ASRock DeskMini 110 mini-STX PC Review
by Ganesh T S on June 8, 2016 8:45 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The ASRock DeskMini 110 was evaluated using our standard test suite for small form-factor PCs. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same. In the first section, we will be looking at SYSmark 2014, as well as some of the Futuremark benchmarks.
BAPCo SYSmark 2014
BAPCo's SYSmark 2014 is an application-based benchmark that uses real-world applications to replay usage patterns of business users in the areas of office productivity, media creation and data/financial analysis. Scores are meant to be compared against a reference desktop (HP ProDesk 600 G1 with a Core i3-4130, 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive) that scores 1000 in each of the scenarios. A score of, say, 2000, would imply that the system under test is twice as fast as the reference system.
SYSmark scores are heavily dependent on the CPU in the system. Here, we see the 65W TDP Core i5-6500 come behind the 45W TDP Core i7-6770HQ, primarily due to the hyperthreading (4C/8T) features of the latter. Note that the Core i5-6500 is a 4C/4T CPU. Other than that, the DeskMini that we built has no trouble proving to be better at business workloads compared to systems equipped with lower TDP CPUs.
Futuremark PCMark 8
PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU in the system. The aspects noted in the SYSmark 2014 subsection apply here too. The DeskMini comes second to Skull Canyon, but has no trouble being better than the other systems in the comparison list.
Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks
The 3D benchmarks present a different story, because the HD Graphics 530 is not as powerful as the GPUs in either Skull Canyon (Iris Pro with eDRAM) or even the U-series models for many workloads.
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
We have moved on from R11.5 to R15 for 3D rendering evaluation. CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results. The Core i5-6500's single threaded performance is top of the line, thanks to the high TDP / clock speed. However, absence of hyperthreading allows Skull Canyon (Core i7-6770HQ) to sneak ahead in the multi-threaded case. The OpenGL results lend further credence to the analysis of the GPU capabilities made in the previous subsection.
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Lolimaster - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link
I would really love a review of the i7 6700T 35w.i7 6700K is only 17% faster on average without that nice tdp. Powerconsumption idle/load/typical use/temps. Would really appreciate it.
prisonerX - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link
A reasonably priced case with built-in passive CPU heatsink would be a nice complement in that review. With Skylake about the only real benefit is the practicality of silent PCs.prisonerX - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link
This ticks a lot of boxes:small size, 12V power, Skylake. But $130 for a motherboard, a generic power brick and a simple case? Seriously?8steve8 - Saturday, July 9, 2016 - link
I know right? It should be like $300 considering the skull canyon NUC is over $600 and can only handle a 45w CPU... With a terrible (loud) cooler.There is nothing that competes with this: Skylake 65 W with this size.
If only Intel would release a socketed Skylake 65w CPU/iGPU with eDRAM.
ES_Revenge - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
Really don't understand the point to STX. Has zero slots, okay that makes it even smaller than ITX but is there really a need for it? The NUC/mini-PC type jobbies like the NUC, Cubi, Liva, etc. seem to have their market covered. If you really want there are some very small mini-ITX cases (some that even only hold thin mini-ITX) and don't end up using the slot so the space "wasted" because of it isn't that much.For example Antec's ISK 110 is very small, it's a bit bigger than this but it uses mini ITX boards (with no slot usability) which are available all over the place. It just doesn't seem like we need another form factor to be between mini ITX and the NUC-type machines, does it?
I'd rather mini DTX have taken off that this. I just don't think there's a need for mini-ITX minus like 5cm
8steve8 - Saturday, July 9, 2016 - link
Most NUCs have a 15W or less CPU meant for laptops... With a laptop style heatsink/fan.This takes a 65w CPU and a quieter heatsink/fan.
Imagine you want a very high performance desktop, but also want it as small as possible. I realize most commenters on this site are obsessed with game performance, but if you don't care about playing the latest game, then this pretty close to the perfect high performance small desktop workstation.
8steve8 - Saturday, July 9, 2016 - link
This is much smaller than even tiny itx PCs ... Also front ports without internal wires/connectors!jaydee - Thursday, June 30, 2016 - link
The power draw for the MSI Cubi 2 Plus vPro max load power draw (Prim95 + FurMark) really can't be right. It's a 35W TDP i5-6500T, and according to the chart is measuring 10W higher than the 65W i5-6500 PC in this review?The i5-6500T 35W PC almost has to be closer to half of the 102W shown here (which was taken from the MSI Cubi 2 Plus vPro main article).
butchooka - Friday, August 12, 2016 - link
Can please someone confirm tha it is possible to install 15mm high HDDs?Would be a nice to put 2*4TB 2,5 drives +m2-SSD in it.
Found nowhere information about possible high of drives in this case, or pics showing there is enogh space. All tests only use ssd drives with 6/9,5mm height. Asrock only provides that it has space for 2 drives
james.shallcross - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
7mm - no problem9.5mm - will JUST fit
15mm - will not fit