Which is better for a new build from scratch?

The ASUS. It uses current LGA 1700 CPUs, DDR5 and PCIe 5.0, and costs $339.99 versus $421.00. The Supermicro only makes sense if you already own a Xeon W chip.

Which supports more memory?

The Supermicro. It has 8 DIMM slots and takes up to 512GB of registered ECC LRDIMM, or 256GB of RDIMM. The ASUS tops out at 128GB of DDR5.

Is the ASUS worth the savings over the Supermicro?

Yes for most buyers. It is $81 cheaper as of November 3, 2026 and has newer PCIe and memory. The Supermicro's extra cost buys memory capacity and Xeon W support, not speed.

Which has faster storage options?

The ASUS. Its M.2 slots run PCIe 4.0 and it adds SlimSAS with SATA RAID 0/1/5/10. The Supermicro's M.2 and U.2 slots are PCIe 3.0 x4.

Can I use a consumer Intel Core CPU in the Supermicro?

No. The LGA 2066 socket takes Xeon W-2100 and W-2200 processors only. The ASUS LGA 1700 socket takes 12th and 13th Gen Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron.

Which is better for a multi-GPU workstation?

The Supermicro gives three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and SLI support, which suits several older cards. For one or two current GPUs, the ASUS dual PCIe 5.0 x16 slots are faster.

Pro WS W680-ACE Intel W680 LGA 1700 ATX Workstation Motherboard vs Supermicro MBD-X11SRA-O Workstation Motherboard

Buy the ASUS Pro WS W680-ACE for a new workstation build: it takes current LGA 1700 CPUs, DDR5 with ECC, PCIe 5.0 and has two 2.5Gb LAN ports. Buy the Supermicro X11SRA-O only if you already own a Xeon W-2100 or W-2200 chip and need 8 DIMM slots for large registered ECC memory. The ASUS is also cheaper: $339.99 at B&H Photo-Video-Audio versus $421.00 at DirectDial, both as of November 3, 2026.

Today the Pro WS W680-ACE Intel W680 LGA 1700 ATX Workstation Motherboard costs $81.01 less at its best price.

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