News ASRock Unveils the X299E-ITX/ac: Mini ITX + X299 + Quad-channel Memory

Mod edit:

Detailed overview of what we know about the X299E-ITX/ac thus far here: https://smallformfactor.net/news/asrock-x299e-itxac-little-monster-detailed

Original:

ASRock did it! Finally, there's an Intel HEDT platform motherboard with full quad-channel DDR4 memory. The new X299E-ITX/ac is for those who need up to 18 CPU cores and up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory in their SFF machines for reasons. The board manages its limited PCB real-estate by going vertical. It features two riser cards, one with a few onboard controllers, and a pair of 32 Gb/s M.2 slots), and the other riser with SATA 6 Gb/s ports, a third M.2 slot, and the headers such as USB 3.1. The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it for the LGA2066 CPU using a 7-phase VRM. The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 3.0 x16, memory is handled by four DDR4 SO-DIMM slots. Connectivity includes two Intel I219-V driven gigabit Ethernet interfaces, 802.11ac WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.1.

Source

 

[robbee]

I would love to know how many/where all the fan headers are and where the audio header is.

As far as I can see:

 

[jeshikat]

It does indeed have USB 3.1, not sure what's going on with the sign in the picture.

I'll have a post later today detailing the boards headers and other features.

 

[QuantumBraced]

Thanks guys. So three fan headers again, and I'm really happy with their placement this time, I'm glad they fixed that. There are so many other mysterious headers though:

What about the ones directly under the audio jacks?
What about the white one to the right of the CPU fan header above the WiFi connections?
What about all those in the extreme upper right, to the left of the screw hole?
I know the white one to the right of the chipset is RGB.
I know all the front power button/LEDs are on the right-side riser board.

 

[jeshikat]

In a few hours all your questions will be answered

 

[robbee]

What about the ones directly under the audio jacks?

I had my arrow wrong, that actually appears to be the audio header.

 

[jeshikat]

Hmm, there's no circuitry on the SATA/USB 3.0 daughterboard that I can see. It looks like it just wires the connectors to the socket on the motherboard.

I wonder if it'd be possible to determine the pinout and design a custom PCB that has just the front panel header.That way the power button can still be connected for people who don't need the SATA ports or USB 3.0 header to help improve heatsink clearance.

 

[QuantumBraced]

Great thinking. It would have been awesome if they'd included a rear panel power button for people who wanna get rid of that riser board altogether. Probably did not occur to them, otherwise I imagine it would have been a very easy thing to include, above that clear CMOS button.

More ITX board manufactures should do that, so we can have more ultra SFF cases with no power buttons, b/c honestly how often do you press your power button. Mine probably once every 3 months on average, and that includes misclicking the sleep button.

And thanks for getting answers!

 

[EdZ]

Hmm, there's no circuitry on the SATA/USB 3.0 daughterboard that I can see. It looks like it just wires the connectors to the socket on the motherboard.

I wonder if it'd be possible to determine the pinout and design a custom PCB that has just the front panel header.That way the power button can still be connected for people who don't need the SATA ports or USB 3.0 header to help improve heatsink clearance.

It just slots into a regular card-edge connector, so as long as you get the right thickness PCB it should be a very simple board to make.

 

[jeshikat]

Yeah, it's a simple enough part that ASRock may even be willing to release the pinout.

 

[Kmpkt]

Was that daughterboard slotted/removable on the prototype at Computex? I seem to remember it not being so, but I could be wrong on that.

 

[jeshikat]

Detailed overview of what we know about the X299E-ITX/ac thus far here: https://smallformfactor.net/news/asrock-x299e-itxac-little-monster-detailed

This should answer all your questions @QuantumBraced

Was that daughterboard slotted/removable on the prototype at Computex?

Yes, the SATA board connects via a vertical M.2 slot. There's pretty much no circuitry on the board though so I think they're just using it as a physical interface and not as PCIe x4 or anything like that.


Bonus pic:

 

[Kmpkt]

I'm just looking at the ability to remove unwanted daughterboards as a huge advantage from both a water and air cooling perspective.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

An in-depth follow-up piece by James, absolutely worth a read for those following this thread.

I really really really want this thing...

 

[Kmpkt]

I find it kind of frustrating they put the front power header on that daughterboard. Pretty much means its not removable in its current state. I hope they change that for the final revision.

 

[3lfk1ng]

+1 on it being an absolute read. Lots of terrific information in there, nicely done!

 

[TinyHH]

Superb ! Yes, absolutely worth a read and answered all my questions about the board. I'll be getting this as soon as it hits retail.

 

[QuantumBraced]

Thank you so much! The only thing I'm still not clear on is the purpose of the header that's under the chipset/to the right of the screw hole, as well as the one that's under the 2x PWM fan headers. Any ideas?

 

[tbronzwaer]

My thanks as well for this terrific in-depth look at this awesome board!

Do you think there's any chance ASRock (or anyone else) will release an ITX board that supports the upcoming Xeons?

From what I understand, it would have to be based on the C422 chipset - and ASRock has released two LGA 2011-3 ITX boards in the past, one of which was based on the higher-end "workstation" chipset. That's why I'm hoping there's a chance; I wanted my upcoming build to support ECC and I'm not interested in overclocking.

This board gets me so excited, though, that if no ITX Xeon board comes along, I'll probably go for this one plus a Core i9 chip...

 

[jeshikat]

Thank you so much! The only thing I'm still not clear on is the purpose of the header that's under the chipset/to the right of the screw hole, as well as the one that's under the 2x PWM fan headers. Any ideas?

You're welcome!

The header at the bottom-left of the board is label BIOS_PH so I assume it's for programming the board. So it may not even be there on production models.

The one between the chassis headers and the 24-pin is a mystery. I have no idea what it's for and we don't have a picture at the right angle to see if it's labeled.

Do you think there's any chance ASRock (or anyone else) will release an ITX board that supports the upcoming Xeons?

From what I understand, it would have to be based on the C422 chipset - and ASRock has released two LGA 2011-3 ITX boards in the past, one of which was based on the higher-end "workstation" chipset. That's why I'm hoping there's a chance; I wanted my upcoming build to support ECC and I'm not interested in overclocking.

I'd say it's likely since you can't use this board like you could with the X99 as a mini workstation if you require Xeon and/or ECC support. And you can see how the layout of the X299 is like a hybrid of the X99 and the C612: http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EPC612D4I

But I have not spoken to ASRock about it so I don't know for sure.

 

[Ionrent]

The slide with blah blah marketing demographic then "The Little Monster" out of nowhere is perfect.