News [TPU] ASUS Intros Prime H310T Motherboard (Thin ITX)

ASUS rolled out the Prime H310T, one of the rare few thin mini-ITX motherboards based on Intel 300-series chipset, a boon for certain SFF cases such as the Akasa Euler series, or DIY all-in-one PC upgrades. Based on Intel H310 chipset, the board supports 8th generation Intel "Coffee Lake" processors (including 95W TDP chips). It draws power from 2-pin (12V DC in), and conditions it for the LGA1151 processor using a simple 3+1 phase VRM. The CPU socket is wired to two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, which support up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2666 memory.

https://www.techpowerup.com/244107/asus-intros-prime-h310t-motherboard

Oh boy! Even though it doesn't have a PCIe 4x slot it does have the M.2 4x slot so there are GPU options for us.

I'd love to snatch up one of those if only to be able to go 6-core in the future on Thin ITX.

 

[LUNA Design]

@LUNA Design Any luck sourcing any of the new 300 series boards? I'd love to pick up one of the DNK-H cases for a friends build. I noticed the Asus PRIME H310T has started showing up in places like Newegg, currently for about $98.
Also, what depth 2.5" HDD does the case support? Would love to be able to jam a couple of 4TB drives in there.

We offered 4TB Seagate before. It's OK to fit, but need use SATA power cables, which comes with Asus mainboard, not with the case. You can check customer feedback about it here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=69605

 

[AMv8-1day]

@LUNA Design Good to hear. I've already got one or two 4TB Seagates laying around not being used though, so I'll likely shuck the ext cases and plop those in. Shouldn't be too hard to track down a pair of lowpro SATA cables. Always up for a modding challenge, wouldn't be here if I didn't like cramming things into places they shouldn't fit!
Have you guys been laying off on production of the DNK-H since the lack of recent mainboard support? Any plans to spin up development again now that it seems like companies are making an effort again? Would love to see more design and development in the Thin-ITX space. 6/12 cores in such a tiny package would be an amazing combo. Also, have you given any thought to a similarly skinny, but longer, dual chamber case to allow for low power expansion cards via flexible riser?
Love your newer DNK-PRIME case by the way. It looks awesome. Clearly high quality.

 

[LUNA Design]

Have you guys been laying off on production of the DNK-H since the lack of recent mainboard support? Any plans to spin up development again now that it seems like companies are making an effort again? Would love to see more design and development in the Thin-ITX space. 6/12 cores in such a tiny package would be an amazing combo. Also, have you given any thought to a similarly skinny, but longer, dual chamber case to allow for low power expansion cards via flexible riser?

Thin Mini-ITX boards does not provide enough power to external graphics. As far as I know 20w only within PCIe 4x. For gaming ability, we provide ZEN design in Mini-ITX form-factor for existing and next generation Ryzen APUs.
Thanks for your feedback!

 

[aquelito]

@LUNA Design : we developped a powered riser allowing you to add a discrete GPU to your thin mini-ITX system.

 

[LUNA Design]

@LUNA Design : we developped a powered riser allowing you to add a discrete GPU to your thin mini-ITX system.

Unfortunately, with external graphics it's will become not so thin as designed. No space.

 

[aquelito]

It was just a kind reminder for your next project

 

[AMv8-1day]

It definitely seems like a niche product of a niche market. Still, I'd love to see something kind of slot in between the Micro-STX products ASRock is working on that are limited by MXM availability, and full Mini-ITX/desktop GPU builds. @aquelito makes a great point though, if you can find a way to incorporate his, or another designed powered riser, it would create a pretty amazingly skinny PC with full desktop CPU and GPU capability. Similar to what @Josh | NFC is doing with the awesome S4Ms, but even skinnier, with a lower power ceiling (maybe 75-120W GPU limit?), without ATX or SFX power supplies, and with a different exhaust layout for a simpler DNK-H-esque design.

@LUNA Design
I mentioned low-power PCIe expansion cards because I was aware of the 25W limitation on the thin mini ITX standard, but it seems like some of the newer boards are playing around with different power capabilities...
Also, 25W could easily power plenty of other expansion cards, it doesn't ALL have to be about gaming. I'm sure there are plenty of people that would like to have a super SFF dedicated video capture machine, maybe a very thin, monitor mounted kiosk machine that requires an RS-232 expansion card, or a GT 1030 for light gaming or multi-monitor display booth capability on an easily tuckable box that wouldn't take up unnecessary space in a tight booth. Maybe a super thin, deployable pfsense machine with heavy duty wireless AP capability from something like the Asus and TP-Link PCIe Wifi NICs? Speaking of Asus, they and a few other companies have been making quad M.2 expansion cards that could be useful for maybe a highspeed proxy caching machine or a portable editing PC with a large, ultrafast storage drive.
Although granted, a lot of those scenarios are more industrial, but I'm always looking for cool ways to build small, single purpose PCs, and make it all look great.

Just a thought!

 

[CC Ricers]

In my own interest to build a gaming mini-PC with the likes of Alienware Alpha, I've designed and built a small custom case for Thin Mini-ITX (and even with support for a single slot card) but yeah, it's a pretty niche area of the SFF market. It's hard to drum up a lot of interest for it. I actually was able to get two GPUs working despite the 25W power limit that is there on paper. GTX 1050 and a Radeon Pro WX 4100. But I've only used them with a Gigabyte GA-H110TN-GSM motherboard, so I can't tell you if other boards would be as reliable. The power delivery of the Gigabyte was robust enough to at least keep them powered during gaming sessions and I never had the system shut down.

 

[LUNA Design]

I actually was able to get two GPUs working despite the 25W power limit that is there on paper. GTX 1050 and a Radeon Pro WX 4100. But I've only used them with a Gigabyte GA-H110TN-GSM motherboard, so I can't tell you if other boards would be as reliable.

You use 12v, or 19v power supply with GA-H110TN-GSM? I think in case of 12V, the voltage goes past the voltage regulators. In the case of a 19v, the mainboard build in voltage regulators are connected and this is an additional load on them.

 

[CC Ricers]

You use 12v, or 19v power supply with GA-H110TN-GSM? I think in case of 12V, the voltage goes past the voltage regulators. In the case of a 19v, the mainboard build in voltage regulators are connected and this is an additional load on them.

I used a 19V 150W AC power adapter to connect to the DC in barrel connector on the back of the board. That was the only power source as I didn't use the 4-pin ATX connector at the top.

 

[aquelito]

You use 12v, or 19v power supply with GA-H110TN-GSM? I think in case of 12V, the voltage goes past the voltage regulators. In the case of a 19v, the mainboard build in voltage regulators are connected and this is an additional load on them.

I always wondered if the onboard voltage regulators smooth the +12V coming from the AC adaptater out or just act as simple 12V passthrough ?
Gigabyte confirmed that info ?

 

[LUNA Design]

I'm not sure. Just my thoughts, because of Asus and Gigabyte input voltage requirements is 12/19-24v. We tested Asus h110t with 12v external power adapter and it's was absolutely the same voltage at input and at CPU. 12.2 at idle state and 11.8 at maximum load.

 

[TinyAudio]

@LUNA Design were you able to test the new board in the DNK-H?

I am fed up waiting for a new mac mini. I want to go for coffee lake as I won't be upgrading for a while.

 

[LUNA Design]

@LUNA Design were you able to test the new board in the DNK-H?

Unfortunately, Asus H310T available only with AIO systems builders in China. We will test it as soon as it will be available for regular PC builders.

 

[TinyAudio]

Unfortunately, Asus H310T available only with AIO systems builders in China. We will test it as soon as it will be available for regular PC builders.

Ok thank you for the update. I spotted a couple of boards on eBay UK so thought they were available.

 

[aquelito]

Thin-Mini ITX is back in business

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-IMB310TN-rev-10#ov

I also took the liberty to contact Asrock regarding the IMB-1212, regarding the PCIe slot and power circuit.
I'm currently waiting for the retail price of the motherboard.

Regarding to IMB-1212, the PCIE slot supports x16 lanes indeed.

Regarding to the power input Voltage,

If you are using 12V DC-in, the 12V Voltage will pass through to the device on mainboard

If you are using 19~28V DC-in, there is bulk circuit to transfer the power to 12V to the device on mainboard.

 

[Vlad502]

Regarding to IMB-1212, the PCIE slot supports x16 lanes indeed.

IMB-1212 based on H310 and H310 according to Intel supports only 6 PCI-E lanes
Oops forget this part:

• Supported Processor PCI Express Port Revision 3
• Supported Processor PCI Express Port Configurations 1x16

So CPU PCI-E 3.0 16 lanes are used for expansion (GPU) slot if i understand it right

 

[aquelito]

Yes, the PCIe slot is managed by the CPU, not the chipset.

 

[ChairmanDev]

Say that I want to build a battery powered rig. With the internal 4 pin power acting as a pass through output when the power brick is plugged in, could that be used to charge a battery? Then when the power brick is unplugged, the internal 4 pin turns into an input for the battery to charge. Am I understanding this right? Could it be possible?

 

[AMv8-1day]

So the H310T has been out for awhile now, no word back from @LUNA Design yet.
Actually, there are now no less than 6 different editions of the PRIME H310T.
Released:
PRIME H310T
PRIME H310T/CSM
PRIME H310T R2.0
PRIME H310T R2.0/CSM
Announced:
PRIME H310T2
PRIME H310T2 R2.0

I don't know how availability is in Russia, but multiple models are freely available on Amazon US/B&H Photo/Office Depot/etc. I would happily order one of these boards and have it shipped if we can simply get some verification that it fits.
With the tight clearances and custom power/cooling, I don't want to throw $250ish away on a case and motherboard that don't fit.
Also, if need be, has anyone tried alternative power supplies, like the @hdplex or @Kmpkt DC-ATX units?