SUPERMICRO MBD-H8SGL-O ATX Server Motherboard Socket G34 AMD SR5650 DDR3 1600/1333/1066

Pros: This my second server buld with the H8SGL motherboard. Supermicro is top quality. No problems at all. It already had the latest bios and started right up with a 6220 Interlagos 8 core CPU and KVR1333D3D4R9S/8G memory (N82E16820139140).

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: good product, good price and good performance for a departmental server with 8 cores.

Pros: Working well with my AMD Opteron 6128 and 4x8GB Kingston ECC RDIMM DDR3 modules.

Cons: None

Pros: Have just built my 3rd server with this board. It is a great mix of features at a reasonable price. Quad-channel memory support really makes a difference in performance. Used Kingston 32GB quad-channel kit (Item #: N82E16820239015) and performance just rocks (make sure you install DIMMs into correct slots starting from very first slot at the top of the board and populating the same color DIMM slot all the way down; if you don't install RAM in correct slots the server either won't POST or the quad-channel won't be active and that is a lot of bandwidth to miss out on!). Board is standard size, not extended ATX, and this makes space management inside a case that much easier.

Cons: None of the cons are big deals, but here's my list for consideration:

1. No SATA3 or USB3 on-board.

2. Northbridge heatsink gets hot and should have active cooling. My solution in 3 servers I've build on this mainboard is to simply glue in a case fan to the inside of the case so it blows over the top of the northbridge. Takes no time at all, cools just fine. All is good.

NOTE: The most recent board I ordered in June 2012 came with latest BIOS and had no problem recognizing Interlagos CPU. Only previous boards ordered 6 months ago I had to flash BIOS.

3. If you want to use Interlagos CPU you may get a board with an old BIOS. If so the BIOS is not modular so you can't just send in the chip for flashing. You might need an old G34 CPU and then call up SuperMicro tech support if you need instructions on how to format a USB flash drive to mimic a DOS bootable CD. They are very helpful. Once BIOS flashed to version 2.0 then board will take Interlagos no problem.

Other Thoughts: This mainboard really is a steal of a deal. Quad Channel memory rocks and expansion for some snazzy RAID cards etc. makes this a great platform. The 3.0 Ghz 8-core AMD Opteron is a great work-horse. Figure in the cost for performance and this setup really outshines Intel offerings at a similar price point by a substantial margin. The slightly bone-headed design flaw of not putting an active cooler on the northbridge is easy to work around with an 80mm cooling fan super-glued to the inside of the case (takes temp down from 65/70 C to 45/50 C). Otherwise the on-board RAID takes forever during POST but is very useable. The size fits any case, although I suggest a bigger tower for easy expansion. All-in-all this is a great product that is under-appreciated.

Pros: Lot of ram slots quick boot

Cons: I have replaced it one time and this will be the second time I think the undersized heat sink causes the board to reboot due to heat and will eventually cause the board to fry. The first one would just reboot for no reason this one started doing the same thing and now it just will not turn on at all.

Pros: Booted up the first try with an 8 core opteron 6220 Interlagos 3.0GHz cpu. I used 32gb ecc registered Kingston ram #N82E16820139140 without issue.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: The noctura cpu cooler I used blocked the x16 slot but I didn't need it anyway as this is a server and the onboard video is fine for this build. 8 cpu cores are plenty for me as this is for a departmental size server running centos 5 and is not running a bunch of vm's.

Pros: It works when cooled properly

Cons: The heatsink on the northbridge is undersized. Using default bios settings, it would overheat(and reboot my machine) while under full load. I had to rig up a dedicated fan over the northbridge area to get stability.

Pros: This will make an excellent small office Virtual Machine host

8x RAM slots (you can easily/cheaply get 32 GB ram)
6x SATA ports
2x Gigabit NICs

Cons: BE CAREFUL. YOU MAY RUN INTO PROBLEMS IF YOU INTEND TO USE THIS WITH AN INTERLAGOS CPU.

The one I received had an older BIOS on it. You need to either have access to an older 61xx series CPU to first upgrade the BIOS, or RMA this back to Supermicro to have them upgrade the BIOS. This is a several day process and can incur additional expenses. The symptoms encountered were: no power led, no beeps, no video, CPU fan did spin, but nothing else. On the positive side, Supermicro is able to cross-ship a replacement with an upgraded BIOS with next-day shipping.

Other Thoughts: 32 GB RAM = 2x 16 GB (4x4 GB) kits (F3-10666CL9Q-16GBRL) seem to work fine, and are a very reasonable price

Pros: Looked nice out of the box. 8 RAM slots is a plus

Cons: This item came DOA. Here goes for Round 2 and hopefully it works.

Other Thoughts: Tested this item with different RAM even though never gave memory error beep. I just couldn't get it to show any video. I also tested on a sheet of cardboard to make sure it wasn't shorting on anything. Hopefully I'll have better luck when I get my replacement.

Pros: Quality motherboard, as with all SuperMicro boards. Great feature set and low price for a single socket quad channel G34 board.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Those not familiar with building servers should always check with the manufacturer before purchasing memory. Another reviewer purchased two double channel KVR1333D3E9SK2/4G kits for this board and couldn't see the total memory. This is a quad channel board and needs a quad channel memory kit, not two doubles. The reason for this is what is called memory RANK. Server DIMMs come in singe rank, dual rank, and quad rank versions. There is a link on the Newegg product page to the manufacturers web page for this motherboard. On that page is a link to the memory module matrix. Reading that matrix tells you exactly what DIMMs you need for the amount of memory you want to install, and what type of DIMMs you need if you want to expand later. For instance, if you install 32GB of unbuffered DIMMs today, you will not be able to hit the 128GB maximum of the board later, without throwing out this 32GB and starting over with REGISTERED DIMMs, which are required to hit 128GB.

Pros: alot

Cons: This system board DOES NOT recognize Kingston Memory correctly, Bought 32gb of KVR1333DE9SK2/4G as mentioned on the Newegg page and the system reports only 16 GB< i have been dealing with Super Micro Tech Support and this is what they had to say "That's very strange behavior. It means there's nothing conceivably wrong with the hardware. When was the last time you tried a BIOS update?" I did that and no go! Still the same issue!! So now I am stuck with 32gb of Ram that I cannot use , have no use for and now have to purchase their "tested ram manufacture" and purchase another 32gb of Ram..... If you do purchase this MB here is the recommended Memory per Super Micro (Hynix HMT125U7BFR8C-H9) I only hope I do not find any additional let downs one I actually get to use this for what it was intended for…….Maybe this will save someone some frustration.