ASRock has introduced a second mini PC series with AMD’s Ryzen mobile processors 4000 U alias Renoir, intended for end customers . The models Mars 4000 U are marked with 26 mm height flatter than the 4X4 BOX – 4000, but still have space for a 2.5-inch data carrier thanks to the wider housing – a fast PCI Express SSD (PCIe 3.0 x4) can also be installed in an M.2 slot.

To Mars – 4000 U- PCs installed by ASRock all Renoir CPUs from the four-core Ryzen 3 4300 U to the eight-core Ryzen 7 4800 U with 10 Threads thanks to Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) including an integrated Radeon Vega graphics unit. A radial fan keeps the processor at the right temperature. There are also up to 64 GByte DDR4 – 3200 – RAM in the form of two SO-DIMMs in dual-channel. An M.2 E-Key slot optionally houses a WLAN card such as Intel’s AX 200 for Wi-Fi 6.

ASRock Mars 4000 U (4 pictures ) (Image: ASRock) Few display connections Compared to the 4X4 BOX – 4000 ASRock makes significant cuts in the connections: on USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C with data transfers of 10 GBit / The manufacturer does not use s and DisplayPort Altmode, instead there are five USB 3.2 Gen 1 with 5 GBit / s, including a Type-C port, and two USB 2.0 Type A. The Type-C connection does not support Altmode, so users can only use an HDMI 2.0 and D-Sub to connect monitors. That is enough for one Ultra and Full HD display with 60 Hertz .

Realteks Soundchip ALC 233 for connecting a headset, Gigabit Ethernet and an SD card reader round off the equipment. The .

Manufacturers usually sell mini PCs like the Mars 4000 U as barebone systems without memory. ASRock does not comment on availability and prices in the press release. Most recently the mini-PCs of the 4X4 BOX – 4000 disappeared again from the German trade and also competitor models like Asus’ PN 26 with Ryzen 4000 U are poorly available. A look at the notebook market leads to the assumption that AMD cannot deliver enough mobile processors.

(mma)