ASRock DeskMini X300

Wegason · 7 Aug 2020 at 18:50

So to support the new Ryzen APU's (Renoir), the 4000 series of APU's, ASRock have announced their update to the DeskMini A300, the DeskMini X300.
https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini X300 Series/index.asp

It looks practically identical, only changes i can see (having built an A300) is it supports faster RAM (3200) and apparently has a beefier cooler come with it.

Price will determine whether its a good option as a mini-office PC or HTPC.

Phreaky · 8 Aug 2020 at 11:03

Keep in mind if you have an A300 there is a 3.60N BIOS that adds Renoir APU support anyway, so as an upgrade over the previous DeskMini it doesn't offer anything at all really.

Wegason · 10 Aug 2020 at 16:40

Phreaky said:
Keep in mind if you have an A300 there is a 3.60N BIOS that adds Renoir APU support anyway, so as an upgrade over the previous DeskMini it doesn't offer anything at all really.

I think that BIOS got removed from ASRock's page.

Tute · 10 Aug 2020 at 23:47

Whatever happened to the Deskminis with the MXM graphics cards? They were notoriously expensive and hard to get hold of, I believe the best on offer was around RX580 performance and then they quietly disappeared? I have to admit I was one of the few excited about that product line, but we've had no RX5000 or RTX2000 versions.

Phreaky · 11 Aug 2020 at 15:10

Wegason said:
I think that BIOS got removed from ASRock's page.

It did, because they were about to release the X300 and it was a stupid thing to do. It's also readily available in multiple places, I flashed it the other day.

kylesdad · 19 Nov 2020 at 18:26

Anybody know where i can get an X300? all i can find in uk is A300

bol · 5 Jan 2021 at 20:22

They are available now at a competitor.

bol · 5 Jan 2021 at 20:35

Does anyone have one of these yet, I am about to order some ram for the X300 but need to know if ram can be overclocked through the bios options. Currently have an A300 and I don't believe it's possible on the bios I have installed.many thanks.
Also looking to order a cpu for the best apu gaming experience, 3400g with the vega11 seems to be the best so far but the prohibitively expensive 4750g edges it out on some gaming benchmarks due to the Vega8 running at 2000 mhz against the 1400mhz of the 3400g.
Luckily the gpu is overclockable on the x300 I believe.
So with some decent ram overclock and an overclocked igpu this will narrow the gap somewhat.
I also believe the ram overclock tops about at 3200mhz.
Decent cooler needed too.

kylesdad · 6 Jan 2021 at 07:38

Yes i got one just before xmas. Great little thing very overclockable currently i have 3200mhz ram running at 3600mhz and an old 2200g running at 3.9ghz with overclocked graphics.
only mod so far has been a better cpu fan to keep it cool. looking to pick up a ryzen 5 4650 when i have the cash as they are cheap on the chinese websites!

Wegason · 14 Jan 2021 at 23:22

I'd love to pick up a 4000 series APU for my daughters little PC

kylesdad · 15 Jan 2021 at 09:52

I'm watching the price off them on Aliexpress and if i dont get caught for duties it would be good value lol.
Plus my son has said the x300 will never run certain games so i'm out to prove him wrong !!

Donnie Fisher · 16 Jan 2021 at 22:47

What’s the current reckoning on there being duty on one of the 4000 apu from Ali express?

Similarly, I see there are a couple of places in Germany that sell them. Would they be duty free after the new trade deal?

WJA96 · 17 Jan 2021 at 02:07

Donnie Fisher said:
What’s the current reckoning on there being duty on one of the 4000 apu from Ali express?

Similarly, I see there are a couple of places in Germany that sell them. Would they be duty free after the new trade deal?

No, you’ll pay duty on both.

softwaresimian · 15 Feb 2021 at 23:34

So how does that work in respect to VAT now ? If I buy something from an EU country, do I buy VAT free and pay here or do I pay VAT at source and only be liable for import duty ?

Anyone any experience yet ?

WJA96 · 16 Feb 2021 at 03:17

softwaresimian said:
So how does that work in respect to VAT now ? If I buy something from an EU country, do I buy VAT free and pay here or do I pay VAT at source and only be liable for import duty ?

Anyone any experience yet ?

Buy it VAT free (for export) and you pay the UK VAT and import duties at point of entry. In general the admin fees charged by the courier companies make most personal direct imports too expensive unless what you are buying is too cheap to be true ie. Chinese fakes.