Except for Asrock's AB350 mITX board, from experience. HDMI 1.4 is HDMI 1.4. No 2.0, even with HDMI sinks that work fine with other HDMI 2.0 sources. Annoyingly, it has two HDMI 1.4 ports. The newer B450 version of this board fixed both complaints. HDMI 2.0 + DP 1.4, though unlike Asrock Intel mITX boards, it has the HDMI and DP side by side (Z270 ITX has them stacked, and a TB3 port...), so it has two fewer USB connectors as a result. For my mITX setups, USB and portability are really at a premium, so I'd really rather not have to resort to external hubs (and FP headers are scarce on mITX boards/cases).
Same with my Thinkpad E485 (Ryzen APU). HDMI 1.4. Doesn't support HDMI 2.0 at all. Same chip in the more expensive A485 does support HDMI 2.0. I don't know if it came down to escape routing, redriver, LSPcon, whatever. In the end, no HDMI 2.0 (4k30 really isn't that great for desktop work). Luckily, the laptop does have a single USB-C port with DP-alt mode (though it's also the laptop's sole charging port).
No HDMI 2.0. No DisplayPort 1.4. No DisplayPort over USB-C. So basically no way to get 4K/60p out of this board. That makes it obsolete from inception in my book.
Finally! I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Being Asrock, there should be some North American distributorship for this, making it much easier to get than the Onda product.
Probably, but it wasn't placed there because it didn't fit to the rear. Thin-ITX is intended to be used for building AIO systems, so they put a video header there so that the chassis build in display would be connected internally.
The ports would physically fit, yes. However, most cables wouldn't be able to attach with the HDMI ports that close. There is too much housing/padding at the ends of most HDMI cables.
You need several of the wires from the 24pin connector to allow the mobo to turn the PSU on when the front panel switch is pressed, similar to the internal HDMI I assume the intent is to deliver power to the rest of the AIO chassis the board is intended to be put in.
Neoblogai isn't clear as to what kind of PSU. I agree that the P4 cable from an ATX supply is out because of the missing control signals and the voltage mismatch. But there are some internal SFF power supplies that have always-hot 19V cables that could drive that plug. The HDPLEX 80W and 120W could probably do it.
Standard barrel connector is flaky, or implementation doesn't allow external jack for power (i.e. integrated sff PSU. It's the very same 12-19V input as the barrel connector.
This is a very interesting motherboard. A pcie 1x slot would have been a nice addition as the ITX form factor does allow for one expansion slot, but it isn't the end of the world.
This is a *thin* mini-ITX board. Intel's specification for the form factor doesn't apparently allow for any PCIe slots. Instead, boards are to use mPCIe or M.2 slots.
This board includes one M.2 2230 key-E slot and one M.2 2280 key-M slot.
Are there even any AM4 coolers that would fit in a thin ITX chassis? The lowest profile one I know of is the 37mm NH-L9a. PT13 only supports 30mm coolers, AKASA doesn't list a max cooler height for the Cypher but the whole thing is 45mm thick so I can't imagine it fitting.
The Noctua NH-L9a is also very popular with mini-STX system builders since those cases tend to be about the same height as thin mini-ITX cases. Since these boards are limited to 65W TDP, it is more than enough cooling capacity.
A Mini-ITX board with 2 HDMI ports... FINALLY! Too bad they aren't 2.0 though... Wouldn't matter now, as I'm just running 2 24" 1920X1200 monitors... but eventually I'd like to go to 2 32" 4K monitors for my coding/development/deployment efforts (my eyes are getting older, just need everything to be a bit bigger and sharper.)
The Five VRM's look different to normal ones .. is this because they are industrial quality and rated for higher thermal endurance or becuase its 19v in?
I'm more concerned about the reliability. I've been reading up on the reviews on multiple mother boards from multiple manufacturers at newegg (I've not read the Intel MBs reviews, just AMD). The failure rates are awful. Depending on the board, 40%-60% of the buyers report a return, refund, warranty claim, or just plain old failure with the often following rant of never wanting to buy from X again. Yes I have better things to do with my life so my research was limited and certainly not worth writing an article about, but it does prove that there's a problem with at least the AM4 MBs for ryzen. No, the 400 series does not fix a thing according to reviewers, so it's not just a growing pain.
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nathanddrews - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
AT: New thin ITX AMD boardMe: Orly?
AT: no HDMI 2.0 output
Me: Pass.
Why immediately nerf what would otherwise be a great 4K HTPC?
neblogai - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Wait for customer reviews on this- most AMD boards give out HDMI 2.0 signal just fine, as long as APU is giving it- even if that is not specified.nathanddrews - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Anything is possible, I guess.jeremyshaw - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Except for Asrock's AB350 mITX board, from experience. HDMI 1.4 is HDMI 1.4. No 2.0, even with HDMI sinks that work fine with other HDMI 2.0 sources. Annoyingly, it has two HDMI 1.4 ports. The newer B450 version of this board fixed both complaints. HDMI 2.0 + DP 1.4, though unlike Asrock Intel mITX boards, it has the HDMI and DP side by side (Z270 ITX has them stacked, and a TB3 port...), so it has two fewer USB connectors as a result. For my mITX setups, USB and portability are really at a premium, so I'd really rather not have to resort to external hubs (and FP headers are scarce on mITX boards/cases).Same with my Thinkpad E485 (Ryzen APU). HDMI 1.4. Doesn't support HDMI 2.0 at all. Same chip in the more expensive A485 does support HDMI 2.0. I don't know if it came down to escape routing, redriver, LSPcon, whatever. In the end, no HDMI 2.0 (4k30 really isn't that great for desktop work). Luckily, the laptop does have a single USB-C port with DP-alt mode (though it's also the laptop's sole charging port).
Lucky Stripes 99 - Sunday, May 5, 2019 - link
No HDMI 2.0. No DisplayPort 1.4. No DisplayPort over USB-C. So basically no way to get 4K/60p out of this board. That makes it obsolete from inception in my book.jardows2 - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Finally! I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Being Asrock, there should be some North American distributorship for this, making it much easier to get than the Onda product.peterfares - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Couldn't that second HDMI have fit above the first and still been less tall that the USB ports?DanNeely - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Probably, but it wasn't placed there because it didn't fit to the rear. Thin-ITX is intended to be used for building AIO systems, so they put a video header there so that the chassis build in display would be connected internally.BigDragon - Thursday, April 25, 2019 - link
The ports would physically fit, yes. However, most cables wouldn't be able to attach with the HDMI ports that close. There is too much housing/padding at the ends of most HDMI cables.jtd871 - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
What is the purpose of the 4-pin power connector immediately behind the barrel connector?neblogai - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
I guess, you can use either 4-pin (from PSU), or a 19V laptop power brick to power the board.DanNeely - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
You need several of the wires from the 24pin connector to allow the mobo to turn the PSU on when the front panel switch is pressed, similar to the internal HDMI I assume the intent is to deliver power to the rest of the AIO chassis the board is intended to be put in.Lucky Stripes 99 - Sunday, May 5, 2019 - link
Neoblogai isn't clear as to what kind of PSU. I agree that the P4 cable from an ATX supply is out because of the missing control signals and the voltage mismatch. But there are some internal SFF power supplies that have always-hot 19V cables that could drive that plug. The HDPLEX 80W and 120W could probably do it.rtho782 - Thursday, April 25, 2019 - link
If it's like the atom boards I've used, exactly this. You can power it from either.Vatharian - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Standard barrel connector is flaky, or implementation doesn't allow external jack for power (i.e. integrated sff PSU. It's the very same 12-19V input as the barrel connector.nirolf - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
This is nice, hope it will be available in Europe also. My fanless HTPC needs an upgrade to the 4K era and I was hoping for an AMD alternative.PeachNCream - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
This is a very interesting motherboard. A pcie 1x slot would have been a nice addition as the ITX form factor does allow for one expansion slot, but it isn't the end of the world.Lucky Stripes 99 - Sunday, May 5, 2019 - link
This is a *thin* mini-ITX board. Intel's specification for the form factor doesn't apparently allow for any PCIe slots. Instead, boards are to use mPCIe or M.2 slots.This board includes one M.2 2230 key-E slot and one M.2 2280 key-M slot.
xrror - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Sadly no overclocking on A320 chipset... not that there would be much thermal/power headroom in such a form factor. But still it could have been fun.On the good side though, hopefully using 320 instead of 350 maybe will result in lower cost and lower price.
notashill - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Are there even any AM4 coolers that would fit in a thin ITX chassis? The lowest profile one I know of is the 37mm NH-L9a. PT13 only supports 30mm coolers, AKASA doesn't list a max cooler height for the Cypher but the whole thing is 45mm thick so I can't imagine it fitting.wordlv - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Yes. I've had one bookmarked on Ebay for months now because I new I would need it eventually. Supports AM4/1U for thin rack sever chassis.https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynatron-A18-AMD-AM4-70X1...
wordlv - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
Knew.. Sorry.. Wouldn't let me edit.Lucky Stripes 99 - Sunday, May 5, 2019 - link
The Noctua NH-L9a is also very popular with mini-STX system builders since those cases tend to be about the same height as thin mini-ITX cases. Since these boards are limited to 65W TDP, it is more than enough cooling capacity.sffan43 - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
The ID Cooling IS-30 should be both am4 and intel compatible. Ordered one a week ago, still waiting for it to arrive. 30mm heighthttp://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/156/nam...
HardwareDufus - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - link
A Mini-ITX board with 2 HDMI ports... FINALLY! Too bad they aren't 2.0 though... Wouldn't matter now, as I'm just running 2 24" 1920X1200 monitors... but eventually I'd like to go to 2 32" 4K monitors for my coding/development/deployment efforts (my eyes are getting older, just need everything to be a bit bigger and sharper.)dromoxen - Thursday, April 25, 2019 - link
The Five VRM's look different to normal ones .. is this because they are industrial quality and rated for higher thermal endurance or becuase its 19v in?supdawgwtfd - Saturday, April 27, 2019 - link
"offeringallows"I'm sure a simple spell check would have detected this.
supdawgwtfd - Saturday, April 27, 2019 - link
Also that is not technically a RJ45 LAN port...RJ45 does not mean what you think it is.
ballsystemlord - Saturday, April 27, 2019 - link
I'm more concerned about the reliability. I've been reading up on the reviews on multiple mother boards from multiple manufacturers at newegg (I've not read the Intel MBs reviews, just AMD).The failure rates are awful. Depending on the board, 40%-60% of the buyers report a return, refund, warranty claim, or just plain old failure with the often following rant of never wanting to buy from X again.
Yes I have better things to do with my life so my research was limited and certainly not worth writing an article about, but it does prove that there's a problem with at least the AM4 MBs for ryzen.
No, the 400 series does not fix a thing according to reviewers, so it's not just a growing pain.
digitalgriffin - Monday, April 29, 2019 - link
Could have been a great network appliance if they only added a second NIC.Ckyannanta - Monday, April 29, 2019 - link
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