Asus Pro WS W680-ACE Motherboard

User Support HCL Reports
1

Remarks

  1. Suspend works with memory set to AUTO; not XMP.
  2. Oddly, reset connector is polarized so if not working one way turn it around.
  3. Asus recommends AX200 or AX201 WiFi card (this AX201 is working with Qubes).
  4. Anecdotally, Qubes appears snapper with hyper-threading disabled in BIOS even though disabled by Qubes OS.

Attachments

---
layout:
  'hcl'
type:
  'Desktop'
hvm:
  'yes'
iommu:
  'yes'
slat:
  'yes'
tpm:
  '2.0'
remap:
  'yes'
brand: |
  ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
model: |
  Pro WS W680-ACE
bios: |
  3101
cpu: |
  Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-14900K
cpu-short: |
  Raptor Lake
chipset: |
  Intel Corporation Device [8086:a700] (rev 01)
chipset-short: |
  Alder Lake
gpu: |
  NVIDIA Corporation GP104 [GeForce GTX 1080] [10de:1b80] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
gpu-short: |
  GTX 1080
network: |
  Intel Corporation Alder Lake-S PCH CNVi WiFi [8086:7af0] (rev 11)
  Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I226-LM [8086:125b] (rev 06)
  Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I226-LM [8086:125b] (rev 06)
memory: |
  65135
scsi: |
  
usb: |
  1
certified:
  'no'
versions:
  - works:
      yes
    qubes: |
      R4.2.0
    xen: |
      4.17.3
    kernel: |
      6.1.75-1
    remark: |
      Suspend works with memory set to AUTO; not XMP.
3 Likes
2

Thank you for HCL report. Can you please also fill a detailed report based on this template:

Example of user providing the answers is here. The more information the better, it may be helpful to other users, thank you.

1 Like
3

As a motherboard not all items applied. . .

Installation

Any problems with installation - No, used defaults in Asus BIOS during install
Was latest kernel required? - No. Tried default & latest kernel and they both installed fine
Were some additional kernel options required? - No
Secure Boot - Enabled with 4.2.0 (i have many different systems running this way)

Basic Input

External USB Keyboard - works
External USB mouse - works
Touch-pad -untested

Internet and bluetooth

Ethernet cable connection - untested
Wifi connection - works out of the box or actions were required? - AX201 works
Wifi connection - speed, is reliable over the time? - At full speed & reliable
Bluetooth - works out of the box or actions were required? - untested

Suspend

Suspend works? - Suspend works if memory speed in BIOS set to AUTO; not XMP I or XMP II
Does suspend break WiFi, if it does, how to recover it? - No

Video [increase VCPU to the qube before test]

Built-in i9-14900K graphics work fine - untested for video playback (using nVidia card)

Audio

Head-phones via 3.5" jack - works
Sound output via HDMI - untested
Audio-optical (S/PDIF) output - untested

Other

Have you tried running Windows 10 HVM qubes? - No
Does CPU boost seem to be working properly? - Yes. Asus BIOS defaults provide 6.1Ghz vs expected 6.0Ghz

Specs:

Maximum possible RAM memory - Listed as 128Gb, but "dmidecode -t memory" says 256Gb using 80-bit width ECC memory
CPU score (from PassMark - CPU comparison) - 61064

ECC Memory:

If Registered EC8 memory desired with latest 12, 13 or 14th gen Intel chips then W680 chipset required (note - not all 12/13/14th gen intel chips have ECC capability). Current Xeon path is much more expensive. DDR5 ECC UDIMM for this board use different physical dimensions than DDR5 ECC RDIMM due to built-in voltage regulators with different UDIMM/RDIMM voltage requirements. Using two Kingston KSM48E40BD8KM-32HM per Asus and working fine (80-bit width from two independant 32-bit + EC8 channels).

2 Likes
4

Thanks for the HCL report. I just submitted a pull request to add it to the HCL database.

Best,

Flavio

4 Likes
5

Updated BIOS from 3101 to 3302 and M.2_1 no longer recognized. This is due to the latest BIOS adding the ā€œfeatureā€ of updating the Intel Management Engine too. Not a problem with Qubes, but of the Intel ME update (and a well known issue, as I discovered).

I ended up reloading Qubes, but it may be possible to move a boot drive from M.2_1 to M.2_3 to get it to boot and then move it back again. For a fresh Qubes install use the BIOS flashback feature to update the BIOS/Intel-ME to the latest version before installing an operating system.

1 Like
6

Subsequent BIOS updates will clear UEFI settings, including boot entries. This can be addressed via

Other than this issue, the motherboard is working well with Qubes.

1 Like
7

As the Intel BE200 WiFi has been shown to work in other Qubes systems I gave it a try again in the W680-ACE, but it was still not recognized. Distilling down a lot of time, I found when I removed the nVidia GTX1080 and used the built-in graphics the BE200 was detected by Qubes and works well. And the BE200 was not detected if I placed the nVidia GTX1080 back into the system. After the time spent I stopped here.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Debian & Arch both worked with the nVidia card with the BE200, only Qubes didnā€™t. Removing the nVidia card Qubes detects it as a 272b instead of a BE200 like the other OSs.

1 Like
8

Tried an Asus Hyper M.2 Gen 5 card in slot one, but the BE200 did not function (as above), no matter what BIOS settings I tried. Same when the Hyper was placed into Slot 2. Without WiFi the card worked fine in either slot with Qubes. fyi for those interested in a Hyper card on this platform.

1 Like