ASUS PROWSW790E-SAGESE Pro WS W790 Sage SE Intel W790 (lga 4677) CEB Motherboard PCIE 5.0 7 PCIE

ASUS PROWSW790E-SAGESE Pro WS W790 SAGE SE CEB Workstation Motherboard

Overview

The ASUS PROWSW790E-SAGESE is a CEB-form-factor workstation motherboard built around Intel's W790 chipset and LGA 4677 (Socket E) platform, engineered for compute-dense professional workloads that demand maximum PCIe 5.0 bandwidth, massive memory capacity, and server-grade remote management. If you are deploying multi-GPU AI inference nodes, high-density NVMe storage arrays, or professional visualization workstations running Intel Xeon W-2400 or W-3400 series processors, this board's I/O configuration is worth a close look before you commit to a platform.

Seven full-length PCIe 5.0 x16 slots is the headline figure here, and it matters: PCIe 5.0 doubles the per-lane bandwidth of Gen 4 to 4 GB/s, so four or more high-end GPUs or NVMe adapters can each run at full speed without fighting for bandwidth headroom. That kind of slot count in a CEB footprint is rare, and it defines what this board is for — dense multi-accelerator builds, not single-workstation office deployments.

Key Features

• 7x PCIe 5.0 x16 Slots: Each slot delivers up to 128 GB/s bidirectional bandwidth in x16 mode. Deploy multiple professional GPUs, high-speed NVMe adapters, or capture cards simultaneously without saturating the fabric — the W790 chipset's lane count supports it. This is the configuration to spec when a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot is already a bottleneck in your current platform.
• Intel LGA 4677 (Socket E) — Xeon W-2400 and W-3400 Series Support: The W-3400 family reaches up to 60 cores in a single socket, giving you a single-node platform for workloads that would otherwise require a two-socket server. Choosing the right Xeon W SKU for your core-count and TDP budget is the primary sizing decision for this build.
• DDR5 R-DIMM, 8 Slots, Octa-Channel, up to 2TB: Octa-channel DDR5 with registered DIMMs is the memory architecture for this platform. Eight slots in octa-channel configuration means you populate all eight slots to achieve maximum memory bandwidth — critical for in-memory databases, EDA tools, and rendering pipelines that stall on memory throughput rather than compute. The 2TB ceiling accommodates future-generation high-density DIMMs.
• DDR5 Speeds from 4800 to 6800 MHz with ECC: ECC across the full speed range means you don't sacrifice error correction to hit higher clock speeds — both matter in professional environments where data integrity is non-negotiable. Supported speeds top out at 6800 MHz, though actual validated speed depends on the specific Xeon W SKU and DIMM kit.
• M.2 PCIe 4.0 Slots: On-board M.2 at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds (up to ~7 GB/s sequential per slot) gives fast local boot and scratch storage without consuming PCIe 5.0 x16 slots. Use these for the OS volume and working scratch; reserve the full-length slots for expansion cards.
• 13 Total Storage Drives (10 HDD) via SlimSAS, SATA III, and M.2: SlimSAS connectors consolidate high-density SAS/SATA backplane cabling in a workstation chassis, cutting cable management overhead relative to individual SATA headers. Ten HDD-capable interfaces cover NAS-attached storage scenarios or large raw media capture setups without an external HBA in most configurations. RAID support means you can configure redundancy at the controller level.
• 14+1+1 Power Stages with DrMOS: DrMOS integrates the driver and MOSFETs into a single package for tighter thermal control and higher current density. Fourteen primary phases for the CPU rail means the VRM can sustain high-core-count Xeon W TDPs (up to 350W on the W-3400 series) without thermal throttling under sustained load — relevant when all cores are pinned on a rendering or simulation job.
• Dual 10GbE + Dedicated BMC LAN: Two independent 10GbE ports let you separate production traffic from management traffic without a network card consuming a PCIe slot. The dedicated BMC LAN runs the server-grade remote management interface independently — power cycle, BIOS update, and console access survive OS crashes and dead network stacks. This is the feature that separates a workstation board from a server board for remote-site deployments.
• Server-Grade Remote Management (BMC): A baseboard management controller gives you out-of-band access: power control, fan monitoring, event logs, and KVM-over-IP without requiring a working OS or in-band agent. For headless nodes in a data center or colocation rack, this eliminates the need for a physical technician on-site for most maintenance tasks.

Integration and Compatibility

The PROWSW790E-SAGESE targets Intel Xeon W-2400 and W-3400 series processors exclusively — this is not a consumer or HEDT platform. Confirm your specific Xeon W SKU against ASUS's CPU support list before ordering; the W790 chipset does not support Core or non-Xeon processors. DDR5 R-DIMM (registered/buffered) is required — unbuffered (U-DIMM) consumer DDR5 is not compatible with this platform's memory controller configuration.

The CEB form factor (305mm × 267mm) fits standard ATX cases with CEB support and most full-tower server chassis, but verify your chassis specification before configuring a build. CEB is slightly wider than ATX; not all