GIGABYTE Server GA-7PESH3 Motherboard Review

GIGABYTE GA-7PESH3 Conclusion

If we take the PC industry as a whole, and strip out the server and low end markets, the system-under-the-desk market is that mix of medium volume with medium pricing (vs. 100 million tablets or $1m racks). Of what is left, very few need a Xeon system and even fewer of that margin needs to use a dual processor arrangement. This is the realm of the 2P workstation, which GIGABYTE is trying to harness with the GA-7PESH3.

We are actually reviewing the GA-7PESH3 relatively late in its product cycle. We reported on the initial release back in January 2013, as the evolutionary successor to the GA-7PESH1 (which we reviewed here, also in 01/2013) intended for Sandy Bridge-E and Ivy Bridge-E Xeons. Workstation users are not often ones to upgrade at the immediate release of a new architecture unless the cost can be justified, so the relevance of the GA-7PESH3 is still important when the professional level of Haswell-E is around the corner.

For these 2P workstations, only Xeons will do. This also means the cost of the workstation shifts primarily towards CPUs, DRAM and add-in cards making the motherboard cost a rather small factor in the build. The GIGABYTE Server business unit typically sells to OEMs designing systems, but in selling to the public via retailers like Newegg, they come under increased scrutiny: users building their own workstations (or IT professionals building them for the company) will want to get the best of everything, no matter what the cost.

The GA-7PESH3 is designed to form the basis of a compute machine, rather than a virtualization workstation. The one-DIMM per channel memory arrangement, due to the size of the motherboard, limits users who need memory intensive virtual machines but might form the basis of a VM workstation for a small office for users who need lighter applications. This is also supported by the extended PCIe support across all seven full-length PCIe lanes, suggesting that seven single-slot GPUs, FPGAs, PCIe storage or RAID cards can be used. This can allow for a few VM users per card or one super user who needs specialist support.  The only other issue that arises here is that the motherboard has no extra power connectors for the PCIe slots, suggesting that if all the slots needed to draw the 75W as specified by the PCIe 3.0 standard, then 525W through the 24-pin ATX connector will start to cause issues. On the consumer motherboard side, we take issue when a 4-way SLI motherboard does not have an extra power connector, and this an obvious flaw.

Aside from the RAID card potential, the motherboard gives SAS and SAS a fair share of the board space, giving 8 and 6 ports respectively. Extra onboard Type-A USB 3.0 ports are present for software license dongles, with a USB 3.0 header to be used in conjunction with the 3.5-inch USB front-panel bracket included. Audio is via a Realtek ALC892 codec, and dual Intel 82574L GbE NICs provide connectivity. Like other boards in this segment, management is provided by an Aspeed IC via a network port, in this case running MergePoint software.

In general, workstation and server type motherboards tend to do badly in our tests. DPC Latency, audio results, power consumption, POST time and USB speed all fall below a standard consumer level product, with the BIOS and software packages limited. This seems a bit strange if you are coming from the consumer world, but motherboards like the GA-7PESH3 are built to do a job: provide support for dual Xeons, ECC/RDIMM memory, plenty of add-in cards, run 24/7 and a long-term warranty. End-user customers will get a 3-years warranty, while business users will have to discuss with GIGABYTE their long term needs.

GIGABYTE is improving the ecosystem around its Server range in recent quarters, with compatible Chenbro chassis as well as add-in cards for various networking (10 GbE) or storage (RAID/SAS) functions. However GIGABYTE’s main competition will be that $640 ends up quite expensive for a consumer purchase. Other competitors orient the CPU sockets for server use with restricted rear panel connectors and no audio, albeit with similar PCIe slot counts and at half the price. That might be a bit too much of a hurdle to overcome for the 7PESH3, but after looking at Newegg’s list of 2P LGA2011-0 motherboards as well as our testing, the GA-7PESH3’s main selling point will be the seven full length PCIe slots in a workstation form factor that also offers a proper rear panel IO and support for DDR3-1866 memory.

GIGABYTE's server division has told us that they are updating their line for Grantley (Haswell-E Xeons) sometime soon, however the 7PESH3 will remain on the market due to the extended lifecycle of the platform. Should there be a favorable price difference to move Ivy Bridge-E Xeon stock ahead of the Grantley release, motherboards like this come into play as a compute bound user might plan an upgrade if they still rely on a dual 1366 system.