Help picking a reliable X79 board for workstation

[darkfoon]

Hello,

I am building a workstation to last me for several years. As such, I am prioritizing reliability and silence when selecting components.

The two choices I have narrowed myself to are the Intel DX79SI and the ASUS P9X79 WS.
The Intel is less expensive and has fewer PCI-e slots, but does have 1 PCI slot for that one legacy piece of hardware that I'm bound to need at some point.
The ASUS has more PCI-e slots and a PS/2 port (I have a great PS/2 keyboard I don't want to part with), but it also ~ $100 more than the Intel.
Both don't have fans on the chipset. A plus, because I hate the whine that chipset fans make.

TL;DR:
Intel DX79SI vs. ASUS P9X79 WS (vs. other, your suggestion)?
Owners please chime in.

Thank you

 

[readymix]

I've been on a WS series (x##) board of one type or another for the last 5 years or so and have been nothing but pleased with them, including the X79 WS since february. one caveat though, the RSTe drivers are causing problems with my pioneer ODD's, a problem that does'nt accure with the off the disk microsoft drivers. I do use the RSTe drivers though. I have mismatched video cards, a nvs 295 (for features of nview i use) and a gts 450, 8 memory modules at 1866 c9, a 4.6 ghz overclock off and on, mostly off though. up to 3 virtual machines going at once. jeez for me this thing is great. just peachy. it's early but i am expecting the same ecellent service i got out of the p6t6 ws.

 

[tynopik]

X9SRA has a ps/2 port

 

[darkfoon]

The X9SRA appears to lack the features I wouldn't use and have the features I would use.
But I can't find any reviews on it and I don't know much about Supermicro's reputation or the C602 chipset.
Care to comment?

Edit: I have a Supermicro box at work and while it seems fairly stable, it's pre-release firmware and acts up from time to time.

 

[Dkcode]

I have a ASUS P6T WS Pro X58 board and it is by far the most reliable and best motherboard I have owned.

It will be a sad day when I part with it.

I can't speak from experience but both the Intel board and ASUS board will serve you very well. If I did not require 1 PCI slot and I could afford the extra 100 notes I would go for the P9X79 WS based on my experience with the P6T WS.

 

[tynopik]

But I can't find any reviews on it and I don't know much about Supermicro's reputation or the C602 chipset.
Care to comment?

Supermicro has a decent reputation generally speaking, they do make a lot of server/workstation stuff.

That said, good look finding good info on any C600 series boards. I have been eyeing an E5-1620 setup for quite a while and and it's impossible to find any decent information on anything.

also some of these supermicro boards may use a nonstandard narrow heatsink mount

 

[darkfoon]

hmm, I have heard from two owners of ASUS WS boards so it sounds like maybe their WS boards are free from the quality control problems I have heard plague their other products. It doesn't appear, however, that it will fit in the Obsidian 550D.

But I like that the Supermicro board offers an upgrade path to a Xeon in the future.

I was really hoping to hear from some Intel owners.
Are there any Intel owners in these parts?

 

[darkfoon]

Thank you all for your input and help.

I went with the ASUS P9X79 WS.

I am very pleased with this decision

 

[Dkcode]

Thanks for posting back. Sorry you did not get any feed back regarding the Intel board.

I think you will be pretty well served by that board, it looks like one of the best X79 boards out there in terms of quality and features.

Did you end up buying a new case for it as well?

 

[darkfoon]

Yes, I had to get a different case for it, since the case I have would not accommodate the board in size or in cooling requirements.
I went with a Lian Li PC-A71F - Newegg had a massive sale on it and I got it for almost 100$ off what I would normally pay.

 

[dsc106]

How do the P9X79 Pro board compare to the ASUS P9X79 WS? In terms of reliability/quality?
Heard it mentioned that there were quality issues "plaguing" other ASUS boards?

 

[Dkcode]

Yes, I had to get a different case for it, since the case I have would not accommodate the board in size or in cooling requirements.
I went with a Lian Li PC-A71F - Newegg had a massive sale on it and I got it for almost 100$ off what I would normally pay.

Great looking case - looks more industrial, kind of goes with the workstation ethos

My system has a similar character also.

That is a solid looking build you have. How did you find the cable management on that Lian Li?