ASRock VisionX

[jamaicanpi]

This little machine has been referenced in other threads, mostly when it was announced at Computex 2012. I think it is a very nice SFF solution that has not received much notice, so here are some links and info.

ASRock VisionX

Dimensions: 200mm x 200mm x 70mm [2.8L]; 7-7/8" x 7-7/8" x 2-3/4"

Components: Source Legion Hardware review
slim blu-ray driver
H77 chipset
i5-3210m (2.5 GHz (up to 3.1 GHz); dual core with HT)
AMD 7850M (~HD 7750 performance)
2x4GB 1600 MHz SO-DIMM (not soldered, so user-upgradeable)
Realtek ALC898 audio codec
Broadcom network interface controller
Wireless-n card (Atheros)
750 GB 2.5" HDD (5400 RPM-Samsung)
Support for 2x 2.5" HDDs
mSATA slot


Reviews
Legion Hardware

The VisionX can currently be purchased at NewEgg for ~$890

 

[SithSolo1]

For $900 they can keep it.

 

[rolling_tiger]

For $900 they can keep it.

This.

Doesn't offer anything over my laptop, but it cost only 50 less.

 

[Skott]

For $900 I think I could build better.

 

[Talz]

Sure at $900 this isn't a bargain but it's about what I would expect a box like this to start at. If you want that much power and a BD squeezed into less than 3 liters you're going to pay dearly for it, if you're willing to double the size of the box you can drop the price at least a hundred dollars and still have something fairly small, it's nice to have the choice. Beyond that as you get closer to a full MATX/ATX of over a cubic foot with desktop components and are less picky about the looks of the case a similar performing system could drop to around $500. At the end of the day there's a premium for a good looking system, and further premiums to be payed as you start to shrink a system down to fit a system down while maintaining the same performance.


The lower end i3 bundle seems like a better deal though that would still be quite capable for HTPC use at $560, and a small bit of the cash saved could go to an MSATA OS drive. It's a shame they don't offer a more barebones configuration without any RAM or HDD. But as cool as I think the bargain version is I would be careful, Asrock seems to have had some problems with bad power supplies on at least the initial batch.

 

[CHANG3D]

For $900 I think I could build better.

But can you build smaller?

Between the X and the HT, I'd rather save money and take the HT and just use the HD4000.

But I'd really rather wait for the Intel NUC at $399 (although it's supposedly Sandy Bridge).

And after reading user comments on Newegg, I think I'll avoid the HT all together!

 

[SithSolo1]

Tossed this together to see what I could do but it has 3 sizable flaws:
1) It costs $50 more than the ASrock box
2) Its still small but over twice the volume of the ASrock box
3) I couldn't for the life of me find a slot-load slim internal drive in stock so the Blu-ray burner is a slim external unit.

Big pluses:
Desktop CPU
Desktop discreet card
SSD


Wesena ITX7 * - ~$100
picoPSU-160-XT + 192W Adapter Power Kit - ~$76
Asrock Z77E-ITX ** - ~$150
Intel Core i3-3220 - $130
Silverstone NT07-1156 - $25
Sapphire 100357LP low profile 7750 - ~$120
Samsung DDR3-1600 8GB(2x4GB) - $45
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD3 - $115
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT 750GB - $100
Samsung SE-506AB/TSBD - $80

Total = $941ish *** before Windows.

I see the ASrock as wanting to be a small gaming box and I personally would rather have this box than the ASrock as I feel its a much more capable package. If its not trying to be a small gaming box why have the 7850m?


*Case will require modding for the 4-din psu connector.
**I went with the Z77 for the mSATA, Wireless, and full size pci-e slot.
***Prices are mostly from newegg but with a few from amazon and mini-box.com


If the main idea is HTPC, then you could definitely make this a good bit cheaper and use a smaller case. I'd go for an i3-3225, drop down to a H77 board, delete the discrete card, ditch the msata for a regular 120-128GB SSD, and kick the optical drive to the curb. That'd save what...roughly $250 or more depending on what parts you choose? And you could still play some games at 720p.

 

[xyexz]

They put in the 7850m for the 3D Bluray playback, there isnt an iGPU that can do that from what I understand - the 3D Playback is a guess but they toot that pretty highly on reviews and their product pages mention it a couple of times.