The ASRock DeskMini line of computers tend to be compact desktops with a total volume of around 2 to 3 liters. But the new ASRock DeskMini Max is a system that sort of stretches the definition of Mini.

With a volume of 9.94 liters, it’s compact by desktop tower PC standards, but the computer’s 10.6″ x 8.7″ x 6.7″ chassis will take up at least as much space as a game console and it’s too large to easily mount to the back of a display. The benefit is that the chassis is large enough to house up to a 105W AMD Ryzen processor, discrete graphics, and even a liquid cooling system.

ASRock began sharing information about the DeskMini Max during the Computex trade show at the beginning of June, but now the company has issued a press release with more details. It’s also worth noting that ASRock refers to the DeskMini Max as a concept PC, which makes it a little unclear if or when you’ll be able to buy one.

The ASRock DeskMini Max has a motherboard with an AMD AM4 socket and support for up to a Ryzen 5000 series processor. It also has four U-DIMM slots for up to 128GB of RAM, and room inside the chassis for graphics cards up to 20cm (7.9 inches) in length as well as multiple storage devices thanks to support for an M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD and two SATA connectors.

ASRock says you can fit a 5.25 inch optical disc drive or 3.5 inch hard drive inside the case. And there’s even room for an optional single radiator liquid cooler.

The DeskMini Max chassis is designed to be fairly easy to open up, and the company has posted a video showing that it’s possible to fully configure a system with a processor, memory, storage, graphics and cooling in as little as 10 minutes.

On the outside of the case you’ll find ports including:

  • 1 x DisplayPort
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x VGA
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C
  • 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
  • 4 x USB 2.0 Type-A
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
  • 1 x headset
  • 1 x audio line output

Overall, the DeskMini Max may be big for a computer with mini in the name, but it’s not much larger than Intel’s upcoming NUC 11 Extreme “Beast Canyon” computer, which has an 8 liter chassis. And since there’s pretty much zero chance you’ll be able to buy an Intel NUC with an AMD processor, the DeskMini Max may be the next best things for folks that would prefer a Ryzen processor to an Intel Tiger Lake-H chip.

This article was originally published June 1, 2021 and last updated June 23, 2021. 

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5 replies on “ASRock DeskMini Max is a bigger small PC with support for Ryzen 5000 and discrete graphics”

  1. 3 months ago decided to build the matx with the 650W PSU and the full sized graphics card… no regrets. Just a little larger with a second m.2 4x PCIe slot for another SSD. The fans are going to be the only moving parts in this box.

  2. So the first non-STX “Deskmini” is quite a lot larger than a standard Deskmini, huh? I don’t see why they couldn’t just use a new brand name considering this shares zero similarities to the previous machines. Basically makes the brand meaningless.

  3. There are many more accommodating SFF cases than this at just under 10 liters that can fit full-length video cards. Check out SFF Network and r/sffpc on Reddit. As it is, this is a mediocre first attempt from ASRock for a SFF barebones system of this size category.

  4. I really like the concept of sub-ITX sized PCs that have space for a GPU, but unfortunately the GPU space is far too small to support most GPUs available today.

    200mm of GPU length immediately disqualifies all Nvidia cards above the 3060. There are maybe 3 or 4 models actually within this size, and most of them are exactly 200mm on the nose. So it would be a tight fit.

    Not that it matters anyway, because the 500watt PSU isn’t going to support much more than that.

    I’d sooner build a Mini-ITX gaming PC using the Fractal Design Node 202 case. It’s also a 10L case, it supports up to 310mm of GPU length, and it supports SFX-size power supplies, which offers up to 1000w options.

  5. I have a DeskMini A300W which has essentially the same STX board as the DeskMini X300 but without the security chip ASRock used to create a new product out of thin air. It’s been a decent system though I would definitely upgrade to a larger chassis if it got me more space for 3.5 inch drives. Unfortunately this Max seems to add room for a GPU but not space for 3.5 drives. I guess we’ll have to wait until interior shots are available but I think the home mini NAS community will continue to wait for another solution.

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