Question 1

What Processors does this Support?
What type of Video cards can be installed?
Does it fit in an atx case?
I would like to use for a video editing workstation, would it be reccommended?

Accepted Answer

All of the answers to your questions are in the specifications of the board:
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type:    Dual LGA 2011
CPU Type:    Dual Intel Xeon E5-2600 series
Form Factor:    SSI EEB
Dimensions:    12.0" x 13.0"

This is a server motherboard designed for Intel Xeon processors.  It is an extended size motherboard and will not fit in an ATX case.  If you want to do video editing, look at Intel Core I7 processors and boards that can handle that processor.  Xeon chips are for data crunching, not handling media and graphics.  Intel Core I7 chips are for media intensive applications and anything not being run on a server.  As far the the other things you would need for Video editing, look into NVidia Quadro graphics cards.  They are professional cards not meant for gaming, rather for graphics design and game development.  You will want something with a powerful processor (3.0 Ghz +), significant RAM (8 Gigs being my recommended bare minimum), a powerful graphics card such as Nvidia Quadro K6000 (high end), K5000 (mid range), or K4000 (low end).

Question 2

The specifications on NewEgg state that the board uses DDR3 ram, but on the Asus website it says the board is DDR4 compatible. Does this board support DDR4?

Accepted Answer

No, Z9PE does not support DDR4.  If that is a critical feature for you, then you should look at Asus's more recent Z10PE motherboards or at a different manufacturer.

Question 3

I (think I) read somewhere that you have to populate all 16 RAM slots to get quad-channel.  Is this true?  Is quad-channel something that you want bad enough to manipulate your RAM purchase in order to achieve?  We only need 32 Gbyte RAM total and I was thinking of going 4 X 8 Gbyte RAM, but then I read about the quad-channel thing and changed that to 8 X 4 Gbyte.  Now my 8 RAM slot Asus motherboard is out-of-stock, and I have to get the 16 slot, and the idea of 16 X 2 Gbyte RAM sticks seems ridiculous to me.  Can someone help sort this out for me?  Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

It would really depend on what you plan on using the server for.  Generally, for most server uses (not a lot of RAM-intensive operations in my experience) the channel amount is less important than expandability and RAM amount.  If, on the other hand, you plan on using the server for RAM-intensive activities, the RAM might actually become a bottleneck that could benefit from quad channel.  My suggestion is to go with your original idea of 4x8 unless you simply forsee not wanting to upgrade the amounts later OR you know you will be doing lots of RAM-intensive operations.

Question 4

Can I run "Windows Server 2003" on this motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Sure, you can run any OS you want. Motherboards are not OS specific. (Hopefully for your sake, you do not install 2003 since there are many better features in the newer OSs like 08R2 and 2012)

Question 5

Does this support standard square heatsink brackets or are these narrow like some of the SuperMicro boards?

Accepted Answer

Standard

Question 6

Do all towers fit server motherboards?

Accepted Answer

No, because not all towers are server tower, which in general, have more room.

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