ASUS Z8PE-D12X(ASMB4-IKVM) Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Tylersburg SSI EEB Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series w/ Remote Management, PCI-X Server Motherboard

Pros: Couldn't tell you. Tried for ever a week to get this motherboard to POST. No luck at all. ASUS said it may be that the power supply was not powerful enough, a 20 amp 1.6 kw power supply was put on this board and still no POST. If you absolutely need to get your server up and running fast, I would not choose these ASUS server boards.

Cons: MANY MANY MANY reviews of this board not booting. At this point I would have taken a 2 minute POST time as I do not need to restart my PC ever.

Other Thoughts: Stay away from this motherboard. Supermicro and MSI make good ATX and EATX server motherboards.

FAIL

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issue you are experiencing with this server motherboard. Please contact us at Newegg_ASUS_MBSupport@asus.com and provide your complete system configuration including the part number of your memory kit so we can help you resolve this issue.

Sincerely,

ASUS Customer Support

Pros: On paper this board has everything I wanted in a server MB, too bad it doesn't work.

Cons: Please read reviews under the Z8PE-D12 product page (same board w/o the PCI-X connectors soldered in).

I experienced the same thing several reviewers did, incompatibility with high-quality power supplies. I bought this board, and then did a replace RMA before seeing the reviews of the other board. Both copies of the board failed to POST with the CPU fan showing symptoms of the board going into protect mode.

This was in a Supermicro CSE-825TQ-R700LPB case (twin 700W PS). I verified every other system component at least twice because I couldn't believe two copies of the board would be bad in the same way. Oops, it appears to have been designed that way!

Other Thoughts: Sure would be nice if ASUS would man up and admit a flawed design, even better, provide a fix.

Sure would be nice if NewEgg had some way of flagging simultaneous purchases of incompatible products, or at least recognizing the situation on an RMA.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issue you are experiencing with this motherboard. Please contact us at Newegg_ASUS_MBSupport@asus.com and provide your complete system configuration so we can assist you in resolving this issue.

Sincerely,

ASUS Customer Support

Pros: This motherboard works great. Purchased for build with Intel Xeon E5520 CPU, Patriot 12GB PS312G13ER3K-E memory, and 250GB OCZ Collosus SSD . Solid performance for the setup.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: People need to read the manuals and research the product before purchasing it; instead of whining about it after placing the order. Slow boot is expected for server motherboard, manual specifically stated no onboard sound, and same for FDD... RTFFM!!

Pros: I'm pleasantly surprised by the Z8PE-D12 series. The board is pretty solid and performs well.

Cons: Slow, slow boot. Installing the MIO 888 sound card makes machine not work...it crashes randomly - even in the BIOS screen (thus showing its not drivers). The sound card is terrible.

Other Thoughts: I think the board is awesome, but the MIO sound card is a fail.

Pros: 5 eggs for ASUS, one egg for Newegg (read "cons")... Very nice and well laid out board, full of features, adequately expandable for all form factors from 1U to xxU thanks to the optional PIKE add-on. ASMB4-IKVM is a nice feature to have for remote management over IP. I can't wait to assemble my new server with the 2x Xeon E5520 I bought and received from Newegg, and which will be used for virtualization (servers and SAN)...

Cons: ...but I will have to wait, because I got sent the wrong board, a board which should *not* exist! Both PCI-X slots are present (which distinguishes the D12X from the D12), but the FDD connector and cable are missing! The FDD was one of the reasons I bought the D12X instead of the D12 (as advertised when you look up the images). I called ASUS customer support, and they assured me that the D12X *must* come with FDD connector and cable, advising me to RMA and get the real one from Newegg...

Other Thoughts: This is my second order at Newegg, and my first RMA (not a good "performance" I must say). Hopefully this will be taken care of in timely fashion, because overall I'm still happy with Newegg's servicing and shipping (I've always received parcels in good condition and in due time). Now, here's some info which is wrong from the specs section:
- LSI MegaRAID for Linux/Windows is NOT available: you must already have or buy and install the PIKE 1078 8-port SAS/SATAII interface card (in my case the 2U version) with iBTN for this feature to be available.

Overall this is a misleading and false representation from Newegg, and I hold them responsible for this; hopefully they will provide me with the functionalities they've sold me, as would do any professional, serious and legal North-American company: it's not as if some hardware was deffective, it's plain false representation, and my office is loosing time and money as this is delaying our project.

Pros: 5 eggs for ASUS, one egg for Newegg... This is a very nice and well laid out board, w/ manuals and *almost* all that's needed. I can't wait to assemble my new server with both Intel Xeon E5520 I also bought from Newegg, but I'll have to wait and loose valuable time as well as credibility with my office (for not being "in due diligence" with our project agenda)...

Cons: ... Because the board sent to me by Newegg wasn't the good one: the FDD connector is missing as well as the FDD cable! The FDD was one of the reasons I bought the D12X instead of the D12, I really don't understand why I got sent that board which should not exist (it has both PCI-X slots, something absent from the D12, but it doesn't have the FDD connector as it should): I called ASUS customer support, and they assured me that the D12X *must* come with an FDD connector and cable!...

Other Thoughts: This is my third order and will be my first RMA with Newegg... I really hope they will settle this in timely fashion.

Pros: The thing has a lot of room for expansion in a relatively small space. I was VERY eager to get this.

Cons: It's stuck in the recovery mode! Even though the jumper is set to NORMAL boot.
"
Boot Block Compatible Version Ver.020
Please do NOT insert any disc into CD-ROM or Floppy drive if you want to recovery with an USB device.
EZ-Flash starting BIOS update.....
Checking for floppy...
Floppy not found!
Checking for CD-ROM...
CD-ROM Device not found!
Checking for USB Device...
USB Device not found!
"
and it loops over and over. I tried flashing it once, it succeed, but after restart the recovery mode shows again.

Other Thoughts: I put this in here since Asus' support in its forums it's basically non-existant.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear valued Customer,

We apologize for this inconvenience. The message you are seeing is due to an unsuccessful bios flash. You can try and save the bios file onto a usb flash drive and let the system auto detect the bios rom file. Remember to rename the bios file to the exact name that the system is searching for. For further technical assistance, please contact our support at 812-282-2787 and reference case# NE499201.

Best Regards,
ASUS SUPPORT TEAM

Pros: As things go this motherboard has a well thought out design. The ample support of SATA drives are a nice feature as well as have space for up to 12 DIMMS in a 2 CPU configuration. So at least the design effort for the motherboard is praise worthy.

Cons: Well, this motherboard had a little problem of not working. No Post, no Failure LEDs lighting up and the Motherboard had a hard time powering up initially. Once powered up it just sat there. I saw the reviews here reference the long post time- but sadly I was not so lucky.

Other Thoughts: I've been building computers for years, this is the first time I have had to deal with a faulty MB. I guess there is a first time for everything.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We are sorry for this inconvenience. Please contact our Technical Support Department at 1-812-282-2787 option 2; option 2 and reference case number "NE484694" so that we may get more details about your system configuration and assist you in resolving these issues you are experiencing.

Best Regards,

ASUS Support Team

Pros: Purchased the Open Box version of this board so I didn't get everything in the picture. But the quality of this board is on par with entry level Dell 1950 server boards. Runs great with no problems. I used my own RAID controller, but had no issues with the onboard SATA connections.

Cons: I like others at first thought the board was a dud when I first got it. It didn't make any bad noises when turning it on and everything seemed fine, except no video. Took a good 60 seconds before the BIOS came up. :S I think Gateway servers are the only that I have seen take that long... ;)

Other Thoughts: I noticed someone mentioned they thought this was a "workstation" class motherboard. It could "double" as a Workstation board, but is classified as a Server board. That is why Audio is an Option.

Pros: I found the layout to be perfect for my needs. Thanks to the way everything is laid out, I was able to keep wire clutter to a minimum and was able to create a nice even flow of air through my case. I've been using it for a week with a dual boot between Ubuntu and Windows 7 with several vitualbox VMs and so far the board feels very stable and fast. Screaming is more like it. Fastest board I've ever used.

Cons: no on-board audio.
takes forever to POST. When I first put it together and turned it on I thought either the board was dead or the power supply. Seemed like I couldn't even get to Bios. My heart sank because I thought I must have gotten a dead motherboard.
I took everything out of the case and and re-attached everything bit by bit and nothing. I tried one last time and when nothing happened, I sat down on the sofa to start the process of getting an RMA number. All of a sudden..POST! The Bios came up and I was able to get into the Bios and then into a live version of Ubuntu. Then I remember reading some one else noticed that this board takes forever to post. . After installing the OS, the board took considerably less time to Post, but it's still almost two minutes from the time you press the power switch to the moment when you see the first signs of life.

Other Thoughts: If you can deal with a very slow boot (,it's actually pretty fast once you get the bios Post), this is a great board. And I had no problems with the manual. I found it very useful.
Make sure you get your CPU heatsinks with the right kind of attachments or you will have to buy adapters.

Overall, I'm really loving this mobo.