EPoX EP-8KTA+ VIA KT-133
Friday, October 20, 2000
The performance tests results
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Motherboard
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BIOS
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Chipset
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Drivers
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EPoX EP-8KTA+ rev: 1.1
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8KTA0926
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VIA KT-133
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VIA 4-en-1 4.22
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Processor
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Memory
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AMD athlon T-Birds 1Ghz
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128Mb PC133 CAS2
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Hard disk drive
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Graphic card
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Quantum Fireball KA 9.1
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Chaintech R170 GeForce 256 SDR
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Operating system
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Built
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Video drivers
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DirectX
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Windows98
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4.10 1998
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Nvidia 4.11.01.0368
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7.0a
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Game
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Resolution
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Refresh
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Vsync
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Color
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Texture
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Filtration
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Quake2 3.20
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800 X 600
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75Hz
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Off
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16-bit
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16-bit
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bi-linear
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Game
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Resolution
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Refresh
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Vsync
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Color
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Texture
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Filtration
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Quake3 1.08
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800 X 600
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75Hz
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Off
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16-bit
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16-bit
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Tri-linear
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Suggested memory to use
Corsair 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2 = Tested
Mushkin 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2
Micron 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2 = Tested
Transcend 128Mb Sdram PC133
Winstone99 - Winbench99
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Ziff Davis Winstone99 - Winbench99
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Winbench CPUmark99
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86.36
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Business Winstone99
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33.14
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Content Creation 2000
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34.35
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Bapco Sysmark2000
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Benchmark
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Official Run
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187
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Video sub-system tests
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Quake2 version 3.20
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AMD Athlon
Classic 1Ghz @ 1Ghz
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AMD Athlon
Classic @ 1040Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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181.88 FPS
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182.58
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Quake2 version 3.20
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AMD Athlon
Classic 1Ghz @ 1050Mhz
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AMD Athlon
Classic @ 1092Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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182.33 FPS
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182.58
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The EP-8KTA+ provided us with a bit more latitude than we usually see in these tests. In effect, we were able to clock our CPU upto 1040MHz using an FSB of 104MHz, 1050MHz using a clock multiplier of 10.5X in conjunction with our unlocked CPU, and 1092MHz using a multiplier of 10.5X and an FSB of 104MHz. With that said, with the CPU clocked to this magnitude, the graphics card itself hit its saturation point when running the Quake 2 3.20 test in 800 X 600 mode as we can see in the above results.
Quake3
Test 1.08
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AMD Athlon
Classic 1Ghz @ 1Ghz
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AMD Athlon
Classic 1Ghz @ 1040Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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100.5 FPS
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102.7
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Quake3
Test 1.08
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AMD Athlon
Classic 1Ghz @ 1050Mhz
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AMD Athlon
Classic 1Ghz @ 1092Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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102.7 FPS
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103.77
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Here, the Overclocking tests were performed under the same conditions as the Quake 2 test above. We see here that the graphics card managed to take better advantage of the extra CPU power when running the Quake 3 test.
Disk sub-system tests
Overall Quality Evaluation
The evaluation table below shows both the strong and weak points of the tested motherboard. No need to remind you that performance is not the sole purchasing criteria in a motherboard. Most of today's motherboards exhibit performance very close to each other, so we need additional information in order to help us distinguish the real advantages of a motherboard compared to its competitors. This is exactly where this evaluation table comes in handy.
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Feature
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Evaluation
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Design Originality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Component Layout
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Heatsink space around CPU
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Capacitiors
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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CPU Retention Mechanism
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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3
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Amounts of Expansion Slots
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Amount of Memory sockets
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Ease of installation
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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BIOS Setup Design
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Performance
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Overclockability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Stability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Bundled Software
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Bundled Hardware
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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3
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Users Manual Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Packing Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Features supported
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ATA66
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PC133
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Wake On LAN
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Modem ring
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Pwr Fail Res
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5
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Features supported (suite)
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Sensor
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AMR
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Mouse Pwr On
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Susp. to RAM
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Susp. to Disk
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2
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Features supported (suite)
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IRDA
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SCSI
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Keyb. Pwr On
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Hardw. mon.
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Vcore adj.
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4
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Features supported (suite)
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RAID
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Alarm
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Jumperless
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L2 latency adj.
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IRQ assign.
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3
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Total Score obtainned for this motherboard
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87 points out of 100
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Features color codes: Blue = supported, Red = optional, Black = not supported
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Conclusions
The weak points
No Vcore adjustment from the BIOS
Disk connectors are badly placed
Small hardware pack
Plastic CPU retention bar
The strong points
Excellent performance
Great stability
Superior electrical system
Excellent Overclocking potential
Plenty of space for a large heatsink
Independant memory bus
Integrated hardware monitoring
Integrated AC"97 sound-card
Special mentions
EPoX's new EP-8KTA+ is one of the most interesting Socket A motherboards that we've tested. Its brilliant performance, diverse features, and excellent capacity for Overclocking make it a choice that we don't hesitate to recommend.
For more information, visit EPoX.
You can discuss this article in the Forum
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