Motherboards and unsupported servers that work with ESX 3.5 and/or ESXi 3.5 Installable

This table contains a list of systems, motherboards and SATA controllers that have been tested and found to work with ESX 3.5 or ESXi 3.5 Installable. Please check out the source column for a system you are considering using as some systems will include special steps to enable ESX / ESXi to run on that system or have other issues to overcome. 

None of these systems are supported by VMWare for running ESX. In some cases for ESXi, the system may be booting from a USB flash drive and be using no local storage.

NOTE: this list includes a number of SATA controllers that provide RAID functionality via a software component in the drivers supplied with the controller. Examples would be the Intel ICH series, Adaptec HostRAID cards, and the Nvidia MCP series. ESX 3.5 and ESXi 3.5 do not support that software RAID functionality thus you will only be able to access the individual drives connected to controllers such as these.

NOTE: this list is no longer maintained. For additional systems tested with ESXi 3.5 please see the forum.

Model
Servers and PCs
SATA / SCSI ControllerESX 3.5ESXi Installable
Dell Dimension C521MCP51 SATA ControllerWorking
Dell Dimension E510 Working
Dell Dimension E521Working
Dell Inspiron 530Intel ICH9RWorking
Dell Inspiron 531MCP61 SATA ControllerWorking
Dell Latitude D630Intel ICH8M Working
Dell Optiplex GX270 Working 
Dell Optiplex GX280Intel ICH6 Working
Dell Optiplex GX520  Working
Dell Optiplex GX620 WorkingWorking
Dell Optiplex SX280 Working
Dell Optiplex 620 Working
Dell Optiplex 740 Working – see notes
Dell Optiplex 745  Working
Dell Optiplex 755Intel ICH9WorkingWorking
Dell Optiplex 760  Working
Dell Optiplex 960Intel ICH10R Working – see notes
Dell PowerEdge R200Working
Dell PowerEdge SC440LSI1068 Working
Dell PowerEdge SC1420 Working
Dell PowerEdge SC1425Intel ICH5 / ICH5R Working
Dell PowerEdge SC1430WorkingWorking
Dell PowerEdge T100  Working
Dell PowerEdge T105  Working
Dell PowerEdge T300Intel ICH9R Working
Dell PowerEdge T605  Working
Dell PowerEdge 400CIntel ICH5 Working
Dell PowerEdge 750  Working – see notes
Dell PowerEdge 830 WorkingWorking
Dell PowerEdge 840Using Adaptec 3405 Working
Dell PowerEdge 850  Working
Dell PowerEdge 860SAS Perc 5/iR Working
Dell PowerEdge 1400SCAMI RAID controller Working
Dell PowerEdge 1500  Working
Dell PowerEdge 1600SC  Working
Dell PowerEdge 1750PERC 4E/SI/DI Working
Dell PowerEdge 1800  Working
Dell PowerEdge 1850  Working
Dell PowerEdge 1900  Working
Dell PowerEdge 1950Perc SAS5i Working
Dell PowerEdge 2500Perc 3/Di Working
Dell PowerEdge 2600Perc 4i Working
Dell PowerEdge 2650  Working
Dell PowerEdge 2800  Working – see notes
Dell PowerEdge 2850  Working
    
Dell PowerEdge 4400Perc 3/DiWorkingWorking
Dell Precision 370  Working
Dell Precision 380Intel ICH7 Working
Dell Precision 390Intel 82801GR/GH (ICH7 Family)WorkingWorking
Dell Precision 490 WorkingWorking
Dell Precision 670Intel ICH5WorkingWorking
Dell Precision 690LSI Logic SAS1068-IRWorking – see notes
Dell Precision T3400Intel ICH9 Working
Dell Precision T5400  Working
Dell R200  Working
Dell R300 Working 
Dell SC 420Intel ICH6/ICH6R Working – see notes
Dell SC 430No local SATA support Working
Dell SC 440 Working 
Dell SC1430 WorkingWorking
Dell XPS 710  Working
Dell XPS 720H2C  Working
Dell XPS – M1330 Working
Dell XPS – M1710Intel 82801/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Working
Dell Vostro 200Intel ICH9 Working
Dell 2500Perc3/DCWorking
    
Fujitsu-Siemens Primergy Econel 100 S2Intel ICH9R Working – see notes
Fujitsu-Siemens TX150 S2  Working
Fujitsu-Siemens TX150 S4  Working
    
HP A6330fMCP 61 SATA ControllerWorking 
HP Blade BL35pAMD-8111 IDE Working – see notes
HP Compaq d530 – Small form factor (SFF) DG755AIntel 82801EB (ICH5)Working
HP Compaq dx2400Intel ICH9 Working – see notes
HP Compaq Evo D510 CMTNo local SATA supportWorking
HP D330Intel 82801EB (ICH5 – PCI device id – 24d1)Working
HP D530 USDTIntel ICH5 Working
DP DC 5800Intel ICH9 Working
HP DC 7100 / 7600 / 7700 / 7800WorkingWorking – see notes
HP DC 7700Intel ICH8 Working
HP DC 7800See ESXi threadWorkingWorking
HP DL140 G1Added Adaptec SA2420 Working
HP DL140 G2Added LSI1078 MegaRAID SAS 8708ELP Working
HP DL145 Working 
HP DL160 G5  Working – see notes
HP DL180 G5Added HP Smart Array P800 or E200 Working – see notes
HP DL320 G3  Working
HP DL320 G5Intel ICH9Working 
HP DS320 G5p  Working – see notes
HP DL360 G2  Working – see notes
HP DL360 G3HP SmartArray 5i Working
HP DL360 G4  Working
HP DL380 G2HP SmartArray 5i Working
HP DL380 G5  Working (build 76563)
HP LH 3000HP NetRAID Express 1si Working
HP ML110 G4 Working 
HP ML 110 G5Intel ICH9WorkingWorking
HP ML115 G1MCP55 SATA ControllerWorking 
HP HL115 G5  Working
HP ML115MCP55 SATA ControllerWorkingWorking
HP ML150 G5MCP55 SATA ControllerWorkingWorking
HP ML 310LSI SAS1064E Working – see notes
HP ML 350 G5Smart Array E200iWorkingWorking
HP ML370  Working
HP x4000Added Adaptec 29160N Working
HP xw4400Intel ICH7R Working
HP xw4600Intel ICH9R Working – see notes
HP xw8200Intel 82801EB (ICH5)
Working
HP xw8600Intel 631xESB/632xESB Working
    
IBM ThinkCentre P4IDE controller Working – see notes
IBM Thinkpad x60T  Working
IBM xSeries e325  Working
IBM xSeries x220  Working
IBM xSeries x225 Working 
IBM xSeries x226Added SCSI controllerWorking – see notes 
IBM xSeries x326m  Working
IBM xSeries x330  Working
IBM xSeries x33553c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI Working
IBM xSeries x346  Working
IBM eSeries x440Adpatec AIC-7899, IBM ServerRAID Bios 6.10.24 Working
IBM xSeries x3250LSI 1064E SAS/SATA RAID Controller Working
IBM xSeries x3400  Working – see notes
IBM xSeries x3550  Working
IBM xSeries x3650  Working
    
Lenovo 8810BP1No local SATA support Working
Lenovo ThinkCentre M55 8810Intel ICH8 Working – see notes
Lenovo T60 2007-F4G  Working – PSOD on shutdown
Sun x2200MCP55 SATA ControllerWorking
Sun x4100 M2  Working
SuperMicro H8DA3-2LSI 1068EWorking – see notes
SuperMicro 5013C-iIntel ICH5RWorking
SuperMicro 5015M-MT+B (PDSMi+) Working
SuperMicro 6015C-NTRBWorking
SuperMicro 6015X-TBWorking
SuperMicro 6025B-3VWorking – see notes
SuperMicro 7045A-WTB (X7DWA-N)Added Adaptec 5805Working
Tyan Thunder K8WE (S2895)Working
Motherboards   
ABIT AT8 32XAdding Adaptec 29160Working – see notes
   
ASRock 939Dual-SATA2MCP51 Serial ATA Controller
Working
ASRock ALIVENF6G-GLANMCP61 SATA Controller Working – see notes
ASRock ALIVENF6G-VSTAAdded Promise SATA300 TX4 Controller Working
ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA  Working
ASrock A780FULLDISPLAYPORT 780GWorking
ASUS A8NCK804 Serial ATA Controller Working
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 939  Working
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium NForce4+MCPSATA NVRAID/Silicon Image SIL3114R RAIDWorking
ASUS CrosshairMCP55 Serial ATA Controller Working – see notes
ASUS DSAN-DXAdded ASUS PIKE 1064EWorking 
ASUS DSBF-D12  Working
ASUS DSBV-DX/SASLSI 1068 Working
ASUS DSEB-DG Working
ASUS DSGC-DW (non-SAS)Intel 631xESB/632xESB (or CPU-Z Intel 5000X / 6321ESB)Working
ASUS DSVB-D  Working
ASUS K8N-DLSilicon Image 3114 Working
ASUS K8N-DRE  Working
ASUS KF4-D16  Working -see notes
ASUS KFN4-D16SASLSI 1068Working
ASUS M2-M3N8200Booting from USB flash drive Working
ASUS M2A-VM  Working
ASUS M2N-LR Working – see notesWorking – see notes
ASUS M2N-SLI DeluxenVidia Corporation NV570 SATA ControllerWorking
Asus M2NBP-VM CSM  Working
ASUS M2NPV-VMnVidia MCP 51 Working
ASUS M3N78-VM/X2 4850e  Working
ASUS NCCH-DL Working
ASUS PC-DLFastTrack Promise 378 controller
Working
ASUS P3KEIntel ICH9RWorking
ASUS P4G8XSilicom Image 3112 Working
ASUS P5B-VMIntel ICH8 Working – see notes
ASUS P5BP-E/4L Working
ASUS P5BP-E/4LLSI Logic LSI1068Working 
ASUS P5BV-E  Working
ASUS P5BV-E/SASIntel ICH7RWorking
ASUS P5BV-SASIntel ICH7R / LSI1068Working
ASUS P5E-VMIntel ICH9R Working
ASUS P5E-VM DO  Working – see notes
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI  Working
ASUS P5E-WSIntel ICH9 Working – see notes
ASUS P5KIntel ICH9WorkingWorking
ASUS P5KPL-CMIntel ICH7 Working – see notes
ASUS P5K-EIntel ICH9R Working
ASUS P5K-PL/1600Intel ICH7 Working
ASUS P5K-SEIntel ICH9 Working
ASUS P5K SEIntel ICH8 Working
ASUS P5K PremiumIntel ICH9 Working
ASUS P5M-VMFor ESX added Promise SATA 300TX2 PlusWorkingWorking -see notes
ASUS P5M2/MICH7RWorkingWorking
ASUS P5M2/SASLSI Logic LSI1068 / 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family)Working
ASUS P5N-SLI Working
ASUS P5N32-E SLIMCP55 SATA ControllerWorking – see notes
ASUS P5Q  Working – see notes
ASUS P5Q ProESX – Added HP E200 RAID card
ESXi – changed oem.tgz to support Intel ICH10
WorkingWorking – see notes
ASUS P5Q SE/RIntel ICH10 Working – see notes
ASUS P5QL Pro  Working
ASUS P5Q-EM  Working -see notes
ASUS P5QL-EM  Working – see notes
ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe  Working – see notes
ASUS P5V-VMIntel ICH9Working 
ASUS P5WDG2-WS ProIntel ICH7R Working
ASUS Pundit P3-P5G33Intel ICH9WorkingWorking
ASUS V3-P5G33Intel ICH9 Working
    
Biostar TFORCE 945PIntel ICH7 Working
    
ECS GeForce6100pm-m2 v2.0MCP61P Working – see notes
    
EVGA 122-CK-NF66-T1 Working 
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1Intel ICH10 Working – see notes
EVGA 780i  Working
EVGA 780i FTW  Working – see notes
EVGA with 650i Nvidia chipsetMCP51 SATA ControllerWorking
FoxConn 6150K8MD-8EKRSHWorking – see notes
Foxconn 945G7MD-8EKRS2HWorking -see notes
FoxConn A7VMX-KAdded Promise SATA300 TX4Working 
Intel 915GEVAdded Adaptec 29160Working – see notes
Intel D865GBFIntel ICH5Working 
Intel D945GCLF2  Working – see notes
Intel D945GTPIntel ICH7Working – see notes
Intel DB33TLAdded Adaptec 31605 Working
Intel DG33BUIntel ICH9Working 
Intel DG33BUCIntel ICH9 Working
Intel DG35ECIntel ICH8WorkingWorking – see notes
Intel DG45ID  Working – see notes
Intel DP35DPIntel ICH9Working – see notesWorking – see notes
Intel DP35DPM  Working – see notes
Intel DQ35JO  Working
Intel DQ35JOEIntel ICH9 Working
Intel DQ45CB  Working – see notes
Intel DQ965GFIntel ICH7Working – see notes
Intel S3000AH  Working
Intel S3000AHLXIntel ICH7Working
Intel S3210SHIntel ICH9R Working – see notes
Intel S3210SLHCIntel ICH9 Working – see notes
Intel S5000PSLSRCSAS18E Working
Intel S5000PSLROMBWorking
Intel S5000PSLSATA  Working
Intel S5000VSAAdded local storageWorking
Intel SE7210TP1-E  Working
Intel SE7520BD2Intel SRCS28x Working
Intel 865GLCWorking
GeForce6100SM-M2NVIDIA GeForce 6100S (MCP61)Working
   
Gigabyte 945GCM-S2CIntel ICH7 Working – see notes
Gigabyte EG45M-DS2HIntel ICH10Working – see notesWorking – see notes
Gigabyte EP35-DS3LIntel ICH9 Working
Gigabyte GA-790GH-UD4H (with Phenom II 940 CPUAdded Adaptec 3805 / Dell Perc 5/i Working – see notes
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L  Working
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3PIntel ICH10 Working – see notes
Gigabyte GA-PC35-DS3L/S3L  Working
Gigabyte GA-G33-DS2R Working
Gigabyte GA-G33-DS3RAdded LSI logic 8344ELP Working
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R  Working
Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9NVIDIA GeForce 6100Working
Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2Boot from USB Working (see notes)
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Working – see notesWorking
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H  Working
Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4HAdded Adaptec 29160Working
Gigabyte GA-MCP61PM-S2 Working
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4Intel ICH9 Working
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6  Working – see notes
Gigabyte M61PME-S2  Working
Gigabyte P35-DS3PIntel ICH9R Working
JETWAY JM26GT3-SVP AM2Not UsedWorking
MSI 865G Neo2 (MSI-6728 v2)Intel ICH5Working
MSI 915P/G Neo2Intel ICH6RWorking
MSI G45MIntel ICH10Working 
MSI K8 Neo (MS-7030)  Working
MSI K9N UltranVidia MCP55 Working
MSI K9N4 Ultra (AM2)Local SATA not tested Working (build 76563)
MSIK9N6PGM2  Working – see notes
MSI K9VGM-VAdded Promise Ultra133 TX2 Working – see notes
MSI KA780G  Working
MSI KA780G-FAdded Adaptec 3405 Working
MSI MS-7527 G31M4-FIntel ICH7 Working – see notes
MSI P35 PlatinumPromise SATA300 TX2 PlusWorking
MSI P35 Neo Working
MSI P6N SLI  Working
MSI X58 Platinum I7 920Intel ICH10R Working
Shuttle SK45 Working
Shuttle SX38P2 ProIntel ICH9Working
Shuttle X48 Working
SuperMicro
SuperMicro B7DBEIntel Corporation 31xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset Storage Controller IDE (8086:2680) Working
SuperMicro C2SBA++0Intel ICH9R Working
Supermicro PDSMi+  Working
SuperMicro P4SCEIntel ICH5R Working
SuperMicro P8SCiIntel ICH6RWorking
SuperMicro P8SCT  Working – see notes
SuperMicro X5DL8-GGOnboard Adaptec 97xx didn’t work Working
SuperMicro X5DPA-TGM+Intel ICH5R Working
SuperMicro X5DPEIntel ICH3-S Working – see notes
SuperMicro X6DA8-GIntel ICH5R Working
SuperMicro X7DB8 WorkingWorking – see notes
SuperMicro X7DBEIntel Corporation 631xESB/632xESBWorkingWorking – see notes
SuperMicro X7DBE+Intel SRCSATAWBWorking
SuperMicro X7DBN Working
SuperMicro X7DCL-I Working
SuperMicro X7DBR-3 Working – see notes
SuperMicro X7DVL-E See Notes
SuperMicro X7DWA-NAdded Adaptec 5805Working
SuperMicro X7DWN+Using HP e200i RAID cardWorking – see notes
SuperMicro X7DWU Working
SuperMicro MSCT+IIIntel 6300ESB SATA ControllerWorking
SuperMicro X7DVA-8Intel ESB2 SATA ControllerWorking 
    
Tyan K8WE (Thunder S2895)CK804 Serial ATA ControllerWorkingWorking
Tyan Transport GT20  Working
Tyan 2882 Working – see notes 
Tyan S2735 (Tiger i7501r)  Working
Tyan S2912-EnVidia MCP55Working – see notes 
Tyan S3790  Working – see notes
Tyan S5396Added Adaptec 2820SA Working
Tyan i7501 S2723  Working – see notes
Tyan i7520SD S5365)  Working – see notes
Tyan 2915-ELSI1068EWorkingWorking
XFX GeForce8200 (XFX MI-A78S-8209)nVidia MCP78Working – see notes
Storage Controllers   
3Ware 9650SE/9690SAWorking – see notesWorking – see notes
Adaptec 1210SA Working – see notes
Adaptec 2120SPCI-X / RAID does not workWorking with 3.03 
Adaptec 2405Note – this is a PCIe controller Working
Adaptec 2410SA Working
Adaptec 2420SA Working
Adaptec 2610SAWorkingWorking
Adaptec 2820SAWorkingWorking
Adaptec 29160N Working
Adaptec 3405 Working
Adaptec 3408 Working
Adaptec 5804 Working
Adaptec 5805 Working
Adaptec ICP5125BR (31205)12-Port SATA/SAS PCIe RAID Working
AOC-LPZCR2 RAID controllerWorking 
Areca ARC11XX/ARC12XX/ARC13XX/ ARC16XX SATA/SAS RAIDWorking – BETA
Areca 1210 Working – BETA
ASUS ZCR SAS RAID 8300XLP Working
Dell Perc 3DC  Working
Dell Perc 5/iPCIe – heath status is shown Working
Intel ICH10 Working
Intel SCRS28x / PCI-X 8xSATAWorking – see notesWorking
LSI 1068e   
LSI 8704ELP  Working
LSI MegaRAID SATA 150-4D WorkingWorking
LSI MegaRAID SATA 300-8X  Working – see notes
LSI MegaRAID 8208ELP Working 
LSI 1078 MegaRAID SAS 8708ELPPCI Express Working
LSI SAS-3442E Working
    
PNY P-DSA150-PCI-RFBased on Silicon Image 3512 Working
PNY – 2-Channel SATA II RAID PCI Card(Silicon Image 3512 PCI id 1095:3512)WorkingWorking
Promise SATA300 TX2 PlusWorking
Promise SATA300 TX4WorkingWorking
Promize S150 TX4 Working – see notes
Promize Ultra 133 TX2 (PDC20269) Working
QLogic QLE220Working – see notesUntested – see notes
SIIG SC-SA4R12-S2Silicon Image 3114 chipset – using eSATA connector Working
Silicon Image 3512 PCI SATAWorkingWorking
  
Network Controllers 
  
3Com 3c905c-TX/TX-MPCI id 10b7:9200 Working
   
Broadcom NetXtreme BCM 5705 Working
   
HP NC7170 Working
  
Intel 82556DM-2Requires the driver from Update 4 or higher Working
Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B Working
Intel Gigabit ET dual portPCI id See notes
Intel Pro/100 (Intel 82557/8/9)PCI id 1229
 Working
Intel Pro/100 Working
Intel Pro/100 S Working
Intel Pro/1000 CTPCI-E Working
Intel Pro/1000 GTWorkingWorking
Intel Pro/1000 PT EXPI9402PTPCI-E Working
   
Realtek 8168/8111C Working
Realtek 8169 Working

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