S5000VSA: Enabling 2 out of 4 Cores, Installing Windows 7, and Supporting NVIDIA Video Cards

[idata]

Hello.

I have 3 questions. Consider the following system.

server motherboard: S5000VSA

processor: L5520

The documentation says that the BIOS on the S5000VSA can enable or disable multi-core support.

That, to me, means enabling only 1 core or enabling all 4 cores in the L5520.

1. Is there a way to enable, say, only 2 cores?

2. Also, can Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) be installed on the aforementioned system?

3. Will the board support high-performance graphics cards like the ones from NVIDIA?

[Edward_Z_Intel]

I don't think a Xeon L5520 will fit the S5000VSA board. Can you double check your board/processor combination first?

[idata]

I mistyped the identifier of the processor. It is L5420.

The L5420 can, indeed, be plugged in to the S5000VSA.

[idata]

I mistyped the identifier of the processor. The correct identifier is L5420.

The L5420 is on the list of processors that Intel has tested with the motherboard, S5000VSA.

[Edward_Z_Intel]

To answer your questions:

1. Yes you're correct. There is no way to enable only 2 cores on S5000VSA. But why would you do that?

2. Windows 7 is not validated on S5000VSA. See http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s5000vsa/sb/CS-022698.htm Tested operating systems. Personally since Windows Server 2008 R2 is tested as "Installation Only", most likely you can also install Windows 7, but you're doing it on your own since if you encounter any issue you won't get support from Intel.

3. No S5000VSA only supports legacy PCI-32/33 video card like ATI RADEON 7000, as it doesn't have a PCI-E x16 slot.

It seems to me that you're looking for a workstation board not a sever board. Why don't you check http://www.intel.com/products/workstation/motherboards/S5000XVN/S5000XVN-overview.htm S5000XVN and http://www.intel.com/products/workstation/motherboards/s5520sc/s5520sc-overview.htm S5520SC?

[idata]

Thanks for the helpful information, Edward

I actually want the ability to manually select 2 out of 4 cores. So, the S5000XVN will not work for me. You suggested the S5520SC, but it has extra capabilities that I do not need. I prefer the S5500BC.

The S5500BC does allow enabling only 2 cores.

For the following platform,

server motherboard: S5500BC

processor: L5630

I have the following questions.

1. Can Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) be installed on the aforementioned system?

2. Will the board support high-performance graphics cards like the ones from NVIDIA?

[Edward_Z_Intel]

1. Windows 7 is not validated on S5500BC. You may probably install it on your own, but you won't get support from Intel.

2. No, the S5500BC doesn't have a x16 PCI-E slot. Again if you want add-in high performance graphics you should go with a workstation board.

[idata]

Thanks, Edward. Your answers have helped me to determine which board to purchase.