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ASRock M8 Mini-ITX Barebones Gaming PC Review

ASRock M8 Mini-ITX Barebones Gaming PC Review
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Some of us love compact gaming builds, but the best of these have always been pre-configured into custom enclosures. Is ASRock’s M8 the perfect open-architecture alternative? We load this £450 barebones up with hardware and test its mettle.

A number of Tom's Hardware editors are excited about the trend towards smaller, faster PCs after witnessing Chris Angelini’s love affair with Falcon Northwest's Tiki. At the same time, we still remember that expensive pre-built systems were outside of our budgets back when we actually had to pay for the latest hardware (Ed.: Hey, I paid for the Tiki with my own money). Sharp memories like those help us keep a proper perspective on the reasons enthusiasts like to build their own boxes.

ASRock thinks it has the perfect do-it-yourself solution in the M8 PC. But is this system really all that special? Isn’t it just another fancy case with conventional, standardized parts inside? Couldn’t we just buy a mini-ITX motherboard, an SFX power supply, and a  slim gaming case of our choosing?

Designed with a riser to accommodate extra-large graphics cards, enclosures that leveraged this concept aren't very common any more. Maybe they were ahead of their time, or perhaps enthusiasts simply didn't "get it". But with compact towers introducing us to flagship-class hardware in ever-small spaces, ASRock sees this as the perfect time to re-introduce the concept to our do-it-yourself community.

Rather than forcing builders to figure out on their own (the hard way) that they need special cables to connect a standard board to a slim optical drive, the company even goes so far as to include the drive itself. And rather than watch us all argue over the various power supply form factors that erroneously get labeled microATX, ASRock installs a 450 W SFX unit at its own factory. And since ASRock just so happens to be a motherboard manufacturer, it ties everything together using an upgraded version of its Z87-ITX.

ASRock M8 Barebones PC Configuration
Chassis
ModelASRock M8 miniITX Slim Tower
Expansion Slots2 x full-height on riser card
Internal Bays5 x 2.5", or 1 x 2.5" + 1 x 3.5"
Power BaySFX, front-mounted, internal extension cable
Optical Bay5.25" slim, front-loading-only
Front Panel I/O4 x USB 3.0, headset, flash media interface (SD/MMC/MS PRO)
Fans2 x 70 mm bottom, 2 x 70 mm top
Dimensions15.8" (H), 4.9" (W), 14.7" (D), 16.25 Pounds
Motherboard
ModelASRock Z87-M8: LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express
External Data4 x USB 2.0, 4 x USB 3.0, eSATA, 1x gigabit Ethernet
External Audio5 x Analog, 1 x S/PDIF
External Video1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI
Internal Ports6 x SATA 6Gb/s (shared w/eSATA), 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0
Internal Slots1 x PCIe x16, 1 x mini-PCIe (filled w/Wi-Fi), 2 x SO-DIMM
Maximum Memory2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM (all standard speeds and capacities)
Gigabit EthernetIntel WGI217V PHY
Wireless NetworkBroadcom BCM4352 802.11ac dual-band, 867 Mb/s
Audio ControllerCreative Sound Blaster Core3D
Other Features
Optical DriveLite-On DC-8A2SH 8x DVD-RW (slot-loading)
Power SupplyFSP450-60GHS(85)-R: 450 W, dual eight-Pin PCIe, 80 PLUS Bronze
Cooling4 x 70 mm 4000 RPM Fans
WarrantyOne Year
Price$550
 CPU, CPU Cooler, Hard Drives, RAM, Operating System And Peripherals Not Included 

If we subtract the cost of its expensive slot-loading optical drive and power supply, we end up paying quite a bit less ($400) for a very nice compact motherboard and BMW-designed feature-packed case. In the U.S., it works out to two hundred dollars each for a motherboard and case, which isn’t cheap, but it still pushes us towards a far less expensive build compared to the pre-configured systems we’ve recently tested. We're ready for a closer look!

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    Haravikk , 31 October 2013 13:38
    Anyone else think this case make far too many compromises while not actually being all that compact? I mean, it's still a pretty huge case, and I'm not convinced that the cooling is good enough; I'd prefer to they ditched trying to do front to back airflow, and just gave the case a massive grill with 200mm (or bigger) fan on one side for pulling hot air out, and just leave vents for cool air to come in across components.

    I've been slowly putting together a small form factor PC (I'll post pics eventually if I ever get the last few components I need), and decided that was the way to go; one big fan with vents gives plenty of cooling, and in my case in a much more space limited case (biggest fan I could fit was 140mm). Granted that's a case without a much less powerful low-profile discrete GPU than this one could theoretically take, but I just can't help but feel that they could have create a much more efficient design.

    It's almost like they designed the exterior first, realised it wouldn't fit what they wanted and just scaled it up until everything fit, resulting in a not especially compact case with all the drawbacks of a much smaller case.