Workstation motherboards are designed to run banks of monitors.
A workstation motherboard is a motherboard that provides support for features not commonly available in a desktop computer. This type of motherboard is especially geared towards providing enhanced graphics processing capabilities and support for server grade CPUs.
CPU
Workstation motherboards provide support for server grade CPUs. The current brand of Intel-based CPU for workstation motherboards is the Xeon line. AMD workstation motherboards use Opterons. Xeon and Opteron processors are available with up to eight processing cores. Most desktop processors have two to six cores.
Expansion Slots
Workstation motherboards are primarily used by professionals who need a large amount of graphics processing power and flexibility. Workstation motherboards typically support between two and eight graphics cards on a single board.
Features
Workstation motherboards frequently include a number of support features not typically found on desktop motherboards that are designed to enhance their stability and flexibility. Using self-diagnostic equipment and readouts provides quick and accurate error checking for workstation systems. Workstations also support advanced BIOS features such as CrashFree BIOS 3 which allows administrators to flash a corrupted BIOS using a USB drive.
Power
Workstation motherboards also include a variety of heat and power management features. These features monitor power usage and heat generation to provide optimal stability and reduce power consumption.
Tags: Workstation motherboards, grade CPUs, graphics processing, server grade, server grade CPUs, support features, support server