ASUS KCMA-D8 ATX Server Motherboard Dual Socket C32 AMD SR5670 DDR3 1333/1066/800

Pros: For the price, this is an excellent motherboard. Dual processor capability in an ATX form factor. It has a PCIe x16 slot w/ x16 signal, so it can accommodate a gaming GPU. The built in RAID works well enough, make sure you go onto ASUS' website and download the instructions on how to make a RAID array and save yourself some hassle. Has the option to add the ASUS PIKE 2008 card, which enables the 6 Gb/s SAS ports on the motherboard for a cheap hardware RAID solution. For those that have never done so, the RAID drivers can be loaded during Windows 7 install using a USB flash drive, as this does not have an internal floppy connector. For those of you who wish to use Linux, Red Hat and CentOS are supported, and drivers are available from ASUS' website for them.

Cons: Had the old BIOS which does not support the new Opteron 4200 series processors. Limited space if using a larger CPU cooler like the one I bought. Not worth removing an egg though. Does not include the MIO sound card, nor does it have on board sound, so either use a USB headset, or buy the MIO, its $20. Beware if you plan on waiting to buy your 2nd processor. Windows Vista, 7, and Server 2008 will not accept a processor that has a different revision number or stepping, even if it is the same model and has identical specs. It will generate a BSOD on startup. Windows XP Professional x64 does not have this issue, and tolerates the difference, but you know the compatibility issues you encounter with XP x64. I found all this out after I made my purchase, and since Newegg has deactivated my particular processor, I have had to look elsewhere to buy a 2nd one to get a working pair. This is a problem with Windows, not the motherboard, but it is important to know this beforehand.

Overall Review: Current Setup: AMD Opteron 4180 Processor Noctua NH-U9D0 CPU cooler 2X 300 GB WD Velociraptor RAID 1 2X 1 TB Seagate RAID 1 NVIDIA GTX 260 850W Coolermaster PSU Windows 7 Professional x64 Even though it is big for this board, and can cause issues installing RAM, buy the Noctua cooler, you wont be disappointed. Idle temps around 23 *C, and full load under Prime95 was about 41 *C. This was the RAM I selected, it was the only one I could seem to find that was on the QVL on ASUS' website: 2X Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 Server Memory QR x8 1.35V Server Elpida C Model KVR1333D3LQ8R9S/8GEC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139580

Pros: * Good price - dual CPU + up to 128GB RAM for <$300? Yes please. * Has onboard video - severely unimpressive onboard video, but this is probably going to be a server, so really all you need's a picture right? * Comes with an audio card! So if you're a weirdo like me and want to double your new server as a workstation, that's settled without needing to spend anything else on it. * ASUS - hard to go wrong there for reliability.

Cons: * Socket C32 == hard to find CPU fans. Not that that's the motherboard's fault. * Takes bloody FOREVER to get through the BIOS checks - worse, takes a disturbingly long time just to get an image on the screen. I was positive that something was wrong the first time I booted my machine up. Nope - it just takes, seriously, 15s or more just to get the very first bit of POST up, and another... I dunno, 1m or more? to get through the rest of POST.

Overall Review: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: if you don't want to pay through the nose for the excellent, but expensive, hard-to-find, and seriously bulky Noctua coolers, the Thermaltake A4022 cooler works just fine on this board - it's designed for a 95W TDP CPU (just like the Opteron 4xxx series), it fits right without adapters, and when tested under severe thermal load (12 instances of K7Burn running on my KCMA-D8 loaded with two Opteron 4180s), it keeps 'em at about 65F (40F or so at idle). That's without any high investment in labor - I left the thermal tape on the bottom of the coolers, just put a bit of thermal grease on top of the CPU and that's it. If you want to spend more time on your setup (ie clean the thermal tape/paste off the bottom of the Thermaltake with alcohol, then carefully apply a good thin layer of good thermal grease), you can probably get 5-7C below where I am.

Pros: Good price Nice amount of CPUs Looks like good options for PIKE or On Board

Cons: Promise onboard RAID does not work, confirmed with ASUS tech support, taking a while to get it resolved. For a feature that is touted on their site and box, this is unacceptable. PIKE cards performance is not very good, lacking BBUs and many other things, not a good alternative to the on board. Better to use PCI-e RAID card.

Pros: Had VMware ESXi 5 up and running within an hour. Dual Opteron 4334, with 2x samsung registered 16g dimms, booting off USB. Works like a charm, didn't have to flash BIOS for the 4334's. Anything that ships past Oct-2011 per ASUS should be a new enough build to support 4200+ Opterons. If it has the 2001 BIOS it will support 4200 and 4300 CPUs out of the box. The 4334 (hex-core) was a steal for $200 apiece (put $30 coolers on each one). Very cost efficient.

Cons: haven't found any so more. For a budget performance server, it is running great. No issues

Pros: Tons of room. Stable. Tons of fan connections. Dual NICs. Fits in an ATX case. Works with SLI/Crossfire power supplies. (Double-check the specs). Nice mix of PCI and PCI-x slots. Nice spread out layout on the board itself. Thousands cheaper than a comparable Mac.

Cons: If you're using the upright CPU heatsinks with the fans (eg XIGMATEK HDT-S963), one fan will blow across the other heatsink, so you'll have one processor with a higher temp. Also if you're using the upright coolers the memory is under the edge of the cooler. There also aren't a lot of USB ports on this board. Most of the features on the board require an add-on card. The processors are a little close. Fan mounting on the CPUs was a trick.

Overall Review: Get traditional server CPU coolers. It *should* take most AMD coolers... the XIGMATEKs covered all AMDs with the same bracket clip. Got this machine for video editing. Two 4184 processors 64gb ram LSI 4 lane card - dual Intel SSDs in Raid 0 Quadro FX 3700 Echo Gina 3g Vista Business x64 HAF 932 Case Seasonic PSU Fast! Copied my files to my SSD raid and installed Vista 64 and two service packs under 2 hours. Copied CS5 Master Suite to raid then installed from there, CS5 complete install in less than 30 minutes. Processor temps run 28C and 31C on average in a 26C room when idling. My setup uses hard drives for file storage, the SSD RAID-0 for temp files and pagefile. (That is the best gain you can make hardware-wise at present. Don't trust it for anything you want to keep.) 3x as many cores and 8x the memory of my old machine. (it is all used in rendering) Makes Lightwave and Premiere function phenomenally. With a machine like this you're only limited to your imaginat

Pros: The Asus KCMA-D8 makes a great workstation board for the right set of applications. My work is primarily software development with IDEs and databases. I need lots of fast memory, fast CPUs with a sufficient number of cores, and the ability to run multiple monitors with good 2D performance. Moreover, since I work a lot, I want the system to be quiet. I was able to achieve all those goals with this motherboard, Noctua NH-UD9O A3 CPU coolers, dual AMD Opteron 4234 CPUs, Kingston DDR3-1600 PnP memory, Seasonic M12II 620 PSU and a fanless AMD 5450 graphics card. My workstation sits on my desktop and is almost completely silent except for a slight whisper from the front cooling fan. I highly recommend this motherboard for anyone with a similar set of requirements. Note this board only has a single x16 PCIe slot, and fully populated gets a little cramped. So a heavy duty 3D graphics card might pose a problem. Those factors were not an issue for me.

Cons: The first one of these I received would not power up. I'm not really bothered with Asus; when you sell complex components in the millions, defects are inevitable. Newegg, as always the best in customer service, exchanged it without issue. I always shop Newegg first when looking for computer parts.

Overall Review: Some may wonder why, if I wanted lots of fast memory and CPUs, I didn't spring for a dual Xeon setup. Cost. My entire computer cost about the same a single Xeon 5670. With the savings, I'm able to spring for SSD storage, which produces a nicely balanced system.

Pros: Board was DOA on post -- got keyboard not connected error. Requested RMA online but then decided to call customer service to see if there was a way to speed up the replacement process. Got an advanced return where I gave Newegg my credit card info and they next day aired my replacement board to me and they also payed for the return. Very good policy. Replacement board works very well.

Cons: Jumper description to disable on-board vga in manual does not appear to match my motherboard.

Pros: Price and feature set. Newegg is quick to issue RMAs in DOA situtations.

Cons: Didn't POST. DOA. Had to pay return shipping on a DOA.

Overall Review: Asus: Servers and workstations are built by people who work for a living. When you ship a board without testing it you cost us money.