Based on the Intel 5520 north bridge and Intel ICH10R south bridge, the EVGA 270-WS-W555-A2 can accommodate up to two dual-core/quad-core Intel Xeon CPU for ultimate parallel processing power. With 12 240pin memory slots, it can support up to 48 GB triple-channel DDR3 memory to significantly improve the computing capability. You'll also appreciate seven PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots supporting up to 4-way SLI or CrossFireX for outstanding graphics performance, and dual Gigabit Ethernet LAN plus next-generation USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gbps connection for bottleneck-free data transfer.
Supports Dual Intel Xeon CPUPowered by Intel 5520 and ICH10R chipsets, the EVGA 270-WS-W555-A2 motherboard supports up to two multi-core Intel Xeon processors, providing the computing platform capability necessary for your increasing computing demand.
Scalable DDR3 MemoryTwelve 240-pin DIMM slots support ECC and Non ECC DDR3 memory at speeds of 800, 1066 and 1333MHz with triple-channel configuration, ensuring ample capacity for any application.
SLI or CrossFireX SupportThe EVGA 270-WS-W555-A2 features seven PCI-E 2.0 16x slots that support 2-way SLI, 3-way SLI, 4-way SLI or CrossFireX configuration, providing a jaw-dropping graphics level you never seen.
RAID SupportThe EVGA 270-WS-W555-A2 supports multi-level RAID configuration including RAID 0/1/5/10/JBOD for better performance, enhanced data security and flexible capacity upgrades.
USB 3.0Revolutionary SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology delivers up to 5Gbps bandwidth, which is 10x faster than USB 2.0 and boosts data transfer rate between PC and USB devices.
SATA 6GbpsNext-generation SATA Revision 3.0 interface provides up to 6Gb/s data transfer rates for enhanced performance, efficiency, convenience and flexibility.
Pros: After running a great Dell XPS for a few years, I wanted to go back to the self-build route again and put together something wonderful :). Was highly debating EVGA's 4-Way Classified or this (as it'd be easily $600+ more for the dual-Xeon route). Glad I went the SR-2 way now! Running 2x Megahalems / 2x EVGA 580s / SR-2 PSU with Xeon E5620s at 3.7 Ghz. If you're looking for a render machine or for video crunching, this board seems to simply beat anything else out there. I had to tap the mounting board of my PC-P80 for the last standoff to make it fit so this isn't a quick plug-and-play job. If you would like a fun project however, this board is superb and has nearly every feature you could ask for.
Cons: One would suggest price here but if you need the horsepower of dual Xeons, you know what you're getting yourself into. Noticed the E5645 six-cores are "only" a few hundred bucks more (they seem to have come down in price since I built this a few months ago) Oh well. That PSU does crank the volume up a bit there once you're pushing over 1,000 watts... Not unbearable but just a note there. As to whether a more adaptable solution suitable for the SR-2 exists without as much noise, I can not say firsthand. If you do plan on a fully loaded system though and use 2 or more 580s, certainly plan on 1,200+ watts. Apparently my previously highly rated review was removed for mentioning other aftermarket notes. Wow.
Overall Review: It's wonderful to pull up task manager and see 16 threads working away! Using this system as a production backbone and it really chews through whatever you put on it. Things like rendering compared to a traditional LGA 775 qua core are sped up by 4x or greater; video is a great deal faster for sure. If you crank out science, it will run BOINC / Rosetta at Home or Folding at Home at the equivalent of anywhere from 2 to 8+ traditional systems - it just has that much power going for it, coupled with the Westmere architecture. Haven't tried putting in more than 12 GB of RAM yet, but the Mushkin Redlines have generally been running fine. Timings are very lax as I've not gotten everything to be stable with them at JEDEC Spec. Maybe I've just hit the limits of what a good air cooling set up can do? It's an expensive purchase / investment but one that should serve for many years and I couldn't be happier with it. Highly recommended.