ASRock Rack, which is ASRock's server brand, has developed the new X470D4U motherboard for consumers who want to build a workstation or server around AMD's Ryzen processors.
The ASRock Rack X470D4U sticks to the traditional green PCB in a microATX form factor. As denoted by its name, the motherboard is based on AMD's X470 Promontory chipset and carries the AM4 socket. Therefore, the X470D4U supports up to second-generation (Pinnacle Ridge) Ryzen processors, such as the flagship Ryzen 7 2700X. Given AMD's commitment to the AM4 socket, the motherboard should be able to handle the upcoming Ryzen 3000-series (Matisse) processors with a simple BIOS update.
The ASRock Rack X470D4U draws power from a 24-pin power connector and an 8-pin EPS power connector. It's equipped with four DDR4 memory slots that can house up to 64GB of unbuffered ECC memory. A total of eight SATA III ports is available for storage. Six SATA III ports are wired directly to the X470 chipset. One of the six is a SATA DOM (Disk on Module) port. The remaining two SATA III ports are based on the third-party ASMedia ASM1061 controller. Storage options also include two PCIe M.2 ports. One M.2 ports runs at PCIe 3.0 x2 and supports both SATA and PCIe M.2 SSDs, while the other operates at PCIe 2.0 x4 and only accommodates PCIe M.2 SSDs.
Given its limited PCB space, the X470D4U only comes with three expansion ports. There are two PCIe 3.0 x16 ports and one PCIe 3.0 x8 port. Since AMD's Ryzen chips aren't equipped with integrated graphics, ASRock outfitted the X470D4U with the ASPEED AST2500 server management processor. The AST2500 is powered by a 800MHz ARM11 processor and has its own on-chip PCIe 2D VGA that's capable of outputting a 1920x1200 resolution image at a 60Hz refresh rate.
I/O ports on the X470D4U are quite limited as well. The rear panel houses one UID button/UID LED, one D-Sub port, one serial port, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and three Ethernet LAN ports. Thankfully, the motherboard has a USB 3.1 Gen 1 header to provide two front panel USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports. A pair of LAN ports is based on the Intel I210 controller, while the remaining one runs off the Realtek RTL8211E controller. It's worth emphasizing that one of the Intel offerings is a dedicated IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) LAN port.
ASRock Rack hasn't yet revealed pricing or a release date for the X470D4U motherboard.
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