Question 1

Wanting to buy this board... What power supply do I need for this board?  I see 24 + 8 + 8 on the board... not sure what to do about that.  Can anyone recommend a good PSU?

Also any other tips would be helpful.  Tips so far have been great!

Accepted Answer

First of all, note that this is a very old motherboard, for some very old Xeons. I recently bought one because mine wore out and I have the CPUs and RAM, but I keep it strictly as a cold spare. I wouldn't buy one for a new system right now.

As to your question, it depends on what processors you use, how much RAM, which PCIe cards, etc. I've done things a couple of different ways with these boards, but if you check the unusual dimensions you will note that it fits in a very limited number of cases. I wound up just getting a SuperMicro case for it with a 1,200-watt platinum efficiency power supply, proper hot-plug trays for my HDDs, etc. It was quite a few extra bucks but worth it in the end.

Previously I had used a Crucial 1,000 PSU with no issues.

Question 2

I want to upgrade RAM with 16GB modules on my board, and saw that the only SUPERMICRO recommended module was:

SAMSUNG MEM-DR316L-SL05-ER13.  I notice that this is low profile RAM.  Is low profile necessary?  Have you had success with other 16GB RAM modules?

I can find significantly cheaper RDIMM 16GB RAM modules (dual rank, registered ECC) -- eventually may want to max out at 288 GB with 18 modules.

Accepted Answer

I use Timetec Nanya SDRAM 8GB modules and it worked for me.

Question 3

It doesn't say but the specs are pretty close for the Westmere and the Westmere EP. Will this board support the Intel Xeon X5675 Westmere-EP 3.06GHz LGA 1366 95W BX80614X5675 Server Processor? Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

John,

Thanks so much for getting back to me. I ordered them kinda figuring they would but it's really great to know for sure. Should be here tomorrow. Building out a quieter box for an esxi server, my Proliant is to noisy and big. Thanks again, hope you have a great 
week.

Frankie B

Question 4

3 Questions, will be glad if anyone can answer any of them if not all:

1)  Can this mobo use aftermarket cpu cooler like corsair h55 all in one coolers?  I am worried about the backplate these come with

2)  Will I be able to use current/long graphics cards or will the heatsinks for the chipset get in the way?

3)  Does anyone know if this will fit in a NZXT 820 case?

Accepted Answer

1- IMO the motherboard can take any 1366 compatible cooler.

2- Any video card will fit considering you have plenty of space, but part of your card will be on top of the heat sinks.

Some have complained that these sinks are not enough to cool down the raid controller and may lead to unexpected shutdowns.

I read of one case where the heat sinks where replaced with a custom water cooled ones, which may help.

In my experience the heat sinks work just fine. However I haven't installed a high end gpu.

3- Supermicro builds this motherboard with their custom cases in mind. For example the stands to mount it are mostly in a custom layout (I tried to mount it in lian li case and only a few fit).

Also this motherboard has a custom layout for the connections in the back, which means that it won't fit in standard cases. Some had made it fit but cutting a few inches to the side of the case.

Lastly, the controller for the front buttons and lights is also custom.
The manual has detailed instructions on which pins do what, and some have used standard cases/pins. They will work but you will loose functionality, not to mention it is a pain to connect single pins.

My opinion is that you should save yourself some trouble and stick with SuperMicro's cases. They are high quality and you will have a much better experience; Unless you are a modder and really enjoy customizing and doing custom work.

This is a great motherboard but it is meant for a server.
Keep in mind that these were meant to be installed in their SM cases.

Question 5

What kind of power supply do i need to fully run this thing?

Accepted Answer

It needs 2 8-pin 12 volt CPU power connectors and a 24 pin ATX power connector. I'm using a Corsair RM Series RM850 850 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply, which is likely larger than it needs to be, but it is very efficient across a wide range.

Brand	SUPERMICRO
Model	MBD-X8DAH+-F-O

CPU Socket Type	Dual LGA 1366
CPU Type	Supports up to two Intel 64-bit Xeon processor(s) of the same type below: Intel Xeon Processor 5600 Series (Westmere) Intel Xeon Processor 5500 Series (Nehalem-EP)
QPI	Up to 6.4 GT/s

North Bridge	Intel 5520
South Bridge	Intel ICH10R
Other Chipset	2x IOH-36D

Number of DDR3 Slots	18 x 240pin
DDR3 Standard	DDR3 1333
Maximum Memory Supported	Supports up to 288GB* 1333 / 1066 / 800MHz DDR3 ECC Registered memory Supports up to 48GB 1333 / 1066 / 800MHz DDR3 ECC / Non ECC Unbuffered memory *16GB LRDIMM is required.
ECC Supported	Yes
Registered	Yes

PCI Express 2.0 x16	2
PCI Express x8	4 (x8) PCI-E 2.0 slots (1 in x16 slot)
PCI Express x4	1 x PCI Express x4

SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DAH+-F-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Enhanced Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series Server Motherboard

Learn more about the Supermicro MBD-X8DAH+-F-O

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SATA	6 x SATA 3.0Gb/s
SATA RAID	RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 support (Windows) RAID 0, 1, 10 support (Linux)

Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC888 7.1 HD audio
Audio Channels	8 Channels

LAN Chipset	Intel 82576
LAN Speed	10/100/1000Mbps
Max LAN Speed	1Gbps

PS/2	2
COM	1
Video Ports	D-Sub
USB 1.1/2.0	6 x USB 2.0
IEEE 1394	2 x IEEE 1394a

Form Factor	Enhanced Extended ATX
Dimensions (W x L)	13.68" x 13" (34.7cm x 33cm)

Item#: N82E16813182177