ASRock ROMED4ID-2T Motherboard Socket SP3 mini ITX

ASRock ROMED4ID-2T Motherboard Socket SP3 mini ITX is ASRock Rack's latest tiny form factor motherboard, developed for AMD's EYPC CPUs

It is based on a unique proprietary form factor that is identical to Mini-ITX but somewhat larger than normal Mini-ITX, affectionately known as 'Deep' Mini-ITX.

Build a Server

Instead of the 6.7-inch square for conventional mini-ITX, this model uses a new broader proprietary design called "deep mini-ITX," which has dimensions of 6.7 x 8.2 inches.

EPYC Rome 7002 CPUs with up to 64 cores are supported by the board

It's no small feat to be able to combine up to 64 cores with a mini-ITX motherboard- ASRock ROMED4ID-2T Motherboard Socket SP3 mini ITX accomplishes this for those wishing to build a server with a tiny overall footprint.

The primary evident drawback with such a small motherboard space and a huge socket is that not all of the processor's functionality are available; certain concessions must be made in order to fit everything in.

Memory Support

This begins with memory support, which is limited to four memory slots and thus four memory channels, rather than the standard eight channels offered by EPYC Rome. The other is PCIe 4.0 support, which is limited to one full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot and six Slimline PCIe 4.0 x8 ports, which is significantly less than the 128 lanes this CPU can offer.

Plenty of Room

Apart from the single M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot, there's plenty of room for many drives despite the size constraints, with up to sixteen SATA ports supported by two Slimline ports, which ASRock claims may be customized in the BIOS. This offers bulk U.2 storage compatibility, with two Slimline ports operating at PCIe 4.0 x8 or eight SATA ports, and the remaining four Slimline ports simply labelled as PCIe 4.0 x8 only.

It has many of the typical suspects in terms of internal headers, including one for IPMB, PMBus, and a 13-pin LPC TPM header, while being largely promoted as a server-focused device. Three 4-pin fan headers are also included, each with its own fan fail LED.

The ASRock Rack ROMED4ID-2T has an Intel X550-AT2 10 Gb controller on the back panel, which adds two 10 GbE ports, as well as a dedicated Realtek RTL8211E Ethernet port for the board's IPMI. Users who want to access the system physically using IPMI will find a single DB15 D-Sub video output, as well as a UID LED button and two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports.