ASRock Rack's ROME2D16-2T Makes For A Great EPYC Server Board

[microcode]

ASRock gives me bad vibes.

Not sure about your experience, but I've had great success with their desktop and workstation boards over the years. I've built five ASRock machines with AMD CPUs in the last four years; all of them are working right now, and have been since I built them. Maybe the one complaint I could have is that not all of the sensor information was exposed in Linux until recently... and maybe that some of the sensor values are configured with incorrect and bogus margins (they're always in alarm, despite being normal).

[Jabberwocky]

ASRock gives me bad vibes.

This is how I feel about every single motherboard vendor.

Every brand has bad motherboards, even the more expensive boards. The goal is to find good reviews before buying. For big picture understanding I consume AnandTech and for specifics I look at Buildzoid's input at Actually Hardcore Overclocking.

I value the additional hardware info like Michael's review here but it's just to satisfy my curiosity since it's not always applicable to me.

PS: Consumer support is another subject altogether. Where I live there's no consumer support, so I can't say what's good or bad.

[linner]

ASRock gives me bad vibes.

[schmidtbag]

There is also the issue of shipping lithium ion batteries (even CR2032's) depending on the various jurisdictions (and shipping carriers) regulations and interpretations.

That's true but those CR2032 cells aren't Li-Ion. They're Li-MnO2 (non-rechargeable) and to my understanding, a lot less dangerous. In any case, it spooks politicians who don't know better, so I'm sure in some places they're still banned.

[tchiwam]

In the cart, happy ai didn't ask Protocase to make me my 4U Rack unit based on the SuperMicro

[CommunityMember]

AFAIK the CMOS battery comes with the package, but it is not assembled into the board at the factory. This prevents some RMA situations (battery comes loose, shorts between pins on B2B/open pin connectors, bursts (or damages ICs).

There is also the issue of shipping lithium ion batteries (even CR2032's) depending on the various jurisdictions (and shipping carriers) regulations and interpretations.

[muskwasis]

After struggling to find a single Epyc I cant imagine how difficult it would be to find matching CPUs these days. If I could build again I'd get a Dell board since you can find many cheap Dell locked Epyc on ebay. Or supermicro for the ES models.

[tildearrow]

AFAIK the CMOS battery comes with the package, but it is not assembled into the board at the factory. This prevents some RMA situations (battery comes loose, shorts between pins on B2B/open pin connectors, bursts (or damages ICs).

I wonder why is this not the standard procedure for every other motherboard out there....

[microcode]

Is it normal for such boards to not come with a CMOS battery? Seems like an odd place to cheap out, and makes me wonder where else they cut corners.

AFAIK the CMOS battery comes with the package, but it is not assembled into the board at the factory. This prevents some RMA situations (battery comes loose, shorts between pins on B2B/open pin connectors, bursts (or damages ICs).

[schmidtbag]

Is it normal for such boards to not come with a CMOS battery? Seems like an odd place to cheap out, and makes me wonder where else they cut corners.