ASRock DeskMini GTX/RX - 2.7 litre

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whatevs

Limp Gawd
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Jun 23, 2017
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ASRock DeskMini GTX/RX is now listed on ASRock's website.

ASRock DESKMINI GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 Intel Socket LGA1151 Intel B250 Mini / Booksize Barebone System out of stock on Newegg.

edit: link to manuals.

Big brother to Deskmini 110W (currently using everyday as main work PC). Newegg link

Differences:
- Z270 and B250 chipsets vs H110. B250 has only one NVMe port off chipset while Z270 allows OC(though manual still lists max 65W CPU for both).

- Two(total 3) 2260/2280 m.2 slots(look to be off chipset) besides the NVMe only m.2(42/60/80mm) off the CPU(which now supports Optane). (B250 limits one of the extra m.2 linked off chipset to only SATA mode)

- Supports three different card length MXM modules. Shows GTX 1060/1070/1080, no mention of RX though title lists it.

- The second CPU fan header is standard 4-pin instead of 5-pin previously.

- uses mini-DIN instead of barrel power connector

- now only has one video port off CPU, HDMI, which is limited to 4k@30Hz.

- Offers one HDMI(4k@60Hz), DP(1.2) and mini-DP(1.2) to the MXM modules.

- front the same, USB 3.0 A and C, one combo headset/headphone and one microphone only port
- back now has two USB 3.0
- an extra/second internal USB2.0 header(first used for side USB ports for K/B)

- same Intel i219-V LAN, same Realtek sound: ALC283

- same 5V, (no 3V/12V) combo SATA power/data cables. Manual and quick-install guide dont mention 15mm support...
- both 2.5" drives can be mounted without removing MB from tray.
- but one of the 2.5" is literally on top of the m.2 ports...
- ditto on chipset(now in back of MB) cooling, as its not only behind a drive, but MB tray, though has a good heatsink.

- clear CMOS pad on front and back of MB.

Really like my Deskmini 110W for work(i7-7700, 32GB RAM, with Noctua NH-L9i).

Not sure how the Deskmini GTX will fair. A tiny bit concerned about storage cooling.

If ASRock setup UEFI/chipset to allow KVM/QEMU to use iGPU for host and dGPU direct-passed through to VM, this would be one killer little work/home machine. Using all off the shelf parts with warranty.
 
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I think this will do great, cooling shouldnt be much of a problem. The MXM cards are the same that laptop companies have been using. This has a good amount of space for cooling.
 
Amazing how small this one is. A console looks gigantic vs this one. Should be the smallest gaming ready desktop for now.
 
The Zotac EN1060 at (210 mm) x (203 mm) x (62.2 mm) is 2.651586 liters as well.
 
The thing that puts the Deskmini way ahead of the Zotac units (in my mind) is the case is very oversized and it can quite easily be pared down to 1.6L with sufficient cooling using the CustomMod Nano. Additionally since the GPU and CPU are both upgradeable you have:

a.) the option to recoup some of your costs by selling off components after you're done with the PC
b.) a path to upgrade if the chipset allows (unfortunately Z270 and equivalents won't)
c.) the ability to reuse components (case, coolers, GPU) with a later variant on this platform.
 
Anyone have one of these in hand and can share pics / noise impressions of a 1060 model? I see it can be noisy with a 1080, but wondering how that cooling solution handles something a bit less power-hungry.

MXM cards are expensive but I like the idea of having some modularity here.
 
Hopefully Asrock starts buying MXM cards in volume so we can benefit from economy of scale.
 
janas19 yeah, although Gigabyte's newer gaming Brix systems (the tall ones) use MXM modules as well, and so do the Zotac Magnus Zboxes. Maybe at least if a few more companies pick this up for mini-PCs we'll start to see more generic MXM modules out there.

Clevo, Dell, Alienware, HP, they all have so many models of laptops that use MXM for the GPU. I guess the relative difficulty of doing an upgrade (vs. just installing a new card in a desktop) means it's a pretty small market for people who are willing to upgrade a laptop GPU though. I've done it a few times and the biggest problem for me has always been making sure that it's "compatible" with the motherboard's firmware - like a lot of Dells won't recognize a GPU if it's too new compared to the system, so you've got to do GPU firmware flashes, and you've got to hack driver files, and it's a real pain.

I feel like if someone designed a laptop where the MXM module could be swapped as easily as the RAM it'd be more common (and thus less expensive) but I'm not really sure how that would work, ensuring cooling surfaces properly mate and such. Or, in this case, if more of these mini-PC designs used MXM cards and had some kind of general-purpose cooling unit on it.

They could at least start writing firmware where it didn't care what kind of GPU was installed. Having to alter .inf files after all that work is like a slap in the face, especially since there's no issue with it if you're running Linux.
 
Yeah, good points you mentioned. I don't see the laptop makers ever coming together to make a standard MXM format, so it will probably be a few more years down the line at least
 
okay, that's really cool. I saw that ASRrock was at CES showing off a Z370 version of this STX motherboard, so I guess the fresh Coffee version of the DeskMini is just around the corner.
 
video review of the 1060 model, with a bit where he runs the microphone next to the case with cpu/gpu loaded.

 
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