ASUS P9X79 WS LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI CEB Intel Motherboard with USB BIOS

Pros: Socket 2011, lots of slots, lots of SATA ports, lots of USB ports, has Firewire, can update the BIOS with a USB thumbdrive.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: This is a big motherboard. It will probably require a case with a big tray, such as the Cooler Master HAF series or other such large tower cases. Before you buy, check the specs and make sure your case has the room.

Pros: Feature rich, options galore...

Cons: Unstable Marvell chipset...

Other Thoughts: As wonderful a build I put together for a client, the RAID-1 created on the Marvell chipset kept failing randomly. And what added a sour taste to my mouth, when I tried to switch the RAID-1 from the Marvell chipset to the Intel chipset, the OS stopped booting properly. After reformatting all the drive using the Intel chipset, rebuilding the RAID-1, reinstalling the OS and drivers, the system is finally stable. For myself, I would consider buying this motherboard again. However, I won't even consider the Marvell chipset. Which in my professional experience, I never really had issues with Marvell. A shame though that this one chipset holds the board short of being the finest Intel motherboards I have ever worked with...

One other note, maxxing out the RAM underclocks memory speed. Purchased Corsair 1600 DDR3 only runs @ 1066...

-System Build-
Intel Xeon E5 2620 @ 2.0 / 2.5 GHz
64GB Corsair 1.6GHz (8x8GB automatically forces 1066MHz)
250GB WD Raptor SATA (OS)
128GB OCZ Agility 4 SSD (pagefile)
2x 1TB Toshiba HDD (RAID-1)
4GB nVidia Quadro K5000
LG DVD Recorder
MS Windows 7 Pro x64

Pros: Great motherboard if you need workstation class features. Notable for me was the inclusion of dual intel NICs, 64GB memory support, and tons of PCIe expansion. A big part of choosing an ASUS x79 board was because of compatibility with professional non-GPU video capture cards (blackmagic/AJA - read the documentation for more info.) Comprehensive overclocking features make this thing into a beast.

Cons: 1] The spacing of the CPU socket can be problematic when using larger coolers. I have a Noctua NH-D14 for socket 2011, and had to modify the fan retention clips so they did not rub against the backplate of the GTX680 in the top slot. The large cooler also prevents access to memory slots, so install that first.

1.5] the spacing of the CPU socket prevents vertical mounting of large coolers, as they overhang the top PCIex16 slot. this forces a front->back airflow, so make sure you have a case with rear exhaust.

2] The BIOS version that shipped with the board had a problem with recognizing full memory capacity. The board would POST correctly and windows loads fine, but it would intermittently stop seeing up to 4 DIMMs worth of memory capacity (though the bios would report only 2-3 dimms missing at a time, it would display reduced capacity of the dimms it saw), causing windows to BSOD. Updating the BIOS to the latest revision fixed the issue.

Other Thoughts: running this with an i7-3930k OC'ed to 4.2 with a DH-414; 64GB gskil ddr3-1600, dual EVGA 4GB GTX680s, a corsair GT seres ssd and a seasonic x-1250. Primary uses are gaming and video editing/compositing/graphics.

Pros: So far so good! Been running solid on this motherboard for about a month with no issues. Everything runs smooth, even with 7 VM's running. One of the few boards out there that supports 64gigs of RAM. Intel 82574L NIC should be supported by VMware ESXi. Both NIC's are supported by VMware workstation.

Cons: None thus far.

Other Thoughts: Good board for power users who want to run a lot of virtualized services.

Pros: Board works flawless thus far. Flashed bios first thing. Running windows 8. Easy ssd caching. Use it for hd video editing Adobe cs6. Renders 3 hours of hd video to dvd in alittle over an hour! Old intel skulltrail board nothing but problems. Asus rocks.

My setup

Asus p9x79
i7-3930k
32 gigs Samsung 1.35v
Evga GTX680
TT 2.0 extreme watercooler
Corsair 1200xi power supply
Lian li a7110 case
Raid controller soon

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Buy this board you will not regret it!

Pros: perfect match with Xeon E5-1660 and a cpu passmark mark 15779.
runs win8 as good if not better then 7. higher marks in 8 across the board and just plain faster and smoother

Cons: first board had to RMA :(

Other Thoughts: first let me say i tried windows 8 in my other xeon workstation and servers and did not like and it, it would not run a few of my programs so i had no intention of using it till microsoft worked out the bugs. after installing 7 and testing this board and the hardware for errors i decided why not and was amazingly surprised of the outcome it was like 8 was meant for this setup, All a flawless and smooth and all scores much higher across the board. that said

Working in computer field for almost 3 decades i wanted a fast errorless power house main computer for work also for gaming and this fit the bill perfect.
Now the cpu i picked was the only at the time with native pci-e 3.0 and native 1600mhz memory though at that time there wasn't any 1600mhz ecc memory on the market. I had tried a few different memories 2100mhz and 2400mhz all ran fine, This board also easily overclocked to 4.8ghz stable with no voltage increase. I did a custom water cool for temps and silence it never exceeds 2 degrees over ambient even with prime. I got kingstons first batch 1600mhz ecc 4 gig sticks now the 8 gig sticks are available

anyway my setup
Xeon E5-1660
ASUS P9X79 WS
16gigs of kingston 1600mhz ecc
samsung 830 256mb x 2 and a 128mb soon upgrading to the 840 pro 512mb
2x GeForce GTX 680 Classified 4GB sli
COOLER MASTER COSMOS case
pcpower cooling
i can now officially say i finally have dream machine.
now i just need time off from work to play :/

if you know what your doing as i changed a few bios settings as i do with all my boards and don't use any auto overclocking at all, this board rocks, the best yet!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for providing feedback on this motherboard. It is always welcome and appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel to contact me at email below.

Regards,
Benson
ASUS Customer Loyalty
cl-benson@asus.com

Pros: This motherboard is Amazing. it is a Rampage IV Extreme in more mature clothing.

The board itself is really well made. Nothing feels flimsy, and nothing feels about ready to snap off. It is a SSI CEB board, but it is able to fit into normal ATX cases, and will fit snugly in a mid tower with room to spare for cabling.

The board itself is very good at overclocking. I have been able to get my 3930K to 5GHz using this board-and its not even made for overclocking. DRAM overclocking is quite nice too, I was able to attain 2200MHz on my Blackline Ridgebacks at cas9 thanks to the dedicated 2 phase power for the DRAM.

Which brings me to my next point. There is 10+2 Phase power just for the CPU itself, and the DRAM gets 2 phase power all to itself. In the BIOS, this is reflected with a vast array of Power settings, where you can set the DRAM LLC, the CPU LLC, CPU Phase Power limit (anywehre from normal to Extreme) and same with the DRAM. you can also overvolt the phase power up to 140% to get better overclocking performance out of it.

The only cons with this board have but two. The Power Limit setting (where you set the wattage power limit before the board shuts off) is broken. this means that on the 3930K and 3960X, you may have issues at higher overclocks (past 4.5GHz) in prime95, as the default is about 230W before trip, but you need about 250W to keep it from tripping and shutting off. This is a minor con, as you can use Wprime 1024M to test stability. But with that being said, this is a workstation board with overall reliability being the first concern, and overclocking ability being the second concern.


Final thoughts: Buy this board if you want robust features, and the ability to do 4 way SLI on 3.0 16x slots. Buy it if you want excellent rock solid stability while overclocking. Buy it if you want peace of mind that your board will not die on you. Do not buy it if you want to overclock the poop out of your processor. This board wont be the one for you if you're into suicide runs and like to OC past 5GHz.

Cons: stated in the "Pros"

Pros: None

Cons: I purchased this board new TWO months ago, and I STILL do not have a fully functional board and I am at my wits end. Asus tech support has been an absolute nightmare to work with...and the nightmare is not over. LONG story short: everything on the new board worked fine except the audio panel on the back would not recognize anything plugged into it. I did as much troubleshooting on my own that I could, to no avail. Asus offered no solutions, set up an RMA, advanced replacement. I got the replacement board (which was clearly an old refurb, very disappointing), and assembled it. Powered on...dead in the water, no BIOS, nothing. Contacted Asus, they had me return that refurb, and then I had to return the original board (only one advanced replacement every 3 months they say), so I was without a computer, unable to work. Waited for the next replacement, and to my horror, they sent BACK the refurb I had just returned!! No surprises, it still didn't work! So now I'm on my 3rd RMA with Asus and no working board! After about an hour on the phone troubleshooting with support one of the more astute techs (and the only one who has actually taken initiative to help me) asked me to check the BIOS version on the board. We discovered that the board had an old version of the BIOS which did not support my processor! How did this not come into consideration when they sent me the same replacement (twice)!?! They knew which processor I was using! So, the tech assisted me in updating the BIOS and doing another hour of troubleshoots, updates, fixes, etc. Hoped at that point everything would be fixed. Nope. Two of the DIMM slots are dead...one reads "Abnormal," the other is "N/A." Checked each memory module one at a time, all work fine. So, it looks like I will have to send this board back yet again, be out of work for two weeks, and hope and pray that Asus sends me a board that actually works. I hope, but at this point, I have my doubts.

Other Thoughts: I will NEVER purchase from Asus again. Asus if you read this, and have a shred of caring for a frustrated customer, contact me and help me get this resolved! I've spent enough time on hold trying to get through to support on the phone to fill a lifetime.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We're sorry to hear about the issue you had with the motherboard, its replacement, and our RMA service.

Please allow me to review your case and assist you with getting a proper replacement. Please email me at cl-benson@asus.com (reference #C1037-7657 in the subject line). Thank you.

For support, please visit http://support.asus.com. For service, visit http://service.asus.com. For motherboard warranty, visit http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!Motherboard%20Warranty/c1c20.

Regards,
Benson
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Fast stable flawless workstation motherboard from day one

Cons: Noda

Other Thoughts: This is a workstation motherboard people, it's design is for a stable heavy work load operations, if you want a board for overclocking asus makes boards for that. Don't buy the wrong board then leave negative reviews. This is only board that supports xeons and ecc memory for a reason it's a workstation motherboard. And stop leaving high tech level knowledge when you haven't got a clue. Just because you can snap together parts and be lucky enough it turns on and runs does not mean you know anything.

My setup
Xeon E5-1660
16 gigs Kingston 1600mhz ECC memory
Pc power cooling 1200w
2x Samsung 256 SSD
2x blueray burners
Cosmos case
Custom water cooling
680gtx 4gb classified
1.5 terabyte sate6 hd
128 Samsung SSD
16 foot diagonal yes foot thats not a typo 3D projection HDTV
9.2 sound system
Side note ; 7.9 windows expearience score
Not using windows 8 just from lack of software and drivers.

I also have much more computer parts and tested mamy memories in this board since this is what I do it's my job for the last 20 years and this motherboard rocks I built and tested just about every board that is available if you just into overclocking get a overclocking motherboard that's what there for
By the way the corsair Dominator worked fine for me it booted right into xmp no issues and I was able to exceed 5ghz with my xeon and water cooling with allmost no change in voltage. just for testing, I normally run at stock speeds with ECC memory also the asus auto overclocking is garbage infact I manually set everything in bios for a stable system do not depend and auto overclocking garbage thats for peaple that dont know anything about overclocking even in the boards it works it does not work as well as manually overclocking. just about every asus auto configuration is garbage.

Pros: Quick and easy startup. Easy OC.

Cons: Well, after OCing I had to slow down the POST test. It kept skiping past the Delete key. I had to pull the SSD before I could get back into BIOS.

Other Thoughts: I hope this helps my sons buisness. Teach a man to compute and he eats for a lifetime.