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The ASRock DeskMate is a small desktop computer that packs a lot of features into a small space… as well as support for some hardware that doesn’t fit inside the box. It’s now available in China with prices starting at around $190 for a barebones configuration.
It has a motherboard with an AMD AM5 chipset that supports AMD Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 8000 series desktop processors, support for up to 192GB of DDR5-7200 memory, and room for two M.2 2280 SSSDs as well as a PCIe x16 slot for an optional discrete graphics card. Since there’s not enough room inside chassis for most discrete GPUs though, there’s also a cut-out in the case that lets you run four cables an external graphics card.
Why not just use an Thunderbolt 4 or OCuLink connector? Because data transfer speeds for those top out at 40 Gbps and 63 Gbps, respectively.
ASRrock says its solution supports 16-lanes of PCIe with support for throughput that’s close to the 256 Gbps you would get from a GPU placed inside the case without any cables required.
Until CopprLink starts to hit the market, a custom solution like the one ASRock is using might be the only way to get that kind of throughput for an external graphics card (or other PCIe accessories connected to a PC via external cables).
The ASRock DeskMate X600 measures 215 x 195 x 85mm (8.5″ x 7.7″ x 3.3″) and has an internal volume of 3.5 liters.
It has room inside for a 2.5 inch hard drive or SSD as well as two M.2 slots for storage (one PCIe Gen 5 x4 and one PCIe Gen 4 x4). There are also four DIMM slots for memory and an optional MediaTek MT7922 wireless card with support for WiFi 6E.
Ports include:
- 1 x USB Type-C
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
- 3 x USB 2.0 Type-A
- 2 x DisplayPort 1.4
- 1 x HDMI 2.1
- 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet (RTL8125BG)
- 1 x COM
- 4 x audio ports (1 front, 3 rear)
ASRock hasn’t announced pricing or availability outside of China yet. It’s also a little unclear to me from the product description whether the ASRock DeskMate X600 comes with the external graphics dock and/or PCIe extension cables shown in the promotional pictures, or if you’ll need to buy those separately.
via ITHome