At CES, ASRock discussed its upcoming H110M-STX Mini PC that will use Intel’s new mini-STX form factor.
Mini-STX slides in beneath mini-ITX as a compact form factor for motherboards and PC cases. The chassis ASRock specified for this new mini-PC measured 155 x 155 x 80 mm (L x W x H). Although SFF PCs of this size are common, they are almost entirely built with soldered CPUs and GPUs and can’t be upgraded beyond changing the memory and storage devices. If mini-STX becomes a widely used form factor, it will give users a wide variety of components that can be used to build their own customized SFF PCs.
Inside of the chassis is a new motherboard called the ASRock H110M-STX that measures 127 x 127 mm (L x W). Although space is limited inside of the system, the motherboard supports the Intel LGA 1151 socket and is compatible with any Skylake CPU with a TDP of 65 W or below. The motherboard lacks PCI-E connectivity, but it does have two M.2 ports, one Key E for WiFi + BT modules, and another one configured as SATA 3 storage.
| ASRock H110M-STX Mini PC & Motherboard | ||
|---|---|---|
| Device | H110M-STX | H110M-STX Mini PC |
| CPU Support | Intel 6th Gen Core (Skylake) Processors | Intel 6th Gen Core (Skylake) Processors |
| Chipset | Intel H110 | Intel H110 |
| Memory | 2 x DDR SO-DIMM Slots @ 2133 MHz (32 GB Max) | 2 x DDR SO-DIMM Slots @ 2133 MHz (32 GB Max) |
| Audio | Realtek ALC283 | Realtek ALC283 |
| LAN | Intel Gigabit i219V | Intel Gigabit i219V |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x M.2 Key E1 x M.2 (Configured As SATA)3 x SATA 3.0 | 1 x M.2 Key E1 x M.2 (Configured As SATA)3 x SATA 3.0 |
| Drive Bay | N/A | 1 x USB 3.0 |
| USB | 3 x USB 3.0 (1 x Front, 2 x Rear)1 x USB 3.0 Type-C (Front) | 3 x USB 3.0 (1 x Front, 2 x Rear)1 x USB 3.0 Type C |
| Rear Connections | 1 x VGA1 x HDMI1 x DP1 x LAN | 1 x VGA1 x HDMI1 x DP1 x LAN1 x DC-In |
| Dimensions | 127 mm x 127 mm (L x W) | 155 x 155 mm x 80 mm (L x W x H) |
Although ASRock is already discussing the H110M-STX Mini PC and the H110M-STX motherboard, both pieces are still in the developmental stage, and ASRock didn’t have any prototypes available for us to photograph. As such, we will likely not see these products show up on the market for quite some time.
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For example, my current work computer uses an Akasa Euler case, so although the available motherboards all have PCIe slots, there's nothing I can do with them anyway since there's no way to fit anything in there.
That said, the case is already pretty damned small (it's very fiddly to install everything); this is partly because it functions as a heatsink, but for such small systems that's what I'd expect to see more of anyway, so I'm not sure how thrilled I am about the prospect of assembling a system that's even smaller, even if all the components go directly onto the motherboard. With the Euler for example I still needed to get the power button and indicator lights connected, plus get the I/O shield lined up, while simultaneously dropping the motherboard into position without smudging the thermal paste I added to make better contact with the copper block. I also had a 2.5" drive's power and data to contend with, though I'm not sure if you'd want a drive like that in smaller systems unless it used a backplane to make it more a slot-in affair.
Still, always nice to see more new SFF parts; I doubt we'll see anything much smaller for SFF gaming systems (and really, Mini-ITX systems are pretty small while still being accessible), though iGPU only gaming boxes could be interesting in this size as long as they can cool themselves sufficiently.
I use a NUC for my HTPC, stream media from my NAS and games from my main PC (when I feel like playing on the TV).
The "full-sized" PC is for my gaming rig, a 1 4U rack case for my NAS and a NUC for my HTPC.
They are probably reversed and one is a 2D object apparently...
@Haravikk: Various companies in the industry are still hoping that SFF gaming will take off with iGPUs as well as external graphics. Expect to see more SFF devices this year with higher-end iGPUs and others that have Thunderbolt 3 which can connect to external GPUs like the recently announced Razer Core. Unfortunately, SFF is somewhat ruined by bulky external GPU boxes, but hopefully, they will continue shrinking in size/power consumption, too.
1. Yes it is smaller than a NUC.
2. Did you read the article? It states very clearly that this is a socketed motherboard.
3. These do not have the option to add a graphics card to the, but other motherboards in this form factor might have that option. Technically they have all of the components for it, it just depends if the motherboard OEMs add a PCi-E x16 slot.
That is a good point, but I see in the long run that OEMs will go in both directions. I expect to see quite a few in the future without the option to add a GPU, and I expect to see some with that option later. I don't expect to see many, if any, that do a dual-slot GPU or a full sized GPU, but i have a feeling we will see low-profile cards put to use in some of these boards/cases overtime. (not necessarily from ASRock)
For the power supply, I actually have pictures of this one from ASRock now that I will be uploading soon, and they revealed that the motherboard has a DC_Jack which leads out of the PC case, so the PSU is external on this one at least.