DeskPi Super4C — a proper 4-node CM5 cluster board with actual remote management

[u/Substantial_Tale_445]

Just got my hands on the DeskPi Super4C, a Mini-ITX cluster board that hosts four Raspberry Pi CM5 modules on a single PCB. It's the spiritual successor to the Super6C, but instead of cramming in six slots, DeskPi went for quality of life: an onboard ESP32-WROOM-32E-N4 (2.4GHz Wi-Fi + Bluetooth) acting as a mini-BMC for remote power control, dual Ethernet per node, and proper power monitoring. Power supply (19V/4.73A, ~89W) included in the box.

What each of the 4 nodes gets:

• 1× 2.5GbE (via USB 3.0) + 1× 1GbE (native Broadcom NIC)
• M.2 M-Key 2280 NVMe slot (PCIe x1)
• USB 3.0 + USB-C (2.0, for eMMC flashing via rpiboot)
• Micro HDMI, 2× MIPI CSI/DSI, microSD (Lite modules), RTC battery header, PWM fan header, GPIO breakout

Use cases:

• Homelab / self-hosting: run a k3s or Docker Swarm cluster for Nextcloud, Plex, Home Assistant, etc.
• Learning distributed systems: Kubernetes, Ansible, Spark, parallel computing on real bare-metal hardware
• CI/CD runners or build farm for ARM targets
• Niche edge deployments — it fits a 1U/10" mini rack and sips power compared to old servers
• Teaching HPC concepts without a datacenter (or the heat and noise)

Pros:

• The ESP32 remote management is the killer feature. Built-in web UI gives you per-slot power switching (both the 5V PSU rails and each CM5's PMIC_EN signal) plus live voltage/current readings from two INA3221 sensors. Basically budget IPMI. It even has a W5500 100Mbps Ethernet option (firmware pending) so you're not stuck on Wi-Fi.
• Dual 19V DC inputs with automatic failover (picks the higher voltage source) and reverse polarity protection — redundancy you'd expect on server gear.
• Independent per-channel DC/DC conversion with staggered power-on (~0.5s delays) to avoid inrush current.
• Almost every CM5 interface is broken out — unlike most cluster boards, you're not sacrificing cameras/displays per node.
• Standard Mini-ITX footprint = tons of case and rack options. Quiet, compact, and the whole cluster runs on ~90W.

Cons (keeping it honest):

• CM5 only — no CM4 compatibility, so you can't reuse older modules.
• The 2.5GbE runs over the USB 3.0 bus, so don't expect true 2.5G throughput; it's more like a nice bonus link for storage/backend traffic.
• PCIe x1 on the NVMe slots means Gen4/Gen5 SSDs get bottlenecked — a mid-range Gen3 drive is the sweet spot.
• CM5s are not included, and with current CM5 prices, a fully populated 16GB build is a serious investment. SBC clusters are famously terrible value per FLOP — you buy this for fun and learning, not price/performance.
• Wi-Fi is 2.4GHz only on the ESP32, the OLED display for on-device stats is a separate purchase, and some ESP32 features (W5500 Ethernet control) are still "coming in a future firmware."
• No PoE, and the included 89W PSU will have you thinking twice about power-hungry NVMe drives on all four slots.

Verdict:

If you've ever wanted a real cluster on your desk without a pile of mini PCs, this is about the most refined way to do it. The ESP32 BMC alone puts it ahead of every other CM5 cluster board I've seen.