Motherboard A2SDi-8C-HLN4F in SuperChassis 743TQ-903B-SQ

[thomas-hn]

Hi,

the Supermicro A2SDi-8C-HLN4F motherboard has a formfactor of Mini-ITX and for the Supermicro SuperChassis 743TQ-903B-SQ it is only mentioned that it supports E-ATX, ATX and Micro-ATX. Does someone here know if also the A2SDi-8C-HLN4F could be mounted into this chassis?
Some sources in the Internet mention that ATX is compatible to Mini-ITX, but it is not mentioned directly in the Supermicro documentation.
I know that the board will have some "free space" inside this chassis

Thanks,

Thomas

 

[Etorix]

Yes, of course. The mounting holes of mini-ITX are a subset of those of micro-ATX, which are a subset of those of ATX.

 

[thomas-hn]

Yes, of course. The mounting holes of mini-ITX are a subset of those of micro-ATX, which are a subset of those of ATX.

I was in contact with Supermicro and they stated that the board and chassis are NOT compatible to each other. I responded to their answer with your statement, just waiting for an answer. Do you have any idea why they could not be compatible? After your comment I searched the Internet a bit on ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX and also think that the mounting holes should match.

Is here someone in the forum using the Supermicro SuperChassis 743TQ-903B-SQ and could give some hint? Maybe, also using with an Mini-ITX?

 

[Etorix]

Do you have any idea why they could not be compatible?

No, but if Supermicro comes back to you with an actual explanation I'm all ears. You learn everyday (but here I really think that mini-ITX was just dropped from the list because it made no practical sense and the first reply was "no written = not compatible", I do not see how could make it that a case would take micro-ATX and larger but not smaller mini-ITX).

 

[HoneyBadger]

Mini-ITX uses only four mounting holes that are within the standard ATX spec, so I would be very surprised to hear of it being incompatible.

(Click to enlarge)

 

[thomas-hn]

No, but if Supermicro comes back to you with an actual explanation I'm all ears.

Supermicro responded the following:

I do believe that you received this kind of standard answer first because it’s not a combination officially tested/validated and actually not recommended for the below reasons:

• You may physically install this MBD on any SuperChassis 743 but you may face an issue to fix the MBD inside the chassis as there is not standoff available for your MBD dimensions 6.7" x 6.7" (17.02cm x 17.02cm).
• You may also face a potential thermal issue , this MBD is passive heatsink and the airflow may not be optimal for this MBD.

For my understanding it should be fine to use the A2SDi-8C-HLN4F inside the CSE-743. For the mounting holes I cross my fingers that everything will be compatible and for the cooling of the CPU I don't see a big issue with an Atom board.

 

[Etorix]

The standoffs are in standard ATX locations, so there should be someting, either fixed standoffs or holes to screw standoffs in place. As for cooling, that'a a point but slapping a 60 mm fan (Noctua NF-A6x25) on the heatsink with two strips of gaffer tape will take care of it.

 

[thomas-hn]

As for cooling, that'a a point but slapping a 60 mm fan (Noctua NF-A6x25) on the heatsink with two strips of gaffer tape will take care of it.

When ordering the motherboard I will check if I can get the "+" version A2SDi-8C+-HLN4F with the cooler attached.

 

[Etorix]

That's a solution as well, but the standard fan has a high pitch while the Noctua is silent. It might be that the standard fan cannot be heard when the case is closed though.