ASRock M8 Mini-ITX Barebones Gaming PC Updated With Z97

[Guest]

After a hard look at the ASRock M8 barebones system back in October of 2013, we examined the 2015 version of the M8.

ASRock M8 Mini-ITX Barebones Gaming PC Updated With Z97 : Read more

 

[ykki]

I wish the case was available separately.

 

[Arabian Knight]

eh ,. very very old news ...

 

[Arabian Knight]

I wish the case was available separately.

You can allways sell the motherboard on Ebay and use the case ...

I would pay you $100 for the Motherboard if you dont use it.

 

[Benthon]

I just CANNOT believe they didn't know about the airflow problem. It's a super simple fix for insane results, and is slathered all over their Newegg reviews as well as here and TechPowerUp. What a huge disappointment for ASRock.

 

[slyu9213]

If they took out their circular thing that says M8 it would look cleaner IMO. Looks very awkward to me in that location. At least find a better placement

 

[rwinches]

Well currently $592.49
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FIVBICK/?tag=bom_tomshardware-20&ascsubtag=[site|thaus[cat|[art|[pid|B00FIVBICK[tid|14281073479437139[bbc|LEPRIX


A configured original Z87 model is only $1169 from Xotic
i3 4130
8GB ram
GT 720 DDR 3
1TB HDD 5400
DVD
http://www.amazon.com/PC-Desktop-Computer-Intel%C2%AE-i3-4130/dp/B00HES3SUK/ref=pd_sim_sbs_pc_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=17X1HVFRVKR7YPR5PVH7

for that money a i5 4460 and a GTX960 at least

 

[jasonelmore]

yeah airflow is a issue. i also dont like that it uses SODIMM's.. Hard to find good gaming laptop memory for a decent price.

I give them kudos for putting 6 sata ports on that board tho. i guess that's the trade off you made for the RAM size

 

[Arabian Knight]

yeah airflow is a issue. i also dont like that it uses SODIMM's.. Hard to find good gaming laptop memory for a decent price.

I give them kudos for putting 6 sata ports on that board tho. i guess that's the trade off you made for the RAM size

totally useless to Overclock such small machines. so you dont need Overclocked Ram at all .. and you dont need much airflow as well.

the M8 is not for overclocking.

 

[Haravikk]

I'm still disappointed by the cooling; obviously the choice of intake/exhaust positioning is bad, but even after changing this you're still relying on tiny fans for all of yours cooling, which still means a choice between quiet and cool (or spending a lot of money on properly quiet fans in that size).

I'd still much rather that they had used the "side" above the CPU for a large fan mount. A nice big 140mm exhaust fan over a passive CPU cooler would work well, and draw out enough heat for other components (RAM, storage etc.) while the GPU handles its own cooling. Even better if the mount supported a radiator, as this would be more effective than the passive cooler with a fan over it, and all-in-one liquid cooling is pretty affordable these days anyway (a good air cooler will usually set you back a similar amount).

I just don't know why manufacturers keep building slim cases with tiny fans, especially when this one is clearly geared towards standing vertically anyway.

 

[Arabian Knight]

I'm still disappointed by the cooling; obviously the choice of intake/exhaust positioning is bad, but even after changing this you're still relying on tiny fans for all of yours cooling, which still means a choice between quiet and cool (or spending a lot of money on properly quiet fans in that size).

I'd still much rather that they had used the "side" above the CPU for a large fan mount. A nice big 140mm exhaust fan over a passive CPU cooler would work well, and draw out enough heat for other components (RAM, storage etc.) while the GPU handles its own cooling. Even better if the mount supported a radiator, as this would be more effective than the passive cooler with a fan over it, and all-in-one liquid cooling is pretty affordable these days anyway (a good air cooler will usually set you back a similar amount).

I just don't know why manufacturers keep building slim cases with tiny fans, especially when this one is clearly geared towards standing vertically anyway.

Answer : Desktop Place Area .. the Height of the case is no issue , it is anyways not higher than the TV or PC Monitor , the issue is the desktop Area it needs and being slim is good near th TV or on a small desk.

by the way , the machine is not noisy , if you dont overclock it , it is good. 4 x 70 fans are more than enough to cool 80 watts CPU ... Dell puts i7 in a slim SFF with one fan only and it works fine and no noise.

Most of the noise comes from the GPU card any ways and this has nothing to do with those fans. and when you game , you wont hear the fans as well the game sound would be higher.

be sure to get a standard card that pushes the hot air outside the case .