Monday, June 24th 2019
ASUS Rolls Out the Prime A320I-K Mini-ITX Motherboard
ASUS today rolled out an entry-level mini-ITX motherboard for the AMD socket AM4 platform, the Prime A320I-K. Based on the AMD A320 chipset, the board supports 1st and 2nd generation Ryzen processors out of the box, including the 8-core models. The tiny A320 chipset is tucked away behind a metal heatspreader underneath the M.2-2280 slot. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it with a 6-phase VRM that makes do without a heatsink.
Storage connectivity on the A320I-K includes four SATA 6 Gbps ports, and an M.2-2280 slot with PCI-Express 2.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps wiring from the SoC. The board's lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 3.0 x16. USB connectivity includes six USB 3.1 gen 1 ports, four on the rear-panel and two via headers; and four USB 2.0 ports, of which two are via headers. Display connectivity includes one each of DisplayPort and HDMI. Networking is care of a single 1 GbE interface driven by a Realtek RTL8111H controller, and the onboard audio solution is an entry-level Realtek ALC887. We expect the Prime A320I-K to be priced around $60.
Storage connectivity on the A320I-K includes four SATA 6 Gbps ports, and an M.2-2280 slot with PCI-Express 2.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps wiring from the SoC. The board's lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 3.0 x16. USB connectivity includes six USB 3.1 gen 1 ports, four on the rear-panel and two via headers; and four USB 2.0 ports, of which two are via headers. Display connectivity includes one each of DisplayPort and HDMI. Networking is care of a single 1 GbE interface driven by a Realtek RTL8111H controller, and the onboard audio solution is an entry-level Realtek ALC887. We expect the Prime A320I-K to be priced around $60.
25 Comments on ASUS Rolls Out the Prime A320I-K Mini-ITX Motherboard
Personally I would choose a $120 b450 itx board over this.
Second gen Ryzen with Vega, A320 is compatible.
I would still like to see a chipset-less board for ryzen 3000
The closest alternative is around $110 (that's in US, more in EU/CIS), and cheap brands like ECS and BIOSTAR decided to stop on two-slot uATX.
Even if it lacks 3rd gen Ryzen APU support, it's still a viable base for pretty much anything, including cheap gaming rigs. 1000/2000-series chips are so cheap nowadays, that my 1600x cost me less than an i3. R5 2600 is trending in a $150-170 ballpark. APUs are also as low as they'll ever get.
P.S. I'm wondering what's that FPC connector doing under the BIOS IC? No mention of it in the manual, and it's definitely not a debug port, since LPC headers are right next to it...
browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/13609546
So maybe even the 3rd gen APU's will be supported?
USB, most of the features cannot be used unless they add U.2 ports which is very rare.
the vrm looks somewhat capable, would have loved heatsink but add vram heatsinks and it works nicely, tested Asus Prima B350 with a ryzen 1700 and it oc's to 3.8 allcore without issues, 3.9 with vram heatsinks.
First is an obligation done by company (literally - providing support). The second is not.
One example are kaby lake and newer cpus with windows 7. Do they work? Yeah, for most part for most people. Are they supported? Hell no - no igpu driver updates, the OS refuses to update, and contacting either MS or Intel about such configuration will result in politest form of gtfo.
Similarly here. Many A320 and B350 boards come in pairs, sharing PCB and components (except for minor stuff, and obviously the chipset), thus get virtually the same bioses. In result, it would actually cost more to create a separate code branch for A320 boards with new cpus support removed. So there is a high chance that new cpus will work, even though they will not be mentioned in supported cpus list.
Of course in case of RMA, it wouldn't be wise to mention that an unsupported cpu was used when the board failed ;)
That's a PCIe 3.0 connection from the SoC to the M.2 slot.
So far it is listed for 100€ in stock at 2 retailers, 94€ for one without stock. It will have to be pretty cheap for what it offers. And honestly, why not just go the full SoC route with a low budget ITX board?
Newegg - $120
B&H - $92.99
Amazon - $92.99
PROVANTAGE - $96.98
It almost makes more sense to get an AsRock DeskMini A300 instead (at least for HTPC or office).