Intel Xeon E5-2609 v2 - Compatible Motherboards

[Gautam S]

Hi, I already own a Intel Xeon E5-2609 v2 which has a Ivy Bridge - E chipset, I am confused which motherboards are compatible. It has a 2011 LGA socket, their are several chipsets with 2011 LGA socket.

I read through http://www.techspot.com/guides/502-intel-ivy-bridge/page3.html this article and even more confused. I am basically looking for 32GB DDR3 memory and need SSD support board and looking at a less expensive one to build a Vmware lab at home.

 

[Calculagator]

The consumer chipset that supports that chip is X79. The server/workstation chipset is C600 series (C602 is probably what you want).
You can know you are looking at the wrong thing if it supports DDR4.
Here are some newegg links:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007627%20600238945
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007629%20600038392%20600287814%20600287667

 

[Gautam S]

Good lord, both X79 and c600 series motherboards seems to be so expensive. Would you suggest this ASUS Rampage IV Gene LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard ?

 

[Calculagator]

That looks ok. It may not support ECC ram and would require you to use 4x 8GB sticks to reach 32GB. You might also be able to find a bare-bones workstation either used or open-box. Something like a Dell T5600/T7600 or Lenovo C30/D30/S30 would work for your cpu.
Here's a link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-PRECISION-T5610-Barebone-Workstation-Build-your-own-System-/321680862904?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae5ac6eb8
For less than $300, you get a solid motherboard (with support for a second CPU), a decent case, a cpu cooler, and a nice PSU. It won't make a great gaming machine, but it would be good for Vmware.