The ASRock DeskMini A300 Review: An Affordable DIY AMD Ryzen mini-PC
by Ganesh T S on April 26, 2019 8:00 AM ESTClosing Thoughts
Throughout this review we've taken a comprehensive look at performance of the DeskMini A300 for a range of SFF PC workloads. It is now time for some closing thoughts from two perspectives - the Ryzen 5 2400G APU, and, the DeskMini A300 motherboard and chassis combination.
SFF machines are popular as space-savers in office environments. For typical office productivity and business workloads, we see that the BAPCo benchmarks and PCMark 8 approximately lead to the same conclusions. The energy consumption metrics show that Intel-based solutions are delivering better performance per watt for equivalent performance. However, the Ryzen-based solutions have lower upfront costs for the same performance. Meanwhile the PCMark 10 overall score shows the Ryzen 5 2400G in much better light because of the inclusion of 3DMark GPU workloads as contributors to the score.
If a PC with gaming credentials is required and the budget doesn't allow for a discrete GPU, a Ryzen APU like the Ryzen 5 2400G is simply the only choice. There are no ifs, ands, or buts here. Even the most powerful integrated GPU that Intel can offer (Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655) is way behind the Radeon RX Vega 11 in the Ryzen 5 2400G. This is across all our gaming benchmarks, irrespective of the quality settings or resolution. The reason for this is easy to infer from our thermal stress tests. With the GPU alone active, the DeskMini A300 draws more than 65W at the wall. In comparison, the most powerful Intel iGPU-equipped system - the Bean Canyon NUC - draws 48W in the same scenario. The corresponding number for the DeskMini 310 with the Core i3-8100 is around 42W. The Radeon Vega architecture and the APU design allows for a much higher power budget for the GPU compared to Intel's designs. All these contribute to the excellent graphics performance of the Ryzen 5 2400G.
On the multimedia front, unfortunately a Ryzen APU-based SFF PC is not advisable for anything beyond the most casual of uses. The hardware itself is actually rather capable (as noted above), but the the current state of the Radeon drivers holds it back. Overall, as a vanilla 1080p playback machine with minimal DRM requirements (read, playback of YouTube videos and basic Netflix streaming), it can do a decent job (assuming power efficiency is not a big factor). However, as soon as we get to more contemporary or arcane requirements (Netflix with 4K HDR, VP9 Profile 2 playback with open source software like VLC or MPC-HC, or UHD Blu-ray support), we run into driver issues or hardware limitations, as described in the HTPC sections.
These sorts of compatibility issues are disheartening to see, given that the system natively supports 4Kp60 output on the HDMI port with HDR. The true HDMI 2.0a output is is contrast to Intel's native HDMI 1.4a output (which has to be worked around with an extra board component by OEMs wanting to provide a HDMI 2.0 port in their system). Folks looking to build a modern media consumption-centric HTPC should look at Intel-based platforms such as the Bean Canyon NUC. The silver lining here, at least, is that these appear to be software issues; so AMD has an opportunity to fix these problems (and change our minds) in future driver versions.
Moving on to our choice of other build components in the DeskMini A300, we first talk about the Western Digital WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD. Despite its PCIe 3.0 x2 interface, the performance per dollar metric, as well as its general consistency, is excellent. The 500GB version we used in our build is available for as low as $65. This complements the cost of the DeskMini A300 ($190 or $150) and the Ryzen 5 2400G ($150) when attempting a budget build. We did splurge a bit on the RAM, opting for the G.Skill Ripjaws Series DDR4 SODIMM rated for 3000 MHz operation (2x $50). The reason to not go in with SODIMMs operating at lower frequencies was to ensure that we were able to provide the APU with more that the bandwidth available at its rated memory clocks (DDR4-2933) while not losing out much on the latency front. With its 16-18-18-43 timing configuration, the G.Skill Ripjaws series DDR4-3000 kit represented the best balance of price, bandwidth, and latency.
Coming back to the DeskMini A300 itself, the chassis is the same as what we have seen in the previous DeskMini 1.92L machines. It will not win any industrial design awards, but it is functional enough. It has plenty of ventilation to aid in dissipating the heat from the board components. The external I/O and the internal board slots represent the best that can be done with the A300 Promontory chipset. Without spare PCIe lanes, the board can only have the NVMe, SATA, and USB ports driven directly by the Ryzen APU + chipset. That is still enough to provide plenty of storage options on the motherboard (given its mini-STX size), but additional USB ports would really be nice to have. ASRock should have included the dual USB 2.0 header cable (currently optional) as part of the package. The DeskMini A300 scores over the comparable Intel-based DeskMini 310 system by including a second M.2 NVMe SSD slot. However, it doesn't have the microSDXC slot available in the latter. In terms of external I/O capability, the two budget mini-STX PCs are equivalent.
Overall, the DeskMini A300 is one of the first AMD-based SFF PCs in the market. And while the SFF situation with AMD's Ryzen APUs is still a uneven at this time, it's still proven a capable system that we can recommend for specific usage scenarios. Particularly, if the PC is expected to service any type of gaming/graphics workload, it provides way more performance compared to any Intel-based alternative at similar price points (i.e, ruling out the use of a discrete GPU). For traditional office and business workloads, it gets the job done; and while it's not particularly energy efficient, the upfront cost itself is lower.
In other words, as is often the case, there are pros and cons to the DeskMini A300. It's a rather capable machine when playing up its strengths, but potential buyers will definitely want to first make sure their workloads are a good fit for what the SFF PC can offer.
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Alexvrb - Saturday, April 27, 2019 - link
I just want to know if it supports cTDP, and if so, does it work well. Some boards do better than others.CharonPDX - Friday, April 26, 2019 - link
Now that "integrated graphics" are starting to reach actually-usable levels, I'd like to see VR added to these SFF reviews. We keep the Oculus Rift in the living room, but have to bring the "gaming PC" out every time we want to use it. I'd love to get a small "capable enough for basic VR games" PC to just live in the living room to run the Oculus.Relatedly, it mentions the DP, HDMI, and VGA ports - but does the front panel USB-C port allow video output via DisplayPort Alternate Mode? If it can play basic VR games acceptably (BeatSaber is the big one,) I'd rather use the front-panel USB-C with one of Accell's USB-C VR adapters.
GreenReaper - Friday, April 26, 2019 - link
It's "usable" up to 1080p on a single screen. Most VR systems use resolutions higher than this, one in each eye, and require twice the frame rates offered here. Don't get me wrong: I want this too, but if top-end Navi-based APUs *doubled* performance they'd still struggle, and they're a year away. Maybe if we had a dual-APU system? (Man, now I'm imagining this for a console.)piasabird - Friday, April 26, 2019 - link
I have the Intel 310 version of the Desk Mini. I think on your review it is too technical while not stressing the ease at which a 2.5 SSD can be installed. The Data/power connectors on the back of the motherboard make it fairly easy and with not much cable clutter. However, I found the cables were easier to connect if you remove the motherboard first. Since some people may want to use a 2.5 SSD, you should have tested that. I wish a similar design was available in Mini-ITX. However, it seems unavailable on the consumer level for the most modern CPU's like the one used in this review.mikato - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
I completely agree. I don't think it was mentioned anywhere in the review that you can add a 2.5" drive - and you can actually add 2 x 2.5" drives according to the ASRock specs page. That sets it apart from other mini PCs significantly. Most only support 1 x 2.5" drive, or the thin NUCs don't support any. That gives you some solid storage options. You can actually forgo the media server and have both ends of the HTPC in one compact box (front-end with all streaming options, and the file storage for local media).sor - Friday, April 26, 2019 - link
I picked up two for my kids, with 2400Gs. Can’t beat the price. I have them mounted to the backs of their monitors which makes for a compact powerful all in one.I’ve got Ubuntu 19.04 on them and they run Dota2 like butter. Better than my 2018 MacBook Pro with discrete Radeon 560x.
My only ask might be two more rear USB ports, but it hasn’t been an issue so far.
sor - Friday, April 26, 2019 - link
Come on guys! The wraith cooler fits and is clearly superior to the boxed one.It may not be listed as supported dimensionally, but you just need to take the superficial ring off the fan and you can ease it in with a little care.
oliwek - Saturday, April 27, 2019 - link
Or just add a low profile Noctua cooler, it's dead silent even under full load, and you won't ever see (nowhere near) 80 degrees celsius as with the stock cooler!https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9a-am4
sor - Friday, April 26, 2019 - link
I just checked and I’m averaging about 57FPS on my 2400G deskmini A300w in 1080p, all settings max.That’s about 50% better performance than the review sees, which is huge. I am running Ubuntu 19.04 out of the box (no munching with drivers).
I AM using the wraith cooler as mentioned, which is also a difference. Are the windows drivers that bad? Or is it the cooler, or something else?
oliwek - Saturday, April 27, 2019 - link
The stock cooler is adequate for a 35watts athlon 200ge, but I'd avoid those high temps with 65W APUs we see here. I don't understand why not to mod the Wraith cooler as you chose to, as it's delivered with the processor, or else take an aftermarket low profile cooler (the Noctua looks like it was designed around this A300 motherboard).