ASUS Intros a Pair of C246 Based Workstation Motherboards

[btarunr]

ASUS introduced a pair of new workstation motherboards based on the new C246 chipset, designed for Xeon E-2100 series socket LGA1151 processors. These include the WS C246 Pro (ATX form-factor) and WS C246 M Pro (micro-ATX). Both boards also support 8th generation Core, Pentium, and Celeron "Coffee Lake" processors. The cornerstone of both boards is a zero-bling design that focuses on features relevant to workstations. The WS C246 Pro draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and an optional 6-pin PCIe power. An 8-phase VRM conditions power for the CPU, which is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory with ECC support. Expansion slots include two reinforced PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 with both populated), two additional x16 slots that are electrical gen 3.0 x4 and wired to the PCH; and two gen 3.0 x1 slots.

Storage connectivity on the WS C246 Pro includes eight SATA 6 Gbps, an two M.2 slots with PCIe gen 3.0 x4 wiring, each. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 gen 2 (one each type-A and type-C), and four USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel. Two USB 3.0 ports are put out as internal headers. There's also an internal type-A USB 3.0 port meant for USB TPMs and security keys. Display outputs include one each of D-Sub, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. There are two 1 GbE interfaces, both driven by Intel-made controllers. 8-channel HD audio makes for the rest of it.



The WS C246 M Pro looks better laid out for the enterprise environment, with four DDR4 UDIMM slots along the top of the PCB, and power connectors (24-pin ATX + 8-pin EPS) along the right corner. The CPU VRM is a simpler 6-phase fare. Expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16, PCI-Express x8, and PCI-Express 3.0 x1. Display outputs include DP, HDMI, and D-Sub. 2x 1 GbE ports make up networking. Blank traces reveal there could be a variant in the works with a proper IPMI remote management chip.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[eidairaman1]

Well they kept their cost down by the monochrome color scheme, but I miss blue being used and maybe some color coding. Blacks great in all but after so long its meh, RGB lighting doesn't cut it.

 

[dj-electric]

Well they kept their cost down by the monochrome color scheme, but I miss blue being used and maybe some color coding. Blacks great in all but after so long its meh, RGB lighting doesn't cut it.

Hey, at least the ATX one has VRM cooling that somewhat represents actual heatsinks.

 

[ebivan]

Finally, some bullshitless hardware for grown ups! No RGB crap for 11 year olds! I love it!

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

hmm finally some serious hardware from ASUS. Sure RGB is overrated, so seeing a decent board without those stuff is a welcoming change.

 

[Caring1]

Pity the Xeons are still very restricted, 6 cores/ 12 threads and only up to 4.7GHz using turbo boost2.
Hardly worth getting the Motherboard for that aspect alone.

 

[notb]

Pity the Xeons are still very restricted, 6 cores/ 12 threads and only up to 4.7GHz using turbo boost2.
Hardly worth getting the Motherboard for that aspect alone.

I guess it quickly becomes worth getting, if you need a Xeon-based PC.

 

[BadFrog]

Pity the Xeons are still very restricted, 6 cores/ 12 threads and only up to 4.7GHz using turbo boost2.
Hardly worth getting the Motherboard for that aspect alone.

Your talking about entry level xeon... if you want more cores, why not go for E5 or higher

I guess it quickly becomes worth getting, if you need a Xeon-based PC.

Only if you need ECC memory support.

 

[notb]

Only if you need ECC memory support.

Because of any reason - ranging from actual advantages (like ECC) to corporate regulations.