ASUS Announces the X99-E WS Workstation Motherboard

[Some Hack]

Whoever said that ECC doesn't work. Need to do some research before buying.

The Asus X99-E WS's specifications exclude ECC DRAM support. Beginning at 2:24 in this video on Newegg, an Asus representative states the X99-E WS motherboard does not support ECC DRAM. The Asus X99-E WS does not support ECC DRAM.

 

[Some Hack]

We're looking for X99- or C610 series-based 1P Xeon motherboards specifically for ECC support. The whole point in buying a 1P Xeon is ECC support. We won't be using the X99-E WS because it doesn't support ECC.

The Asrock X99 WS, for comparison, claims ECC DRAM support, so we'll probably end up using something like that. But the X99 WS has other limitations. It only includes one four-pin PWM chassis fan header (?!) and, perhaps reasonably, doesn't provide any enormous SATA Express ports.

 

[Some Hack]

Oops, that may be wrong.

People, like me, may have been confused by Asus' mixed messages about ECC support on the X99-E WS motherboard. Asus' current US specifications for the X99-E WS motherboard exclude Xeon and ECC support, but Asus' current global specifications for the X99-E WS motherboard include Xeon and ECC support. Beginning at 2:24 in the "ASUS X99-E WS Motherboard Interview" video on Newegg, an Asus representative states the X99-E WS motherboard does not support ECC DRAM.

I presume the X99-E WS supports Xeon CPUs and ECC DRAM, like the X79-based Asus P9X79 WS and P9X79-E WS motherboards. But considering Asus' contradictory claims, can anyone confirm ECC support on the X99-E WS? We'd like to use a bunch of these motherboards in new workstation builds, but ECC support is a requirement.

 

[NeoConservativeHawk]

http://www.asus.com/Commercial_Servers_Workstations/X99E_WS/

Personally I think this is a great improvement over its predecessor, especially the looks and rear IO connectors.
Regarding the Error Checking & Correction memory support, Asus states the following:

Memory

8 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 3200(O.C.)/3000(O.C.)/2800(O.C.)/2666(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory *1
Quad Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Supports DDR4 ECC RDIMM with Intel® Xeon® processors E5 series in the LGA 2011-3 Socket
* Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
* Refer to www.asus.com for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).

Source: http://www.asus.com/Commercial_Servers_Workstations/X99E_WS/specifications/

Taking a look at the support site
http://www.asus.com/Commercial_Servers_Workstations/X99E_WS/HelpDesk_QVL/
in search of memory and Device support, leads the following memory Qualified Vendors List [PDF]:
dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Socket2011-R3/X99-E_WS/Manual/X99-E_WS_MEMORY_DDR4_non_ECC_UDIMM_QVL_140911.pdf

Regarding the newly released Asus Z10PE-D8 WS motherboard,
http://www.asus.com/Commercial_Servers_Workstations/Z10PED8_WS/overview/
and its announcement on TPU
http://www.techpowerup.com/205146/asus-announces-the-z10pe-d8-ws-dual-socket-motherboard.html
I asked asus customer support about the state of ECC Ram support for this particular model.
A few hours later I got this response (quoted with explicit permission of all parties involved):

Greetings Mr. ____________,

I am sorry that you are having issues with the motherboard.

Please note that as of date the memory QVL has not been completed, in fact it still is in its early stages. You can verify that yourself by taking a look at this page:

http://www.asus.com/Commercial_Servers_Workstations/Z10PED8_WS/HelpDesk_QVL/

or directly at the actual state of the memory QVL:
dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Socket2011-R3/Z10PE-D8_WS/QVL/Z10PE-D8_WS_Memory_QVL_140904.pdf

As stated in the specifications, (8 x DIMM, Max. 512GB, DDR4 2133/1866/1600/1333 MHz RDIMM, LR-DIMM, NVDIMM Memory Quad Channel Memory Architecture), the motherboard certainly supports Error-correcting code memory. In fact, by checking with the memory QVL, unfortunately only one vendor is listet at this time, you can see that the SKhynix modules tested are fully supported.

Vender: SKhynix
Vendor P/N: HMA41GR7MFR4N-TFTD
Size: 8GB
Module Spec: DDR4-2133 ECC/REG CL15
Rank: 1
Memmory Chip: SKhynix H5AN4G4NMFR-TFC
Register Clock Driver: IDT 4RCD0124KC0ATG

Please be patient, we will do our best to continously update and expand the memory QVL in the following weeks and months to provide you with the best support possible.

You can rest assured that all current Asus LGA1150, 2011 v3 WS Motherbards that support designated Intel Xeon E3-1… v3, E5-1… v3, E5-2… v3 Haswell Processors also fully support ECC Ram, in fact missing such an essential feature would be pointless for a workstation product.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

Lin
ASUS Customer Loyalty
cc-lin@asus.com

Edit: The provided function has been used to make the links clickable.

 

[fsharpn00b]

Thank you for that NCH. I was curious about the Z10PE-D8 WS as well.