AMD EPYC Rome in (Deep) Mini-ITX? ASRock Rack's New ROMED4ID-2T
by Gavin Bonshor on November 26, 2020 9:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- Workstation
- server
- ASRock Rack
- EPYC
- EPYC 7002
- ROMED4ID-2T
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ASRock Rack has unveiled its latest small form factor motherboard designed for AMD's EYPC processors, the ROMED4ID-2T. It is based on a new proprietary form factor similar to Mini-ITX, affectionally colloquialized as 'Deep' Mini-ITX, which is slightly larger than standard mini-ITX. The board supports for EPYC Rome 7002 processors up to 64 cores.
Being able to amalgamate up to 64 cores with a mini-ITX motherboard isn't a small feat; the ROMED4ID-2T does it for users looking to build a server with a small overall footprint. This model opts for a new wider proprietary design, the 'deep mini-ITX' form factor with dimensions of 6.7 x 8.2 inches, rather than 6.7-inch square for regular mini-ITX.
The main obvious limitation with such a small motherboard size and a large socket is that not all of the features of the processor is made available - there are some sacrifices to put it all in. That starts with the memory support, with this model only having four memory slots, and therefore four memory channels, rather than the standard eight channels that EPYC Rome can provide. The other is PCIe 4.0 support - there is one PCIe 4.0 x16 full length slot, and six Slimline PCIe 4.0 x8 ports, but that is still far fewer than the 128 lanes this CPU can provide.
For storage devices, other than the single M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot, there is plenty to accommodate multiple drives, despite the size limitations, with up to sixteen SATA ports support from two of the Slimline ports, which ASRock states can be configured within the BIOS. This also includes support for bulk U.2 storage, with two Slimline ports operating at PCIe 4.0 x8 or eight SATA ports, and the other four Slimline simply listed as being PCIe 4.0 x8 only.
Being primarily marketed as a server-focused model, it includes many of the usual suspects regarding internal headers, including one for IPMB, PMBus, and a 13-pin LPC TPM header. There are also three 4-pin fan headers, each with its own fan fail LED.
Regarding connectivity, the ASRock Rack ROMED4ID-2T includes an Intel X550-AT2 10 Gb controller, which adds two 10 GbE ports on the rear panel, as well as a dedicated Realtek RTL8211E Ethernet port for the board's IPMI. A single DB15 D-Sub video output is present for users looking to access the system physically over the IPMI, with a UID LED button and a pair of USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports.
At present, ASRock hasn't given any information regarding pricing or availability, but we expect to hear something shortly.
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Related Reading
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- The ASRock Rack EPYCD8-2T Motherboard Review: From Naples to Rome
- AMD's New EPYC 7F32 Reviewed: The F is for High Frequency
- The GIGABYTE MZ31-AR0 Motherboard Review: EPYC with Dual 10G
- AMD Rome Second Generation EPYC Review: 2x 64-core Benchmarked
Source: ASRock Rack
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MenhirMike - Thursday, November 26, 2020 - link
Also, as stated in the article, this is NOT a Mini-ITX Board, it's larger than that.In ITX, I don't think there's enough space to place 4 DIMM slots either horizontally or vertically, at least not unless SO-DIMM is used. But if you just make the board larger, you got the space for it, which is what has happened here.
Samus - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
It could be done but as most CPU's are limited to dual channel anyway I don't think there is much demand for it when the sacrifices could be as large as losing the x16 slot or a number of other important ports.skaurus - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
Ah, you right. Although it is larger in a different dimension, but space is space anyway.Tomatotech - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
It can be done. Lose a few of the sata ports. Desktop ITX never needs all six sata ports. Sodimm memory is another option. Remove some rear ports too if it’s any help.jeremyshaw - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
Yeah, but if SO-DIMM is used, some people will whine about their $200 mITX board (which has HDMI outputs for some reason, when USB-C DP Alt mode would have easily sufficed the few crazy people who spend $200 on a mITX board for APU/IGP HTPC) not having SuPEr MaX RAm 6ghZ OC!edzieba - Saturday, November 28, 2020 - link
Removing rear IO or SATA ports will do diddly-squat. The problem is traces: DDR needs a bunch of parallel balanced lines, which takes up space and have physical requirements for proximity to and orientation relative to the CPU.edzieba - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
ASRock/ASRockRack have some ITX boards with 4 SODIMM slots. 4 DIMM slots are not possible to fit on an ITX footprint without using an embedded CPU (ASRockRack will sell you some if you want that). Neither is SP3 (hence the non-standard extended board), but ASRock did manage it with Socket P (LGA3647).skaurus - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
It was possible here with a huge socket, even with a PCI-E x16 slot and M.2 2280 slot. What else does one really need besides rear panel ports? A couple of SATA ports? USB3 header for a front panel?I'm grumbling though :)
stanleyipkiss - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
Sure... because no chipset. The moment you add some VRM and a B550 or X570 or even Intel's Z490 in there -- no space left. As was said earlier -- they should give up some SATA portsesoel_ - Friday, November 27, 2020 - link
That’s because the cpus have dual channel memory and it would be a waste. The other speculation is silly. I have a mini-itx with a xeon , 4 dimms, 4 sata, 1 uculink, 2x10gbe. On a mini itx you try to put 1 dimm per channel, if you want cheap memory expansion you’re on the wrong platform.