock.
Can't bring to shop to complain with this kind of problem (because it working and just some times happen) I sell it after 3 month using.
I will use Asrock back if I get the same problem with all Asus, MSI, Giga...

 

[confusis]

@RoLexus, You're talking about an unrelated, 3 year old platform. Stop trying to derail this thread.