ASUS Z8NA-D6C ATX Server/Workstation Motherboard

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The Price tag is quite nice... Dual Quad core, DDR3, Currently the fastest machine I have I could not discover a single

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Straightforward layout, excellent create excellent, very good documentation, space for all the stuff a typical workstation user would want, value None so far I've built the last 3 computers I've owned. This went into the 4th 1. Every little thing you need to have comes in the box. I was in a position to mount the card, install the CPUs and DIMMs, install the video & MIO cards and connect every thing up quickly. The layout is logical. Yes, it's compact but retain in mind that this is an ATX factor board squeezing in two CPUs and 6 DIMM slots... There are plenty of fan connectors. Standard 4 USB ports. I've already applied five SATA ports but, thankfully, it comes with SAS in case I need it. I'm operating it with two Xeon 2.26 Ghz processors, 8 GB of RAM, a quad-output video card and the MIO. Fired up like a charm the initial time and handles anything I can throw at it. No issues whatsoever. An great value. I'd acquire it once again.

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This was my 1st build and soon after a few initial bumps every little thing came together beautifully. It's technically a server board but the ATX form element and the acceptance of either ATX or server power produced things significantly less expensive, in particular since a dual quad can quickly add up in price. Also the selection for regular memory or server memory yet again tends to make quite a few choices available depending on how deep your pockets are. As quite a few other have said the intel heatsinks mounted perfectly with my e5520's and produced no fitment concerns. The MIO sound card came bundled for free of charge so I cant seriously complain. Operating dual nehalem for a fairly great price tag so seriously I cant complain. Initially off the board initially sent to me ended up becoming deffective, this getting my very first create and stating with a dead board I was not sure initially exactly where the blame fell. When I contacted asus they overnighted me a new board which worked perfectly so that solved that issue. The onboard video is sort of horrendous but as a workstation develop the gtx260 I'm utilizing takes care of any troubles. There is only one PCI-E two. port which is sort of inconvenient as nicely as there being no firewire assistance. General the board is good for the price and fit every thing into my situation with totally no fitment problems. Everything runs rapid and quiet and cool. I would surely advise this board if your on a spending budget, but if your not spring for the next model up (z8na-d6 without having the c) as it offers a handful of far more options and inputs.*on a side note the board supports ddr3 1333 mhz but most of the intel e5500 series only assistance ddr3 1066 mhz, I initially purchased 1333 but for some cause it would not downgrade itself as it should and would basically not operate which gave me some difficulty figuring out in the begging.*

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Common ATX Case, common ATX energy supply, all typical Computer class devices - a significantly less pricey and far more very easily implemented XEON 5500 series solution for a one-off than the typical rackmount case & energy provide essential in the past. Has been rock solid so far as a VMWare ESXi platform. As has been talked about, spacing is very tight. Non-Intel thermal solutions fairly much WILL NOT FIT! The ideal CPU cooler for use with this board (by far and away) when employed with the 5500 series Xeons appears to be the superior of the Intel 5500 series coolers - the STS100C referenced in the Intel support document beneath. http://www.intel.com/support/processors/xeon5k/sb/CS-030328.htmIt fit's beautifully on the board (even with two CPU's) is close to silent and runs really cool even under load.

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Supports dual 1366 processors for a reasonable cost.Supports lots of RAMOnboard RAIDDual onboard NICsBuilt for speed and throughput from the ground up. First board was DOA. I just really feel ASUS isn't the organization it once was.Be conscious that there is no option for a classic floppy whatsoever, so older OS's beware. (I had to slipstream server 2003 with the right drivers to get it to work)It could use additional SATA connections. Immediately after a raid, eSATA and optical drive, I necessary to get an additional controller card for a lot more SATA connections. A solid board, don't let my DOA encounter scare you away, but be conscious that this wasn't designed with older soft/hardware in mind.

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Value! Asus! No PCI-X, no on-board sound. This board is classified as a server board but it seems geared towards the gaming crowd. The only correlation to a server is that it can accept Xeon processors. There are many commercial applications where PCI-X cards are nevertheless in use such as SCSI u320 RAID. It appears as if ASUS is neglecting that portion of the market, forcing those loyal buyers to go elsewhere if they want dual 1366. It is understandable that they would opt for 1 PCI-X as an alternative of the usual two but they already have the architecture there and they limit it to standard PCI 66mhz. Our machines are used for particularly large graphic style. We often add a 512mb or bigger display adapter, while we always used on-board sound. Whilst we understand that quite a few servers only demand minimal display capabilities rather of sound, it would be great if ASUS left the typical on-board sound intact.

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This motherboard operates seamlessly once you get it setup and operating fantastic.- Good cost for Dual socket This is why I gave it -two eggs. The 1st motherboard I got from newegg was not registering two of the dimms. It was suppose to read 12 gigs of ram and it only read eight. Moving them around did not alter something. So I RMA it and get a new a single from newegg. I believed I was residence cost-free. I guess not.I get the new motherboard install it and load the OS. Boot up in BIOS ect almost everything seems fine. Until I moved the server to the basement and all of the sudden I noticed the BIOS reset. So I believed oh nicely the CMOS batter ought to be not in spot or what ever. It was just fine. I then identified out that the BIOS was resetting upon just about every power cord unplug. I changed the CMOS battery. Checked jumpers, updated bios. I won't name them all. But I known as ASUS and told them my frustrations. They stated sounds like you have a defective motherboard. I was not pleased two in a row. So insted of RMAing to Newegg. I RMA to ASUS, they overnight shipped me 1 and got it the next day. All is working nicely now. Other thoughts to my cons was if you like the board get it. I positive hope you don't have as poor of a time I did. But it certain is a nice board for a wonderful cost. When it's up and running it's seamless too.One particular other con is this board is quite cluttered. If you browse via other critiques on this mobo you will see people have problems fitting their CPU coolers next to every single other. I utilized Item #: N82E16835203002 had NO concerns what so ever it's a snug fit. Also the CPU cooler item I listed is a extremely quite fantastic cooler. Made by intel the fan's on the factor run at 8300 max speed. It will maintain any CPU great and cool. Those CPU coolers also will fit in a 2u server.

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I had no problems whatsoever developing a machine with this motherboard. Certain it is a bit of a tight fit, but I didn't have to make any mods to get almost everything to operate. As recommended I applied the Intel CPU fan/heatsink (BXSTS100A) for both CPUs and anything fit perfectly. I had no problem finding anything into a ATX tower case (Raidmax Smilodon)I am by no signifies an specialist. I've only ever built a handful of machines, it's just a lot more entertaining than buying a Dell. I genuinely had no difficulty with the build. I'm using the machine I built as a server. It'll be utilised for compiling code, and a lot of processing. I am not interested in video or sound for this machine and if I were, I'd be disappointed. The onboard video is a bit of a joke. But for what I'm making use of it for it's sufficient. So I don't really see this as a unfavorable for me. A lot more USB ports on the rear panel would be nice.The placement of the CPUs and DIMMs is a bit interesting. At least one particular of the CPU fans will finish up exhausting on the other CPU or the DIMMS.

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Can use non-ECC RAM, value, and lots of fan hook-ups. RAM slots are also close to CPU sockets; numerous 1366 coolers almost certainly won't fit. From the pics, it looks like Intel's coolers will fit ok, but no guarantee. I utilised the Thermaltake CLP0533 70mm, but I had to cut a couple of of the ends of the legs off to make it fit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item៷-106-138

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Incredibly simple to install, the suitable heat sink (Intel BXSTS100A) no dilemma. Filled all Memory slots with RDIMM, two X E5520, 4 X 128 GB SSD striped, ATI 5570 1 GB, Running 2008 R2 HyperV , SQL 2008, Windows 7, linux Only Con Memory only at 1066 with E5520 Dream machine will be applied for work lab, Database, Windows 7 workstation. Newegg 5 eggs constantly rapidly service excellent part descriptions and reviews.

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Other than what everybody else has written? None. Doesn't assistance X5680. Read on... Called ASUS ahead of placing together my technique...asked about every single portion just to verify that they will function. The tech on the other line told me that the memory would function, my FirePro V8800 will operate, and my Xeon X5680 will work. Nicely, he was DEAD Wrong. After putting the workstation together it turned on but had no video. Tried to boot it with out the GFX card identical factor. Tried booting it without the Memory and got no beeps. Named ASUS again and was told that if the memory didn't beep, something was wrong with the CPU. Then he tells me that the X5680 isn't supported...so now I have to return it and wait until I get the X5670, which I was assured on multiple occasions will work.Newegg was really useful with the return procedure. I just wish they did exchanges for other items.I am going to take a guess that the cause the X5680 doesn't operate is due to the fact it's 130W compared to the other supported chips which are at most 95W.

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Quickly and cost-effective. Not a lot of space and not a lot of connectivity. I had large issues woth the onboard network card and there is no PCI-1x slot (only a MIO audio card slot for an audio card that I can't find anyplace and it looks precisely like a pci-1x slot but the manual says it is compatible. The ram is stuck among the processor and the video card and it must be heating a lot because of that. Does anybody know where I can find a MIO audio card so I can cost-free the pci card to add a working NIC?

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I have had no troubles with this motherboard.The Asus driver installation app included on the CD installed all the drivers with out my attention (Windows Server 2008 x64). Three DDR3 slots per processor Preserve in mind that you Ought to have two processors installed in order to use all six DDR3 slots.

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asus has often been very good.. unfortunate to get one with no updated bios for xeon 5600 westmere support, must use xeon 5500 initially to flash bios unfortunate to get one without having updated bios for xeon 5600 westmere support, must use xeon 5500 initial to flash bios- either that or the board is dead, method posts but black screen BUT no beeps, memory tested fine on an additional machine, each cpus tested fine on one more machine, installed video card and employed onboard video as properly - no luck. ASUS,i want to know if i can bios flash with no installing older 5500 series, i dont have a spare.

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This motherboard is a good thing for those of us that want some power in our workstation. I'm present running a single Xeon 5530 cpu and 12GB of memory. I strategy to add an additional cpu and 12 much more GB of memory to max it out. Couldn't be happier. I'm operating Windows 7 and VMWare Workstation. I only have a few VMs but all are operating really nicely. No frills motherboard when it comes to added capabilities. I would have like a couple of of the following:- Far more USB ports- Firewire Ports or bracket- On Board Audio- A lot more SATA ports All in all I am pleased with the features vs. price I paid for this model.

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ATX form factor is a large plus. Dual LGA 1366 slots are located practically exactly horizontal permitting my heatsink on the second cpu to generate a airflow, which creates less air resistance for the air going more than the first cpu. Came with an ASUS MIO audio card as a combo deal. Dual NIC is good feature so I don't have to waste pci slots. Only 1 PCI-E slot, I utilised it for a GPU. The sata ports are straight up which is a life saver instead of facing towards the front of the case. Triple channel support for DDR3. Single 8-pin CPU connector needed not two. Not much room among the heatsinks and the ram slots. I had to modify the edges of my heatsinks to fit. All I did was round the edges of my retention clip for my consumer based heatsinks. I wish the raid was hardware based and didn't need drivers. I guess they won't move beyond a hard drive controller with extra characteristics. Only two usb slots in the rear. I would rather have 4 usb slots in stead of having the two p/s two slots. No retention clip for the pci-e, not that I need to have it, but it appears pretty common on consumer boards. Running 2(two) Xeon 5530's with turbo they usually run at 2.8ghz over the regular two.4ghz. Getting 16 cores Ƙ physical x 8 logical) makes visualization considerably quicker and responsive. I use this as a workstation for video editing and my encoding occasions are around 60% quicker then my single O.C. quad-core. A single quad was fast, but I couldn't do something even though encoding. At least with two cpu's I can continue to work on other projects as the pc encodes in the background. Windows 7 has problems in load balancing (and clock interrupt BSODs) compared to Linux. I just run windows 7 in a virtual machine instead now when I require it. I've by no means seen an onboard usb slot above the sata ports just before. I suppose this is for holding drivers at all occasions?

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cheap for a dual 1366 mb. nicely, i can't think this is an asus. they welded the heatsink back support so that means you have to use a heatsink thatɅ. utilizes screw to fastentwo. makes use of precisely 3.5mm screwsin addition, due to the fact the support is welded in the back, you can't get rid of or replace it so that indicates you can't use heatsinks that come w/ their own back support either. (i.e. noctua) so far, I am still getting trouble finding suitable heatsink to use w/ this mobo... can you believe a mobo can be defunt due to heatsink compatibility concern??? duh.... this is my 1st asus board and will be the last! Manufacturer Response:Dear Valued Customer,For help with installing heatsink, please get in touch with our Technical Support Department at http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx and reference case number "NE395176".Ideal Regards,ASUS Support Team

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Solid. BIOS might be outdated. * read other thoughts on a fix * You can call Asus in the USA at 812-282-2787 op 1 op three. Give them your serial # and they'll tell you your manufactured date. If your board was manufactured before March 2010, you will have an outdated BIOS. IF that is the case, they will sell you an updated BIOS chip for ŭ + ฟ ground shipping (from IN) or ษ overnight shipping. You just pop off the old chip and put on the new 1, then boot up with a 5600 series CPU.Newegg might credit you up to ษ for your trouble, considering that the headline of this motherboard says 5600 CPU support.

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Attractive and colorful motherboard. I enjoy to make an art work with. I returned two mother boards, they simply do not power up. I changed two energy supplies but no use. Customer service is terrible and one guy was rather rude. I was huge fan Asus for 10 years. Some how they are not the very same anymore with high quality and service. Do not go anywhere close to it, if you are not an expert in motherboards.

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i love it, entry level WS board, cost/quality ratio wise i believe is worth the price. It has all the attributes i necessary and serves me perfectly. Installation was simple, no hassels, no hickups. Method: 2xXeonE5520, IntelBXSTS100 coolers, 12GB Patriot DDR31066, HighPoint Rocket Raid2640x4, 4x Fujistu MAX3147RC SAS, Samsung DVDSL223l, CreativeSBX-FIXtremegamer Audio, FSP MOD 700 PSU, MSI , ATI Raedon HD4670, 2x Hanns-G HH24, and an old noname full tower. OS: Windows Server 2008 R2, boot up time is about 30 sec ( mainly b/c of the spin up time needed by the drives) none for me, am actually actually happy with the good quality. System is running 8 VMs, and is employed for database testing, db application design, interface style

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ATX form factor is a genuine money saver. I've got it in an Inwin full tower ATX case and it fits fine except I had to move the HDD down to the bottom slot to clear the heatsink/fan on the 2nd CPU. The two CPUs are inline so that the fan from the front one blows via the heatsink and onto the second one. Still it seems to run somewhat cool though I've not extensively stressed the system. I'm hoping for a BIOS update to support the upcoming Westmere procs.

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This has been a great motherboard. I am using it in a workstation, rather than a server. The only issue I have had is that there is a 20-30 second delay before POST. ASUS tech support had a few suggestions, but none of them fixed it. I can live with it, since I usually just start it once at the beginning of the day.I would definitely recommend this motherboard to anyone looking to get a multi-CPU workstation.

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The chipset gets a little hot (maybe 50c+ when the mobo is not idle). The space between cpu's is also a tad ridiculous. In fact, using hsf that blows the air toward the rear of the case might not be a good option...(it makes one of my cpu go like 10c other than the other) Better off using a straight hsf that blows air directly on cpu heatsinkStill... It is an affordable dual cpu board