Pros: Has a built-in IPMI module. Extremely helpful when you need remote access -- all the way down to the BIOS level.

Cons: Motherboard worked great for about 5 weeks with 4 8GB dimms, then suddenly, I blew two dimm slots. Of course, I thought that it was the dimm modules themselves, so I bought more ram. Nope. Doesn't work. I used the ram that was recommended on SuperMicro's site. The loss of the dimms destroyed my entire system disk. I have it up and running now -- at 1/2 ram, but I lost an entire day reconstructing my system. As soon as I put ram into DIMMA1 and DIMMC1, the system becomes unbootable. And yes, I'm following page 2-10 in the manual on which dimm slots I use. I'm using the RAM they recommend, in the manner in which it is recommended. The slots are dead, and now I'm going to be without a server.. for who knows how long... Not happy.

Other Thoughts: If this board worked as it should, it would be an awesome deal. Now I have to send it back to the manufacturer, and who knows how long of a process that will be... and how long will the board will last before the dimms blow again? My confidence is hugely shaken. This sort of thing *never* happened to me with Tyan motherboards...

Manufacturer Response:

We are sincerely apologize the issue you are experiencing with your motherboard. If you still have any question, please kindly contact our technical support so that we can find out more about your configuration and work with you in finding a solution. Please see the below technical support contact information:

Phone: (408)503-8000
Hours: 9:00 a.m – 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time (Monday – Friday)

Email address: support@supermicro.com

You can also submit your issue online: https://webpr3.supermicro.com/Support/login.aspx?

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any question.

Thank you!
SM Technical Support

External Link(s):

Submit your issue|

Pros: Good basic board - IPMI, SATA ports, PCI-e slots, 8 DIMMs...

Cons: 1. This requires a small CPU cooler.
2. Supermicro customer support does not exist for end users. Not even a user forum.
3. Only usb 2.0.

Other Thoughts: I have had issues getting this motherboard to work with an AX-860-i (Corsair) PSU. On power down the PC flicks on and off continuously until I unplug it. Corsair provided an RMA of the unit without question. I replaced the unit. Same problem. Out of desperation I used a Corsair TX650 PSU and I do not have these same issues. There is no way for me, an end user to report these types of things to Supermicro to request a BIOS update for controlling the digital PSU. According to Corsair, when they contacted Supermicro, their response is that I should use a Supermicro PSU.

Lesson learned. Corsair has great customer support. Supermicro doesn't care unless you are an integrator. I wonder what company will get follow on business from me...

The board itself is a great server class motherboard. I would give it five stars. On the other hand, I give the company 0 stars.

Current Build:
Motherboard Supermicro x9srl-f
Processor Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-1650 v2
Intended Power Supply AX-860-i (Corsair) Current Power Supply Corsair TX650
Case 780T (Corsair)
Memory 32gb (4 * 8gb ecc modules.)
Video Card Asus GeForce GTX 960 - 2gb
Intel 730 SSD - 480 GB

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your comment! Supermicro needs your comment to improve our quality and service. If you still have any question, feel free to contact us. Please see the below technical support contact information:

Phone: (408)503-8000
Hours: 9:00 a.m – 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time (Monday – Friday)

Email address: support@supermicro.com

You can also submit your issue online: https://webpr3.supermicro.com/Support/login.aspx?

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any question.

Thank you!
SM Technical Support

External Link(s):

Submit your issue online|

Pros: Working right out of the box for a homelab ESXi. I have been testing for roughly 2-3 weeks to make sure it is stable enough to move my server (old PC) over to it and start progressing. Very impressed so far.
I knew I wanted the IPMI feature since I recently build a similar build for my FreeNAS. As others have mentioned, this is a must have feature if you don't want to have a monitor and keyboard connected at all times for troubleshooting.
MB came running the latest BIOS out of the box.

Cons: The only down side I can think of is that the fan speed reports an error if you have standard fans connected to it. This is intended as most datacenters aren't concerned with noise. From what I have read, you can change the reporting RPM error with a little tinkering.

Other Thoughts: I felt the need to make a review as I did a lot of research before pulling the trigger on my ESXi box. I took a chance and paired it with non-ECC memory. The BIOS reports the correct speed but reports a high number for timings. I did some testing and all OS's installed report the correct timings. Below is all the parts I used in my build:

SuperMicro X9SRL-F
2x Kingston 16GB (KVR16N11K2/16)
Crucial MX100 512GB
ARK 4U-500

Pros: Great all around board - IPMI, SATA ports, PCI-e slots, 8 DIMMs...what more could you ask for? Super-stable - as usual from SuperMicro - does not disappoint.

Cons: None at all.

Other Thoughts: Please note that this requires a 2011 narrow ILM cooler....if you haven't done your research to know that, you should NOT be buying this MB.

Pros: Lots of PCI-E slots, ECC RAM support, 10 SATA ports, dual lan, IPMI, works out of the box with FreeNAS 9.2.1.6.

Cons: None at this time. I think this is THE board to get for a serious home server as it supports Xeon 2603 V2

Other Thoughts: Worked out of the box with an Intel Xeon E5-2603 V2.

Pros: I purchased this MB to build a home ESXi VMware server. This MB is officially compatible with ESXi 5.1. However, I installed ESXi 5.5 (free edition) and it works perfectly. The BIOS version included out of the box was the latest version, so no need to flash the BIOS.

Beware that the MB footprint does not support the standard size CPU cooler. The mounting plate for the CPU must be of type narrow so I also had to purchase the SUPERMICRO SNK-P0050AP4 Heatsink.

Also note that my computer case had a MB mounting point that this MB did not support so I had to make an adjustment to the computer case to prevent the back of the MB from shorting against the mounting point on the case.

This is a great MB for a home ESXi VMware machine. I love it.

Cons: MB footprint does not support the standard size CPU cooler

Other Thoughts: Also Purchased:
Kingston 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 Server Memory w/TS Model KVR16E11K4/32

SUPERMICRO SNK-P0050AP4 Heatsink

Intel Xeon E5-2630 v2 Ivy Bridge-EP

Pros: Stable and fast. Running esxi 5.1 with e5-1620, 64GB RAM (8x8GB), LSI raid, etc Haven't had any issues. IPMI is great.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I noticed another reviewer had issues with memory, I have all 8 slots populated and it works great.

Pros: All the features you'd need - huge RAM capacity, many PCIE slots, etc.

Cons: Some memory slots don't work. This is a known problem Supermicro has had on all their motherboards this year: see other reviews. This is my third attempt at an X9SRL-F over six months and none had working memory sockets.

Other Thoughts: The BIOS this was shipped with was outdated.

I'd love to have one of these that worked ...