Customer Reviews Of SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SAX-O LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Core i7 Server Motherboard

Customer Reviews

SuperMicro
MBD-X8SAX-O
Server Motherboards

Customer Reviews for SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SAX-O LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Core i7 Server Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com's Product Ratings and Reviews feature enables Newegg.com customers to help each other make informed buying decisions.

Review Summary (20 Reviews):
Excellent	6ReviewsExcellent	30%
Good	10ReviewsGood	50%
Average	2ReviewsAverage	10%
Poor	1ReviewsPoor	5%
Very Poor	1ReviewsVery Poor	5%
Excellent	0Reviews	0%
Good	0Reviews	0%
Average	0Reviews	0%
Poor	0Reviews	0%
Very Poor	0Reviews	0%
Excellent	2ReviewsExcellent	22%
Good	5ReviewsGood	56%
Average	1ReviewsAverage	11%
Poor	1ReviewsPoor	11%
Very Poor	0Reviews	0%

Reviewer	Product Review
DHL Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/19/2010 9:42:31 PM Good board. Quirky BIOS Pros: SuperMicro quality. Good tech support with folks you can speak with on the phone. Multiple 4 pin fan support on the board so I can use my SuperMicro server case. No problems with the recommended Crucial 1300 MHz ECC memory. Cons: Very strange boot up from a powered down state. Power flashes on, then off for 4 or 5 secs, then on again. This is not a power supply problem, as the power supply is doing just what the mb is telling it to do. Confirmed by SuperMicro tech support as a BIOS problem, but no fix yet. No NVIDIA SLI support, although you can run two ATI video cards in crossfire. SuperMicro did not want to pay NVIDIA the required fees to use SLI. Using two dual slot video cards blocks the use of two other slots which leaves only one other PCI slot available, so not practical to use two video cards. Other Thoughts: This board will not run SLI, although the sister version C7X58 will. This board will not run the 1666 MHz memory mode either, only the C7X58. This is explained in the manual, though confusing because this board and the C7X58 share the same manual. I bought this board due to the larger number of PCIx slots. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
loony Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/17/2010 7:59:16 PM Forget about PCI-X cards Pros: Gig-e ports supports jumbo frames Cons: * PCI-X cards don't work: Qlogic 4Gb Fibre cards, LSI 1068E and Emulex dual port 4Gb Fibre cards don't initialize. * PCI-e 3Ware 9500S-4LP doesn't reliably initialize * PCI-e 8gbit QLogic cards fail to initialize 2nd port after reboot * CPU socket too close to first dimm to fit well All the cards mentioned above work flawlessly in other systems... Other Thoughts: So this isn't a overclockers board (and never pretended to be) but without working support for fibre cards or raid controllers, how can this thing pretend to be a server board? If I could afford the downtime I'd send this board back to newegg... 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Englaise Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/17/2009 7:55:06 PM Even Weirder...but good! Pros: Super fast. This board will run a Core i7 920 Bloomfield processor @6.4 GT/s, and run memory (Crucial) @1333Mhz. (See Other Thoughts). Superb Supermicro Online support. Cons: None anymore! Other Thoughts: My previously-mentioned power supply weirdness was cured by a second-round beta BIOS (Support conjured TWO betas for me, each in less than 24 hours!) to cure the problem. The first beta cured the power supply shutting off with CTRL+ALT+DEL in DOS, but it broke PCI-X funtionality...so, I flashed back to the original 1.0c, and then the miracle happened. The PS shut off like it had before, but when it came up, my UPS flipped to battery...power hit?...dunno. But when it came back, no more power supply weirdness (still on 1.0c), and what previously registered as 4.8GT/s CPU and 1066 memory freq., now shows 6.4GT/s and 1333 memory freq. in BIOS POST. Fluke? Maybe. Just to confirm, though, I ran Core Temp freeware app., and its System Information confirms this! Needless to say, I'm reluctant to apply Support's latest cure for my "problem." Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Englaise Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/9/2009 2:28:23 PM Very nice...but weird... Pros: This is an extremely fast board with an intelligent layout, which is why I chose this over its Asus counterpart. Using the crucial memory recommended in another review worked great. PCI-X gives screaming RAID controller support. Cons: Care is needed if you're using any but the stock CPU cooler, as there are components close to two of the heat sink mounting holes. Also, I had to RMA the board as it would power off the supply by pressing RESET, or even just hitting CTRL+ALT+DEL in DOS! Even a Windows restart did this. The Supermicro tech support guy said it was the weirdest thing he'd seen in his 18 years of experience! Tried different power supplies...reflashing the BIOS...nothing worked. Anxious to get the replacement, will report back. Other Thoughts: This board is a jewel, besides the ultra-strange problem I ran into. Core i7 920-equipped, it's twice as fast as an ASUS with a Q6600 using a video encoding program which uses all virtual cores as a benchmark. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/1/2009 8:21:35 AM Just about perfect Pros: a rare combination of Core i7 + PCI-X + 2x PCIe2 x16, and works great. Installed with i7-920 Quad Core, 6x2GB Kingston ECC, Areca ARC-1170 in one PCI-X slot, Mellanox MT25208 in the other, GeForce 6200 PCIe and still slots left to fill. Onboard Intel 82574L works like a charm on current 2.6.3x kernels, TI Firewire onboard is a nice bonus. Cons: Having 2 PCIe2 x16 slots means I'll probably have to get another video card (or 2) soon .. as far as Cons go, not a bad one. Other Thoughts: It's the first single-proc board I've owned since the Asus P2B-DS, which had me a little worried, but apart from the Lian-Li PC-V2110 looking a little empty I can't say I miss the 2nd cpu+fan. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	11/18/2009 6:30:09 PM New BIOS 1.0c completely fixes stability problems Pros: n/a Cons: n/a Other Thoughts: Re: reviews below, the stability problems with 6x2GB qualified Crucial DRAM have completely gone away with the newly released BIOS 1.0c. I now have no hesitation in recommending this board. It runs at 1066 (per manual with 6 sticks in triple channel mode) not 1333. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	9/28/2009 1:15:43 PM Very stable, but sensitive Pros: When working, this is a very fast and stable board suitable for workstation or budget/low end server duty. Typical SM build quality. Despite some problems, glad we bought it. Cons: First board was defective (Newegg took care of it no prob). Also wouldn't run right on recommended Crucial memory (Newegg took care of that too). Eventually 2nd board ran well with 12gb of Kingston ECC memory. This is a memory-sensitive board, not just as to voltage. Perhaps a later bios update will relax that sensitivity. Do your RAM homework before buying. Other Thoughts: To clear up the thermal issue, ALL 1366/socket B processors (i7, 3500 and 5500 Xeons) have the EXACT same keep out (80x80 mm) and backplate dimensions. If you need a THREADED thermal solution, you need the threaded rear mounting plate, which is NOT included. But this will otherwise accommodate a standard i7/1366 cooler. We're running a Noctua NH-U12P SE2 cooler on this board that fits a Xeon perfectly. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Kustardking Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	9/15/2009 7:16:24 AM Solid board, heatsink identity problems Pros: - PCI-X works well - Stable - 12GB at 1333 Cons: - Xeon heatsink specs, but backplate not included! I'm idiling at 60C, so I decided to upgrade from the stock Intel cooler. I found that this board uses Xeon specifications for the top-side, as a server board would, but does NOT include the required threaded backplate. Now, if you use a push-pin style heatsink, there is no problem. Supermicro uses the Xeon socket spec, meaning different keep-out zones from the "standard" 1366. This wouldn't matter except that the spec calls for a threaded backplate, and the board DOESN'T INCLUDE IT!!! Check page 28 in the manual: http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/X58/MNL-1063.pdf How can you sell a server spec mobo without a 2 cent REQUIRED piece of metal?? How is that OPTIONAL?? I had to hunt down the bracket, and found only ONE place that had them. You can guess it was too expensive. Stvpid beyond words. At this board's price, it's criminal the bracket isn't included. Other Thoughts: I used 2 cheap kits of CT3KIT25664BA1339 for 12GB of RAM. Runs at 1333. Other than the heatsink crippling, I am very happy with the board. I have an Areca 1680ix-16 in a 16x slot, and an Areca 1160 in a PCI-X slot. I get 825MB/sec to the PCI-X slot. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/24/2009 9:11:09 AM This is no server board Pros: A very good stable quality board with ECC and triple channel. Supports Core i7. Cons: DOES NOT have embedded video on-board. Isn't on-board video mandatory on all server boards? Other Thoughts: Didn't read description carefully when purchasing this board for my 1U server set up. Need to hunt for a PCI-e riser to fit a video card there. :( 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
JRC Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/26/2009 2:26:49 PM Reliable Pros: Stable; 6 4-pin fan connectors; lots of USB ports; 2 serial port headers; RAID 5 Cons: Minor stuff: 1 internal USB header; headers for floppy and IDE might be too far away to reach the drives with standard cables; large CPU coolers might block a RAM socket or a PCI slot. Other Thoughts: To clarify the memory support question, the pdf manual from the web site specifies support for DDR3 1600 on the C7X58 board, not this X8SAX board - different than the printed manual. I installed Server 2008 64-bit - completely stable. I have been stress testing 6GB Crucial ECC RAM with no problems: CT3KIT25672BA1339. Note that the Xeon 5500 series processors have limits on RAM and features based on processor type - see http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/prodbrief/321579.pdf. So the RAM is rated at 1333 but is only running at 800 on the 5504 - completely stable. My case has 4 front panel USB ports, but the MB only has 1 front panel USB header, so 2 of the ports are unavailable. It does have 2 type A USB ports on the MB. The Northbridge runs hot (probably within spec), but I replaced the heatsink with a cooler (SilenX IXN-40C) and it makes a big difference. The board does require an 8-pin CPU power connector - the 4-pin is optional. So far, an excellent MB. 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	3/22/2009 8:45:05 AM Pros: Very stable work machine for graphics. Very high-quality build. Cons: None Other Thoughts: I got the open box version of this -- very happy with my purchase. I used Mushkin Ram and power supply for this with no issues: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226041 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817812005 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	3/14/2009 9:22:22 AM Excellent Pros: Very fast, stable, good set of features. Cons: No parallel ATA, does not come with serial port bracket. Other Thoughts: You need to make sure you have the right kind of RAM and power supply for this board. You need 1.5V RAM, and DDR3 1600 only works with some CPUs. I have had excellent luck with the Kingston Value RAM DDR3 1333. On your PSU, you need the 4 pin 12V connector, the 8 pin 12 V connector, and the 24-pin ATX connector. 9 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
gorehound Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	3/8/2009 9:34:31 AM Could be better Pros: Running at 1333mhz is very stable.No crashes and Windows XP Pro w/ my Apps setup easy and fast. I also bought an 965EE CPU and have no issues running games while encoding video while doing other things.Encodes video at really fast rates. Internet runs fast on my cable modem and all USB devices have worked Cons: I am not to happy at the fact that I cannot run 1600mhz memory in this./the manual clearly states on 2 pages that you can do this with an Extreme CPU with XMP Profiles.Well I wasted $250 trying that idea out.I was the one who asked questions about Corsair 1600mhz memory.I am running Aenonon 1600mhz (suggested by supermicro on THEIR site) and it will not post w/ XMP no matter what I tried.Their t tech support was no help for me.Their new BIOS has not fixed this.Now I do not even have an option to try XMP.I just installed the new BIOS asn hour ago. Other Thoughts: I should of waitied and bought an ASUS board.Then I could of used even faster memory.I could of bought some high-end exteremely fast memory and it would run in that ASUS.This board is finicky with RAM bought on the other hand as stated above it is stable at 1333mhz so at least I have a decent working machine. 1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
ryanjw Tech Level: high Ownership: more than 1 year	3/6/2009 11:35:17 PM The Best Quality you can get, if you don't need support Pros: This is absolute top quality. My company has built dozens of SM systems over the last 5 years and so far we have a 0% failure rate with their equipment. According to a senior SM employee, apparently their overall failure rate is under 1%. Cons: SM Support needs serious help. So if you are not an expert, go with an Intel board, or a SM dealer that can put this together for you for a small mark up. This board doesn't have a diagnostic CD, so it's hard to troubleshoot issues you might run in to. You may think the boards bad, but it's not. It's always some other part. I recently RMA'd an SM board only to figure out latter it was a faulty CD-Rom causing the system not to boot. Other Thoughts: For RAM, all the SM systems we have built seem to work best with Kingston Value RAM. Plus KVRam has a lifetime warranty and is very cheap. Good luck! 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Isky Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	2/5/2009 6:21:09 AM Quality??? Support??? Pros: Seems like it could be a good board - when it works. The one egg shows how often it has worked for me (zero eggs is not an option) Cons: Flakiest board I have ever encountered in well over 20 years in the business. I ordered memory because the first board I had wouldn't accept the memory I ordered in Slot 3A (Triple Channel Mode). Ordered the exact Crucial Memory recommended by the manufacturer (thanks for the help from NewEgg on getting that straight), yet the new memory had the exact same problem (there was $70 out the window), so I grudgingly returned the board (another $40 in shipping). On receipt of the new board - it is even flakier. It will not work with the brand-new EVGA PCI-E video card that was fine working with the first unit. If I put an old PCI video card in, it will boot randomly with one stick of memory in it. I even went out and purchased a brand-new Antec EarthPower PS to be sure it wasn't a power issue. So, after a month of messing with this - I have nothing. If I could return the whole mess I would. Other Thoughts: 1) Supermicro - I have two SuperServers, but it seems that that is a different class of service than what is available to their motherboard customers. This is not the product I originally had settled on, but my good experience with their tech support on the server side swayed me -- big mistake. 2) Ordering cutting-edge technology online - Almost everything in this unit (i7, X58 mobo, PCI-E 2 Video, DDR3 Memory) is the only of its kind I have at hand. Troubleshooting is a bear - especially with no spare parts and fairly large expense to RMA parts. I should probably have ordered a pre-built or gone through a local vendor for the parts. This is the first time I have been burned -- all because I wanted to shave a few dollars. 2 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/22/2009 5:49:21 PM Re: unstable with RAM review below Pros: n/a Cons: n/a Other Thoughts: So, it turns out my X8SAX board was bad. A replacement works fine. So I can't necessarily say the other RAM I tried (A-DATA, Corsair, Patriot) was incompatible, though others report the board is particular about RAM. Probably worth sticking to the qualified RAM for safety. I'm using 6x qualified Crucial 2GB RAM for 12GB total. Auto settings in supplied BIOS 1.0a run at 1333Mhz, though it is supposed to only run all 6 slots at 1066MHz. Occasional stability problems, so I will drop it down manually to 1066MHz if this continues. 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Isky Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/16/2009 5:13:05 AM My own fault Pros: Board screams - my earlier issue (RAM) still exists, but is my own fault. The part number given by Supermicro needed to swap out a "." for a "-" to be found on the site, and I missed the boat on that one. Cons: It is still VEEEERRYY picky on memory. I give it a 4 instead of 5 given that potential trap Other Thoughts: Maybe newegg could implement a product matching capability (when I add a motherboard that has an HCL, give me a link that show products that Newegg carries that are on the list). Would dummy-proof some of this stuff. Shows in my case that haste makes waste (and UPS dropped the ball on the delivery, so my haste was really a waste after all -- had to wait an extra week to put this all together...) 5 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/14/2009 1:20:52 PM Use memory only from the qualified list Pros: Only X58 motherboard for i7 that has PCI-X slots for RAID controllers Supermicro - good customer service Cons: Unstable without qualified memory. I tried: * A-DATA DDR-1333 HY63I1B16T 2GB DDR3 1333 9-9-9-24 * Corsair DDR-1333 TR3X6G1333C9 1333MHz XMS3 Classic Platinum Series * Patriot DDR-1600 Patriot Viper Series PVT36G1600ELK DDR3 2GB CL9 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 There are also reports on Corsair's web forum that the following are unstable * Corsair DDR-1600 * OCZ DDR-1333 memtest86+ crashes/freezes/reboots in test #5 [block move] within a minute in triple channel mode. This is regardless of at 1333, 1066, or 800. This is using both 1.0a BIOS and 1.0b beta BIOS directly from Supermicro. I have ordered Crucial CT25664BA1339.16SFD and hopefully that should be stable 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	1/10/2009 5:27:02 PM Nice board, but emits high-pitch noise Pros: 1) Good layout from the perspective of cooling and access to connectors 2) Stable 3) Intel on-board NICs 4) Still has floppy and PS/2 support Cons: 1) Emits high-pitch noises which vary by load. Potentially coming from VRM MOSFETs, but I'm not sure. Maybe this has something to do with the fact the there are no heatsinks on the MOSFETs of this board (unlike other X58 boards), but this is just speculation. At any rate, the noise can be annoying sometimes. 2) Doesn't seem to work well with 1.65V memory - I recommend sticking to 1.5V with this board Other Thoughts: I'd give it five eggs if it didn't have the high-pitch noise problem 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
peetiesweetie Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	1/5/2009 11:49:21 PM Great - just watch out for the power supply requirements! Pros: Supermicro quality, more SATA and USB connectors than I'll need. Board is packed with lots of features and reasonably priced, especially with a low-end i7. Cons: It's not clear from the specs, but you need an EPS 12V power supply - not an ATX or ATX 12V. This motherboard uses the 8-pin processor power connector in addition to the 24-pin connector along with an optional 4-pin auxiliary power connector. I had to temporarily cannibalize another server to use its power supply for testing this system out. The stock heatsink and fan on the i7-920 crowds the first memory slot and the right-most video card but everything does fit. Other Thoughts: This system screams and is only about half the cost of a Core 2 Quad system I just built. Support for up to 24GB (using dual rank memory) gives lots of room to grow. I'm building this system for hosting virtual machines and so far it is a perfect platform. The LGA1366 is easy to work with and even seems sturdier than the LGA775. 10 out of 10 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!