ASUS PN50 Mini-PC, with Ryzen Mobile 4000 APUs, Coming September
by Dr. Ian Cutress on August 3, 2020 2:00 PM EST
AMD launched its Ryzen Mobile 4000 ‘Renoir’ processors in January, and one of our questions was around the appetite for AMD to push mini-PC designs. Processors that have both high performance and low power are ideal for small form factors, and there has always been a dedicated community to this hardware segment. As we’ve seen in previous launches, sometimes these sorts of machines come before laptops, or very quickly after. At the time, AMD said that the focus was on the laptops, however there would be nothing to stop one of its partners going ahead with a mini-PC design. So we waited, and waited…
The ASUS PN50 is going to be one of the first mini-PCs on the market with the new Renoir hardware in a mini-PC design. Much like the PN60 chassis the company has used with Intel 15 W processors, the unassuming polished grey size and small footprint will ensure that an AMD powered version will fit seamlessly into that vision – with four times the cores and beefier graphics as well.
ASUS will offer the PN50 with four different APUs: the Ryzen 3 4300 and the Ryzen 5 4500U are coming to the UK market on September 7th, while the Ryzen 7 4700U and Ryzen 7 4800U will be available on September 21st. The kit will be a barebones system, requiring the user to add in memory and a storage drive. The PN50 supports dual DDR4-3200 SO-DIMMs, up to 64 GB, along with an M.2 2280 SATA/PCIe drive and a single 2.5-inch SATA drive.
The Vega graphics on the mobile APU means the PN50 will support a single 8K display at 60 Hz or up to four 4K60 displays through HDMI, DisplayPort, and dual USB-C ports. On the front there is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with battery charging support, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, a 3-in-1 card reader, and an audio jack. On the rear is a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports, the HDMI 2.0 port, a ‘configurable’ port (DP1.4/COM/VGA/LAN depending on region), gigabit Ethernet, and the DC-in connector. Inside the system is an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 module for wireless connectivity. The system includes a VESA mount kit in the bundle.
The four variants are as follows:
| ASUS PN50 Ryzen Mobile 4000 Mini-PC | ||||
| AnandTech | Ryzen 7 4800U |
Ryzen 7 4700U |
Ryzen 5 4500U |
Ryzen 5 4300U |
| Price (inc VAT) | £500 | £370 | £320 | £275 |
| Cores | 8 Cores 16 Threads |
8 Cores 8 Threads |
6 Cores 6 Threads |
4 Cores 4 Threads |
| Frequency | 1.8G-4.2G | 2.0G-4.1G | 2.3G-4.0G | 2.7G-4.0G |
| Graphics | Vega 8 | Vega 7 | Vega 6 | Vega 5 |
| Memory | 2 x SO-DIMM, up to 64 GB DDR4-3200 | |||
| Storage | 1 x SATA/PCIe M.2 2280 1 x SATA 6 Gbps |
|||
| Wi-Fi | Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 | |||
| VESA | Mounting Kit Included | |||
| Front IO | 1 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-C (DP1.4, BC1.2) 1 x USB 3.2 G1 Type-A 1 x Audio Jack 2 x Microphone Array 1 x IR Receiver 1 x 3-in-1 Card Reader |
|||
| Rear IO | 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (DP1.4) 2 x USB 3.2 G1 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x Configurable (DP1.4/COM/VGA/LAN) 1 x Gigabit Ethernet 1 x DC-In |
|||
| Optional | TPM / fTPM 2.0 | |||
| Dimensions | 115 x 115 x 49 mm (0.62L), 0.7 kg | |||
| PSU | 90 W | 65 W | ||
| Available | September 21st | September 7th | ||
Availability will vary depending on region. The UK has pre-order listings at several retailers, including Amazon.
Source: ASUS
Related Reading
- AMD Details Renoir: The Ryzen Mobile 4000 Series 7nm APU Uncovered
- AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000: Measuring Renoir’s Die Size
- Ryzen Roundup: A Quick Overview of Ryzen Mobile 4000 Laptops From Acer, ASUS, Dell, & MSI
- AMD’s Mobile Revival: Redefining the Notebook Business with the Ryzen 9 4900HS (A Review)
- ADATA's New 32 GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM, Ideal for Ryzen Mobile
- AMD Announces Ryzen Pro 4000 for Mobile: 8 Cores, 15 W, 4.1 GHz
- New Lenovo ThinkPad Range with Ryzen 4000 & 4000 PRO Mobile
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RSAUser - Friday, August 7, 2020 - link
Depending on the noise, quite tempted to get the 4500U/4700U one depending on the performance, would be a nice to have in the living room as a media PC that can occasionally do a small game like rocket league.Defleur - Saturday, August 8, 2020 - link
I am very interesting in this. Yet on the official website it says: "Dual-storage design with up to a 2.5-inch HDD up to 1 TB and an M.2 SSD up to 512 GB" - I assume the 2.5" slot is HDD or SSD, but 1 TB max & a 512GB max m2 nvme doesn't sound very attractive. The link is here - https://www.asus.com/Mini-PCs/Mini-PC-PN50/Billy Tallis - Sunday, August 9, 2020 - link
Ignore the capacity limitations. The motherboard doesn't have much to do with what capacity of drives will work, and ASUS would have to go out of their way to break the firmware for large drives.LuckyKnight - Sunday, August 9, 2020 - link
Would prefer one without a 2.5" bay, if ASUS is listening. HDMI 2.1 for some future proofing if possible.AdditionalPylons - Monday, August 10, 2020 - link
I really want to buy a Renoir based mini PC. I thought this was the first, but the sentence "one of the first mini-PCs on the market with the new Renoir hardware in a mini-PC design" seems to indicate that there are others. Which ones?Otherwise, my two concerns are:
1. Why is this only 1 GbE? 2.5 GbE is only $2-3 more expensive. Don't cheap out on this please!
2. I'm worried the cooling is noisy. The vent looks pretty small from the outside. Why are there no photos of the internals on the ASUS website?
(Also, I seem to be in the minority preferring external PSU. Yes, a bit more cable mess, but external also means less heat inside the machine, i.e. more silent.)
Gigabee Mini PC - Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - link
it is good for work from home