Saturday, July 27th 2024

ASRock Silently Unveils X600TM-ITX, a Thin Mini-ITX Motherboard for AMD Zen 5 CPUs
ASRock has silently unveiled the X600TM-ITX, currently the "world's only" AM5 Thin Mini-ITX motherboard designed for AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" processors along with 8000 and 7000 series CPUs with a max TDP of 65 W. Its "Thin" Mini-ITX form factor (17.0 cm x 17.0 cm) stands out with a compact 25 mm I/O shield height compared to the standard 44 mm.
Unlike traditional Mini-ITX boards, the X600TM-ITX utilizes SODIMM memory (max. 96 GB of Dual DDR5 6400+) and supports onboard power supply via one DC Jack on the rear panel I/O, eliminating the need for a separate ATX PSU. This makes it an ideal choice for DIY mini PC enthusiasts. However, the board lacks PCIe slots for discrete GPUs, limiting its gaming potential. Nevertheless, the integrated graphics in AM5 processors should handle most games at lower settings, especially with higher-end CPUs.The X600TM-ITX sports two M.2 2280 SSDs (PCIe Gen 4 x4), dual SATA ports, an M.2 2230 slot to accommodate a Wi-Fi / Bluetooth module, one DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI ports (rear and internal), one LAN port, audio jack, and four USB ports. However, ASRock seems to be offering a wide range of I/O configurations, so multiple variants of this motherboard will be available.
ASRock positions the X600TM-ITX primarily for HTPC (Home Theater PC) builds, a market segment that has declined with the rise of mini PCs. This board offers greater flexibility, including future CPU upgrade options.
Pricing and availability details are yet to be announced. More details on the product page.
Source:
Videocardz
Unlike traditional Mini-ITX boards, the X600TM-ITX utilizes SODIMM memory (max. 96 GB of Dual DDR5 6400+) and supports onboard power supply via one DC Jack on the rear panel I/O, eliminating the need for a separate ATX PSU. This makes it an ideal choice for DIY mini PC enthusiasts. However, the board lacks PCIe slots for discrete GPUs, limiting its gaming potential. Nevertheless, the integrated graphics in AM5 processors should handle most games at lower settings, especially with higher-end CPUs.The X600TM-ITX sports two M.2 2280 SSDs (PCIe Gen 4 x4), dual SATA ports, an M.2 2230 slot to accommodate a Wi-Fi / Bluetooth module, one DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI ports (rear and internal), one LAN port, audio jack, and four USB ports. However, ASRock seems to be offering a wide range of I/O configurations, so multiple variants of this motherboard will be available.
ASRock positions the X600TM-ITX primarily for HTPC (Home Theater PC) builds, a market segment that has declined with the rise of mini PCs. This board offers greater flexibility, including future CPU upgrade options.
Pricing and availability details are yet to be announced. More details on the product page.
47 Comments on ASRock Silently Unveils X600TM-ITX, a Thin Mini-ITX Motherboard for AMD Zen 5 CPUs
because lets face it the vast majority of all normie users dont need the pch at all
Strix Halo is the first of a new family of AMD chips and is IMHO the start of a new tier of performance in the laptop (and elsewhere) sphere within the X86 market, with it's defining point being the doubling of memory channels. It will arrive on a whole new socket. I am hoping for options to be presented to OEM's, motherboard designers/manufacturers, the market in general and allow the market to define the RAM types available on what motherboard types for what form factors, and that's just the desktop market and this is absolutely going in laptops. Possible RAM types, Desktop DDR5 DIMM's, DDR5 SO-DIMM's, CAMM, or soldered, we just don't know yet, buit will soon enough once the immediate launces are out of the way I suspect it will find it's way out (desktop Zen 5 launch + 7-days ish). Excepting the point that the 8500G is Zen 4.!!! Zen 5 has not launched yet.
mini-itx.com - news
FanlessTech
The product would be better appreciated on the above two.
Strix Point is the next gen AMD default chip for thin and light laptops (the largest single market sector by volume) and can and will be sold for use in the AM5 socket, it is the direct successor to the same chip line that includes the 8500G, the new line is the "AI 300" line, there is going to be a lot of different products at launch, and they should actually be able to buy before Christmas because AMD (TSMC) has been producing these new chips at a larger pace than any previous generation, this will be a big launch with mass volume expected shortly after launch, which is also good news for those who might want a Strix Point desktop system as they might (hopefully) come to desktop sooner than previous generations. Strix Point will certainly be a solid improvement all round on all fronts, it will feel like a real generational uplift.
www.amd.com/en/products/processors/laptop/ryzen.html#specs Perhaps you could help people appreciate the benefits, uses and purpose of a slim ITX board vs a standard height ITX board.
Strix point have a memory bus twice the size of Hawk point and Raphael, and it doesn't support RAM slots. This can of course be changed, but I wonder how that would affect performance.
Strix Halo ≠ Strix Point
Strix is the codename for the family, "Halo" and "Point" are different specific products, there may be others. It certainly can and that will depend on the manufacturer of the motherboard and dictated by purpose (laptop, desktop, other) and motherboard design and layout. It will absolutely be launched with CAMM memory modules because no one in 2024 will risk module failure with 256G of RAM soldered to the motherboard, CAMM modules can be fit inside NUC (SFF) sized boxes that are popular these days and a significant part of that market is Barebones where people expect to have choice and flexibility still and that has to mean CAMM modules, it can also simply support standard DDR5, just 4 sticks worth, with perhaps the drawback with that option being that the RAMM cannot run as fast because it is not as physically close, but it is still an option and certainly possible, again I will not discuss this point further.
It's a successor to 12 CU 8700G if anything, even if the latter has no C-cores.
I've never even mentioned Strix halo. I was pretty sure I've read that Strix point has twice the bus width, but that was a mistake. Having 128 bit does change my point of view, obviously.
Regarding RAM slots, I'm not making this up. It's mentioned here after three minutes.
Anyway, at first I was not impressed by the single review I've seen (S16), didn't think Meteor lake (CPU performance) would have a chance, maybe just a limiting Strix point laptop SKU with underwhelming cooling. It does mention a 13" model that beats everything so I might be right about that. A 41 % difference in CBench R23 is insane for the same APU, with the faster one also having a 4070 AND lower weight.
Combining a soldered APU with a PCIE x16 slot is an odd choice.
I would personally love to see one or more companies launch such a product, and I will be perfectly happy if after a few years those that bought the product would do so again, or whether they would like a traditionally upgradable product, or whether they want to go to the mini-PC / NUC / AIO / Laptop / Tablet / Console / Portable end of the spectrum where traditionally there has been little to upgrade beyond storage and the occasional add-on.
One could argue that it would essentially be like a console / PC hybrid and could be done, but perhaps it would not have the appeal unless the design was such that the whole unit was like a console but with an empty section cut off from the rest of the console for the upgrade slots so it appeals to what console users are used to, but still gives enough flexibility and upgrade possibilities that it also appeals to PC users.
Funnily enough platforms just like this are perhaps on the horizon, for all I know, perhaps MicroShaft are going to use "Strix Halo" as the basis of a new Console and it could absolutely be designed as you describe (although MicroShaft would lock down the BIOS, another manufacturer would release something that is not locked down).