ASRock E3V5 WS: A Linux-Friendly Skylake Xeon Motherboard For Just Over $100

[phoronix]

Phoronix: ASRock E3V5 WS: A Linux-Friendly Skylake Xeon Motherboard For Just Over $100

Last month I shared my thoughts on the ASUS E3 PRO GAMING V5 motherboard as a $140 board supporting Intel Xeon E3 v5 CPUs via the Intel C232 chipset. That motherboard was nice, but if your budget is stretched thinner, the ASRock E3V5 WS sells for a little more than $100 and works quite nicely under Linux.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=23265

[starshipeleven]

They are just hinting at servers in the specs page, it's not aimed at servers. http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/E3V5%20WS/

Cuz a "server" without IPMI is a bit of a stretch, the lack of dual eth is also a big letdown for a server, and most servers don't usually need a single pcie x16 3.0, but as much x4/x8 pcie slots as possible for disk controllers or network controllers

Also, audio is a crucial subsystem for all servers so they thought about including it.

This is obviously a barebones workstation/gaming board, as the WS in the name implies. Actually nice for that, does not have any of the fat, lights, and garbage that fills the gaming mobos these days.

[WorBlux]

They are just hinting at servers in the specs page, it's not aimed at servers. http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/E3V5%20WS/

Cuz a "server" without IPMI is a bit of a stretch, the lack of dual eth is also a big letdown for a server, and most servers don't usually need a single pcie x16 3.0, but as much x4/x8 pcie slots as possible for disk controllers or network controllers

Also, audio is a crucial subsystem for all servers so they thought about including it.

This is obviously a barebones workstation/gaming board, as the WS in the name implies. Actually nice for that, does not have any of the fat, lights, and garbage that fills the gaming mobos these days.

They also have a place for a COM port on the board, but didn't bother to solder a header to it.

Also while there are 4x USB 3.0 Type A connectors in the Rear I/O there are only USB 2.0 header making it less than ideal for a gaming/WS board, unless you need a healthy amount of ECC ddr4 on the cheap..


Edit: Okay, see the USB 3.0 header now, it's just in a weird place over between the RAM and second PCI express slot.

[tuke81]

Realtek ALC892 audio codec, premium 50A power chokes, and an assortment of other ASUS extras. This low-cost Xeon E3 v5 motherboard is an ATX form factor.

I know that Asrock has been(or still is) Asus subsidiary, but I presume you really meant to say Asrock extras. Quite nice looking board, just lacking m.2 slot and no display outputs is quite surprising.

[starshipeleven]

They also have a place for a COM port on the board, but didn't bother to solder a header to it.
Also while there are 4x USB 3.0 Type A connectors in the Rear I/O there are only USB 2.0 making it less than ideal for a gaming/WS board, unless you need a healthy amount of ECC ddr4 on the cheap..

Uhm, on the rear there are 4 USB 3.0 ports, and also there is a 2-port USB 3.0 header on the board. Plus there are 2 USB 2.0 rear and a few headers on the board.

It's all stuff coming from the chipset.

From specs sheet:

- 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
- 1 x USB 3.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

- 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
- 4 x USB 3.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

[ElectricPrism]

After owning 2 ASRock boards - never again, both have weird defects so to me they have a 100% failure rate. I'm beginning to think that something you pay for when you buy a motherboard is the future firmware updates. ASRock's UEFI was a chore and I don't even have a drive select boot screen when I press escape because I can't read the artifacted graphics.

Pass.

[starshipeleven]

After owning 2 ASRock boards - never again, both have weird defects so to me they have a 100% failure rate. I'm beginning to think that something you pay for when you buy a motherboard is the future firmware updates. ASRock's UEFI was a chore and I don't even have a drive select boot screen when I press escape because I can't read the artifacted graphics.

Pass.

Can you say the model?

[WorBlux]

Uhm, ...

Ya I see it now, my OP updated to reflect.

[wawrzek]

Do you know if this mainboard support SGX?

[starshipeleven]

Do you know if this mainboard support SGX?

my guess is no. Did you try asking Asrock?

@Micheael this is the program that can test what this user asked for on linux https://github.com/ayeks/SGX-hardware