ASRock Deskmini Owner's Club

[A Computer Guy]

Asrock Deskmini Owner Club - A place to share your love for these neat SFF PC's from ASRock.

Discuss things regarding various Deskmini models:
- News
- Usage
- Configuration
- Benchmarks
- Accessories
- Wishful thinking for future models
- Overclocking Tips
- Issues
- Other fun stuff

So some time ago earlier this year I salvaged a Ryzen 2200G from a PC that needed a purpose and decided to put it in a DeskMini X300 with WiFi and give it a try for use as a Plex server that had been previously running on my Synology DS920+ NAS. I reused a spare Wraith Stealth cooler (with fan shroud removed), some old 2.5in SSD's off my shelf, and some affordable 32GB of DDR4 Crucial SODIMM memory. I was actually quite impressed by this little box, the STX form factor motherboard, and how much you could pack into this tiny little box with a standard APU.
Unfortunately like with other very small form factor PC's this board doesn't support ECC memory or IPMI which would have made it more ideal for a little home server box.

Since I use mine as a Plex server I also tweak some power settings so when not in use it will sleep but wake up when I want to access my media.
There is an option in UEFI/BIOS too to enable wake on LAN. (image not shown)

Also in the UEFI/BIOS there are various options to set the unit to 65w, 45w, or 35w modes.

 

[sam_86314]

I have an X300 as a toy to play around with.

It has an R5 5600G, 16GB of DDR4-3200 from Timetec, and a 1TB WD SN735 (OEM drive from my laptop)

The cooler is a Thermalright AXP-90 X47, which just barely fits in the case.

I've also toyed with the idea of using it as my summer main PC since it gets fricken hot where I live (got up to 106F outside this week; monsoon can't come soon enough).

 

[Magic Cube]

No pictures. I have Asrock X300 with Ryzen R5 4650 Pro and 32GB ram at 3800MHz timings(20-21-22-42-84-589-1t) are awful, but these have been working(and tested). Also have 2x 500GB NVME SSD's, Intel AX200 Wifi and Jonsbo HP400. Before I had 2 x 8GB Samsung B-dies(Also 3800MHz) but wanted 32GB of ram so updated to Micron J-die. Atleast in Aida's memory test I get better results with these.

I was hoping that newer apus and Asrock mini's would have been out in this summer, but seems that release is not yet. This is my summer pc, it is fast enough for my usage.

Also if you did not know you can press CTRL+Q in Asrock Mini's bios and see couple things more in settings. Atleast this works on my X300.

Edit. Size of this case is just perfect. In upright position space, case uses small portion of my desk. It has one fan which takes care of cooling. Temps do get high, but it is not at critical level, fan of processor takes care of that. Also I did use some thick thermalpad on my second SSD, heat should go to motherboard tray.

 

[A Computer Guy]

No pictures. I have Asrock X300 with Ryzen R5 4650 Pro and 32GB ram at 3800MHz timings(20-21-22-42-84-589-1t) are awful, but these have been working(and tested). Also have 2x 500GB NVME SSD's, Intel AX200 Wifi and Jonsbo HP400. Before I had 2 x 8GB Samsung B-dies(Also 3800MHz) but wanted 32GB of ram so updated to Micron J-die. Atleast in Aida's memory test I get better results with these.

It's great to hear what parts are compatible. Now I know 2 more compatible heatsinks than I did a few days ago.

Also if you did not know you can press CTRL+Q in Asrock Mini's bios and see couple things more in settings. Atleast this works on my X300.

I didn't know that! I will have to try it. Thanks!

No pictures. I have Asrock X300 with Ryzen R5 4650 Pro and 32GB ram at 3800MHz timings(20-21-22-42-84-589-1t) are awful, but these have been working(and tested).

(tangential question) With your 4650 Pro do you use the HDMI or DisplayPort connection? I have a 4750 Pro in a different machine and Cinebench R15, R20, or R23 seems to cause the APU to lose the HDMI connection temporarily and I was wondering is this was a known issue with Pro APU's. When using DisplayPort it's perfect no problems but it gives me hesitation to put that CPU into the X300 if it's only going to be a problem down the road for example if I repurpose the machine for an HDMI TV.

Also I did use some thick thermalpad on my second SSD, heat should go to motherboard tray.

That's a nice idea!

 

[Magic Cube]

(tangential question) With your 4650 Pro do you use the HDMI or DisplayPort connection? I have a 4750 Pro in a different machine and Cinebench R15, R20, or R23 seems to cause the APU to lose the HDMI connection temporarily and I was wondering is this was a known issue with Pro APU's. When using DisplayPort it's perfect no problems but it gives me hesitation to put that CPU into the X300 if it's only going to be a problem down the road for example if I repurpose the machine for an HDMI TV.

For me both connections have been working without issues. Also before this X300, I used this processor in X470 Taichi motherboard and no problems on connections that one either. I am using HDMI right now.

Also I did run Cinebench R15 no problems. Scored 1500pts.

 

[SyWillCry]

I'll get some pictures posted sooner rather than later, but I will be using a previously dead X300m-STX with a Ryzen 3 5350GE and Quadro A2000 in a custom case. Intend to use it as my gaming rig on the go, if I'm going anywhere that has a TV I can plug into, or if I can find a portable display to use.

 

[dudau21]

I also have a X300 and the previous A300 which I was able to overwrite the bios to X300 v1.70 using the nice CH341a with the holding clamp.
I had to delete and rewrite the bios because I tried to downgrade from 3.70 to a beta version that had agesa to support 4650G, but I managed to brick it so decided to give it a try with the x300 bios and since the motherboards are identical, it worked after deleting and writing it... what I haven't tried yet is the LAN connection, but have a feeling it still works.

In case anyone is interested, the BIOS chip for my A300 is Winbond 25Q128FWSC which requires the 1.8v adapter to be written.
On windows 11 had a few issues getting the chip read/recognized since the drivers weren't installed properly from ASProgrammer, but after a few install/uninstalls of the drivers and restarts it worked.

Here are some pictures of my 2 now X300 (have drilled 2 wholes in the X300 so that I ca put an Arctic P12 Slim PWM PST).

Also managed to get my hands on a few small speakers with the connector PH 2.0, that this motherboard supports and installed on the now X300 and it's not the loudest, but it works. I really enjoy playing with these boxes.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I also have a X300 and the previous A300 which I was able to overwrite the bios to X300 v1.70 using the nice CH341a with the holding clamp.
I had to delete and rewrite the bios because I tried to downgrade from 3.70 to a beta version that had agesa to support 4650G, but I managed to brick it so decided to give it a try with the x300 bios and since the motherboards are identical, it worked after deleting and writing it... what I haven't tried yet is the LAN connection, but have a feeling it still works.

In case anyone is interested, the BIOS chip for my A300 is Winbond 25Q128FWSC which requires the 1.8v adapter to be written.
On windows 11 had a few issues getting the chip read/recognized since the drivers weren't installed properly from ASProgrammer, but after a few install/uninstalls of the drivers and restarts it worked.

Here are some pictures of my 2 now X300 (have drilled 2 wholes in the X300 so that I ca put an Arctic P12 Slim PWM PST).

Also managed to get my hands on a few small speakers with the connector PH 2.0, that this motherboard supports and installed on the now X300 and it's not the loudest, but it works. I really enjoy playing with these boxes.

Where did you get the speaker from? By any chance do you have a link for that?

 

[dudau21]

I ordered from Aliexpress, sent you a PM but you can search for any speaker that uses the PH 2.0 connector, maybe you get better ones

Oh and remember to enable the internal speaker in BIOS, otherwise it won't show up in windows

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have the OG A300 with a Pro 2400G, 16GB of 3200 at 2933, 1TB PCIe gen 4 nvme in 3.0 mode, wraith stealth with the AMD logo shroud removed, and M.2 ac wifi + BT card I pulled from a 2018 HP entry level gaming laptop. Including the long wires. I bought it used barebones on another forum and had to add the rest. Fun little thing to mess around with. Can brute force 4K youtube since its version of vega doesn't support VP9 or AV1. Plays older games like a champ. For example: Arkham City, which is my favorite in the series does 1080 max settings 60fps locked.

I had one before, that I sold. I think I had either an Athlon 3000 or 3200G in it. I missed playing with it so much I bought another. I will pick up the newer X model if I see a good deal. I have a 5700G ready to go in it.

 

[lexluthermiester]

@A Computer Guy
Thanks for pointing out this thread! I was unaware of AsRock dipping it's toes in this market sector. I like!

 

[silverchair]

Hello, where do you guys purchase Deskminis from? I am specifically looking for GTX/RX version (one with MXM slot) and can't find one to buy anywhere.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Hello, where do you guys purchase Deskminis from? I am specifically looking for GTX/RX version (one with MXM slot) and can't find one to buy anywhere.

Are you after the deskmini or the deskmeet?

Here's a Deskmeet - https://www.newegg.com/asrock-deskmeet-x300w-b-bb-box-us/p/N82E16856158083

Deskmini - https://www.newegg.com/asrock-deskmini-b660w/p/N82E16856158086

 

[silverchair]

Looking for this: https://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/DeskMini GTXRX (Z370)/index.asp

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I forgot they even did that. Quick look on the used market here in the U.S. didn't turn anything up. Good luck with the search.

 

[Klemc]

This is perfect for web usage, tiny PC that fits under the any table, even low.

//

I just needed WIFI and opened topic there then been redirected here, thanks.

I will receive this RED Wifi 6E & 10 antennas 10dBi, around 13-20 march, screenshots will be taken with my good old (not golden) A2-Core.

 

[AdrianD]

I bought the X300 as a replacement for my 2014 notebook so that I could do my personal office work on it. Since I use screen and keyboard anyway, it didn't had to be a more expensive notebook. Plus it's fun to select and assemble the parts myself.

Thanks for the idea with the speaker @dudau21 ! I was surprised that no sound came out, I really hadn't thought of it lacking internal speakers.
An Intel AX200 is still on the way, though I don't really need Wifi, just as a hotspot for updating the OS on my mobile.

 

[Klemc]

Worked out of the box, i don't have tool to remove antennas from their bracket, so i keep case open (for now).

How do i mesure wifi effectiveness ?.. since it's supposed to be "10dBi".

 

[A Computer Guy]

Worked out of the box, i don't have tool to remove antennas from their bracket, so i keep case open (for now).

How do i mesure wifi effectiveness ?.. since it's supposed to be "10dBi".

Typically I move my device to different locations and try to do a large file transfer and see what happens.

 

[Klemc]

I cliosed the door, that's all i can do :

 

[A Computer Guy]

Just wanted to share I was able to convert my X300 Windows box to Linux for Plex using this guide. ( https://learnubuntumate.weebly.com/plex-media-server.html )
I was getting tired of Windows Update shenanigans taking down my Plex Server and decided to make the switch.

The trickiest part for me was setting up the file storage and permissions. I ended up added a 2TB SSD as my storage and mounting that with a specific mount point. This part was not so hard when setting up a drive new but swapping out drives turned out to be a little work. Initially I had a 1TB SSD and had to swap it out for 2TB. It was a bit more difficult than I thought and ended up having to manually remove the old drive entry from the fstab file before the new drive would mount. After that I just added the new 2TB drive as it was a new drive and override the session defaults so I can customize the mount point.

Under the mount point of my SSD /mnt/plexmedia I create a "Plex Media" folder to store everything and optionally share the folder so I can update the storage over the network.

Getting both plex and my user to be able to manipulate the file storage folder was a bit tricky since I'm not well versed in Linux and always had some trouble with this.

Three key points to successful setup I found were.
1) chown recursively user & group access
2) chmod on folders and files separately using find to recurse the file system
3) after adding new content run a script to reapply ownership and permission for the new files

Being a typical Windows user visually this looks like this. (in Linux Mint Cinnamon)

The script I use to reapply ownership and permissions looks like the one below. Previously I would get stumped when trying to apply Linux permissions because people rarely talk about chmod -R operates on folders and files recursively however permissions specified apply differently between folders and files as illustrated in the above screenshots. Linux users reading this probably saying "duh that's Linux 101" but for a Windows user this can be confusing when looking for help and finding many examples where there is no context pointing out the distinction and the impact of chmod -R on both files and folders. Getting to the point the solution is to use find & chmod in order to set the permissions differently for folders (for example 750 or 755) and files (for example 640 or 644). Finally I've overcome the problem that plagued me for so many years.

After adding new content I simply run the script and Plex is very happy to see all the new content I added.

Some improvements I have yet to figure out and make are

1) How to schedule the script to run periodically or better yet automatically after content as been added?
Running the script manually is fine after each update but I'd rather have it trigger automatically after adding files.

2) How to get the Linux box to sleep and Wake on LAN?
My X300 would sleep <5 watts in Windows with Wake on LAN. On Linux it idles about 20 watts so it would be nice if I could get it to sleep when not in use.

 

[Magic Cube]

I am interested what kind of cooling solutions people have in these DeskMini's? Not that my 5600GT is running that hot. But still interested->getting ideas.

I have Jonsbo's EOL HP400-heatsink. Not the highest quality heatsink. It is skewed to every direction. Before buying 5600GT, I was interested if I could fit 92x92x25 fan inside of Deskmini with HP400. Fan does fit barely and did lower temps->Gets cooler air from outside of the case. Fan I used was from Silverstone tower heatsink. I did buy Noctua fan(s) for different projects, but for this one I managed to order non PWM fan->these cannot be controlled via bios. Maybe next time I will remember to order 92mm PWM fan.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I am interested what kind of cooling solutions people have in these DeskMini's? Not that my 5600GT is running that hot. But still interested->getting ideas.

I have Jonsbo's EOL HP400-heatsink. Not the highest quality heatsink. It is skewed to every direction. Before buying 5600GT, I was interested if I could fit 92x92x25 fan inside of Deskmini with HP400. Fan does fit barely and did lower temps->Gets cooler air from outside of the case. Fan I used was from Silverstone tower heatsink. I did buy Noctua fan(s) for different projects, but for this one I managed to order non PWM fan->these cannot be controlled via bios. Maybe next time I will remember to order 92mm PWM fan.

I'm using a de-shrouded Wraith Stealth cooler. Fits perfectly and channels the airflow flush to the panel ventilation so there isn't any in-case hot air recirculation. I recon if you block the ventilation holes around the fan when it's ducted flush like that it would provide the best blockage for the fan to prevent hot air recirculation. What I like about the wraith stealth in this box (besides fitting perfectly and no additional cost, came with CPU) is it directs exhaust in all directions minimizing dead zones for air flow inside the case. The VRM, NVMe, and 1 ram stick end up getting direct airflow.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I'm using a de-shrouded Wraith Stealth cooler.

Same here. Works great with a Ryzen Pro 2400G.

 

[sam_86314]

Figure I should post about my X300 again since I've done a bit to it...

I still have the 5600G in it, but it now has 32GB of DDR4-3200 from Crucial and a 4TB Teamgroup MP34 under that giant Thermalright heatsink.

That SSD heatsink is necessary for the MP34 to not be terrible. It runs very hot and throttles hard without it.

With the 32GB of RAM, I can statically assign 8GB to the iGPU, and now it can run Stable Diffusion. Not well, but I think it's neat that the iGPU in this can run it.

I am interested what kind of cooling solutions people have in these DeskMini's? Not that my 5600GT is running that hot. But still interested->getting ideas.

I have Jonsbo's EOL HP400-heatsink. Not the highest quality heatsink. It is skewed to every direction. Before buying 5600GT, I was interested if I could fit 92x92x25 fan inside of Deskmini with HP400. Fan does fit barely and did lower temps->Gets cooler air from outside of the case. Fan I used was from Silverstone tower heatsink. I did buy Noctua fan(s) for different projects, but for this one I managed to order non PWM fan->these cannot be controlled via bios. Maybe next time I will remember to order 92mm PWM fan.

I'm sure you saw it in my previous post, but I run a Thermalright AXP-90 X47 in mine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CGXPVC1

Nice cheap low-profile cooler that performs great for the price.

It looks like they also have an all-copper version for $35.

At 47mm tall, it just barely fits, and you do have to slightly bend the case when sliding the board in and out.

My only complaint is that it has an annoying hum above 1500 RPM because the fan is right up against the side of the case. But that's nothing a custom fan curve can't solve.