With the Intel Xeon E-2300 series launch, we get Socket LGA1200. That means we also need new motherboards since the new Rocket Lake-E chips are not compatible with the previous generation Intel Xeon E-2100 and Xeon E-2200 platforms. Tyan has a new motherboard out, the Tyan Tempest CX S5560 that has two mATX flavors. This is poised to be Tyan’s offering for this generation so we wanted to quickly highlight it.
New Tyan Tempest CX S5560 Motherboards for Intel Xeon E-2300 Series
First is the Tyan Tempest CX S5560 higher-end model. This is affectionately called the S5560GM2NRE-2T-HE in engineer naming convention. Here we have the LGA1200 socket for the Xeon E-2300 series, two DDR4 DIMM channels with 4 DIMM slots for 2 DIMM per channel (2DPC) operation. There is a PCIe x16 slot and an x8 open-ended slot. Tyan lists these both as PCIe Gen4 x8 electrical. The open-ended PCIe Gen3 x8 slot is from the PCH but only with an x2 link.
We can see eight SATA III lanes (four 7-pin and one SFF-8643) onboard as well as two M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 slots stacked atop one another. It is interesting to see the shift to emphasizing the M.2 slots in this generation. This board uses the Intel C256 PCH.
For a lower-cost option, the S5560GM2NRE-2T variant drops the spec to the C252 PCH. As such we lose one of the M.2 slots and two blue SATA III ports.
Both boards are using the newer Aspeed AST2600 BMC and seem to share a similar rear I/O layout. Two standout features are first that we have a server board with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port. We also have two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports.
The other standout feature is that Tyan is using Intel X550 networking on this platform. That provides 10Gbase-T connectivity on the ports. That is actually a big deal in this cost-sensitive segment.
Final Words
Overall, new processors mean new motherboards. This segment has had a following for well over a decade (we have been covering this segment since Lynnfield at STH.) It is great to see Tyan with a new offering bringing PCIe Gen4 to the segment. For our readers, 10Gbase-T and higher-end USB will also be big attractants to the Tyan Tempest CX S5560 platforms.
But I’m not too happy about their M.2 slot arrangement, no room for heatsink for the lower M.2
Can’t find out how much room their is between two installed M.2s….no manual for download on the website.
Beside there distribution channel really sucks. Very difficult to find this board!