Question 1

Does this motherboard support ECC. I checked the ASUS site and it said its supported, but on newegg.com its not in the description. I have 32GB of ( 1600MHz 2Rx4 ECC Reg - M393B1K70DH0-CK0 ) memory. I this board compatible?

Accepted Answer

*Your* memory is not supported, because it is registered.

However, this board *does* support basic unbuffered, non-registered ECC memory. (You may need to update the BIOS to enable it, though.)

On any Intel board, you will need a Xeon-branded CPU to use ECC; it will not work with a consumer Core or Pentium processor.

Question 2

What power consumption of this motherboard? I did`t find any information about it.

Accepted Answer

The Intel C226 chipset matched with a Haswell based processor is not in of itself power hungry.  But one has to consider the power needs of the completed system.  The Haswell based processor lines vary but generally speaking run in the 85 watt range.  Now add HHDs (this MB supports 10 drives), USB 2 and 3.0 peripherals, PCIe cards and so on.  You get the idea.

I have seen this board used in barebone systems with a 400 watt PSU.  And a fully racked out WS running raid using an 850 watt PSU.  A 650 watt PSU should meet most requirements and thus is what I went with.

When considering a PSU there is one issue; multiple linked video cards. This mb supports AMD's CrossFireX but not NVIDIA's SLI.  If you plan on using CrossFire than you will want to use a PSU recommended by AMD.

Question 3

I have a Xeon E3-1230v3 that does not have a GPU on chip. This motherboard shows 3 video out ports (DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort) and audio ports. Will these ports work on their own? Does the C226 chipset provide the video, or do I have to have a process with a GPU?

Also, if it is the C226 that is providing the video, can all three be used at the same time for a three monitor setup, or do I have to get an add in card (like the Radeons with Eyefinity)?

Accepted Answer

I run Windows 7, using an i3-4130 cpu. In this environment, all three video ports work well on their own, no video card.

I researched this about two years ago. My recollection is that the processor DOES have to be a special type to allow the video to work without a separate card (and to support ECC, a separate issue).

Looking at the intel web site, E3-1230 v3 says "Process Graphics = None". You already knew that. i3-4130 says "Process Graphics = Intel HD graphics 4400". e3-1245 v3, which I'm running on a different mobo, says "Intel HD Graphics P4600". My best guess (not sure) is the E3-1230 v3 would require a separate card.

I use a two monitor setup. I normally use DVI and HDMI together, works fine. As a test, I have used  DVI and DisplayPort together, also works fine. I have not yet tried three monitor setup, so do not know if that would work.

Question 4

Is ECC supported when using an i7 processor?

Accepted Answer

If you want ECC, you're supposed to use a Xeon processor. However, you can easily get a Xeon processor with very similar specs and price to an i7, if you want.

There are two downsides to Xeons:
1) They don't have unlocked multipliers like the K-series desktop processors.
2) Many don't have integrated graphics, either - some do, though.

In exchange you get ECC support.

Since hyper-threading isn't very useful in most desktop workloads, I bought an E3-1225v3, which is very similar to an i5-4460 and only a bit more expensive. If I didn't care about the integrated graphics, I could have saved a little money with an E3-1220v3

If you really want hyper-threading, I suggest an E3-1245v3, which is like an i7-4790 (though the clock speed is 6% lower).

Question 5

Secure Boot? The manual only says Secure Boot [enable/disable] but does not show any other options. Can someone go into BIOS and enable Secure Boot and write down in reply here what, if any, other Secure Boot related options show up when it is "enabled". Thanks :)

Accepted Answer

When I enable Secure Boot I see one additional option appear:

"Install default Secure Boot keys" with the explanation "Please install default secure boot keys if it's the first time you use secure boot."

(I suspect more options would appear after I did that. However, I'm not sure I could undo the installation, and I don't actually want Secure Boot on my system right now.)

Question 6

Does the C226 WS work with DDR3 1066 (the product spec only mentions DDR3 1600/1333)?

Accepted Answer

I would not recommend to use incompatible component,  because this can be just another point of failure or unstable work. Take attention to electrical specification as well. I've just tried to speed down my crucial1600cl11 1.35/1.5v 2x8gb unbuffered ecc ram to 1066. It worked fine.

Question 7

Is anyone with a Xeon able to virtualize, assign, and share the onboard Intel NIC's across multiple VM's at once? The CPU, Chipset and NIC's should support it but don't know if the BIOS and other board bits support it too. Let me know what you find. Thanks :)

Accepted Answer

I have not tried it, but I read that NIC teaming does work if you get the non-microsoft drivers installed.  Note that I also read that there is no official intel drivers for the LAN for server 2012 R2, but that others were able to install the drivers through device manager (ie:  installer just may not work) by browsing to the driver folder manually.  Haven't tried it yet

Question 8

Are any of you able to get plain old analog VGA video out of the DVI-I analog pins when using a CPU that has an integrated GPU such as the E3-12n[56]v3 Xeons? You will need to test with a simple five dollar DVI-I to VGA adapter that connects the analog DVI-I RGBHV pins to the DSUB-15 RGBHV pins. This is supported by Intel from the CPU over the FDI bus to the C226 which has RGBHV dac's and outputs on it... read the docs. I want to know if Asrock has implemented it or not. Thanks :)

Accepted Answer

I have E3-1226 V3 (has Integrated GPU) on C226 WS and HDMI and VGA works fine. 
Haven't tried DVI yet.

Question 9

What models of RAM do you use with this motherboard?

Accepted Answer

4 x Kingston KVR13E9/8I DDR3-1333 8GB/1Gx72 ECC CL9 Server Memory

Question 10

Does the C226 WS support the PWM feature of fans (without software)?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

Specifically, the board has a few 4-pin fan connectors and a couple of 3-pin connectors.  4-pin connectors support PWM fans.  The BIOS has a few options to set the speed based on CPU temperature, always full speed, etc.  I have only tried 4-pin connectors with PWM fans.  I don't know if you can connect a non-pwm (3pin) fan to a 3- or 4-pin connector and still get speed controls.

Beware of this board if you care about ECC.  I have ECC DRAM and the board "works", but I still cannot find any indication that it is actually correcting memory errors.

Questions & Answers