Hey, cqns - tildes here! Recently, I decided to spend just a few hundred short of one grand to replace my mediocre aging touchscreen HP AIO for the ASUS V500MV Mini Tower (hereby now referred to...
Hey, cqns - tildes here!
Recently, I decided to spend just a few hundred short of one grand to replace my mediocre aging touchscreen HP AIO for the ASUS V500MV Mini Tower (hereby now referred to as the "Mini Tower") and the general consensus I've been reading on the device, the same device that I'm typing all of this on, is that this Mini Tower is "cursed". The more I'm reading into it, the more I'm inclined to agree.
The Mini Tower is upgradable with the graphics card going as high as an RTX 4060 TI (supposedly), that's sold separately. Sitting easy with the stock 16x2 SODIMM (weird, right?) RAM in the mean time. Processor being a 13th Gen Intel i7-13620H x 10, which is a step up from the AMD Ryzen 3 I had on the mediocre AIO. While I do have the savings to tank the RTX purchase, that isn't immediate priority. What's been eating at my dreams is the lack of an optical drive (and by extension, the SD card reader), which is mainly the reason I stuck with the mediocre AIO for so long, as it had a built-in one. Although the specific listing on the ASUS website for this line of mini towers do cite that the ODD (optical disk drive from here on) is "optional", on the Mini Tower I have, there seems to be...space for one, but the chassis for it has been soldered to the inside of the case and it can't be removed by conventional means. I had to wrestle with the darn thing to remove the punch-out plating from the inside as well as remove the plastic cover on the front of the case, both done successfully. Same thing for the card reader.
I do have three shucked slim ODDs from laptops (confirmed as operational via slimline SATA to USB), which I thought could fit into the chassis, but they could not. The soldered insert does not provide enough room for the ODD to go through. Therein lies the rub, because there are similarly related ASUS Mini Towers out there that do come with the ODD built in already, but it is a hassle to try and pinpoint any information. The best I've narrowed it down to thus far is in this video, where the D500MER has an ODD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eqTiTzQWVo , but I can't seem to discern any parts number for that specific ODD. The case looks very similar to the V500MV, which is what I'm trying to convey.
I'm bad with outros and conclusions, so if anybody out there has an idea of what TF I should do about this strange situation, throw me a bone thanks.
SODIMM makes some sense given its smaller form factor, and using essentially laptop hardware in a different form factor is a good way to get smaller than even ITX.
SODIMM makes some sense given its smaller form factor, and using essentially laptop hardware in a different form factor is a good way to get smaller than even ITX.
In all accounts, I do enjoy the desk space I get from the form factor. My 4K LG has built-in stereo speakers over HDMI, but if I ever wanted to, the Mini Tower does have ports for stereo/line-in/mic.
In all accounts, I do enjoy the desk space I get from the form factor. My 4K LG has built-in stereo speakers over HDMI, but if I ever wanted to, the Mini Tower does have ports for stereo/line-in/mic.
Yeah plenty of tiny/mini/micro PCs use SODIMMs for the space savings, though this particular machine isn't as small as a lot of these USFF machines despite being called mini since it is a tower...
Yeah plenty of tiny/mini/micro PCs use SODIMMs for the space savings, though this particular machine isn't as small as a lot of these USFF machines despite being called mini since it is a tower with GPU space so it is a bit of a frankenstein's monster
Still pretty common for them not to have optical drives. Heck none of my 3 full desktop PCs have optical drives and my 3-4 mini PCs do not either. Two of the full-size desktops' cases don't even have a spot or cutout for them
I use USB optical drive and hook it up where i need it
Due to (gestures vaguely), I'm somewhat glad for the SODIMM-level pricing. I need both my kidneys. For the ODD, there hasn't been a single PC I've bought since...there hasn't been a single PC I've...
Due to (gestures vaguely), I'm somewhat glad for the SODIMM-level pricing. I need both my kidneys.
For the ODD, there hasn't been a single PC I've bought since...there hasn't been a single PC I've bought that doesn't have an ODD, so the lack of one doesn't sit well with me. Granted, I do have a Slimline to USB, but there's a cutout specific for that within the chassis, so I figure I might as well fit one in there anyway. Finding that specific part with that specific plastic piece that covers the front is the idea.
Yeah it's a mess and hey if getting a "cursed" prebuilt for a decent price is the path to getting decent CPU, RAM, and upgradability to survive the RAMpocalypse, why not!
Yeah it's a mess and hey if getting a "cursed" prebuilt for a decent price is the path to getting decent CPU, RAM, and upgradability to survive the RAMpocalypse, why not!
4-pin Molex? Are you referring to the header marked "VGA POW"? I guess technically that's a 4-pin Molex, but usually people use that term to refer to 12V IDE power connectors like this. You'll...
4-pin Molex? Are you referring to the header marked "VGA POW"? I guess technically that's a 4-pin Molex, but usually people use that term to refer to 12V IDE power connectors like this. You'll have more luck finding adapters for that header by searching for "4-pin ATX."
That header is intended to be used as the power header for the video card (that's what "VGA POW" is trying to convey; "video graphics adapter power"). If you want a video card that can handle more than a slideshow, you'll probably want to keep that guy free for that purpose.
I can't make out much about the other headers and power outputs from your pictures, so I'll have to check the manual for a diagram to advise on an internal slimline ODD. That'll have to wait until I get home.
If you want my honest advice though, I'd skip the hassle of getting the ODD installed internally and just buy a USB 3 ODD. It'll take up some desk space, but it'll likely be much easier to get an external drive.
I'm kinda surprised I haven't seen this form factor from ASUS before. I get a lot of ASUS's models across my bench, but somehow we've missed out on these. Sounds like I should count myself lucky.
Hey, @cqns, the instructions you want are on page 30 of the Service Manual. ASUS has a parts shop that makes it easy to check fitment for stuff like this tool-less ODD bracket for mounting the...
The best way to find parts there is to just enter your serial number into the search box. That narrows the parts list down to confirmed compatible PNs. The prices are reasonable for the parts, and they do respond relatively quickly to requests. I buy displays and stuff through them at work all the time.
If you can't wait a couple of weeks for a part, you can try searching the SKU from ASUS's site on https://www.a-accessories.com/, though in my experience they rarely have parts that the ASUS Part Shop doesn't, and their pricing is kinda bad. Amazon will often have listings with the part numbers from the manufacturer's shop too.
Hey, cqns - tildes here!
Recently, I decided to spend just a few hundred short of one grand to replace my mediocre aging touchscreen HP AIO for the ASUS V500MV Mini Tower (hereby now referred to as the "Mini Tower") and the general consensus I've been reading on the device, the same device that I'm typing all of this on, is that this Mini Tower is "cursed". The more I'm reading into it, the more I'm inclined to agree.
The Mini Tower is upgradable with the graphics card going as high as an RTX 4060 TI (supposedly), that's sold separately. Sitting easy with the stock 16x2 SODIMM (weird, right?) RAM in the mean time. Processor being a 13th Gen Intel i7-13620H x 10, which is a step up from the AMD Ryzen 3 I had on the mediocre AIO. While I do have the savings to tank the RTX purchase, that isn't immediate priority. What's been eating at my dreams is the lack of an optical drive (and by extension, the SD card reader), which is mainly the reason I stuck with the mediocre AIO for so long, as it had a built-in one. Although the specific listing on the ASUS website for this line of mini towers do cite that the ODD (optical disk drive from here on) is "optional", on the Mini Tower I have, there seems to be...space for one, but the chassis for it has been soldered to the inside of the case and it can't be removed by conventional means. I had to wrestle with the darn thing to remove the punch-out plating from the inside as well as remove the plastic cover on the front of the case, both done successfully. Same thing for the card reader.
I do have three shucked slim ODDs from laptops (confirmed as operational via slimline SATA to USB), which I thought could fit into the chassis, but they could not. The soldered insert does not provide enough room for the ODD to go through. Therein lies the rub, because there are similarly related ASUS Mini Towers out there that do come with the ODD built in already, but it is a hassle to try and pinpoint any information. The best I've narrowed it down to thus far is in this video, where the D500MER has an ODD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eqTiTzQWVo , but I can't seem to discern any parts number for that specific ODD. The case looks very similar to the V500MV, which is what I'm trying to convey.
I'm bad with outros and conclusions, so if anybody out there has an idea of what TF I should do about this strange situation, throw me a bone thanks.
EDIT: To those of yinz who want to see the Cursed Machination, here you go:
Mobo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y3nFnDDdWgF_n2sBm9nGLIe_jupeapTG/view?usp=sharing
Chassis: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q0rbZd5efzYfIUjo6j-A711_UkZw8hF_/view?usp=sharing
I am aware that, most likely, this ODD will need power, and I assume that's what the 4-pin Molex is for, after I connect the Slimline SATA to the ODD and the other SATA end to that on the mobo...
SODIMM makes some sense given its smaller form factor, and using essentially laptop hardware in a different form factor is a good way to get smaller than even ITX.
In all accounts, I do enjoy the desk space I get from the form factor. My 4K LG has built-in stereo speakers over HDMI, but if I ever wanted to, the Mini Tower does have ports for stereo/line-in/mic.
Yeah plenty of tiny/mini/micro PCs use SODIMMs for the space savings, though this particular machine isn't as small as a lot of these USFF machines despite being called mini since it is a tower with GPU space so it is a bit of a frankenstein's monster
Still pretty common for them not to have optical drives. Heck none of my 3 full desktop PCs have optical drives and my 3-4 mini PCs do not either. Two of the full-size desktops' cases don't even have a spot or cutout for them
I use USB optical drive and hook it up where i need it
Due to (gestures vaguely), I'm somewhat glad for the SODIMM-level pricing. I need both my kidneys.
For the ODD, there hasn't been a single PC I've bought since...there hasn't been a single PC I've bought that doesn't have an ODD, so the lack of one doesn't sit well with me. Granted, I do have a Slimline to USB, but there's a cutout specific for that within the chassis, so I figure I might as well fit one in there anyway. Finding that specific part with that specific plastic piece that covers the front is the idea.
Yeah it's a mess and hey if getting a "cursed" prebuilt for a decent price is the path to getting decent CPU, RAM, and upgradability to survive the RAMpocalypse, why not!
4-pin Molex? Are you referring to the header marked "VGA POW"? I guess technically that's a 4-pin Molex, but usually people use that term to refer to 12V IDE power connectors like this. You'll have more luck finding adapters for that header by searching for "4-pin ATX."
That header is intended to be used as the power header for the video card (that's what "VGA POW" is trying to convey; "video graphics adapter power"). If you want a video card that can handle more than a slideshow, you'll probably want to keep that guy free for that purpose.
I can't make out much about the other headers and power outputs from your pictures, so I'll have to check the manual for a diagram to advise on an internal slimline ODD. That'll have to wait until I get home.
If you want my honest advice though, I'd skip the hassle of getting the ODD installed internally and just buy a USB 3 ODD. It'll take up some desk space, but it'll likely be much easier to get an external drive.
I'm kinda surprised I haven't seen this form factor from ASUS before. I get a lot of ASUS's models across my bench, but somehow we've missed out on these. Sounds like I should count myself lucky.
Hey, @cqns, the instructions you want are on page 30 of the Service Manual.
ASUS has a parts shop that makes it easy to check fitment for stuff like this tool-less ODD bracket for mounting the drive in your case, although it's appears to be out of stock at the moment. They also sell the slimline ODD power cable.
The best way to find parts there is to just enter your serial number into the search box. That narrows the parts list down to confirmed compatible PNs. The prices are reasonable for the parts, and they do respond relatively quickly to requests. I buy displays and stuff through them at work all the time.
If you can't wait a couple of weeks for a part, you can try searching the SKU from ASUS's site on https://www.a-accessories.com/, though in my experience they rarely have parts that the ASUS Part Shop doesn't, and their pricing is kinda bad. Amazon will often have listings with the part numbers from the manufacturer's shop too.
Hope that helps!