AMD Mobile on Desktop Mini-ITX mobo: support Hawk Point APUs, features 4 x 2.5GbE LAN ports

AMD's current desktop motherboards are being offered with mobile processors, at least by a Chinese company, and this first motherboard... supports a Ryzen 7 8845HS chip with 65W TDP and even 4 x 2.5GbE ethernet ports.

Intel has Mobile on Desktop (MoDT) right now, but now we've got AMD's new Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, offering 8 cores and 16 threads of Zen 4 processing power with a low 65W TDP (which also doesn't require a crazy cooler to keep chill). High-end CPUs at lower price points than regular desktop processors and motherboards are the point here.

Changwang's new AMD MoDT Mini-ITX motherboard is aimed at NAS and storage use, with support for 4 x 2.5GbE ethernet ports (important for NAS and storage) as well as up to 9 x SATA drives for huge amounts of fast storage.

5

The new motherboard can be used for four different AMD processors: the Ryzen 7 7735HS, Ryzen 7 7840HS, Ryzen 9 7940HS, and the newest of them all, the Ryzen 7 8845HS. Right now, only the Ryzen 7 7840HS variant is available for purchase, with or without a cooler included.

• Read more: Minisforum AR900i Mini-ITX mobo packs built-in Core i9-13900HX CPU, costs $559
• Read more: This new Mini-ITX desktop mobo features pre-installed Core i9 CPU, up to 96GB of RAM

Changwang's new motherboard supports a 54W TDP by default, but you can unlock the higher 65W TDP by tweaking the BIOS. You won't be able to buy the motherboard on its own, as it will include a built-in processor -- out of the four options, you choose what you want -- and it can't be replaced after.

Normally, MoDT motherboards feature a cutdown array of features, but not in this case with Changwang's currently unnamed motherboard. We've got the likes of Thunderbolt 4, USB4, 4 x 2.5GbE network ports, and PCIe 4.0 x4 support. Damn good for what should be a cheap alternative to a higher-end desktop CPU and motherboard.

5

There are two M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 ports for high-speed SSDs, one SASTA 3.0 port, and two SFF-8643 ports which enable an additional 8 x SATA ports. If you're using this new motherboard for a NAS or local storage system, you've got plenty of high-speed storage options and a massive array of networking ports to fill.

The motherboard itself supports LGA1700 coolers, with a full-cover copper heatsink placed on top of the PCU itself for easier cooler mounting.

As for pricing, Changwang has its new motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS pre-installed CPU for around 2888 RMB (which works out to around $405 USD). You can choose a cooler to be pre-installed, but this package for $405 (or so) doesn't include a cooler.