ASRock Shows Off Three New Deskmini Prototypes

ASRock showed off three new versions of its Deskmini barebones mini PC at Computex 2018.

A Smaller Deskmini

The new Intel-powered Deskmini Slim took all the lovable features from the company's Z370 Deskmini GTX (GTX 1060 or 1080 graphics, Z370M-STX motherboard, three M.2 storage slots) and put it all into a thinner chassis. Unlike its predecessor, the 6.1 x 8.34 x 2.63" (2.2L) Deskmini Slim is meant to lay horizontally, with vents on the side and top panels feeding and exhausting air for the components inside. In order to compact the Deskmini even further, the two 2.5” drive bays featured in the previous model were axed, leaving only M.2 devices as your sole storage options.

ASRock said it isn’t sure when the new Deskmini Slim will make its way over to the U.S.--even the previously announced Deskmini GTX Z370 models have yet to arrive stateside. The company said those models will arrive this summer, however, and the Slim may not be far behind.

A Bigger Deskmini

ASRock also showed off a larger version of its barebones mini PC called the Deskmini XL. The chassis measures in at 6.1 x 8.34 x 3.54” (2.95L) and is meant to accommodate bigger heatsinks. It’s probably not a coincidence that the company also said the XL would feature AMD Radeon RX 580 MXM graphics, which would likely benefit from a larger hunk of aluminum and its cooling potential.

An AMD-Powered Deskmini?

Finally, ASRock revealed an early prototype of an AMD B350 micro-STX motherboard sitting in the XL chassis. The board itself doesn’t take up the entirety of the case like the Z370M-STX board does inside the Intel-powered Deskmini models, and it lacks an MXM interface (discrete graphics). However, ASRock’s early Deskmini platforms with Intel processors were not the MXM graphics-equipped gaming monsters they are today, and the company said it would likely be developing larger AMD Deskmini PCs with discrete graphics down the line.