Pros: Comes in a super-tiny package. You'll wonder exactly where the product is when they ship it!

Cons: It's nothing more than a tiny chip to activate features that already exist in your motherboard. And if you got the S1200BTLR, you'll regret having bought this because the KVM features are really buggy. You need to allow the very insecure Java applications to run from the built-in web interface (getting this to run from a Macintosh is tricky now, since Apple is constantly sending updates which automatically disable almost everything web-Java related).

Overall Review: I bought the S1200BLTR motherboard because I wanted IPMI KVM features. I did not realize that this required buying an extra feature. If you care about testing out this feature, make sure you have both of these parts in your hand so you can start testing RIGHT AWAY otherwise the clock begins ticking on your 30-day newegg return window. If you're trying to install Ubuntu 12.04, you'll find that not only are the video modes not supported well, but even getting the BIOS screen to show up is hit or miss. I have yet to figure out why the Virtual CD-ROM emulation doesn't work. It gives me this error that says it's "Not supported on this platform". Oh really? It's not supported on the VERY platform this product was designed to be used for? Just FYI, without the RMM4LITE module, the IPMI web interface will work without the KVM feature - it just means you are limited to turning on, turning off, and resetting the system. You can also read the system event error log (and clear it), and read the sensors (temperature, fan speeds). But if you're looking for the iKVM features like what you find on Supermicro motherboards, you will be disappointed. That's hard to do, given that the IPMI on Supermicro motherboards are not exactly stellar either.

Pros: Clear documentation, Intel support website, regular firmware updates. Ivy Bridge support out of the box, nice low power consumption when coupled with a low-powered cpu.

Cons: Not clear that KVM IPMI support requires purchasing an extra RMM4LITE product, broken KVM features, possibly bad quality control and/or bugs in the memory controller. High price for features that are not working correctly. Making sure your fans run correctly requires downloading and running a special UEFI FRU update which asks you which fans are connected and how you want the fan speeds to operate - not bad once it's configured, but this kind of thing should be in the BIOS, not a FRU firmware update.

Overall Review: I bought this motherboard primarily for one feature - it offers remote KVM, also commonly found as an IPMI feature. Supermicro has offered this for many years and it's a wonderful feature because it simulates, through a web interface and java application, a real keyboard, mouse and video console that you can control, along with a virtual CD-ROM and floppy disk so you can do a complete install (and re-install) of the system without having to actually hook up a keyboard, mouse, monitor, or even have a local CD-ROM or USB stick. When it works, it's a remote admin's dream come true. Unfortunately, that's where this motherboard falls short. It was NOT obvious that this motherboard will not do the KVM functions until after you purchase another $40 add-on, the RMM4LITE which as far as I can tell is just a tiny dongle which activates the already built-in KVM features. The second misleading thing is, not matter what I do, I can't get the Virtual CD-ROM feature to work - all I get is a message that says "CD-ROM redirection is not supported on this platform" - oh really? The other thing is, the KVM appears to be extremely picky about video modes. The only reliable video mode it seems to support is the initial screen where you quickly press F2 to get into the BIOS configuration menus. Even then, half of the time the screen goes blank, and you have to log-out of the IPMI interface, connect back in and the screen will refresh and pick up where it left off. Even now that I have Ubuntu Server 12.04 installed, the console only shows up about half of the time. The only feature that is reliable is the power-on adn reset web interface, and the sensor outputs which show various temperatures and fan speeds. The other problematic issue is this motherboard supports Dual Channel Symmetric memory when you put 2 identical DIMMs in slots A1 and B1. Right now I'm thinking the motherboard has a problem because whenever I put my 2 pieces of 8 GB of memory in, within about 7 days I get kernel panics. However, if I put them in slots A1 and A2, which is the slower single-channel mode or I run only with one DIMM at a time, everything works just fine. So effectively I have a motherboard with only 2 out of 4 functioning DIMM slots because if I fill in 3, the Dual Channel Symmetric mode kicks in and my memory becomes unstable. These exact memory DIMMs are explicitly listed on Intel's website as tested and approved for use with this motherboard, so I doubt it's a compatibility issue. Supermicro offers a board with a fully functioning IPMI without the need for a $40 add on for $190. This board, when you add the RMM4LITE, costs $260. For that extra money you would hope things would work better, not worse. Unfortunately, since the memory issues took close to 4 weeks to diagnose and RMM4LITE did not ship until my 30-day return window expired I am stuck with this board. I hope I don't ever need more than 16GB or I will have to buy something else.