Pros: Inexpensive base unit, decent case layout, good performance, lots of SATA ports.

Cons: The mainboard has VGA/DVI connectors on it, and the SuperMicro website has a VGA driver available for the system, which led me to believe that it had on-board video. Upon first boot, the system gave me a 5 short beep code that was not in the manual. Some research on Google revealed that it doesn't actually have on-board video, so I put in a cheap PCI-E card and got it going.

No driver disk. I downloaded the drivers from the SuperMicro site easily enough. but when I installed the USB3 drivers and rebooted, not a single USB port would work with the keyboard and mouse. I tried them all front and back and none of them worked. Reinstalled Windows 7 Pro 64 and left the USB3 off (don't need it anyway).

Other Thoughts: This is a decent barebones for the price, but the drivers were disappointing. Even after installing all of the files listed on the website (minus USB3), there are several devices in the device manager that need drivers. They are serial ports and "simple PCI" devices so not that important to me, but it feels incomplete.

Also I'm not sure why the mainboard has a VGA and a DVI port when there is no on-board video. Maybe there is some add-on component that enables them? The SuperMicro site is unclear on this.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your comment! Supermicro needs your comment to improve our quality and service. According to the specification, the video signal comes from the CPU which has built-in integrated graphic. About USB3 issue, Windows 7 needs a Service Pack 1 in order to make USB3 working properly with the driver. For driver missing, please download the full version driver CD from our version. If you need a hard copy of driver CD, feel free to contact our RMA Department. 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):

X10SAE Driver CD|

RMA Department|

Pros: This machine is exactly what I needed, at a very reasonable price

Cons: None that I am aware of

Other Thoughts: It is true, no driver disk is shipped with the unit, but it is easily downloaded, follow the manufacturer link provided by newegg, really not a problem and the iso provides everything you need.

Ravi B. mentions video. There is no onboard video, if you are not going to install a video card make sure the CPU you choose supports video, for example the Xeon E3-1225

For my needs, this box will sit in a closet and host a couple of apps, no real video needed and don't want to lean on CPU for it.
Here is my build:
- SuperMicro SYS-5038A-IL N82E16816101793
- Crucial DDR1600 RAM (2x8GB) N82E16820148770
- Intel Xeon E3-1241 CPU N82E16819117315
- Seagate 1TB SSDD x 3 N82E16822178381
- Samsung DVD-ROM N82E16827151279
- EVGA PCI-E 2.0 Refurb. Video Card N82E16814130880

Box is running Windows 2008 R2, is very responsive and easily handles the workload assigned to it. It might be worth mentioning that it is whisper quiet, really doesn't make any noise to speak of.

Pros: Haswell support, plenty of room for uber video cards, can add extra front fan for excellent air flow, tool-less optical and hard drive install, many IO ports (including 4 - USB 3 ports)...I use these at work to build workstations for digital surveillance systems, it's a great starter kit.

Cons: Currently doesn't come with motherboard drivers disk (drivers easy to find on website though). Also I wish it came with optional front fan, I currently buy it separate and install it.

Pros: -Good warranty experience
-Featureset
-Perceived Price
-Reliability

Cons: -Plagued with PCI-E Bios Issues

Other Thoughts: Same supermicro issue in the bios seems to be going around. Lack of proper bios autodetection of PCI-E Video.

Received the nefarious 5 beeps (no video console detected) and had to put a PCI-E V1 card in then set the bios to PCI-E V2 or V3 to get a current gen card to detect.

This is an annoyance for me, but would be significant to someone lacking a lot of spare video cards.