ASUS P12R-M LGA 1200 Micro-ATX server motherboard

Server motherboard platform

The ASUS P12R-M is a Micro-ATX server motherboard built for Intel Xeon E-2300 and Pentium processors in the LGA 1200 socket. It pairs the Intel C252 chipset with four DDR4 3200 DIMM slots supporting up to 128 GB in dual-channel mode. Dual Intel I210-AT Gigabit LAN ports plus a dedicated management LAN enable remote administration, while the ASPEED AST2600 BMC provides out-of-band KVM-over-IP. An integrated PFR FPGA acts as the platform root of trust for firmware resilience.

Target deployment scenarios

This board suits remote office and branch office deployments that need redundant networking, hardware RAID 0/1/5/10 across six SATA ports, and IPMI-based remote management. It also fits small business servers requiring a single M.2 slot for fast OS boot and two PCIe 4.0 slots for storage or networking add-in cards. Builders needing more than one M.2 device, 10 GbE connectivity, or support for processors beyond the Xeon E-2300 and Pentium families should consider other platforms.

Deciding specification

The LGA 1200 socket paired with the Intel C252 chipset defines the processor generation and feature set available on this motherboard. It limits CPU choice to Intel Xeon E-2300 series and Pentium processors up to 95 W TDP, and it determines the PCIe 4.0 lane allocation across the two expansion slots. Verify that your selected processor and expansion cards match this socket and chipset combination before purchase.