Sorry but I wouldn't recommend a Deskmini X300

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   There are things that I think that ASRock has gotten right with the Deskmini X300. Like 2x M.2 NVMe drives, plus space for 2x 3.5" SATA SSDs.

And there's things that I think it could have done better. Like dumping the VGA socket and replacing it with an extra USB2 and an extra USB3 port. And designing the case better so the second 3.5" drive is as easily removeable as the first, and giving access to the 2nd M.2 drive without removing the motherboard.

But if I was deciding again with what I know now whether to buy an X300, or recommend it to someone else, I wouldn't for one reason. Its annoyingly noisy. ASRock just haven't done a good enough job of sorting out the CPU cooling and the low profile fan that comes with the product that you have to use to fit the case. It sits on your desk and whines because the CPU cooling fan is tiny, so it has to spin fast, and its right there inside a grille where all the noise comes out.

For 65W processors, either the case should be the few millimetres bigger that it can fit the standard quiet AMD fan that comes free with AMD APUs, or you need to design a better low profile CPU cooler with a bigger slower fan.

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Gordon D Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Jan 2021 Status: Offline Points: 199	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gordon D Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Sorry but I wouldn't recommend a Deskmini X300 Posted: 18 Jan 2021 at 7:15am
	There are things that I think that ASRock has gotten right with the Deskmini X300. Like 2x M.2 NVMe drives, plus space for 2x 3.5" SATA SSDs. And there's things that I think it could have done better. Like dumping the VGA socket and replacing it with an extra USB2 and an extra USB3 port. And designing the case better so the second 3.5" drive is as easily removeable as the first, and giving access to the 2nd M.2 drive without removing the motherboard. But if I was deciding again with what I know now whether to buy an X300, or recommend it to someone else, I wouldn't for one reason. Its annoyingly noisy. ASRock just haven't done a good enough job of sorting out the CPU cooling and the low profile fan that comes with the product that you have to use to fit the case. It sits on your desk and whines because the CPU cooling fan is tiny, so it has to spin fast, and its right there inside a grille where all the noise comes out. For 65W processors, either the case should be the few millimetres bigger that it can fit the standard quiet AMD fan that comes free with AMD APUs, or you need to design a better low profile CPU cooler with a bigger slower fan.

Gordon D Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Jan 2021 Status: Offline Points: 199	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gordon D Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Jan 2021 at 8:13am
	And while I'm whining, perhaps I could suggest a couple more improvements ASRock could make to a future version of the product. 1. Those fiddly little screws that hold the case together. Make them bigger. Thumbscrews would be nice. 2. Space the holes for fitting the wifi/bluetooth antennas further apart, so the antennas can be pointed downwards on either side of the cables coming out of the back of the unit, rather than obtrusively pointing upwards. 3. Reverse the default boot order so that the M.2 drives are first and the SATA drives are second. That is more likely to be what users want if they have both M.2 and SATA drives.