The GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 is a CEB form-factor motherboard that is aimed at users looking to build a professional workstation on the Intel C422 chipset with support for Xeon W processors. Some of the board's key features include dual Intel NICs, ten SATA ports, support for quad-channel RDIMM and LRDIMM DDR4 memory, and seven full-length PCIe 3.0 slots backed by a single Broadcom PEX8747 PLX chip.

Related Reading on C422 and Intel Xeon-W

• The Supermicro X11SRA Motherboard Review: C422 based Workstation for Xeon-W
• GIGABYTE Server Announces MW51-HP0 Motherboard: C422 for Intel Xeon-W
• The Intel Xeon W Review: W-2195, W-2155, W-2123, W-2104 and W-2102 Tested
• Intel Reveals Name of Next Generation Xeon D: Hewitt Lake
• Intel's Keynote at CES 2019: 10nm, Ice Lake, Lakefield, Snow Ridge, Cascade Lake

GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 Overview

The GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 hails from the company's server-based product stack and is specifically targeted at users looking to build a professional workstation. Intel’s Xeon-W range of workstation processors started filtering into the market in Q3 2017, with models ranging from 4-cores (Intel Xeon W-2123) all the way to 18-cores (Intel Xeon W-2195). Note however that despite the naming, the new 28-core Intel Xeon W-3175X isn’t supported by the MW51-HP0 since that that chip uses a different socket. Overall the MW51-HP0's aesthetics follow a very simple black and grey theme with silver aluminum heatsinks set upon an all-black PCB.

With a price tag of $567 from Amazon, the MW51-HP0 is a single socket workstation motherboard which offers professional features, of particular note being its seven full-length PCIe 3.0 slots, which are backed by a single Broadcom PEX8747 PLX chip. Altogether there are 64 PCIe lanes available, with the top three-slots taking lanes directly from the CPU and the remaining four being handled by the PEX8747 PLX.

On the storage side is a total of ten SATA ports with eight direct from the C422 chipset and the other two controlled by a Marvel 88SE9172 SATA controller. Other options include a solitary M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 slot with support for M.2 2242-22110 drives and a single U.2 connector with support for mini-SAS hard drives. Intel’s VROC is supported for users looking to use a PCIe RAID array including RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10.

Memory-wise the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 supports two types of DDR4 memory: RDIMMs up to 64 GB in capacity, and then LRDIMMs at up to 128 GB. A total of eight DDR4 slots are present and allow users to run memory in quad-channel memory mode, with a maximum capacity of up to 512 GB. The primary network controller set consists of two Intel I210-AT GbE NICs, which also offer support for teaming. Meanwhile audio support is provided by an older Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec. USB support is extensive, with a total of sixteen ports supported and ten of those on the rear panel alone. These rear ports are split between eight USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports and two USB 3.1 Gen2 ports (Type-A and Type-C).

 GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 Block Diagram

As it's been a while since our last Intel C422 chipset motherboard review, the Supermicro X11SRA, our test suite has been upgraded. In our non-UEFI POST time test the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 emerged with the shortest boot times among the boards we tested, including booting three times quicker than the Supermicro X11SRA C422 motherboard. The results in our DPC latency test also proved advantageous with a very strong showing in comparison to our other boards. And with our gaming tests – which are designed to show consistency – the 1080p results were exactly as expected, but at 4K the performance did seem a little off the mark by a couple of frames.

Intel’s Xeon-W processors do not officially support overclocking due to being multiplier-locked. So the only way to overclock them is through the BLCK, and the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 doesn’t include any overclocking options whatsoever. Compatible memory installed automatically runs at its rated speeds, so our Kingston 4x8GB DDR4-2666 CL19 kit's settings were applied by default, for example.

All told then, the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 seems designed to be a serious contender in the workstation motherboard space. With its extra PCIe lanes, VROC support, and overall workstation credentials courtesy of Intel's C422 chipset, it can support the kind of heavy CPU grunt and graphics computational workloads required for virtualization, simulations and other heavy workloads. And while aesthetics aren't a priority here, for a price tag of $567, Gigabyte didn't skimp there either. So the board has all of its bases covered.

Pages In This Review

1. Overview [this page]
2. Visual Inspection: Analysis of the Boards Components
3. BIOS and Software: Looking at the non-hardware portion
4. Board Features and Test Bed: The full specifications, and how we test
5. System Performance: Component testing, such as power, boot times, and DPC Latency
6. CPU Performance
7. Gaming Performance
8. Conclusion

Visual Inspection

The GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 is a workstation-centric model which is designed for professional use and supports the Intel Xeon-W Skylake based range of processors. The MW51-HP0 uses the CEB form factor which means it’ll fit into an E-ATX chassis, but the location of the LGA-2066 socket is slightly different than what you'd find on a consumer-based board. The board's silver and black theme are consistent with a professional-grade board; the PCB is matte black with silver heatsinks and slot armor.

As expected from a professional-grade workstation motherboard, a lot of the focus on features is in the hardware support, and as a result the MW51-HP0 has a lot of headers and jumpers. A total of six 4-pin headers are dotted around the edge of the board; one dedicated to the CPU fan and five for chassis fans. A PBS connector is located at the top left-hand side of the board, with two of the 4-pin headers also along the top. Flanking either side of the LGA-2066 socket is four RAM slots with the board offering eight in total. The MW51-HP0 allows for memory speeds up to DDR4-2666 at 1.2 V, with both RDIMMs and LRDIMMs supported at 64GB/DIMM and 128GB/DIMM respectively. Meanwhile, underneath the CPU socket is an XDP port for debugging, which for users looking to use XDP, is available separately.

On the storage front, the MW51-HP0 offers a total of ten SATA ports, with eight deriving from the C422 chipset and the other two being controlled by a Marvel 88SE9172 SATA controller. RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays are supported between the ports. A single M.2 slot is also present, which is wired up for PCIe 3.0 x4 and can accomodate sticks up to 22110 in size. Next to the SATA ports on the right-hand side of the board we also find a single U.2 connector, offering support for Mini-SAS drives. Meanwhile at the bottom right-hand side of the board are two SATA DOM connectors, which also includes two headers. Finally, located next to these is a VROC connector.

For PCIe I/O, the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 has a total of seven full-length PCIe 3.0 slots. With so many slots, the board also uses a 6-pin PCIe 12 V power connector (located above the top slot) to provide the necessary power to all of the PCIe slots. A single Broadcom PEX8747 PLX chip is located nearby, which is cooled by the same heatsink as the C422 chipset. The PEX8747 allows the board's PCIe slots to offer a combined total of 64 PCIe lanes, which means the PLX chip is wired up to 16 CPU lanes upstream and is driving 32 lanes downstream. The top PCIe 3.0 slot on the MW51-HP0 doesn’t share lanes with any slot – so it can always do x16 – while the remaining slots do share lanes. This is depicted in the table below:

GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 PCIe Layout
Number of Installed PCIe Cards on CPU	PCIe_7	PCIe_6	PCIe_5	PCIe_4	PCIe_3	PCIe_2	PCIe_1
x1	x16	-	-	-	-	-	-
x2	x16	-	x16	-	-	-	-
x3	x16	-	x16	-	x16	-	-
x4	x16	-	x16	-	x16	-	x16
x5	x16	-	x16	-	x16	x8	x8
x6	x16	x8	x8	-	x16	x8	x8
x7	x16	x8	x8	x8	x8	x8	x8

Due to the layout of the full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, the MW51-HP0 can accommodate up to four dual-slot PCIe cards or up to seven single slot cards. Each of the slots features a metal slot reinforcer. Technically the board has four slots which operate at x16, but ignoring the top slot and its dedicated PCIe lanes, the slot below it also drops to x8. This means that the bottom six slots are sharing bandwidth in pairs of two. 

The onboard audio is provided by a Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec and is surrounded by nine gold Japanese audio capacitors. Located just above this on the board is the BIOS battery which features a traditional jumper to reset the CMOS.

Along the bottom of the board is the majority of the MW51-HP0’s headers and switches. From left to right is a front panel HD audio header, a pair of serial port headers, a front panel header, a single HDD back plane header, a TPM connector, and a force ME update jumper. Also present is the two SATA DOM connectors, a clear supervisor password jumper, a BIOS recovery jumper and a pair of SATA SPGIO connectors. To keep things simple, GIGABYTE has included the two SATA ports which support SATA DOM within the same area and both ports feature straight-angled connectors.

In the top right-hand corner is a power switch and a reset switch, which are right next to one of the 8-pin 12 V CPU power inputs. There is a further second 8-pin 12 V CPU power input on the board as well, which is located just above the LGA-2066 socket. The board uses a 24-pin 12 V ATX power connector and just south of this are three of the chassis fan headers and two USB 3.0 headers.

Touching more on the USB capabilities of the board, the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 has plenty of USB ports on the rear panel. All told there are two USB 3.1 G2 ports (Type-A and Type-C) and eight USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. Notably, the USB 3.1 G2 Type-C connector can deliver up to 3A at 5V for high drain devices and/or slightly faster charging. Meanwhile GIGABYTE has included two USB 3.1 G1 headers (four ports) and a single USB 2.0 header (two ports) to allow users room for expansion. Also located on the rear panel is a PS/2 combo port, five 3.5 mm color-coded audio jacks and an S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec, and two RJ45 ports each controlled by individual Intel I210-AT GbE NICs.

BIOS

The firmware on the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 workstation motherboard is very basic, as it uses the Aptio Setup Utility over a more conventional consumer UEFI BIOS. And to be fair, a professional workstation motherboard doesn’t necessarily need an attractive GUI to be functional; still, it means the MW51-HP0's setup utility has an archaic blue edging with blue text on a light grey background. Entering the BIOS can be done so by pressing the Del key and the firmware’s usability is limited to the keyboard, as this firmware doesn’t work with a mouse.

GIGABYTE’s firmware for the MW51-HP0 doesn’t feature an EZ or advanced mode, and instead it's laid out in a very simplistic manner. The initial splash screen lists some basic information, including the motherboard's model number, the firmware version currently installed, and the MAC address of both Intel I210-AT NICs. Users can also adjust the system date and time. On the right-hand side are two panels; an information panel which displays information about the highlighted option and settings, as well as a key index for navigating around the firmware easily.

Within the advanced section, users can enable or disable things like integrated controllers, adjust the board's power settings, as well as enabling or disabling Intel’s VMD for hot swapping PCIe based SSDs. Turbo mode can be turned on or off as well, which will control the processor's clock speed boost. And options such as CSM support and LAN EFI driver support can also be enabled.

The advanced section also houses the board's fan controls, with additional options for the two external thermistor headers. Users can individually control each header with a basic set of options including full-speed for maximum cooling performance, but at the cost of extra noise. Underneath the fan speed control is a basic hardware monitor which includes fan speed and temperature on different thermal probes around the board.

GIGABYTE’s firmware for its MW51-HP0 is nothing special to look at, but for users opting for a professional grade workstation motherboard aren’t likely to be fazed by the lack of an elaborate GUI. The GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 doesn’t support overclocking and it also doesn’t support UDIMM DDR4 modules; only RDIMM and LRDIMM DDR4 are supported with the Intel Xeon-W workstation processors. So for what it needs to do, the firmware is responsive with a keyboard and works very well.

Software

Unlike its consumer counterparts, GIGABYTE’s professional boards only come with the software essentials. And in the case of the of MW51-HP0, the essentials are almost zilch: other than the necessary drivers, very little software is supplied with the board. The one exception here is software as such is the Realtek HD Audio Manager, which comes with the Realtek ALC1150 codec driver.

The Realtek HD Audio Manager is a basic utility which allows users to customize the audio settings of the rear panel connections; the five 3.5 mm jacks and S/PDIF optical output. Users can cycle through the equalizer presets based on the type of audio experience including music, gaming and films, as well as create their own custom EQ preset. Features such as loudness equalization can be enabled for a more balanced sound and users can add funky environmental effects too; perfect if users want to simulate music from a cave, padded cell or even a sewer pipe.

Board Features

At a high leve, the MW51-HP0 offers workstation features in an extensive CEB-sized package. Notably, the board is armed with a Broadcom PEX8747 PLX chip, which allows users to install up to four dual slot PCIe 3.0 x16 cards, or alternatively up to seven single slot cards. In this configuration the top slot always runs at x16, and the remaining six slots at x8.

A now aging Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec proves the onboard audio, while a pair of Intel I210-AT GbE NICs provide the boards networking capabilities. Somehow GIGABYTE has managed to fit a single M.2 slot onto the stacked PCB with support for PCIe 3.0 x4 drives up to a size of M.2 22110 and allows users to use mini SAS hard drives via a U.2 connector. A total of ten SATA ports are present with two ports controlled by a Marvel 88SE9172 SATA controller which allow allows for two SATA DOM devices. The MW51-HP0 is also compatible with backplanes thanks to two SATA SPGIO connectors. 

GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 CEB Motherboard
Warranty Period	3 Years
Product Page	Link
Price	$570
Size	CEB
CPU Interface	LGA2066
Chipset	Intel C422
Memory Slots (DDR4)	Eight DDR4 Supporting 64 GB RDIMM & 128 GB LRDIMM Quad Channel Up to DDR4-2666 1.2 V
Video Outputs	N/A
Network Connectivity	2 x Intel I210 (1 GbE)
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC1150
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU)	7 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (64 lanes total)
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH)	N/A
Onboard SATA	Eight, RAID 0/1/5/10 with 2 x SATA DOM (Intel) Two, RAID 0/1/5/10 (Marvel 88SE9172)
Onboard M.2	1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 (M.2 2242-22100)
Onboard U.2	1 x U.2
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps)	1 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel (5V/3A)
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)	8 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports)
USB 2.0	1 x Header (two ports)
Power Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX 2 x 8-pin CPU 1 x 6-pin PCIe 1 x DDR 12 V
Fan Headers	1 x CPU (4-pin) 5 x System (4-pin)
IO Panel	1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C 8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 2 x Network RJ45 (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) 1 x PS/2

A total of six 4-pin fans headers are located around the board, with one dedicated to the CPU and the remaining five to chassis fans. Other onboard connections include two USB 3.1 G1 front panel headers offering four ports and single USB 2.0 header allowing for two ports. On the rear panel is a further ten USB ports split between two USB 3.1 G2 (Type-A and Type-C) and eight USB 3.0 Type-A ports. The MW51-HP0 also includes plenty jumpers including a clear CMOS jumper next to the BIOS battery, a BIOS recovery jumper, a Force ME update jumper, as well as a PMBus connector and two thermistor cable connectors.

Test Bed

As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.

Test Setup
Processor	Xeon W-2155
Motherboard	GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 (BIOS F9)
Cooling	Corsair H110i 240mm AIO
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU
Memory	Kingston 4x8GB DDR4 2666 CL19-19-19-443 RDIMM (KSM26RS8/8HAI)
Video Card	ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost)
Hard Drive	Crucial MX300 1TB
Case	Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver)
Operating System	Windows 10 RS3 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches

Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.

Many thanks to...

We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.

Hardware Providers
Sapphire RX 460 Nitro	MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC	Crucial MX300 + MX500 SSDs	Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs
G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX	Crucial Ballistix DDR4	Silverstone Coolers	Silverstone Fans

System Performance

Not all motherboards are created equal. On the face of it, they should all perform the same and differ only in the functionality they provide – however, this is not the case. The obvious pointers are power consumption, but also the ability for the manufacturer to optimize USB speed, audio quality (based on audio codec), POST time, and DPC latency. This can come down to manufacturing skills and design prowess, so these are tested.

For motherboard reviews in 2019, we are running an updated version of our test suite, including a newer OS and CPU cooler. This has some effect on our results. Due to the lack of overclocking options within the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 firmware, the Kingston RDIMM memory is operating at DDR4-2666 CL19 and not DDR4-2666 CL16 like in our previous C422 review of the Supermicro X11SRA. This will have a slight impact on some of the results.

Power Consumption

Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single ASUS GTX 980 GPU configuration with a wall meter connected to the Thermaltake 1200W power supply. This power supply has ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.

While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our test bed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.

When directly compared with the other Intel C244-based board in this test, the Supermicro X11SRA, the power draw in the long idle and OS idle states is slightly higher, but it's still competitive with socket LGA-2066 models previously tested. At full load the MW51-HP0 performs well, with one of the lowest overall power draws tested with just 181 W at peak; 19 W lower than we managed on the Supermicro X11SRA.

Non-UEFI POST Time

Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we look at the POST Boot Time using a stopwatch. This is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.)

The GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 recorded the fastest POST time in our testing from any socket LGA-2066 tested so far. We even managed to shave off nearly another 3 seconds by disabling the controllers accessible within the BIOS.

CPU Performance, Short Form

For our motherboard reviews, we use our short form testing method. These tests usually focus on if a motherboard is using MultiCore Turbo (the feature used to have maximum turbo on at all times, giving a frequency advantage), or if there are slight gains to be had from tweaking the firmware. We put the memory settings at the CPU manufacturers suggested frequency, making it very easy to see which motherboards have MCT enabled by default.

For motherboard reviews in 2019, we are running an updated version of our test suite, including a newer OS and CPU cooler. This has some effect on our results. Due to the lack of overclocking options within the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 firmware, the Kingston RDIMM memory is operating at DDR4-2666 CL19 and not DDR4-2666 CL16 like in our previous C422 review of the Supermicro X11SRA. This will have a slight impact on some of the results.

Rendering - Blender 2.78: link

For a render that has been around for what seems like ages, Blender is still a highly popular tool. We managed to wrap up a standard workload into the February 5th nightly build of Blender and measure the time it takes to render the first frame of the scene. Being one of the bigger open source tools out there, it means both AMD and Intel work actively to help improve the codebase, for better or for worse on their own/each other's microarchitecture.

Rendering – POV-Ray 3.7: link

The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, is a freeware package for as the name suggests, ray tracing. It is a pure renderer, rather than modeling software, but the latest beta version contains a handy benchmark for stressing all processing threads on a platform. We have been using this test in motherboard reviews to test memory stability at various CPU speeds to good effect – if it passes the test, the IMC in the CPU is stable for a given CPU speed. As a CPU test, it runs for approximately 1-2 minutes on high-end platforms.

Synthetic – 7-Zip 9.2: link

As an open source compression tool, 7-Zip is a popular tool for making sets of files easier to handle and transfer. The software offers up its own benchmark, to which we report the result.

Point Calculations – 3D Movement Algorithm Test: link

3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, taking basic 3D movement algorithms used in Brownian Motion simulations and testing them for speed. High floating point performance, MHz, and IPC win in the single thread version, whereas the multithread version has to handle the threads and loves more cores. For a brief explanation of the platform agnostic coding behind this benchmark, see my forum post here.

Neuron Simulation - DigiCortex v1.20: link

The newest benchmark in our suite is DigiCortex, a simulation of biologically plausible neural network circuits, and simulates activity of neurons and synapses. DigiCortex relies heavily on a mix of DRAM speed and computational throughput, indicating that systems which apply memory profiles properly should benefit and those that play fast and loose with overclocking settings might get some extra speed up. Results are taken during the steady-state period in a 32k neuron simulation and represented as a function of the ability to simulate in real time (1.000x equals real-time).

Gaming Performance

For motherboard reviews in 2019, we are running an updated version of our test suite, including OS and CPU cooler. This has some effect on our results. Due to the lack of overclocking options within the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 firmware, the Kingston RDIMM memory is operating at DDR4-2666 CL19 and not DDR4-2666 CL16 like in our previous C422 review of the Supermicro X11SRA. This will have a slight impact on some of the results.

AoTS Escalation

Ashes of the Singularity is a Real-Time Strategy game developed by Oxide Games and Stardock Entertainment. The original AoTS was released back in March of 2016 while the standalone expansion pack, Escalation, was released in November of 2016 adding more structures, maps, and units. We use this specific benchmark as it relies on both a good GPU as well as on the CPU in order to get the most frames per second. This balance is able to better display any systematic differences in gaming as opposed to a more GPU heavy title where the CPU and system don't matter quite as much. We use the default "Crazy" in-game settings using the DX11 rendering path in both 1080p and 4K UHD resolutions. The benchmark is run four times and the results averaged then plugged into the graph.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a third-person action-adventure game that features similar gameplay found in 2013's Tomb Raider. Players control Lara Croft through various environments, battling enemies, and completing puzzle platforming sections, while using improvised weapons and gadgets in order to progress through the story.

One of the unique aspects of this benchmark is that it’s actually the average of 3 sub-benchmarks that fly through different environments, which keeps the benchmark from being too weighted towards a GPU’s performance characteristics under any one scene.

Closing Thoughts

As one of Gigabyte's four Xeon-W compatible motherboards, the MW51-HP0 represents the most consumer-like of the bunch. The other models include the MF51-ES2, the MF52-ES1 and the MF51-ES0, all of which feature a blue PCB with an inclusive Aspeed AST2500 remote management controller; something the MW51-HP0 doesn’t benefit from. Most of the GIGABYTE MW51-HP0's feature set is consistent with what you'd expect for a professional motherboard, and with seven full-length PCIe 3.0 slots assisted by a Broadcom PEX8747 PLX chip, the board proves a solid foundation for building a high-end workstation.

In terms of the design of the MW51-HP0, it takes elements found on other professional motherboards such as simple-looking silver aluminum heatsinks. The chipset heatsink is large and flat, with its job to cool both the C422 chipset and the Broadcom PEX8747 PLX chip. More consumer-specific features include metal slot reinforcement on all seven of the full-length PCIe 3.0 slots, as well as around the eight RAM slots. This not only adds function through physical protection, but it adds a more premium styling to the board's overall look. Overall the black PCB and contrasting silver parts make this an attractive-looking board with neutral tones.

The closest thing the board offers in terms of a marquee feature is its PCIe lane configuration, which is augmented by the PLX controller. As a result the top slot can always operate at full bandwidth (PCIe 3.0 x16), while the rest of the slots share bandwidth with the corresponding slot below, allowing for x16/0 or x8/x8 operation for each pair. The board can run four dual slot cards all at PCIe 3.0 x16, or seven single slot cards at PCIe 3.0 x8; while as previously mentioned, the top PCIe 3.0 slot always runs at x16.

Other notable points to touch on include the USB connectivity, with the MW51-HP0 supporting up to 16 ports. On the rear panel is a pair of USB 3.1 Gen2 ports including a Type-A and Type-C on the rear panel, as well as eight USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports. Meanwhile four USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 ports are exposed through internal headers.

Storage is provided by ten SATA ports with two separated by a Marvel 88SE9172 SATA controller; this adds support for two SATA DOM drives, which shares bandwidth with the two straight-angled SATA ports along the bottom of the board. Also featured is an Intel VROC connector for users looking to run PCIe SSDs in RAID, and users looking to use a single M.2 drive can use a PCIe M.2 card up to 22110 in size. Meanwhile with dual Intel I210-AT GbE LAN ports and a Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec, the MW51-HP0 can handle more than just workstation use, but the primary function and feature set is consistent with what’s expected from a consumer-based workstation system.

Looking at performance then, with support for up to 140 W TDP Intel Xeon W processors, GIGABYTE's board can be paired with a wide range of CPUs. In the case of our testing and our relatively high-end Xeon W-2155, the board's performance was very competitive. Even more exemplary was its quick UEFI POST times and low DPC latencies, despite us not making any out of the box optimizations.

The GIGABYTE MW51-HP0 has an eye-catching price tag of $567, which although not cheap is fair given the feature set and all of the onboard controllers. Users looking to use multi-RAID controllers with support for VROC, external PCIe sound cards for a dedicated DAW, or even networking adapters can really make use of the available PCIe slots. And with support for up to 512 GB of ECC DDR4 memory, builders shouldn't find themselves short on memory. Overall then, the MW51-HP0 is positioned to offer a solid foundation for a high-powered workstation, offering not only plenty of PCIe lane support, but an aesthetically pleasing look too. All of which stands out nicely compared to the likes of the other, more Enterprise IT-focused boards in GIGABYTEs CEB C422 lineup.