At Computex 2019, we were able to see the Tyan Tomcat SX S8020 in-person. This is an intriguing product since it is a single socket TR4 platform design with a set of both server and workstation features. This presents an unusually versatile AMD Ryzen Threadripper platform, perhaps the most versatile we have seen to date.
Tyan Tomcat SX S8020 AMD Ryzen Threadripper Server Motherboard
Here is a look at the ATX motherboard Tyan Tomcat SX S8020 AMD Ryzen Threadripper server motherboard.
This is not a platform adorned with various gaming features as we see in the consumer space. Instead, it is a platform that is maximizing the AMD Ryzen Threadripper platform I/O. One can see that the socket and DIMMs are oriented more for workstation airflow instead of front to back server airflow, so one may have to account for that in a 4U rack mount enclosure/ workstation tower.
Tyan Tomcat SX S8020 Key Specs
Here are the key specs for the Tyan Tomcat SX S8020:
- 8x DDR4 UDIMM Slots
- 3x PCIe Gen3 x16 slots
- 1x PCIe Gen3 x16 slot (x8 electrical)
- 1x PCIe Gen2 x8 slot (x4 electrical from X399)
- 8x SATA III 6.0gbps ports
- 2x M.2 22110 (110mm)/ 2280 (80mm) NVMe SSD slots
- Dual 1GbE (Intel i210-AT)
- AMD X399 chipset
- Realtek ALC892-CG onboard 7.1 audio
- Aspeed AST2500 BC with iKVM
This is a unique platform since it offers the BMC functionality which many consumer motherboards do not. It does, however, have onboard audio which many server motherboards do not.
Tyan Tomcat EX S8015 Update
We also wanted to provide an update on the Tyan S8015. This is the AMD Ryzen (socket AM4) motherboard platform from Tyan. We received several questions about this when we discussed it at last year’s show AMD Ryzen Server Motherboard Tyan Tomcat EX S8015 Spied.
We were told that since this platform is based on the AMD A320 chipset, it will not support the latest generation of 7nm parts. It would make an interesting platform to see a motherboard without the GPU chip placement on the S8015 and with an updated chipset like the AMD X570 or upcoming B550 and with PCIe Gen4 support.
The competition in this space is heating up as we saw new ASRock Rack X470D4U AMD Ryzen server motherboards and a Threadripper part as well.
The use case for this is obvious. Good core counts, high clocks, dirt cheap. A Ryzen Threadripper 2950X is 16 cores and dual die for only $829 https://amzn.to/312nOb8
If you don’t need the RAM capacity or more PCIe then this is cheaper than Intel and AMD EPYC
Did you manage to get any info about price or availability? Especially S8015, Tyan showed it at several exhibitions in the last year and there is still next to no updates, It doesn’t even have it’s own page on their website (while S8020 already does).
In the same time-frame the X470D4U was announced and launched (it’s even available at German retailers).
This looks like a great workstation…When will you review this??
There are no other threadripper based workstations and i hope this starts a trend as i don’t like the idea
of using a gamer threadripper motherboard as a true workstation computer!!
they should quickly update to PCI ex 4.0 i really don´t understand why they release this (obsolete) model at the same time of the new AMD launches…
i hope the iommu grouping helps to use as virtualization server
@marcos totally agree 100% but likely that threadripper 3000 series not coming out till next year some time.
Tyan probably had this ready to gear eons ago and AMD is just getting popular enough that people want a high frequency core based workstation that is definitely NOT a gamer machine!!
Yell, where can I buy this mobo at?