ASRock Rack D1540D4U-2T8R Review – Full featured Xeon D platform

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Evan

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2016
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Hi @Patrick ,

These results are excellent with the new 35w TDP part showing great performance. If one is careful to select the right power and cooling, these platforms are just about able to fit two systems in a 1A @ 120V lower power density rack with two SSDs. This platform did consume more power than our previous D-1518 test bed.

Taking stock of storage, even without PCIe add-in cards or SAS expanders, one can have a system with: 8x SATA III/ SAS3 drives (SAS 3008), 6x SATA III drives (Xeon D SoC) and 2x m.2 SATA drives (Marvell 9172) for up to 16 drives total. That is great on a mITX platform.

Few typo's :)
It's a mATX rather than mITX
It's a 45w TDP right ?
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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Interesting board.

I don't like the placement of the 6x SATA3 connectors. This is terrible placement for airflow in a standard server case - especially 1U cases.

Other than that, very very nice.

Also, I don't think this statement is correct:

...it is the only mATX Xeon D platform we have seen thus far.

You've reviewed a least 1, perhaps more, mATX Xeon-Ds from Supermicro.
 

Evan

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2016
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SAS3008 is good to 13-14.5 watt nominal power in a pci card, if we assume same on board then this board is hardly power sipping compared to the new SM boards , I Guess the X540 does not help but it's still a much higher idle to work from.
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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Interesting board.

I don't like the placement of the 6x SATA3 connectors. This is terrible placement for airflow in a standard server case - especially 1U cases.

Other than that, very very nice.

Also, I don't think this statement is correct:

...it is the only mATX Xeon D platform we have seen thus far.

You've reviewed a least 1, perhaps more, mATX Xeon-Ds from Supermicro.
The SM boards are "FlexATX" and not as deep as the ASRock boards. In size mATX > FlexATX > mITX

Agreed very confusing.

I have this feeling this is not meant for a 1U chassis and is instead intended to replace low end E5 systems in a 2U chassis or desktop chassis.

@Evan - fixed.
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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My miss on flexATX vs mATX.

Even in a 2u case, assuming front-back airflow, placing the SATA connectors right in front of the hottest chip on the board is a poor design choice. Even with the active HSF you've gotta make the hot air go away and a tangle of SATA cables right there will block the airflow.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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My miss on flexATX vs mATX.

Even in a 2u case, assuming front-back airflow, placing the SATA connectors right in front of the hottest chip on the board is a poor design choice. Even with the active HSF you've gotta make the hot air go away and a tangle of SATA cables right there will block the airflow.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
I agree. I also asked a number of vendors why we are not seeing more SFF-8643 connectors used for SATA ports and that is just due to cabling costs.
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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Unknown what the official street pricing will be.