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Today we are checking out the latest Mini PC from Asrock known as the VisionX 321B. This third generation Vision series adopts the Intel Ivy Bridge architecture while it also provides a few other noteworthy enhancements. There are a huge range of features on offer, making this one of the most impressive HTPCs to date...
The Asrock Mini PC line has featured some exciting products over the past few years, with the most exciting to date being the Vision 3D. Originally armed with a power efficient Intel Core i3 or Core i5 mobile processor, along with the Nvidia GeForce GT 425M graphics card, the Vision 3D made for the ultimate small form factor HTPC.
Asrock revisited the Vision 3D last year, updating it to support the Intel Sandy Bridge processors along with the Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card. By including a mobile graphics card the Vision 3D didn’t have to rely on the embedded Intel HD graphics, which provides very poor performance. Although the gaming performance of the GeForce GT 425M didn’t blow us away, it was more often than not considerably faster than the Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics engine utilized by the newer Intel Core i5-2520M processor. Then along came the second generation Vision 3D with its GeForce GT 540M, and that did impress us, offering up to 90% more gaming performance when compared to the previous model. Now with enough GPU power to play the latest games using respectable visual settings, the second generation Vision 3D was the most well rounded mini PC we had ever seen. That was until Asrock announced the VisionX series featuring a new Intel Ivy Bridge processor, 8GB of DDR3-1600 memory and the AMD Radeon HD 7850M graphics card. The VisionX 321B is the first ever model to be released in this new series and at $900 it isn’t exactly cheap. Still when we reviewed the Vision 3D 252B last year that was fetching $1000, so the VisionX 321B price tag isn’t all that surprising. So what do you get for your $900 exactly? Read on to find out... |
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magsol76 |
Posted on: 10/13/2012 07:02 AM
The small 30 mm fan next to the hd - how much of the noise comes from that? Did you try disconnecting it to hear the difference? Does it cool anything but the hd? I´m thinking of purchasing this and replacing the hd with a ssd thus minimizing noise and heat (my main storage is on a nas). Regarding the ssd - are there connections for an msata ssd? |
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Ragingsoul |
Posted on: 10/09/2012 09:45 AM
@ProX: If you read my post again, I wasn't talking about normal playback. Using MadVR renderer, with certain ffdsow filters to enhance video quality,I can put my i7 on its knees with video playback. |
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solidstate |
Posted on: 10/03/2012 11:10 AM
Looks really nice. I have been looking out for a review on this so tanks. |
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blunty |
Posted on: 10/03/2012 10:29 PM
Will there be a bare bone version without memory and the hard drive? I would rather go for more memory and an SSD. |
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Khanov Posts: 3 Joined: 2012-10-04 |
Posted on: 10/04/2012 09:39 AM
Looks great. Thanks for the review. Is it possible to turn the unit on using only the remote? i.e. If it is off/in standby do you need to press the power button on the front panel or can it be powered on by the remote control? |
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ProX |
Posted on: 10/04/2012 09:55 AM
@Khanov - Yeah I have the Vision 3D and you can turn off using the same remote, this looks to be the exact same remote anyway. Thanks for the review. |
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Ragingsoul |
Posted on: 10/05/2012 09:25 PM
nice review but I don't see the point in those tests, and completely ignoring its first use as an HTPC. There is no Movie playback review, no 3D movie playback test. Would have been also great to get some 1080p movies with high bitrate using MPC-HC and MadVR for example. Since MadVR doesn't support hardware acceleration but increases the quality a lot, an HTPC like this would completely benefit from it. Overall, you made some benchmark test, but didn't really test the product, unless I miss something. |
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ProX |
Posted on: 10/06/2012 04:33 AM
@ Ragingsoul - We all know that a mobile Core i5 and even Core i3 processor can easily playback 1080p content, that's not much of a test. Look at those frame rates when encoding videos, that is a far better test. |
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Khanov Posts: 3 Joined: 2012-10-04 |
Posted on: 10/06/2012 10:15 AM
Ok thanks for that. But with some of the other small form factor pc's with remote (Shuttle's for example) you can turn it off with remote but you cannot turn it ON with remote. Once it is off you have to press the power button on the front, just like on any normal pc. So I'd love to know if you can turn this one ON with the remote control? I'm so close to buying one of these but it won't pass the Mrs. test if she has to get up and cross the room every time to turn the bugger on. |
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ProX |
Posted on: 10/06/2012 08:47 PM
@ Khanov - Ohh sorry I meant to say on and off. So to confirm yes you can turn these on using just the remote. That said I just let it go into sleep mode rather than turn it completely off. |
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Khanov Posts: 3 Joined: 2012-10-04 |
Posted on: 10/07/2012 12:49 AM
Brilliant. Thanks ProX. I think I'll be buying one soon then. |
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XavierX |
Posted on: 01/20/2013 10:33 PM
I know it's been a while since this article was posted, but has anyone switched out the i5-3210M for an i7-3612QM/3632QM? (CPU options are the same as well as the TDP so a BIOS update "shouldn't" be necessary) I'm looking to utilize the VisionX 321B for medium gaming, VMware Workstation, home PC and HTPC as well...with a Quad-core CPU & 16GB, this little puppy has a lot of potential... |
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bob |
Posted on: 01/27/2013 05:54 AM
Unit seems to answer a lot of htpc needs, but why do current user comments reflect so many problems? Egghead is the only place to buy it in the US, which also makes me wonder. The money doesn't bother me because I'm not interested in building my own. But is this thing reliable? |