I agree, and I wonder if it actually works on the front USB-C port. I have a Lenovo M90n Nano that comes with a regular power supply, but also supports USB-C PD as an alternative.
I doubt the USB-C is PD enabled based on the 65w power adapter supplying the entire chassis. And I agree, not using USB PD to power the chassis is kind of strange for a product like this released in 2021. Internally its no different than a 5000U-based laptop and many of those are USB-C PD powered...
Not strange at all, they'd have to retool if they wanted to use type C power instead of reusing the same chassis and power supply as the previous model to save money. And moving to type C in wouldnt make them any extra money either.
As a curiosity, ASRock did a kinda cool experiment in the DeskMini GTX/RX (Intel). Bigger than this but smaller than mini-ITX, "cheating" with a brick PSU, an MXM module for the GPU, laptop RAM, and no full-size PCIe slot.
When I was coming off of a NUC after Matisse came out, I'd've taken an AMD version of that, even with a crummy soldered-down dGPU, to get moar cores in a tiny box on my desk. Doubt there's enough of a market for that to justify actually building it, though.
Two reasons: backward compatibility and cost: 1. Adapters get easily misplaced/lost and there are still lots of USB-A pendrives and other hardware in use. Having USB-A port is just always more practical. 2. USB-A does not support alternate modes and most often than not those are 5Gbit/s ports requiring less bandwidth, less supporting electronics. Those kind of mini pcs traditionaly use low end SFF chipsets (X300, A300 and alike) without any additional USB support above what is offered by SoC. No external controllers either. This directly translates to lower mfg cost.
Heck - even full sized AMD motherboards lacks Thunderolt because this require external controllers.
So don't hold your breath - all USB-C machines won't be coming to desktop soon. Sadly only the likes of Apple are able to push the trend no matter the cost and resistance from user base.
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20 Comments
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hubick - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
They shoulda used USB-C Power Delivery.MenhirMike - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
I agree, and I wonder if it actually works on the front USB-C port. I have a Lenovo M90n Nano that comes with a regular power supply, but also supports USB-C PD as an alternative.Samus - Saturday, June 5, 2021 - link
I doubt the USB-C is PD enabled based on the 65w power adapter supplying the entire chassis. And I agree, not using USB PD to power the chassis is kind of strange for a product like this released in 2021. Internally its no different than a 5000U-based laptop and many of those are USB-C PD powered...TheinsanegamerN - Monday, June 7, 2021 - link
Not strange at all, they'd have to retool if they wanted to use type C power instead of reusing the same chassis and power supply as the previous model to save money. And moving to type C in wouldnt make them any extra money either.Same reason peripherals are still type A.
lmcd - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
Would've paired well with those USB-C hub monitors. Shame :(Fulljack - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
hopefully it's Zen 3 based "Cezanne" chip and not Zen 2 based "Lucienne" chip.Smell This - Saturday, June 5, 2021 - link
**Ryzen 5000G (Cezanne), built on 7nm Zen 3 with Vega 8**
_________________________________________________
OEM builds at 'spec' for AMD 5000-series APUs were announced 2 or 3 months ago.
meacupla - Saturday, June 5, 2021 - link
you seem to not know that the 5000 "U" series has rebranded 4000 U series mixed in to its SKU stack.DigitalFreak - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
Not available for purchase until Q4 '22. /sheffeque - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
I know that it's sarcasm... but it's actually not that much of sarcasm.Personally I can't wait for DDR5 + NAVI APUs to come along in 2022 or so :-P
Samus - Saturday, June 5, 2021 - link
2022 "or so" sounds about rightscineram - Saturday, June 5, 2021 - link
That will be CES, yes.zentwo - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
Nice that uses Ryzen, but lacks dedicated GPU. I need a Mini PC with Ryzen, nvidia GPU and VESA mount.meacupla - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
okay, serious questionWould you trust ASRock if they added in a dedicated nvidia GPU into a mini PC?
because I wouldn't
twotwotwo - Sunday, June 6, 2021 - link
As a curiosity, ASRock did a kinda cool experiment in the DeskMini GTX/RX (Intel). Bigger than this but smaller than mini-ITX, "cheating" with a brick PSU, an MXM module for the GPU, laptop RAM, and no full-size PCIe slot.When I was coming off of a NUC after Matisse came out, I'd've taken an AMD version of that, even with a crummy soldered-down dGPU, to get moar cores in a tiny box on my desk. Doubt there's enough of a market for that to justify actually building it, though.
Hul8 - Sunday, June 6, 2021 - link
It's doubtful ASRock would add Nvidia anything, since they're an AMD GPU partner, with Radeon GPUs of their own.bansheexyz - Friday, June 4, 2021 - link
Why not make all usb ports usb-c and bundle some adapters? How are peripheral makers ever going to dump them if mobos don't? Endless chicken and egg.mouqwi - Sunday, June 6, 2021 - link
Two reasons: backward compatibility and cost:1. Adapters get easily misplaced/lost and there are still lots of USB-A pendrives and other hardware in use. Having USB-A port is just always more practical.
2. USB-A does not support alternate modes and most often than not those are 5Gbit/s ports requiring less bandwidth, less supporting electronics. Those kind of mini pcs traditionaly use low end SFF chipsets (X300, A300 and alike) without any additional USB support above what is offered by SoC. No external controllers either.
This directly translates to lower mfg cost.
Heck - even full sized AMD motherboards lacks Thunderolt because this require external controllers.
So don't hold your breath - all USB-C machines won't be coming to desktop soon. Sadly only the likes of Apple are able to push the trend no matter the cost and resistance from user base.