ASRock has launched a trio of Ryzen 4000 Mini-PCs. Called the 4X4 BOX-4000, the series utilises Renoir APUs up to the Ryzen 7 4800U within a chassis that weighs 1 kg. The 4X4 BOX-4000 has a host of ports and connectivity, too.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/ASROCK-4X4-BOX-4000-A-Mini-PC-with-up-to-an-AMD-Ryzen-7-4800U-and-64-GB-of-DDR4-3200-RAM.492688.0.html
If the TDP can be configured from 10W to 25W so that you can use it either in silent mode or in "gaming" mode... I'd say it's a perfect HTPC!
Not really sure why this is being released by their industrial group and not also in their consumer group. It's a BeeBox without Intel inside. Great little box though. I'd think it would sell well with consumers.
Quote from: Marc S. on September 10, 2020, 19:53:19
Not really sure why this is being released by their industrial group and not also in their consumer group. It's a BeeBox without Intel inside. Great little box though. I'd think it would sell well with consumers.
Probably because they can't meet demand and they can set a higher price/margin for corporate models. Renoir chips are really hard to come by so fat, so they'll probably release a consumer version once they are sure they can meet demand. Also I've experienced similar issues with multiple renoirs from different manufacturers. Just not ready for prime time.
I don't know if it helps anyone here, but I took contact via their website and got a reply a few days later from their local importer in my country (Sweden). Unfortunately the price for the 4X4 BOX-4800U they gave was around 10 000 SEK (~€1000, or USD 1150), not including VAT. This is more than double that of the Asus PN50 model with the same 4800U processor! Needless to say, I respectfully declined the offer.
I hope they release a consumer version at a lower price, but perhaps the popularity of Renoir CPUs in laptops make them hard to get in stock, as mentioned in the other comments.
I would really have preferred to have the built-in 2.5GbE of the ASRock over ASUS's single 1 GbE. (Hello manufacturers, it's 2020 and a 2.5GbE controller costs less than $3, so don't cheap out on this!)