The ASRock Mars ADL is a compact desktop computer that measures 7.6″ x 5.9″ x 1″ and has a volume of just 0.7 liters. But it packs a fair amount of power and versatility into a small package.
ASRock’s latest mini PC supports up to an Intel Core i5-1235U Alder Lake processor, up to 64GB of memory, and up to two SSDs. Pricing and availability details haven’t been announced yet, but ASRock has posted detailed specs for the computer on its website.
The ASRock Mars ADL is the latest in a line of mini PCs sold under the ASRock Mars brand. Like previous models, the newest version stuffs a 15-watt, laptop-class processor into a slim desktop computer.
While that means that this is a desktop with the heart of a notebook computer, there are some advantages to putting an Alder Lake-U processor into desktop rather than a laptop. First, battery life won’t be an issue (Intel’s 12th-gen chips tend to be a bit more power hungry than their 11th-gen counterparts). Second, you get more ports and expansion options. But you will need to supply your own keyboard, mouse, and display.
The Mars ADL features two SODIMM slots for dual channel DDR4-3200 memory, an M.2 2280 slot for a PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD and a second M.2 2280 slot with support for PCIe Gen 3 x4 or SATA SSDs.
There’s also an M.2 2230 slot that’s occupied by an Intel AX210 wireless card with support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Ports include:
- 1 x Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps with 8K/60Hz video support)
- 1 x HDMI (4K/60Hz)
- 1 x VGA (1920 x 1200)
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A
- 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
- 1 x 3.5mm mic input
- 1 x 3.5mm audio output
- 1 x SD card reader
ASRock says the system is available with three processor options:
- Intel Core i5-1235U: 2P + 8E cores / 12 threads, up to 4.4 GHz CPU / 1.2 GHz Iris Xe GPU (80eu)
- Intel Core i3-1215U: 2P + 4E cores / 8 threads, up to 4.4 GHz GPU / 1.1 GHz Intel UHD GPU (60eu)
- Intel Celeron 7305: 1P + 4E cores / 5 threads, 1.1 GHz CPU / 1.1 GHz Intel UHD GPU (48 eu)
Each version of the ASRock Mars ADL comes with an ADLD4-P1 motherboard that measures 7″ x 5.7″ and features a proprietary fan for active cooling. So while all of these chips have a 15-watt processor base power and are capable of hitting speeds up to 55 watts for a limited period of time, maybe they’ll have a little more room to breathe in this actively-cooled desktop (even if it is a rather small desktop).
The computer comes with a 65W/19V power adapter and ASRock says the system supports Windows 10 or Windows 11 64-bit operating systems, although I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to install Linux, Chrome OS Flex, or other operating systems.
Thanks @Olivier!