ASUS Z8PE-D12(ASMB4-IKVM) Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Tylersburg Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series w/ Remote Management Server Motherboard

Pros: Great motherboard when it works.

Cons: Asus' technical support and customer service is absolutely the most horrible, an out right joke. Bought this board back in Dec. 2011, 2 RMA's later and a cross ship have resulted in nothing but more defective boards. 4 months later and no working system. Additionally, rude, rude representatives. And no one follows up on what they say they will. I could go on with more deatails of how they failed miserabley but you get the point.

Other Thoughts: No reflection on Newegg, they rock. Just don't buy it unless you can afford to throw it away. I will never buy another ASUS product again, NEVER!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues you had with the motherboard.

I'm following up on your review here on Newegg and would like to continue troubleshooting with you and help you get the motherboard working.

Please try the following if the motherboard does not POST:

Please try to clear CMOS after installing new memory. Turn off the system. Turn the switch on the back of the power supply to OFF. On the lower right corner of the motherboard is a jumper marked "CLRTC", move the jumper from positions 1 and 2 to 2 and 3. Wait about 30 seconds, and move the jumper back to positions 1 and 2. Power on the computer. Are you able to POST?

Please also try plugging a 4-pin speaker to the motherboard. As you power on the system, were any beeps heard?

Was the jumper for the 3-pin VGA_SW1--to enable onboard video set to Enable or Disable?

Please contact me at cl-benson@asus.com reference #S1037-670. When replying, please include system parts and specs.

Regards,
Benson
Asus Customer Loyalty

Pros: Nice board, if it would power up.

Cons: As posted here from someone else, this board has a problem with Supermicro redundant power supplies. The board powers on for 3 seconds then powers off. I have 2 of these exact same boards and they both exhibit the same problem. If I hook up a different, non redundant power supply it works. if I try a different board with the redundant power it works. I have tried 4 different supermicro cases with no success for this board.

Other Thoughts: I measured the voltage on the Supermicro power and it was 11.99v (within spec). (It is rated at 1200w) .The voltage on the other power supply that works, with is rated at 1000w, is 12.18v. As mentioned in the other post, it appears this board can handle above spec power but not spec power or below. Note: I also have a Z8PE-D18 and that board works with this power. I have inquired Asus about it and will see what happens, otherwise I have no choice but to RMA the board.

Pros: none

Cons: very long post time, but thatsa minor problem.first board ram slots on cpu 1 went bad after 2 months. second board had a short and could not mount in a case, worked fine if you wanted the motherboard without a case.

Other Thoughts: first and last Asus server board will go back to intel or supermicro never had a problem with them after many, many server builds

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issue you had with the motherboard.

In order to verify that the memory slot stopped functioning, please first try to reseat the memory module, clean the contacts with a contact cleaner, and test the slot with memory from other slots. If the results are conclusive, you may send the motherboard to us--RMA to have it repaired or replaced.

Regarding the short issue, please make sure you are using the proper standoffs, I/O sheild is installed, and check that the motherboard is not in contact with metal objects.

Regards,
Benson
Asus Customer Loyalty

Pros: I have built 4 servers using this board. I recently built 2 more using this board and they run great !!

Cons: having to put something in this field

Pros: Typical Asus, high performance, easy to configure and setup, decent documentaion from a Chinese Co. Good remote access capabilty. Just about any mem stick works, as the manual suggests, however the CAS has to match between sticks, ECC or non, or Un-buffered or Reg, they all work great on this board. Came with some neat utilities for 2008R2, if you plan to run windows on it. It also has a top rate Intel dual Gb Nic built on board, which is fully supported for VMware. the nic is faster than the Intel server pro series Nics. Also uses NEC bridges instaed of the Nvidia products like their cumsumer or game boards have. Another nice feature, this MB has a 16 lane 2.0 socket on it, which you do not see everyday for a 'server' MB. I opted to use the built-on Aspeed video, but one could use this socket for a big video card or possibly a dual port 10Gb Nic card that would need 16 lanes.

Cons: A few minor issues. The 1st, the rear CPU socket has parts close to the socket which makes utilizing cheap heatsinks a 'challenge', no Intel heatsinks...! Any 'quality' Supermicro or Noctura server heatsink works great, however make sure the heatsink has standoffs around the MB screws, if you are wondering. The Egg has both, I opted for the Noctura for the rear, and used my cheap Intel HS on the front. 2nd minor issue, only 2 USB headers, would be nice to have a couple more. 3rd minor issue, the MB has ports for themal sensors, but no documentaion of what they are or where to get them..? And finally, the last minor issue, the 5520 heatsink is hot as hell, as the Asus manual warns from getting burnt. Not a big deal, however put a small fan on it, made me feel better about it, however apparently the 5520 operates within the design spec for the chipset.

Other Thoughts: As far as a storebought 5520 MB, this board is fast, if not the fastest 2 socket 1366 on the planet, with a couple of X5690s on it. My passmark score pushed 23000. If one were able to get a pair of 'ES', step A0 X5690s and setup the multiplier in Bios to the mid 30s, I'll bet this MB would give the quad 6174 hell..! I am dying to try out the Asus quad 75xx board, when they get around putting them up for sale.
In conclusion, if one where to ask me if I would buy another one...? You bet..!

Pros: Dual LGA, good features...

Cons: Not compatible with Xeon 5600 CPU (for the stock I purchased at Newegg). I could not get any response from ASUS for BIOS upgrade for this new board.

Pros: excellent motherboard, compatible with two xeon e5620 processors.

Cons: missing sound card

Pros: Awesome board. It's my first SSI EEB board, and I purchased the wrong case. Make sure you check your case sizes! ;)

Cons: Make sure you have good airflow. One of the (northbridge?) heatsinks gets extremely hot unless you pack the case with fans.

Other Thoughts: Initially Ubuntu 10.04 didn't recognize the second NIC which I found rather strange as the hardware should be identical. I was about to RMA the board, but decided to upgrade to 10.10 first. It found both NICs.

Pros: layout, memory expandability

Cons: doesn't have a connector for usb ports built into a case

Other Thoughts: I'm using this in a workstation. It fits ok but if you are trying to put this in a case for a desktop, due to the form factor, you may run into an issue with your case not having holes in the right spot for your standouts. Just be aware of that if you are using it in a workstation. Like others I am using the Corsair CMPSU-1000HX to power this. It works well. The case I'm using which is plenty big enough for this board is the Cooler Master ATCS 840.

Pros: This Board is Very Very stable. I purchased this like others for a home VMware Esxi server, and I am happy to report that since it uses the intel ich10 chipset Esxi works great on it. The Board is very large, you should get a large case for it, currently I am using a Coolermaster Cosmos 1000 case which has plenty of room. The ASMB4-IKVM (ilo/drac) is AWESOME! and is a great feature! Also the same asmb4 chip adds another cool little feature, built into the board are LED lights next to each of the components (ram/processors) this turns on a feature of the board where it will do real time diagnostics and light up next to a failing/failed component, this is important for a machine that has 12 sticks of ram. I have run this machine for a little under a year and not had any issues with it freezing or locking up.

Cons: On board raid controller is not compatible with VMWare Esxi, but I knew this ahead of time, cause I did my research.

I used a coolermaster v8 for this board. Which meant that I had to remove the cpu fan plate that comes factory installed on the board. But this is more due to the design of the V8 that it the fault of Asus.

Other Thoughts: The guy that was talking about having problems reading usb from Esxi, should know that this is not an issue with the board but an issue with Esxi. Usb support for Esxi is notoriously bad. The fact is its meant to be a server VM and where I think that VMware should get this feature working, its not really the best practice to be plugging usb devices straight into your server.