phix314
09-27-2008, 10:21 PM
So I thought I'd put a little story, if you will, that will hopefully help someone out and avoid the headache that I endured getting my workstation built...
Considering the cost of a dual cpu computer ($4k+), I decided to build, gathering components as I went. I decided on the following:
Asus DSEB-DG/SAS Motherboard
Intel Xeon 2.33ghz Harpertowns
ATI HD3870
Antec P190+1200 Case
First thing was first. Getting all the parts plugged in was easy. There's a jumper on the board that controls the onboard VGA. Gotta be changed to get the card to work. READ THE MANUAL.
Rendering was great, all 8 cores welcomed on XP 32 bit. Only had 2gb of RAM at the time, considering the cost of the FB-DIMMs. After I bought a sound card (the DSEB has onboard video, no audio), it pooped after about a week. Nada. Credited it to the PSU getting overloaded, and upon talking to Asus tech support and looking at the output of the 1200w dual PSU on the case, it wasn't enough. It may have been 1200w, but it was across a few rails and at most <60 amps. This board needs power. "As close to 80 as you can...on as few rails as possible..." says Asus.
So, few weeks, one wrong power supply, a few more headaches later, still nothing. Board won't post. Nada. I thought it may have been blown. Again, spoke to Asus, and they explained to me that the particular BIOS version on the board (1004 at this time) in incompatible with that particular Xeon series. So, now, I'm waiting on my new BIOS chip, to arrive on monday.
Wow.
So, important points for anyone thinking of this board combo:
- It's not a gaming board at all. The layout of the PCI-E slots takes some creativity to ensure sound, video, and extra USB/Firewire are allowed. It would appear at this point that out of video, audio, and storage/other inputs, choose 2. It will not allow all your cards and tri GTXs.
- There is no onboard 1394 port, and only one USB on the board itself. So choose your peripherals wisely. It has a few USB in the back, but not 15 like some would like.
- This case is great. If you buy it new. Check the specs on the PSU... don't let the 1200w numbers fool you.
Other than these, I really liked it when it was running, but it's still a new board, so the kinks are being worked out (like this BIOS issue). Asus was really good at helping me get the problems worked out. So kudos for that.
Hope this helps someone :)
Considering the cost of a dual cpu computer ($4k+), I decided to build, gathering components as I went. I decided on the following:
Asus DSEB-DG/SAS Motherboard
Intel Xeon 2.33ghz Harpertowns
ATI HD3870
Antec P190+1200 Case
First thing was first. Getting all the parts plugged in was easy. There's a jumper on the board that controls the onboard VGA. Gotta be changed to get the card to work. READ THE MANUAL.
Rendering was great, all 8 cores welcomed on XP 32 bit. Only had 2gb of RAM at the time, considering the cost of the FB-DIMMs. After I bought a sound card (the DSEB has onboard video, no audio), it pooped after about a week. Nada. Credited it to the PSU getting overloaded, and upon talking to Asus tech support and looking at the output of the 1200w dual PSU on the case, it wasn't enough. It may have been 1200w, but it was across a few rails and at most <60 amps. This board needs power. "As close to 80 as you can...on as few rails as possible..." says Asus.
So, few weeks, one wrong power supply, a few more headaches later, still nothing. Board won't post. Nada. I thought it may have been blown. Again, spoke to Asus, and they explained to me that the particular BIOS version on the board (1004 at this time) in incompatible with that particular Xeon series. So, now, I'm waiting on my new BIOS chip, to arrive on monday.
Wow.
So, important points for anyone thinking of this board combo:
- It's not a gaming board at all. The layout of the PCI-E slots takes some creativity to ensure sound, video, and extra USB/Firewire are allowed. It would appear at this point that out of video, audio, and storage/other inputs, choose 2. It will not allow all your cards and tri GTXs.
- There is no onboard 1394 port, and only one USB on the board itself. So choose your peripherals wisely. It has a few USB in the back, but not 15 like some would like.
- This case is great. If you buy it new. Check the specs on the PSU... don't let the 1200w numbers fool you.
Other than these, I really liked it when it was running, but it's still a new board, so the kinks are being worked out (like this BIOS issue). Asus was really good at helping me get the problems worked out. So kudos for that.
Hope this helps someone :)