ASRock Barb DeskMeet X300/B/BB/BOX

Product Information

At the bottom of the chassis (when sitting on the case feet) is a large SECC steel section holding it all together. The included ATX power supply rests against the small folded section. x SATA3 6.0Gb/s ports (RAID 0/1), 1 x Hyper M.2 (2280) PCIe Gen4 x4 & SATA3 6.0Gb/s slot 1 x Hyper M.2 (2280) PCIe Gen4 x4 slot Testing the speed of the PCIe Gen 4 M.2 slots was a key factor for me, as my current desktop is an older Z370 based system. The Samsung 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 500gb was an affordable option for me, so I popped into the local PBTech and bought one. Speedy is right! However, a bit lower than the Samsung quoted specs in sequential mode. This cookie is set by the provider Akamai Bot Manager. This cookie is used to manage the interaction with the online bots. It also helps in fraud preventions Rotating around to the audio section, here’s a basic configuration around a Realtek ALC897 chip. Nothing exciting, but more than enough for the business orientated focus of this system. There’s more than enough USB to have a dedicated USB DAC for audio.

Ryzen 5700G uses GCN 5th Gen GPU technology that’s now been superseded by RDNA 2 in mobile-only Ryzen 6000 Series. If you’re sensible and play older games, the baked-in IGP delivers acceptable results at a FHD resolution. In fact, newer games such as Forza Horizon 5 are just about playable at high-quality settings, though an entry-level discrete card can double framerate with ease. I can't find much info on the PSU inside that case, but is there a reason to believe that 500W is insufficient? I can't think of any ITX GPU that'll pull enough wattage to threaten a 500W PSU. A nice centered fit for the GPU fan on this card. It does make me wonder though… Pull the fan and shroud off a GPU and intall a 120mm intake fan into the mounting holes provided? Could aid in any cooling issues (although I will be testing thermals a little later).In this article, I will test the system as shipped, however I am planning to follow this article up with an “alternative airflow” feature in the near future. Performance Testing On the reverse side of the board is a second M.2 Key-M slot and two ports that work as both power and data lines for SATA drives. The case is also able to house two 2.5-inch drives, so between these two drive mounting points and the two M.2 solid-state drive mounts, you can outfit this little box with a really substantial amount of storage. Both of the M.2 SSD slots support PCI Express drives only, up to 80mm long. You'll get four PCIe Gen 3 lanes on each drive, unless you install an Athlon 200GE series CPU, which will limit one of the slots to two lanes. Well well well, 1998, we meet again. Stamped, single use expansion slot covers? Is a blood sacrifice to the PC gods incoming? To the front of the board, the front IO exposed! Nothing special hiding here, just a few VRMs to the right hand side in front of the 24 Pin ATX connector, and a few headers to mention. The results? An increase over ambient of 61.2 degrees Celsius, and drawing 109 watts from the wall (~230V, 50Hz, 100% wind/hydroelectric for those wondering).

This was the configuration I tested with – doesn’t the quad DIMM install look awesome?! For what it’s worth, yes, the “flap” in the front of the case I mentioned earlier, is definitely necessary to bend it out to remove the board. Naked silicon! Here lies the Intel SRKZX, better known as the Intel B660 chipset. The 45 degree rotation of the chipset heatsink versus the chip itself is likely a result of just having to find a spot amongst the many PCB layers to have two holes for retention clip mounting, but I have to admit it does look a little odd with the four green corners poking out when the heatsink is installed. The SATA power connector includes two connectors, with the furthest one being at 500mm from the power supply. During testing, I did find this cable to be annoying – as I did not use any 2.5 or 3.5″ devices. Thanks to the use of the B660 chipset, the front Type-C port is now USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps). The rear Type-C port supports 10 Gbps data transfer alone with DP 1.4a, and 60W PD. The other interesting aspect is the availability of a PCIe 5.0 M.2 2280 SSD slot, in addition to a PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 one. A M.2 2230 slot for Wi-Fi, and a gigabit Ethernet slot are the regular features retained from the previous DeskMini units. Easy modding? Not so much. The front panel of the case is an almost solid steel panel, negating any forward intake fans without getting the Dremel out. You can, however, mount a few different drive configurations to the front of the chassis. Interestingly, the front IO is behind a semi-cutout panel – providing flexibility for installation and removal of the motherboard. For what it’s worth, I measured 115mm between the front panel “flap” cutout and the inside of the fold towards the right side of the chassis in this image. Use this information as you wish.Dell's OptiPlex 7080 Micro held a sizable lead, but the DeskMini X300 came in second, just slightly ahead of the Intel NUC.