Yet another Intel C206 Mobo, by Intel

[nexusN]

Hi all,

I am still considering building a workstation with a C206 mobo, previously I considered ASUS P8B WS as it was the only C206 mobo on Earth(though Portwell has got one but I am not sure if this brand is an option, sorry for my noobness).

Now Intel has announced yet another C206 board, in mini-ATX form factor, modeled S1200KP.
http://www.intel.com/Products/Server/Motherboards/sb-s1200kp/S1200kp-overview.htm

Do you think I should wait for this board or go strict to ASUS P8B WS, if I am to buy a C206 board? Or an Intel board is worth-waiting for its stability and functionality(Provided that expansion is not needed)?

As I can see someone reporting that the P8B WS is broken in many ways and a finding from Anandtech indicated that the SATA3 port on Intel board is more stable:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4604/...air-patriot-ocz-owc-memoright-ssds-compared/2

Or I should actually get a C204 board then add a display card(while my concern is this wasted my E3-1235)?

Thank you.

 

[nikescar]

I am also interested in this model.

when could I buy it?

 

[nexusN]

I am also interested in this model.

when could I buy it?

That is still out of stock in almost all shops I have visited,
probably the delivery is not yet completed.
You may expect to have it by the beginning of Sep.

 

[nikescar]

While I was wating response, I found another C206 Xeon Board.

WADE-8011
Intel® Mini-ITX board with Intel C206 chipset supporting Intel®Xeon™ E3-1225 LGA-1155 processor based Mini-ITX with VGA/DVI/HMDI, Two GbE LAN, SATA RAID and AMT 7.0
http://www.portwell.com/products/detail.asp?CUSTCHAR1=WADE-8011


there were some attempts for group buy. but it is too late.
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=970825&page=3

I tried to send order form to portwell. but I don't think they would accept minial order.

 

[nexusN]

While I was wating response, I found another C206 Xeon Board.

WADE-8011
Intel® Mini-ITX board with Intel C206 chipset supporting Intel®Xeon™ E3-1225 LGA-1155 processor based Mini-ITX with VGA/DVI/HMDI, Two GbE LAN, SATA RAID and AMT 7.0
http://www.portwell.com/products/detail.asp?CUSTCHAR1=WADE-8011


there were some attempts for group buy. but it is too late.
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=970825&page=3

I tried to send order form to portwell. but I don't think they would accept minial order.

I knew this, but I am not familiar with Portwell,
and actually I am begging for an ATX form factor C206 board with more slots from Intel.....

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

At least as far as the S1200KP it will be a few weeks or more before this board hits the store. Right now I am not showing any of them at our Distributors, but they are on listed as an option so right now it is just a matter of time.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[Michael Meio]

There are some models of uATX C206 out there. The thing is that those are not still available in retail stores.

I was very interested on such arrangement (C206, Xeon) because of my concerns about stability in my line of work.. so, I had to go with a gaming setup until Intel releases the next Xeon lineup and MoBo manufacturers follow through widely (or at least in a better way than what we've seen these days).

IMO, the Sandy Bridge line should be available without the integrated graphics on the top models while keeping at least mild OCbility, cache size, number of cores/threads, etc. Xeon and the 206 were supposed to fit right there. Some say you could assemble a P67 with Xeon but there's limited literature from reliable resources.

Why we think about Xeon?.. Simply put, the embedded graphics in the Sandys are a waste for most (not all) users, it eats more power and of course, heats up more than the Xeon. Maybe the Xeon can't OC (not confirmed). But still, there's a segment of users left behind by this Xeon chips release.

Say for example, you need a graphics setup but you don't need all those PCIe that the P8B WS comes with.. You'd want to setup a mATX that at tops may be needing SLI and would love to have it stable and straight, so you'd love it with ECC memory.. There's no option out there for you because manufacturers have little interest in mATX C206. And that includes Intel itself.

That aside, still the P8B WS looks like a great choice and it's surprising that it is the only one out there (reachable) and it's still looking good.

Curious thing is HP, Dell and others do sell mATX setups with C206, so I think they're using MoBo's like the Portwell one..

Who knows, maybe the C206 is destined to be OEM exclusive and they don't want us messing around with it and squeezing more from the setup than any overpriced gaming Sandy Bridge one.. It would be quite interesting if people like me, who have interest in performance for other things than gaming or data processing got access to such platforms with plenty of choices, but I guess we're not part of the equation.

Meanwhile, I've built a gaming setup and will wait a year to see if the market allows me to build a decent mATX graphics workstation myself, as it should be, given that the CAD software industry has forced me to learn enough about hardware, that I just can't dig a tin-canned 4k dollar piece of crap components "workstation" from your local available distributor. Funny thing is, gaming enthusiasts are so busy decoding the tangled usefulness of marketing gimmicks attached as embedded technology in the chips, that they seem to have failed to realize other option's potential.

 

[nexusN]

There are some models of uATX C206 out there. The thing is that those are not still available in retail stores.

I was very interested on such arrangement (C206, Xeon) because of my concerns about stability in my line of work.. so, I had to go with a gaming setup until Intel releases the next Xeon lineup and MoBo manufacturers follow through widely (or at least in a better way than what we've seen these days).

IMO, the Sandy Bridge line should be available without the integrated graphics on the top models while keeping at least mild OCbility, cache size, number of cores/threads, etc. Xeon and the 206 were supposed to fit right there. Some say you could assemble a P67 with Xeon but there's limited literature from reliable resources.

Why we think about Xeon?.. Simply put, the embedded graphics in the Sandys are a waste for most (not all) users, it eats more power and of course, heats up more than the Xeon. Maybe the Xeon can't OC (not confirmed). But still, there's a segment of users left behind by this Xeon chips release.

Say for example, you need a graphics setup but you don't need all those PCIe that the P8B WS comes with.. You'd want to setup a mATX that at tops may be needing SLI and would love to have it stable and straight, so you'd love it with ECC memory.. There's no option out there for you because manufacturers have little interest in mATX C206. And that includes Intel itself.

That aside, still the P8B WS looks like a great choice and it's surprising that it is the only one out there (reachable) and it's still looking good.

Curious thing is HP, Dell and others do sell mATX setups with C206, so I think they're using MoBo's like the Portwell one..

Who knows, maybe the C206 is destined to be OEM exclusive and they don't want us messing around with it and squeezing more from the setup than any overpriced gaming Sandy Bridge one.. It would be quite interesting if people like me, who have interest in performance for other things than gaming or data processing got access to such platforms with plenty of choices, but I guess we're not part of the equation.

Meanwhile, I've built a gaming setup and will wait a year to see if the market allows me to build a decent mATX graphics workstation myself, as it should be, given that the CAD software industry has forced me to learn enough about hardware, that I just can't dig a tin-canned 4k dollar piece of crap components "workstation" from your local available distributor. Funny thing is, gaming enthusiasts are so busy decoding the tangled usefulness of marketing gimmicks attached as embedded technology in the chips, that they seem to have failed to realize other option's potential.

Dude, I am sharing the same idea or, pain with you.
In Hong Kong I even don't have the choice of taking ASUS P8B WS, the stupid disty here care only gaming boards. While I can get the Hardest overclocker boards to f with, I can't get a solid one to work with.

I ordered mine on 12-7 via Linke Computer but it just has not even a message for when it is arriving and I am now waiting desperately watching the value of all the components drops. I have prepared all the materials except this damn board since 24-7, which is around the expected arrival date of the board ordered.

I am building a workstation for many purposes, hosting website and may try to get it with cloud computing, that way I want to ensure its stability by using ECC RAM, got a pair of 4GB from Kingston.
The point for building this is that, first, currently I don't have the need of a discrete card, while I do want to preserve some display ability, E3-1235+C206 is a perfect solution for me with its cheap, low power consumption , and the P8B WS boards allows me to add a discrete video card when I needed with its PCI-E x16 slot, so that something like RemoteFX can be tried at later time.

C206 is the only solution on Earth allowing ECC+IGP+SB, while there is only one available C206 board, which is also the one and only board targeted to fit the E3-12X5 series CPU, this is frustrating and hard to understand.
Intel is asking ASUS P8B WS to support the whole series of E3-12X5 ....:thumbsdown: without delivering a solid C206 board themselves.

I am quite sure for next workstation I will not f myself with Intel, I can't see any sincere from their entry class server products.:'(

 

[Michael Meio]

Well, we have an Intel guy here. He knows that if you compare the physical lifespan of a 1155 socket Xeon with that of a Sandy Bridge used (not abused) with overclocking, you'd probably partially understand why the market is not pushing this way: Because the today's proud club of hardware "abusers" will be coming back to the store front soon.

You can say that perhaps Intel is not practicing what it preaches and perhaps you'd be right by just analyzing this contradiction we talk about: Why does my factory spits out a chip that we don't even care to develop decent platforms for them to run on?

The answer is: the 1155 Xeons may be too good, last too long and be too much of allure for our main target out there, so let's give it to the friends and family so they have their cut and we'll be happy for a while.

Maybe I'm ignorant, but to the best of my knowledge, there's no other side on this sphere.

 

[nexusN]

Well, we have an Intel guy here. He knows that if you compare the physical lifespan of a 1155 socket Xeon with that of a Sandy Bridge used (not abused) with overclocking, you'd probably partially understand why the market is not pushing this way because the today's proud club of hardware "abusers" will be coming back to the store front soon.

You can say that perhaps Intel is not practicing what it preaches and perhaps you'd be right by just analyzing this contradiction we talk about: Why does my factory spits out a chip that we don't even care to develop decent platforms for them to run on?

The answer is: the 1155 Xeons may be too good, last too long and be too much of allure for our main target out there, so let's give it to the friends and family so they have their cut and we'll be happy for a while.

Maybe I'm ignorant, but to the best of my knowledge, there's no other side on this sphere.

4 months have passed since the announcement of C206 and more ridiculously, the ASUS P8B WS too, and it has been alone on the C206 platform without any competitors...........I did not want to think in the dark side about some so called strategies