AMD Phoenix in an UCFF Avatar

ASRock Industrial has been one of the vital prolific distributors within the ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) PC area over the previous couple of years. They’ve been releasing 4″x4″ methods based mostly on the newest AMD and Intel platforms inside a couple of weeks of their bulletins by the processor distributors. On the AMD entrance, the corporate launched the Rembrandt Refresh-based 4X4 BOX-7735U earlier this 12 months, and adopted that up a few quarters later with the Phoenix-based 4X4 BOX-7040 sequence.

The 4X4 BOX-7040 sequence builds upon the I/O and iGPU enhancements within the 4X4 BOX-7735U with the incorporation of AMD’s newest Zen 4 CPU cores and RDNA3-based iGPU. The transfer to a 4nm TSMC course of (from the 6nm one used for Rembrandt Refresh) and the CPU / iGPU enhancements ought to theoretically supply a lot better efficiency and energy effectivity for a spread of workloads.

The Ryzen 7 7840U is a 28W TDP half that bears hanging similarity to the Ryzen 7 7840HS that was already evaluated in a 65W mode in Beelink’s GTR7. On account of the decrease energy restrict, the bottom clock is lowered. The iGPU configuration, I/Os, and different working parameters stay the identical. The U-series is primarily meant for pocket book platforms, however ASRock Industrial (and different mini-PC distributors) have been deploying them in actively-cooled UCFF circumstances. The presence of a fan provides distributors a little bit of leeway in configuring the facility limits – and, as an extension, efficiency.

ASRock Industrial ships the 4X4 BOX-7840U within the ‘Regular Mode’ with AMD’s prompt TDP of 28W. Nevertheless, a toggle within the BIOS can push the system right into a ‘Efficiency Mode’ with a souped-up TDP of round 40W. This overview explores the efficiency profile of the PC in each modes, and offers detailed insights into the differentiating points of AMD’s Phoenix in a UCFF mini-PC platform.

Introduction and Product Impressions

UCFF methods have been steadily changing cumbersome tower desktops for a lot of use-cases during the last decade. This class has been experiencing development in each residence shopper and industrial settings, with the latter prompting the B2B / industrial computing arms of many motherboard distributors to supply extra consideration to such methods. ASRock Industrial (spun out of ASRock’s enterprise unit in 2018) has been creating UCFF methods based mostly on each AMD and Intel platforms since 2019.

This overview delves intimately into the corporate’s AMD Phoenix-based flagship UCFF providing – the 4X4 BOX-7840U. Primarily based on AMD’s high-end Phoenix 28W providing (Ryzen 7 7840U), the brand new system is supposed to be a follow-up to the Rembrandt-R-based 4X4 BOX-7735U launched earlier this 12 months. The Ryzen 7 7840U continues with the identical 8C/16T configuration of the Ryzen 7 7735U. Nevertheless, the fabrication course of has moved from TSMC’s 6nm FinFET to 4nm FinFET, and the CPU cores are actually based mostly on Zen 4. The built-in GPU has additionally been re-architected, transferring from the RDNA2-based Radeon 680M in Rembrandt-R to the RDNA3-based 780M in Phoenix.

ASRock Industrial’s UCFF methods are non-descript machines that don’t go for a elaborate case design. The purposeful chassis utilized in earlier 4X4 BOX methods is retained for the 4X4 BOX-7840U additionally. This does imply an extension of the lifespan of the shiny polycarbonate fingerprint magnet casing, however that’s set to change in 2024. The I/O port areas are precisely the identical as within the earlier era. The inner board can be largely the identical, because the USB4 ports and DDR5 help had been already pencilled in in the course of the design of the 4X4 BOX-7735U.

The corporate’s 4X4 BOX-7040 sequence has solely two members – one based mostly on the Ryzen 5 7640U and the opposite based mostly on the Ryzen 7 7840U. Among the key related points are introduced out in AMD’s introductory slide to the product household again on the 2023 CES.

ASRock Industrial’s alternative of I/O ports for the Intel and AMD methods in the identical era is value a observe. Whereas the rear USB ports are solely USB 2.0 within the AMD ones, they’re USB 3.2 Gen 2 within the Intel variations. Nevertheless, the 2 entrance panel Sort-C ports help the total USB4 characteristic set together with PCIe tunneling within the AMD methods. The Intel boards are skimped on, with solely one of many Sort-C ports able to full USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 help and the opposite falling again to USB 3.2 Gen 2 with Alt DP help.

The corporate presents each barebones model of the system in addition to the motherboard alone. The previous is often bought in retail, whereas the motherboard is supposed for the B2B channel. The barebones model bundle comes with a 120W DC energy adapter (19V @ 6.32A), VESA mount (and related screws), a geo-specific energy twine, the primary unit, and a product overview / person information.

The barebones model wants two DDR5 SODIMMs and a M.2 2280 SSD to finish the construct. Essential’s DDR5-5600 SODIMM package (2x16GB) was complemented by a Samsung 990 PRO 2TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD for this function.

Entry to the SODIMM and M.2 slots is by way of the underside, just like the earlier era methods. Elimination of the 4 screws on the backside permits the panel to be popped off.

Regardless of the help for a 2.5″ SATA drive within the system, ASRock Industrial strongly recommends not utilizing it as a way to help with correct airflow. The set up course of is in any other case just like the older 4X4 BOX methods, and we had been up and working with a freshly put in OS very quickly (after putting in the chipset drivers from the product help web page). The Ryzen 7 7840U does embody the XDNA engine (now rebranded as Ryzen AI in Phoenix Refresh), however the drivers for that (acknowledged as an IPU in Machine Supervisor) will not be but obtainable by way of Home windows Replace.

The complete specs of the overview pattern (as examined) are offered within the desk under. As we’ll observe within the subsequent part, the BIOS permits the system to be configured in both of two modes with completely different TDPs, as specified within the Processor entry.

Within the subsequent part, we check out the system setup and comply with it up with an in depth platform evaluation.