Pros: It uses unbuffered non-ECC DDR3 (not DDR3L) RAM, so that saves some $$. The vendor does claim any ECC memory support for this board.

It has 4 memory slots, but can be run using only 2; I am doing this now.

No legacy PCI slots, only PCIe (1x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1x PCIe 2.0 x4, 1x PCIe 2.0 x1)

5x SATA3 connectors, 1 combined mSATA+mini PCIe slot that accepts full-length cards. No legacy IDE connectors.

4x legacy 9-pin Serial headers on board, but no legacy PRN/LPR (printer) header.

Back panel has single combined PS/2 keyboard-mouse jack. I had no problems running a USB keyboard on a back pnael USB 2.0 port while working through the "legacy looking" text-oriented BIOS screens.

It has a front panel 3.0 connector on board near the front of the board; good thinking. Other front panel connections are clearly marked in "silkscreened white paint" on board.

Different types of video connectors (HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI-D, VGA) with support for 3 independent displays.

4x 4-pin fan headers on board, and that can be really helpful in larger cases.

CPU power chips on board are covered with a small heat sink. Nice to see. The added CPU power Molex is 4-pin, not 8-pin like that found on some boards, so a lower power PSU that supports Haswell CPUs should work. I am using a semi-modular Antec BASIQ 550 PSU.

The BIOS gives you the option to "legacy" or "UEFI" boot the OS. I tried "legacy" boot under both Gentoo Linux (3.14.14 kernel) and Windows 7 x64, and I did not encounter any issues.

The stock Intel CPU fan fits without any clearance issues.

Supermicro-sponsored, Windows-based SuperDoctorIII utlity is a "must have" even though it requires Java JRE.

Absolutely no issues getting any hardware recognized under Gentoo Linux 3.14.14 kernel.

The hardware monitoring chip on board definitely responds to changes in CPU temperature and causes fans to speed up and slow down as needed. I tested that under Windows 7 (Supermicro drivers, found on their web ite, must be loaded) and Gentoo Linux (proper packages must be loaded and configured).

Cons: Definitely not a "server class" motherboard even though Newegg has categorized it that way. If it were "server class" and from Supermicro, it would require ECC DDR3 memory (more costly).

Given this board uses an Intel "Q" version chipset and has one "-LM" series LAN NIC, I would say the target audience for this board is "corporate / business" usage.

I doubt this board would be suitable for "overclocking", but I don't "overclock" so I can't say for sure.

The BIOS is filled with all sorts of options. The Supermicro manual and the BIOS screen do a very poor job documenting the "less obvious" ones, but that might mean, "if you don't know what it means or what it does, then you probably don't need it and should not change it".

Other Thoughts: I have run Gentoo Linux (3.14.14 kernel) and Windows 7 x64 Professional on this board. I did not have any problems with either OS.

I did have to download the Windows 7 x64 drivers from Supermicro, but the system was "usable" even without them. Once the Windows drivers were loaded there were no "unknown" devices in Device Manager.

The Windows Update process actually found and loaded "more current" drivers compared to Supermicro's web site, but that did not cause any issues.

The components on the board are all wwell spaced out so heat buildup in any part of the board should be minimal.

Being a Supermicro board will likely mean very few if any BIOS updates over the life of the board. I did notice that the BIOS could be updated via the Supermicro-sponsored, Windows-based SuperDoctorIII utility. Other than Windows SuperDoctorIII requiring JAVA JRE, I found it very useful and easy to use.

I would definitely buy another one of these boards if I had the need. I like the stability of Supermicro products. Like all Supermicro products, find the time to carefully read the vendor's web site and product manual before buying. The, be very honest with your expectations of the product.

Pros: Quality
Simple
Tested
No Frills

Cons: Pricey
Fan controller

Other Thoughts: Like the other guy found out the hard way - despite being made by Supermicro this is not a server motherboard, the Q87 should tip you off to that. This board showed up with the current BIOS and supported the newish i5 4590 without any issues at all. The only thing that is less than ideal is the lack of fan control. By default the "standard" fan profile is chosen, this makes you system dead silent, but if you have a few HDDs that need decent airflow you might find that you don't get enough due to slow fans. It would be nice if you could raise the default lower limit speed. I like this board a lot and would recommend to someone that wants a system with none of the fluffy features that are common on enthusiast boards as instead desires to have nice built in NICS and the like.

Pros: Loaded with advanced features
Basic but gets the job done
Reliable

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: I really like this board, I will definitely be buying from supermicro again in the future.

Pros: Can't think of any. Might be a good low end workstation.

Cons: SuperMicro says that it is not supported as a server motherboard - does not support Xeon Haswell.
- Requires video card
- NICs are not ESXi compliant

Other Thoughts: Purchased two systems. One works fine given above notes. Second produces a beep code. Manual doesn't list code. SuperMicro can't explain beep code because they can't get past it having a Xeon chip. Very frustrating experience. SuperMicro / New Egg sells this board as a server motherboard. Clearly, it is not.