EPOX - EPoX 8RDA+ nForce2 Motherboard Review @ HEXUS.net

EPoX 8RDA+ nForce2 Motherboard Review @ HEXUS.net
Review Title: EPoX 8RDA+ nForce2
Reviewer: Tarinder Sandhu
Date Of Review: 4th December 2002

EPoX have made a name for themselves with motherboards generally aimed towards the enthusiast sector. Extremely adjustable BIOSes, relatively cheap prices, and performance that matches the best the industry have to offer, has meant that EPoX’s star is on the rise. Let’s see how their first attempt at an nForce2-based motherboard fares as we look at the 8RDA+.


It should be fast, stable, and have voltages that should scare most sane people. The EPoX 8RDA+ nForce2 has clearly been designed to appeal to those of us who simply want a motherboard based on the fastest Socket A chipset at a reasonable price. By not catering for RAID in any form, and not providing the additional S/PDFIF add-on card, it appears as if EPoX have sought to get a motherboard out to market quickly.

That’s not to say that the 8RDA+ skimps on features. That would be inherently difficult if you’re using the impressive MCP-T Southbridge. Offering 6 USB2.0 ports (of which all are usable on the 8RDA+), Firewire, ATA133, great sound, and impressive LAN, it’s more feature-packed than competing chipsets. The excellent debug LCD can be considered as a worthwhile feature.

Highs
- Decent performance when run in synchronous dual-channel DDR mode
- Extremely stable throughout testing
- Excellent BIOS for voltage freaks.
- Cheaper than some other recognised solutions

Lows
- No hardware RAID in any form
- S/PDIF support isn’t provided as standard. An add-on card is needed.

Overall rating - 9/10.

[Full review] @ HEXUS.net