The Intel W480 Motherboard Overview: LGA1200 For Xeon W-1200
by Gavin Bonshor on June 24, 2020 9:00 AM ESTChoosing The Right W480 Motherboard
The Intel W480 chipset is based on Intel's latest LGA1200 socket and is designed to support Intel's Comet Lake Xeon W-1200 processors. The Xeon W-1200 series ranges from 6 core 12 thread models, up to 10 core 20 thread models, with the highest spec processor, the Intel Xeon W-1290P, including a base frequency of 3.7 GHz, and a Thermal Velocity Boost clock speed of 5.3 GHz on a single core. This is fascinating for the entry-level workstation model, with such high clock speeds supported under a TDP of 125 W. All of Intel's Xeon W-1200 processors include an Intel HD P630 integrated graphics, and all of the W480 options currently unveiled include at least one form of video output on the rear panel.
A lot of the more premium W480 models include at least 2.5 GbE Ethernet controllers, with two of the most recently announced models including 10 GbE Ethernet. One interesting thing to note is that the vast majority of W480 models from the product stack include at least three USB 3.2 G2 ports on the rear panel, with the most premium models from the prominent four vendors including an Intel Thunderbolt 3 controller with dual Type-C connectivity on the rear panel. This is similar to some Z490 models, but with a different target market in mind.
Some of the most notable W480 models include the ASRock W480 Creator and GIGABYTE W480 Vision D, with triple PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, dual Thunderbolt 3 Type-C connectivity, with corresponding DisplayPort video inputs to allow users to reap the benefits of Thunderbolt. Another noteworthy model is the Supermicro X12SCZ-TLN4F with dual 10 GbE T-Base Ethernet with a more conventional design associated with Intel's Xeon range, with a green PCB, more simplistic design, and an Aspeed AST2500 BMC controller with physical and remote access available to the boards IPMI.
At the time of writing, only a few of the vendors has announced its W480 pricing, some of the fancier models including the ASRock W480 Creator, ASUS Pro WS W480-Ace and GIGABYTE W480 Vision D are likely to reach the top end of the market in terms of pricing. We even have a model from the legendary company DFI, although some of the finer details including visual design, hasn't been unveiled at this time. DFI primarily caters for the embedded market.
Regardless of the feature a user is looking for, below is a list of which models include specific features worth highlighting.
Choosing the Right W480 Motherboard | ||
Options | Size | Price |
10 Gigabit Ethernet | ||
ASRock W480 Creator | ATX | $450 |
Supermicro X12SCZ-TLN4F | mATX | - |
Wi-Fi 6 / 802.11ax | ||
ASRock W480 Creator | ATX | $450 |
GIGABYTE W480 Vision D | ATX | - |
Three or more PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 | ||
ASRock W480 Creator | ATX | $450 |
GIGABYTE W480 Vision D | ATX | - |
Eight or more SATA ports | ||
ASRock W480 Creator | ATX | $450 |
GIGABYTE W480 Vision W | ATX | - |
GIGABYTE W480M Vision W | mATX | - |
Three or more USB 3.2 G2 (Rear Panel) | ||
ASRock W480 Creator | ATX | $450 |
ASUS Pro WS W480-Ace | ATX | $280 |
GIGABYTE W480 Vision D | ATX | - |
Supermicro X12SCZ-TLN4F | mATX | - |
Supermicro X12SCZ-F | mATX | - |
Supermicro X12SAE | ATX | - |
Thunderbolt 3 | ||
ASRock W480 Creator | ATX | $450 |
ASUS Pro WS W480-Ace | ATX | $280 |
GIGABYTE W480 Vision D | ATX | - |
As and when more Intel W480 models are announced and unveiled, we will endeavour to keep this overview updated, especially when more details emerge in regards to the pricing.
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duploxxx - Thursday, June 25, 2020 - link
Intel don't need to compete with threadripper. This workstation chipset will move to all default OEM workstations as usual. OEM that are affraid to change anything on there portfolio because of R&D funding budgets from Intel to keep using there chipsets and cpu. IT will swallow it anyhow as they see still Intel as the only fit for business.... and also because the decision body is most of the time led by people who are sitting far to long at an IT desk thinking they still know anything about HW. 100000's of these workstations will just be business as usual, CVE, underwhelming core performance vs competition, heat, it does not matter the only thing OEM (Dell, HPinc, ...) will offer are Intel based workstation. We use 1000's a year asking several years to get an alternative into the Z offering from HPinc to getdecent pricing on +10 cores …. the only answer is "we will look into it"Dr_b_ - Monday, September 21, 2020 - link
"This doesn't even compete with Threadripper, much less Epyc."Its not trying to. TR and EPYC are in a different cost tier entirely. Why would you buy a TR or EPYC and pay more, if you didn't need the number of cores or lanes they offered, and if your workloads weren't going to utilize those cores or lanes. And if you needed those cores and lanes, you wouldn't be looking at this segment. Think edge computing tasks, SMB, storage, virtualization.
Intel also offers stability, and an IPC advantage, at least for now. Maybe ZEN3 comes along and changes the game, at least in terms of IPC, but the jury is still out on stability. Poor QA, insufficient testing and qualification, and really bad software, seems to be a systemic issue at AMD.
edzieba - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Different use-cases. If you buy a workstation with the attitude of "more cores must be more better!" you will very likely end up wasting money on a system that does not perform as well as one chosen for the tasks you will be performing.Deicidium369 - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Most people who opt for this board will use it as a small office server - and most would not even need to expand. Add a couple sticks of ECC or not memory, a couple of SATA drive and they would be set. several USB3.2 ports, 2.5Gb/s Ethernet and integrated graphics. Perfect small business server.MDD1963 - Saturday, June 27, 2020 - link
had a person on a forum tentatively planning on using an X299/ i9-7900X as the basis for a simple home media/file server build....(undoubtedly on a 1 GbE network at home, no less)Samus - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
I think the lack of PCIe 4.0 is the sole deal breaker. Intel has it on their high end server platforms, why hasn't this filtered down to the workstation...you'd think they would just tweak the same chipset - the silicon support IS THERE in Comet Lake CPU's as they have already announced Rocket Lake (the same microarchitecture as Comet Lake) will support PCIe 4.0 later this year. I mean what is that going to require yet another chipset?Two totally different platform launched in the same year, really Intel?
Deicidium369 - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Vast majority of small businesses who would opt for this CPU could care less about PCIe4 or more cores.Rocket Lake S will be built on the same process as Comet Lake - but will be basically a Tiger Lake in architecture (Willow Cove, Xe LP 24EU). Z490 will support PCIe4 on some boards - but Rocket Lake will launch with the Z590 which will be PCIe4. Will be great to finally have PCIe4 reach mainstream status. Same LGA1200 socket, different chipsets.
Samus - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
You are joking right? Why would somebody buy a high end workstation in June 2020 with PCIe 3.0, when PCIe 4.0 SSD's have been out for months and even the PlayStation 5, a VIDEOGAME CONSOLE, will have a PCIe 4.0 SSD next year, all the while Intel will be revising these CPU's and presumably the chipset around PCIe 4.0 within 6 months?Anybody buying into this platform is getting screwed. To say someone who wants a W1200 doesn't care about PCIe 4.0 is as ridiculous as saying someone who buys a Corvette doesn't care about 0-60.
PixyMisa - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Intel themselves are selling PCIe 4.0 SSDs. They just don't have anything that can use them at that speed.Foeketijn - Thursday, June 25, 2020 - link
No. These servers are the cheapest servers. That is the sole purpose. You want high end? You need a different platform. Box from the shelve. Install Windows server. Done.No upgrades, no performance parts. Just run it as long as it runs.