Back to product
AsRock DeskMini A300

AsRock DeskMini A300

Product ratings

4.5
30
Rate product
Filter reviews by number of stars.

You can only filter by number of stars if there are matching reviews.

15 reviews

  • cweb

    5 years ago •
    purchased this product

    Finally!

    Finally a smart barebone for AMD APUs. Price / performance worlds better than the Intel variant, especially because the GPU is quite usable.

    Config:
    - AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
    - 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR-2400 SO-DIMM 260Pin
    - Corsair     Force MP510 480GB M.2

    Tips to future buyers:
    - If you want to gamble with it, 1. take Ryzen 5 2400G, 2. buy better fan with it, 3. install 16GB RAM (2933 Mhz).
    The GPU reserves 2.1GB, what's left is a bit tight at 8GB.
    - The included fan from Asrock is not designed for continuous use and has whistling pretty nasty, and the one from AMD doesn't fit in because of 2 millimeters. Since the device only acts as a home server for me and is in the closet, this does not bother me.
    - Attention (!!!): The M.2 SSDs must be NVMe, AHCI is not supported.     

    Pro

    • Everything except.

    Contra

    • Supplied fan from Asrock whistles, supplied fan from AMD just does not fit inside
  • Grendelbox

    4 years ago

    Mega-Genius POWERZWERG

    My CURRENT Config

    (Screenshots are still from the Ryzen 5 PRO 3400G from the first day of assembly)

    ASRock DeskMini A300
    AMD Ryzen 5 4650G
    Noctua NH-L9a-AM4
    G.Skill RipJaws SO-DIMM Kit 16GB, DDR4-3200, CL18-18-43 (F4-3200C18D-16GRS)
    PNY     XLR8 CS3030 M.2 NVMe SSD 500GB, M.2 (M280CS3030-500-RB)
    2x ADATA SU800 1TB SATA SSD 2.5
    ASRock DeskMini USB 2.0 Cable (5RB000010020)
    ASRock DeskMini Rear Audio Cable Kit (90-BXG3G0-A0XCR2W)


    RAM runs stable in XMP 2.0 mode
    Primarily used by me as h265 encoder with Handbrake
    The device is PERFECT for this purpose !

    Incredible 4 drives are realizable in this small part.
    4 x SSD/ HDD mountable (2x 2,5" SATA, 2x M.2 NVMe PCIe)

    The M.2 slots can both NOT M.2 SATAs only PCIe NVMe SSDs
    For me no drawback because the NVMe anyway -technically - are much more performant.
    The few euros surcharge I pay gladly, get for it but also the x-fold performance.
    The connections of the 2 SATA's are done via 2 included proprietary cables, which convert the small HighDensity sockets on the motherboard bottom side
    then connect to standard SATA+STROM connectors.
    The 2.5" drives are screwed onto the frame underneath the motherboard.
    For the lower M.2 NVMe drive you always have to unscrew the motherboard from the bottom panel (so like fan replacement).

    CONTRA:

    The ADDON cables (USB2.0, rear AUDIO) all have to be purchased separately.
    These "penny" items could have easily been bundled with the A300.
    That way you wouldn't have broken a sweat.
    In this way, the fiddly installation of the USB 2.0 cable would have been spared,
    because you could have laid it "ex works" stress-free inside the case.
    The VESA mount kit would also have been included in the package.
    (For comparison: In the Intel NUC's, the VESA kit is always included as a standard accessory !!!)

    CONCLUSIONS:

    Mega-genius POWERZWERG....     

    Pro

    • Small
    • 4x SSD possible (2x NVMe + 2x SATA)
    • External power supply
    • Chipset-Less, therefore EVERY 65Watt AM4 APU is possible
    • Ryzen 4000 series ready (after update to minimum Bios P3.60N)

    Contra

    • various gadgets have to be bought extra
  • storkstork

    4 years ago •
    purchased this product

    Everything works as intended.

    Everything works as intended.
    My components:
    AsRock DeskMini A300
    AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
    HyperX Impact (2x, 4GB, DDR4-2400, SO-DIMM 260 pin)
    Toshiba RC500 (250GB, M.2 2280)

    Installation is quite simple. You need a PH2 screwdriver     for the case. For the screws of the m.2 slots you can use a PH0.
    The fan of the 3200G fits great if you take off the plastic ring. This is only clipped on. Thermal pad is already on the AMD cooler. For me, the CPU is displayed at idle and surfing the net about 47 °C. When playing 4K videos, about 70 °C is displayed. The AMD fan spins quite high and is perceptible through open headphones.

    Power consumption under MX Linux:
    Standby/Switched off: 0.8 watts.
    Idle/reading documents: 10 W
    Youtube in 1080p: 25 W
    Youtube in 4K: 50 W
    Max load so far: 65 watts

    The power supply came with me unfortunately with German Schuko plug on the device cable. This was not to be taken from the product description. One bracuht so a Swiss power cord in addition.

    The Deskmini makes a rather loud beeping noise when it is switched off. Which is not present when the power plug is pulled.

    If someone wants to install MX Linux. It didn't work for me with the standart-19.1_x64 and also 19.1_ahs_x64 right away. I have it running on my laptop with kernel 5.3. From there I was able to take a snapshot (system backup) and save it as a USB live stick. With this I could install MX-Linux without problems.     

    Pro

    • small case
    • still enough space for standard hardware
    • upgradeable/expandable
    • low power consumption
    • space for 2x m.2 nvme and 2x Sata-SSD

    Contra

    • case beeps, switched off when power supply is connected
    • included cooler and fan quite small
    • Power supply unit beeps a bit
How do ratings work?